10 Tips on Creating a Quiet Acoustic Recording Environment in Your Home Music Studio

Chances are, you don't have a ton of money to make your home studio into top of the line, soundproof, professional-level, recording studio. Doing so would most likely involve tearing down your whole house and beginning from the ground up with top architects specializing in acoustics.

Yet, home studios are giving professional studios a run for their money, as professional level consumer software makes the PC (or Mac), one's own audio/video editing workstations.

So, how can you better soundproof your studio affordably? Here are some tips:

FIND THE QUIETEST ROOM IN YOUR HOME/APARTMENT.

Look out for things like air conditioners, being too close to the street, a noisy neighbor, an uninsulated window that lets in outside noise. And, while the garage is great for band practice, for recording, you want to be somewhere that you can control both the temperature (for the equipment) and sound bleeding.

SOUNDPROOF THE WALLS.

Whether you have the money to purchase expensive soundproof equipment or not, it is important to soundproof any surfaces that might cause sound to bounce about the room. Heavy rugs and thick towels/comforters can be nailed all the around the room (and ceiling), for a quick soundproof conversion.

INSULATE or BLOCK DOORS/WINDOWS.

You don't want to spend a heck of a lot of time sound proofing everything, only to have the occasional train or ambulance wreck your recording. Be sure to insulate the windows. You can go to the local Home Depot to get insulation. Heavy fabrics can also block out noise from windows, etc. For doors, keep in mind that the musicians might need to use the lavatory, so keep it portable.

GET A HEAVY RUG.

A rug or carpet can muffle footsteps and absorb unwanted sound.

TURN OFF UNNECESSARY APPLIANCES.

When recording, you want to make sure that you have any unnecessary machinery off during recording. That fan cooling down the drummer, the coffee maker, even the A/C sometimes might be bleeding into the recording.

FIND SITTERS FOR THE KIDS, PETS, and IN-LAWS.

If it's your afternoon to watch little Johnny, it may not be the afternoon for a serious recording session. Instead, work on mixing, or something that does not involve live recording. And, sorry Fido, you are out.

ISOLATE THE BOARD AND COMPUTER FROM THE MICS.

You don't want a noisy board or the whirrrrrrrr of a PC fan to bleed into the mics. If you cannot isolate the engineer in a different room, invest in portable panels that can provide temporary isolation from loud equipment noise (amps included). Just be sure the engineer can SEE the band.

BUY/MAKE A POP FILTER.

Some podcasters use USB mics, but don't bother with a pop filter. You can either buy a professional pop filter, or make your own using some hose and a wire hanger in the shape of O. Slide the hose over the O-shape, and then use the additional wire to position the filter between the speaker and the mic. It can make a difference, even with lousy USB mics.

RECORD AT QUIET TIMES OF THE DAY.

If you have your studio set up in the barn out back in the middle of nowhere, then you are one of the fortunate few. Avoid setting up recording sessions when the 5:00 train goes by, or the Jacksonville to Miami flight goes over your apartment, or when your neighbor the welder decides to work on his craft. And while 3am might be the quietest time on the outside of your studio, if you have a family or neighbors, that may not be an option.

FINDING ALTERNATIVE RECORDING ENVIRONMENTS.

Sometimes it is not possible to convert a home studio into a good recording environment. Other places you might want to check out include the local high school or university music department, the local church, or finding a friend who will let you borrow their studio for a barter (if you are low on cash). Remember, with the way that recording is going nowadays, a good amount of the end product relies on good post-production.

DOWNLOAD COMPOSER BOOT CAMP TODAY

BY SABRINA YOUNG

Here are some other interesting links that talk about soundproofing your home studio:

How to Soundproof an Apartment to Muffle Your Wife's Drumming by Alexander Gelfand

Don't Suffocate in your Soundproof Studio at Record-Producer.com

How to Construct a Sound Proof Home Studio by Eric Henry at Ezine Articles

EDGY New Film : Special Needs Revolt! A man with Down syndrome is on a mission to save America from a racist dictatorship

Special Needs Revolt! Is an action-horror-comedy film. The film's hero, Billy Bates, who will be played by up-and-coming actor Samuel Dyer, is a young man with Down syndrome. Billy wakes up from a two-year coma and discovers that the United States has been turned into a brutal dictatorship thanks to President Kruger, to be played by award-winning veteran actor Bill Weeden ( Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. ). Kruger has put all people with disabilities into institutions. Billy becomes the leader of a diverse group of resistance fighters committed to ending Kruger's reign of terror. "Special Needs Revolt!" is also a satire on our current political situation, done in the style of Troma Entertainment. Lloyd Kaufman of Troma will appear in the film. CHECK OUT THE INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/special-needs-revolt#/ Adrian’s latest work Special Needs Revolt! may seem edgy and even shocking to some. However, it demonstrates that he is grow

Music Secrets: The Music School Survival Guide

Music Secrets: The Music School Survival Guide Don't have any time to balance rehearsals, exams, and a social life? Then read on! So you find that between playing in orchestra, the school musical, a solo recital or two, joining Sigma Alpha Iota or Phi Mu Alpha , playing in the alternative band at night, pep band, and marching band that you can't keep your eyes open, let alone study for the music history midterm next week or even begin to write your term paper on Debussy? Then read on and learn to balance life in Music School. 1) Musicians DO need to Sleep Yes, you need to sleep, even if it is only five hours a night plus catnaps. Your brain cannot function if you do not sleep. So sleep, even if that means that you can't play in that awesome alternative band that jams every other night till 5am at the local bar. 2) Eat right and exercise Okay, so I sound like your parents, or Oprah, but I am serious. My biggest mistake as an undergrad (well, one of my bigges

Percussion Instruments 101: How to Play the Concert Triangle

PHOTO"wikimedia.org Percussion Instruments 101: How to Play the Concert Triangle There are literally hundreds of concert percussion instruments in use every day throughout the world. Whether you are playing percussion in a drum circle in Ghana , a jazz band in New Orleans , or a symphony orchestra in Sweden, you are playing an instrument that has traveled and mutated throughout the globe. The percussion instrument the triangle , is a metal rod bent into the shape of a two dimensional geometric triangle with one of the bottom corners disconnected to allow sound waves to escape. The concert triangle often has a slight difference, in that it may have a hole in one corner to loop a piece of nylon to hang the concert triangle. If it is an Alan Abel triangle, it will have a slight difference in the open end. That angle will end in a different thickness, supposedly to help the triangle sound to escape better acoustically. The triangle may be struck near one of the closed an

Search This Blog