I had an extremely amazing day today…. I’ve spent the past 9 hours sanding floors using a floor sander! Okay, so that’s not that thrilling, but it did inspire me to create this piece.
While sanding, I listened to the echoes and determined that an empty home had terrible acoustics. When you speak, you can’t even hear yourself because the echoes from the walls and floors bounce back at you. This is precisely what we want to counteract with a bedroom studio. When attempting to adjust near field monitors, reflections are a negative thing. They make it difficult to hear your music and, if not taken into consideration, may convert a decent melody into a horrendous jumble.
So, what can you do to improve the acoustics of your room?
Install any kind of open-cell foam on your walls. The kind used by furniture upholsterers is perfect. The lower the frequency absorption, the thicker the foam. For example, a 5cm thick piece will achieve absorption at 500Hz and higher. Absorption at 1kHz and higher is possible with a 2.5cm thick piece. The foam should be placed precisely behind the speakers’ wallspace and on the wall behind you, the listener. Place slabs in the room’s corners to absorb frequencies as well. If you believe the foam is unsightly, consider covering it with a cloth to make it appear more appealing!
A bookcase against the wall behind your mixing position is another excellent suggestion for reducing bass reflection.
Any irregularly shaped object in your space will absorb sound energy and eliminate those pesky reflections.
Here’s something for you to try. Enter the restroom and clap your hands. Do it right now. Examine the sound echo and compare it to your studio. Bathrooms often feature hard flat surfaces that reflect sound far more readily than, example, a bedroom filled with carpets, tables, chairs, drapes, and so on.
So, now that you know a little bit more about room acoustics, go grab some foam and start putting it on your walls. Please keep in mind that hanging egg cartons on your walls is both a waste of time and a fire danger.
I recommend going to your local dump and ripping out the foam from old furniture. It should be covered and hung on your walls. This will save you a lot of money over purchasing audio acoustic foam!