Can you create a recording room at home without permanently changing the space?
I did, and here's how.
My recording room is probably the worst shape it could be - it's a small l-shaped room which bounces the sound around really badly, really unfriendly for recording anything. In fact, when I first started recording audiobooks I constructed what I called "the tent of doom", a 4ft x 4ft x 4ft cube, with cymbal stands (I play drums) providing the shape, and several duvets were the top and sides. I would sit in my tiny, dark, claustrophobic space recording books, and would emerge boiling hot and slightly dizzy. As much as I secretly enjoyed reliving my childhood squatting in my acoustic den, it wasn't a long term solution for my needs.
So I had a loooong think about what I wanted to do with the room. I knew I wanted to use acoustic tiles but the thought of gluing anything to the walls was not something I could entertain, I needed something that I could put up and take down as needed. And budget was important too, I needed to keep it sensible.
At one end I installed a desk for my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation, AKA a windows pc) and some chunky wall hooks to hang cables and such. Then I devised a cunning plan to acoustically treat the walls. After much though I settled on a plan. I would use 2ft x 4ft hardboard panels, glue 8 x acoustic foam tiles to each one (30x30cm each) and then hang them on the walls using picture hooks. So off I went. I made 10 panels and carefully glued the foam panels on, using PVa woodglue. I put an absurd amount of effort into ensuring the tiles were all perfectly aligned and symmetrical, and once my OCD was satisfied, I hung them in a very pleasingly symmetrical (there's a theme here) layout on the walls.
The trickiest bit of the whole enterprise was getting them all horizontal and evenly spaced. I truly would not have been been able to tolerate any deviations, my inner Asperger's would not allow this to happen. Quite some time later they were all on the walls. Time to test the room! Initial results were pleasing, there is a significant reduction in reverb, that said, the awkward shape of the room still bounces back some noise, but it is greatly reduced. I made creative use of my cymbal stands, a digeridoo and a blanket, placed them so that the corner with the mic booth was separated from the rest, I call this my acoustic blanket.
The room is now sounding great, and with my RODE Procaster and Podtrack P4 recorder, I am getting some fantastic results.
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| Acoustic foam panels hang on the walls |
