Do You Need Acoustic Treatment? - RecordingRevolution.com 

What's up everyone! Hope you like the video :)

So in summary... Tips before adding treatment: 1. Avoid square rooms if possible 2. Consider monitor placement in room 3. Choose a room with laminate or hard wood if possible 4. Use thick curtains on windows Guidelines for monitor placement: 1. Avoid sitting in the middle of the room 2. Create equilateral triangle with monitors and your head 3. Make sure the monitors are not equally spaced from the walls perpendicular to them 4. Make sure the monitors are aimed down the longest walls in the room (unless you don't add treatment) Treatment Material: Use rockwool, mineral wool, or fiberglass instead of foam for best results Treatment Location: 1. Use bass traps in corners. If you can't (due to furniture), use thicker panels with air gaps elsewhere 2. Put treatment at the first reflection points of your monitors including the ceiling and your desk (or tilt your desk surface towards you) ...or just download the free PDF

Graham you are so generous allowing others to come on your channel (or posting their videos on your channel). Thanks. Good video, well summarised in 12 mins. I've watched a lot of videos, even from the big guys who were giving away foam panels, and I hadn't heard about not having your speakers placed at the same distance from the side wall as they are from the front wall. I guess it's not going to happen very often, but still useful to know. And nobody mentioned desk reflections or the reason why mixing desks were tilted (though I suspect it's also for ergonomic reasons too). Good stuff!

Jesus! I've been waiting to you and Rob colab! Two of my favorites music production teachers. Greetings from Brazil guys

Thank you both of you. You really help me to built my home studio and to try to Mix and mastered my stuff.I have a lot to learn but now I'm at digital platforms. A lot to do to my mixes but you have me on the road. I'm very thankful to you!🤘🎧🤘

honestly, best video summing up all the important things!! I´ve seen a LOT video´s about acoustic treatment and read a lot! - But this is KING!

Wow, I learned so much. Thanks graham and Rob!

Great to revise/consolidate the points I knew and to sneak a few new ones in that I was unsure about. Thanks!

Easily the must insightful and well explained video I’ve seen on this topic, thank you Rob and Graham for sharing

This is a great, focused video that should help a lot of home recording folks. You can't emphasize the time-saving aspect enough, IMO. Thanks to both of you!

Thank you so much for this info!!! Can’t wait to start with mine! 🙏🏻

Great info. I have done all of these and I find my mixes translate well.

This made me want to just mix with headphones.

I was jus thinking about this. Really helpful!

YES. recording quality went up alot just from getting acoustic treatment... even the cheaper foam ones go along way

I built a freestanding room within a room in my pole barn with bass traps built in 2 corners, also slanted the ceiling and walls so it not perfectly square or actually a rectangular. Roughly.... 14x 23 ft. 9.5 ceiling. Also built the room on 1/2 inch rubber pieces. Anyway sounds great. I have learned a lot from this channel. Thanks

Every beginner home studio enthusiast should watch this video. More than enough information to make a great setup for a long run.

The short answer: YES. The long answer: Yes. Spend money.

you're a king. Thanks, man!

Nice concise vid with good overview, cheers! Don't forget monitor isolation pads btw.

Quality advise. Thank you.

Thanks a lot! Finally I understood how to fix that annoying reflections in my room.

This was really helpful Sir Thank you lots Sir

Excellent... Thank you!

Gratitude & Appreciation🎶💯

THANKS!! VERY USEFUL!!

Brilliant!

Cool video! I wasnt aware that windows are good as "bass traps" letting low frequencies at leave the room but reflects higher frequencies so still need treatment though...

I have got a small homestudio which I treated with some acoustic foam, but the biggest win was using the IK Multimedia ARC2.5. Why I that not mentioned in this video? On the whole, it is much cheaper than buying or making whatever kind of acoustic treatment you screw or glue on your walls or ceiling.

I treated my room in the only areas where speaker reflection can happen. There is a video somewhere where they use a mirror to visually see and hear where things need to be. I didn't want a 'dead' room, I just didn't want it like a bathroom or something.

Great video! I’m interested in hearing your thoughts in a room that is unfinished? Cement walls and unfinished walls. Time frame of room being finished, maybe 1 to 2 years. How would you treat that?

