0513 – All About Acoustics

2022.05.28 – 0513 – All About Acoustics

What is in your studio space is important for your voice because if your sound bounces around too much, it will appear to be ‘thin’ and ‘hollow’ rather than warm and natural.

Then consider how the room itself sounds: the acoustics.

·        The size of the room – usually a smaller room is going to be easier to be less echo-ey and easier to ‘sound-treat’ than a larger one, a lower ceiling preferable to a higher one. But too small a room and it will get hot, claustrophobic for any length of time – all affecting your stress levels and so, your voice – and the shorter distance from your mouth to a hard surface (off which your voice can bounce) is smaller, and so will affect the recording.

·        The layout of the room – flat and straight-angled walls, floors and ceilings will make it easy for sound to bounce off them in a uniform way (‘sound reflection’), which is not what you want.

·        What is on the walls and floors – hard surfaces lead to more ‘wave bouncing’, so avoid plain plastered walls (although hard walls from a brick of concrete are better than popular drywall for stopping external noises getting in), wooden floors and windows. Add mass to the walls to reduce noise and vibrations getting in. Seal gaps around windows. Cover surfaces with soft (and ideally heavy) fabrics carpets and curtains (sofas and furniture covered with fabric work as absorbers). Break up naked wall surfaces with anything from pictures and shelves, furniture, curtains or sound-absorbing panels. Pay particular attention to corners where two walls or two walls and a ceiling connects. Cork, rubber, and foam insulation are common methods of soundproofing that can be found at your local hardware store. You can use foam rollers (typically used for stretching and rolling out sore muscles) or yoga blocks to fill the corners.

The more irregular angles, shapes, and rugged surfaces in your room, the greater the chance it will better diffuse your voice into the mic. And the more sound-absorbent material is in the room (within reason), the greater the chance of reduce the echo effect in the space. There’s a good reason why many people record in their walk-in wardrobe: a small space with lots of clothes…[1]

[1] There’s more techy stuff on sound waves and acoustics here: https://improvepodcast.com/podcasting-room-acoustics-how-your-room-impacts-your-audio-quality/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.