Concrete Floors and high ceilings! Help! (OT, a bit)

I just moved into my new cutting room for a studio feature and I am dying from reflections and muttled dialog. Part of the problem is the film's tracks have a huge dynamic range, but a big problem has to be the room. I've brought in a better mixer with better equilization controls but I need some room treatment. But will anything solve the problem? Or are the high ceilings going to force me to move. Anyone out there solve this problem before?
Thanks.

I used to live in a place like that. I had to use my headphones a lot. You may want to build out a studio room inside your office. In the mean time get some c-stands and then clamp on some sound blankets adn surround yourself as best you can.



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Thanks for the suggestion. I'll have the grip department bring me something. What about foam stuff like Auralex? Did you ever try that?

auralex is good. it would help, but its not gonna solve your problem, its better for small spaces. unless you have the bucks to buy a truckload of it...

id say first order of business is to get a big thick rug.

what are the dimensions of your room?

18' x 13' with 12' ceilings. Right now there are those very low industrial carpet squares covering about half the concrete floor.

how is the ceiling contructed? is it flat or is there a structure?

Your room isn't that big so some foam on the walls will also help a lot. If you can, get a piece of foam about 6x8 and hang it from the ceiling above your edit bay. Kind of like a french flag on a matte box. Have the end above the speakers at about 6 ft off the ground and then the end above your head up to about 8ft above the ground.

Hi:

Here's a few suggestions:

Cheap drapes from IKEA have helped my bay a surprising amount.

Full bookshelves on the wall behind you work very well as diffusors.

Hang some fiberglass or foam panels at varying angles from the ceiling- for vibe, one might do abstract paintings on the visible side. In general, I'm not a fan of Auralex, etcetera.

Large overstuffed furniture helps, too.

If your rig is against the wall, move it back one third of the room dimension.

Keep your speakers out of the corners of the room, rather put them on speaker stands away from the walls, and especially away from the corners.

Unless you truly know what your'e doing with the EQ's on your new mixer, I'd be very judicious with them. You're are likely dealing with flutter echoes, standing waves, room modes and phase problems- none of which are cured with EQ.

A little room treatment can go a long way toward a decent listening environment.

Hope that helps,

tc

Check out Staples or OfficeMax for some office wall baffles, that'll give you dramatic results. And you cna pin stuff up on them.

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Basically flat concrete ceiling with some concrete beams near the walls.

if you plan on being there a while id invest in either some hanging textile of sorts or blown foam or something

Here's a few books dealing with soundproofing. I have the "Quieting inthe Home", and it's pretty good for dealing with soundproofing and other noise issues:

[www.supersoundproofing.biz]

Now, soundproofing doesn't seem to be your issue, it's more the reverb of noise originating from within your room. Here's a forum that might help:

[supersoundproofing.com]

I have Auralex on about half of my little 7 high x 12 long x 8 wide studio. It works great and looks great (if you plan it out right, you can make patterns and design with it! Wahoo!).

Good luck.

Lowes / Home Depot / Michael's Craft Store / Walmart are your friends Build a bunch of large (4' x 5' x 1-inch thick....whatever floats your boat) fiberglass panels (12 or more) covered with a very thick textural fabric (eats sound). Hang on all walls & hang a few from the ceiling angled. EXCELLENT results - even for a tall room. I used this config to kill reflections (and one wall was glass).

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

What about those card board Egg containers they use for mass chicken egg transportation?

Basically grey cupped meshes u place eggs in.. You can get them free from any egg farmer/seller/exporter dude and line them over the walls?

That's how I sound proofed my room.. stops me hearing my folks quarrel over what to watch on tv.

I like my room to be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. No offense, but I would rather not have egg crates on my walls and have my comfortable workspace looking like a low-budget 80's pirate radio station

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Gotta agree with Joe there...especially if your producers and clients might be in the room at some point.

i dunno guys, there is a lot of interesting things being done with alternative materials lately... pick up an issue of dwell or metropolis and you will notice a good number of "cardboard" furnishings and various treatments.

if one could get their hands on new, unused egg cartons in mass quantities, im quite certian that you could do something interesting if not downright asthetically appealing.

come on guys - we gotta be creative here.

Try out this these guys at the link below. I have several of these in my home project studio. They helped clean up the sound of the room tremendously and they look great. There are several great links explaining the basics of acoustic treatments. After you read those give them a call and ask for Ethan. He is one of the owners and has several published articles on acoustic design in magazines like MIX. He was extremely patient and helpful when I called.

[www.realtraps.com]

Ryan

Nice looking stuff. That's kinda what I am talking about making...only without the $200 for each panel (more like $25 each).

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

You are rite Joe. You can make similar treatments for less money. The real traps people actually have diagrams and instructions on their site if you want to make them yourself.

I looked into making my own traps. But I am not very good with my hands, I didn't have the tools to make them and I was in the middle of a project so I had no time to spare.

They were able to ship out the traps the same day I ordered them. So a day and a half later I was mixing in a much better environment.

Hey...that's cool, Ryan. I am just sayin' that those of us DIYers can do this relatively simply & inexpensively

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.