I wish this video addressed acoustic treatment for the purpose of "recording" (ie. vocals), but it sounded like it was all about "listening" (ie. mixing). I don't generally mix myself, (or I use monitoring headphones) so I was looking more for how to treat for the purpose of possibly improving what I capture in my recording.

Acoustic treatment helps a lot. A LOT> but I also get my ears checked by doctor every 6 months. I have a drop in hearing around 2-4k in left ear which I compensate for visually in mixing.

Check this out: I also bought myself a $100 Gazebo / Pergola (200cm x 200cm) and placed it in my basement on a noise absorbing rug. I left the outside "walls" off and placed moving blankets on all five sides. Got myself a 10M led strip for the inside and some bass traps in the corners and foam on the inside off the blankets. Super easy set-up for recording with my D18 and singing at the same time straight into my iPhone using the Roland Go Pro mix. Call me cheap but I just love my little "tent" inside my basement. Nice and cozy. Love your channel man!!

they are not just for music either. i have installed acoustic treatment in offices, schools, gyms, restaurants, home listening theaters , everywhere!

helllll yeah

Hello Graham, thanks for the video. Just a question. Unfortunately I cannot do any acoustic treatment in my room. It's a small 21 sq. foot rectangular room sounding quite bad in terms of reflexion. Do you still recommend me to get a pair of nearfield monitor for mixing as a reference or better stick to a good pair of headphones? If yes, what size and brand monitors you would suggest? Thanks a lot. All the best. Fran

What about room size. I mean if a room is small I would think it’s easier to treat because of less surface. Also staggered walls and ceilings like a saw wave. I am imagining a zig zag saw wave ceiling so the sound bounces in weird directions, hopefully cancelling out as they clash, same with the walls. Flat seems wrong. The studios I see have flat walls and ceilings. Why? Do you want sound bounced right back from where it came or sent in other directions? Maybe bouncing right back is more consistent, but is consistency what you want? I am thinking variety is the spice of life, but is that only for relationships and not studio design. What about heavy hanging curtains on the walls. You could use curtains to hide any acoustic treatment to help keep the sound in there. It can be nice with lighting pointing down along the inside of the curtains giving an effect of there being a window. Instead of saw wave shape, maybe a sine wave shape wall and ceiling might be better. The idea is to bounce the sound in as many directions as possible so every sound wave bangs into as many other sound waves as possible. The more that happens, the more the sound is muffled(I think). Have fun

I have a Shure SM7B. What is the best way to treat my room?

Yes.

Does someone need acoustic treament in his/her youtube studio though he/she uses lavalier microphone or case is almost similar be it lavalier, shotgun, dynamic or any other microphone? Or simply...does lavalier microphone grab less echo compare to any other microphone? Thanks

Someone please answer. If I want reverb/echo should I have acoustic treatment still and add effects or should I record in a room with no treatment

I have 2 windows in my studio. One is right in front of my desk towards the left side of the far wall with thick blinds and a blanket. Do I need to cover the entire window for better results? I live on a busy road.

Are these guidelines applicable for podcasters?

Nice video, but I really missed the recording part... this was all focused on mixing and on studio monitors

So what happens if you have to set up a studio in a corner? Can you use bass traps to avoid the bass build up

A good solution for mixing is #SubPac :) but for recording, you can build acoustic panels

Hi. He didn`t talk about difusion (difusion panels), which is very important, acording to other video about the same subject

If I turn down the volume, it looks like Rob is aggressively, but kindly, comparing two invisible softballs.

Yes. Apart from decent speakers and interface, it's one of the best DIY bangs for the money in getting quality for critical listening. Fiberglass/rockwool wrapped in breathable cloth is the cheapest solution, more thickness (go by feet and not inches) and wall coverage the better. Back wall (whole surface, bottom to ceiling, deepest you can make ), corners (and ceiling ones if you can), above listening position, reflection points. That would be really really good starting point for not much. For better frequency response you need to consult books, physics, acousticians and lots of money.

Hi, I'm into 2-ch HiFi music. I love listing to all sort s of music... UNFORTUNATELY the room I have is 15' x 15' with a 10' Celling. What can I do? I can't make the room any wider or longer, without considerable expense. If I were to do a room Modification, keeping the 15' weight, what would be a premium LENGHT? (15'x18' or 20' etc., ) Any help is appreciated.

