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PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES
Do you make music at home? In your bedroom? Write down the dimensions of your production space and bring to class, let's find out what the bass is doing in your room.
Length: 4.5m
Width: 3.4m
Height: 3.15m
We'll be using these measurements during our class activities.
*PICTURES OF THE ROOM ARE LOCATED ON MY PROJECT 3 PAGE HERE*
SETTING UP AND ACOUSTICALLY TREATING A HOME STUDIO
Studio design ideas.
Having a rectangle room is better than a cube shaped room because a cubed room is not sonically friendly to treat.
The larger the room the easier it is to work with and the better it will sound.
You need to establish what it is you are using your home studio for before you treat it (making and recording music for yourself, sound engineering for others, dual recording studio etc).
Soundproofing basics.
What doesn't work: mattresses, egg cartons, foam rubber, carpet etc.
Mass + mass + mass = good isolation.
Having a room inside a room is the most professional means of soundproofing your space but it is very expensive.
STC=Sound transmission class. An STC of 60 can block loud speech, music requires at least an STC of 55 and, studios with a live band require an STC of 70.
IN-CLASS SUMMARY
Starting off the session today, Sam reviewed each of our spaces we have selected for Project 3 and what we are considering to use to acoustically treat the space. Sam commented that my room is a very nice sized large room to acoustically treat but also mentioned there were a couple problem areas. First problem area is the right side corner of my room where my bedside table is next to my bed. Sam said I will need to trap the bass in that corner as that's going to be were a lot of standing waves are going to be situated. Second problem area was the recess section of my room where the windows are because of how theres some corners and the window will reflect a lot of sound waves.
For acoustically treating the space I proposed to Sam that I was considering using my curtain rod to hang some heavy weighted curtains in front of the windows to help absorb some of those early reflections coming from the back of the speakers. I also suggested moving my table forward so it's not as close to the window. I would also need to include some form of bass trap in the corners of the recess as well as the corners just outside the recess where my PC is situated. The same thing goes for that problem corner at my bed side table though I may need to stack them on top of one another for that corner.
In the right side corner of my room I have a clothes rack that has clothes that can help absorb the sound as well as a dirty clothes basket right in the corner densely packed with clothes which is perfect for a bass trap. My mattress is also very thick and absorbent and that's located pretty much directly behind my desk where my monitors sit. What I pitched to Sam for additional treatment was to use some acoustic absorption panels made of towels on most of the bare areas of the walls (the left wall primarily and some on the right and in the recess. This was also to be accompanied by a diffusor of my own making on the back wall directly where the speakers face. Sam was a little skeptical when I said I was going to use insulation gathered from a friend as I wasn't sure exactly what insulation it was. Sam said if it was fibreglass to be careful due to how that material can harm you. Overall Sam was impressed with my pitch.
For today's session Sam touched upon resonant frequencies, standing waves, room modes and absorption coefficients. It was good to learn about resonant frequencies because this is a direct link to a question I had plaguing me for the upcoming project; how do I go about measuring the frequencies in my room so I can have the correct sound proofing? By finding the resonant frequencies you can in theory multiply those problem frequencies and then apply the correct acoustically treatment (finding prime co-efficient materials for the certain resonant frequencies, how large the acoustic panelling and diffusing need to be to target those areas). It is very similar to harmonics as the fundamental frequency is the most resonant frequency. The above picture provides an example of inputting the found resonant frequencies and their higher multiples.
Standing waves was a topic that Sam at the very beginning of the session said we were going to cover later on when I asked. This topic still somewhat confuses me so I will need to do more research into this term. From what I gathered it is where two waves move in different directions and in turn make some frequencies louder and others quieter. What was interesting about standing waves however was the activity that we did in week 3 where we went around the room to find the standing waves that are in the lab. Sam played one at 50hz, 100hz, 250hz and 220 hz and it was very interesting to see how the frequencies louder and quieter in some areas of the lab.
Sam also explained that diffusion helps break up standing waves and also explained that where standing waves accumulated and got louder and quieter where called modes (louder) and anti modes (quieter). Finally, Sam revealed the formula for everyone to calculate the fundamental resonant frequency (standing wave) for the height, length and width of our spaces, f= v/(2 x d) [dimension you are measuring]. Then you were to average this and get the fundamental resonant frequency of the entire room, which you can use to pick your materials.
During the segment of the class where everyone went for their activity I stayed back for learning journal review and catch up with Sam. Sam was very impressed with the progress I had made and was happy to see my growth. He commented saying my learning journal is the quality of an HD student and that I am showing through my reflections that I am learning and applying what I have learnt. This was reassuring as I did mention this is my favourite class, I want to do well and I want to understand what is being taught.
POST-CLASS REFLECTION
It's scary knowing this is week 10 of the trimester; everything's coming to a close. This is crunch time and I am starting to see the finish line and the work that's going to be needed to pass it. At this rate, Sam mentioned the only reason I would not get a very high mark for the module is if I drop the ball now, which I have no intent of doing. What's left to do to assure I remain at this trajectory is:
Complete the in class summary and post class reflection for week 6.
Re-do my week 1 transferrable skill: professional (due to an accidental deletion).
Collating and compiling the notes I have learned into each week's notes section.
Start planning my acoustic treatment and concept for my space.
Sam's feedback was invaluable, reassuring and I'm glad that I feel I am finally engaged in class and taking everything in. Yes, this could be a possibility of me finally going through my treatment for my attention impairment, but I personally think it has only helped slightly as I was already extremely invested in this class. Sam also let me share the diffuser calculator I found a couple days ago with the class which I hope helps people with their projects.
Apart from collating, compiling and researching the terms from previous weeks I also need to do some delving into standing waves and modes as they are directly linked to this upcoming project. For my project I plan on going in all the way as this is my favourite project we have done in this module and in this Diploma. This weekend I am hoping to get a start on the acoustic panels at least as well as the diffusor. My goal by Friday tomorrow is to have the concept with the exact measurements and materials that are going to be used in the treatment of the room. Theres a lot to do but I feel everyday if I slowly chip away at it I will get to the end easily.
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