Can I Use Foam Just For The Ceiling I Can’t Put Panels On The Ceiling Everywhere Else Will Be Acoustic Panels I’m Only Recording Vocals and Making Beats

Does this also help for lowering the sound (highs and lows) that goes trough the walls? Im asking cuz my neighbours can hear my monitors when im playing music.

If you don't have room for bass traps on the floor you can hang them along the ceiling and upper wall and into a corner at a 45 degree angle. Those are just as good and don't use any floor space.

My room has a rough ratio of 6:7. Is it ok?!

Why avoid buildup in the corners of the room? It's not like you're listening from the corner. As long as there's no buildup in the listening position, why worry about the corner?

If i already soundproofing my room, do i need to add all these acoustic treatment?

Excellent Graham. One question, I don't have a proper room to place acoustic treatment on my house, I got the dinner and living room altogether. What I use is my headphones for mixing. Is that posible to mix well with headphones?

Just got a 600sqft warehouse space has a small office and a bathroom so just a few feet are occupied... it’s almost like a small garage with the pull up back entrance... (first timer) can anyone give me a lil advice on how much space I will use to build a control room and booth for mini pro studio???

i know this is a old video but what if you dont have speakers cause im in a small apartment .. so do i need to add acoustic treatment ?

Well, I plan to record audio and this made no sense to me at all because I have headphones and no speakers. :(

I ‘d love to see you make a vid producing a whole song completely with free virtual instruments and plugins.

I have $50 (each) rockwool panels from a reputable company but the room im using has an odd number of walls and sounds better without any sound treatment... I have foam too but I'm not a fan of foam so I'm not even going to try it

Great tips. So, big questions first: Graham did you get a spray tan?!

i feel like u can easily mix without acoustic treatment because you know how your room acts but recording is a big no no

sees treatment one second in. Cool

Yes you need it! But you can start as cheap as piling up clothes in the corner 😀😬

The answer is Yes. Yes you do.

Idk? But it makes my studio look and feel like I'm in a studio. I am a bass player after all.

N64 usb controller? Nice :)

Your (Rob's) vox compression is wrong, it has lots of attack it's harsh.

Extra matresses or blankets make great acoustic treatment.

My thoughts: I disagree with the carpet on the floor, I agree that he knows what he is talking about, so I am going to presume I am wrong. Second curtains where mentioned, but to briefly. I have a panel of felt hanging from the sealing for color and to break reflections. Also, bookshelves and other random items in the room are great as well. Speaking of random items, you have a plan, plants are great as they have lots of reflection points. There are two other points, how well the audio was recorded and what the target is. If audio was recorded outside or in a sound dirty room, then high attention to room dampening is not all that important. Also if your target is a car or earbuds, then the same applies. (I think someone did a video on the Beatles published music wherein one of the speakers had a door opening. It could only be heard on high-end speakers, which was what the video was advertising.) Is the audio going to youtube, where it is highly compressed? again not a big concern. My point is most rooms can be solved by correct placement of speakers and the desk as described, and minor other things in the room. For most home studio, amateur applications, you should be able to fix a room for under $100.

I use a closet to record people, with damn egg cartons on the wall and roof for diffusion, and a piece of foam behind the mic for absorbing. I have cleaner, more clear vocals on my artists than most studios. I wouldn't try to record drums here, but don't think you need all this shit. Buy a great mic, get good at using EQ, use a gate if needed, buy some great software such as RX7 just incase, and stop using your gain on the mic so hard.

"Don't have carpet, it'll kill the high frequencies and make things sound dull. Do have curtains though, cos they'll kill the high frequencies and give you better bass"

I mean I don’t think you “need” it. I’m getting great sounding recordings in my dorm without any acoustic treatment

My mans got the Nintendo 64

People tell me all the time that I need treatment.

acoustic treatment is more important than any monitor, yes there is a right and wrong here. if your listening position is in a dead spot even $100000 monitors wont help you. treating your room properly only takes work and about 20 bucks on nails. the wood you can get free its not magic its science

Tip #1: avoid square rooms Me: ... i guess i need a new room.....

I've been down A LOT of rabbit holes...but they ALL pale in comparison to the rabbit hole of acoustic treatment according to physicists, acousticians, sales people, and the mass of clueless people all spewing right and wrong information by the boatload on RU-vid. I give up.

Stop eating carrots, please!

Graham, I'm sorry but your face is yellow in some videos...please don't wear makeup if u are. You look fine without it!

this is incorrect information.