Inexpensive acoustic material / improving sound in a room?

[Photon]

Hey Just joined, a friend tipped me off...

I have this room about 3x4m with old torn ugly wallpaper, and thought I'd set up a studio-like environment.

I'd like to spend more money on the nearfield monitors than classy acoustic materials, since it's an apartment and I'd have to tear it down if I move...

Any tips to make a workable room for having fun with sound? Someone said 'heavy drapes work well' and I saw a DIY thing here with a curved plywood reflector etc.

I don't mind building stuff if you can tip me off to simple things that can be done to improve things... rugs, stuff in the ceiling, padded walls for when I run out of musical inspiration...

[Vosla]

Theoretically you can just hang paper panels from the ceiling - free swinging, three layers or so. This is the cheapest way to block reflections and easily taken down if in a hurry. Looks like shit if not done by a japanese but you don't actually need an architectural masterpiece, huh?

[Commie_User]

Is the bass boomy? Are the sounds too bright? Are you unable to find the 'sweet spot' between your monitors?

Heavy drapes do work well, long as you don't take them to extremes.

Best thing to do, with ordinary stuff, if I remember rightly, is to have your monitors a couple of feet forward from the middle of the shortest wall, however far apart they're designed to work at. Before testing, I'd say put large, soft absorbing material (like rolled up duvets) in the corners and then hang drapes behind the monitors. That should take you at least a great deal of the way before you may fancy testing the accoustics with frequency sweeps and what-have-you.

These guys do things the Pro way: http://arts.ucsc.edu/ems/music/tech_bac ... es_14.html. I get by hanging mats from lighting stands with foam stuck on and various things stacked behind.

[Photon]

Sh*t, sorry for not getting back to you guys. Well, I had 1) echos 2) smack-the-tongue metallic feedbacks on some walls, and 3) yeah, kinda boomy bass.

1) was fixed with a proper acoustic ceiling, cost 550€
2) kinda but not quite fixed when I moved in armchairs/bookshelf/rugs.
3) fixed with monitor setting, sofa front and center, and heavy drapes over 7cm insulation blocks [edit: in corners].

After [exturl=http://www.scoopex1988.org/article-my-studio-in-progress.html]these pics[/exturl] I added the furniture mentioned above and put the same 7cm insulation blocks on the doors of the room, I thought they were the source of the "smack the tongue metallic clicks".

With ceiling/furnishing/monitor adjustment it really is quite okay, if I close the door to the hallway/stairs, which is the usual insanely echoing cement walled space...

Seems I set up the speakers correct as well then, phew! Fluke, really Well, semi-fluke, since I am a rational being with ears. If you get what I mean...

[Edit 2: To complete the response, no sounds were too bright, and I had no problem finding the sweet spot, in fact I got the sweet spot before I made those shelves to fit it, and bolted them onto the desk corners.]

[Commie_User]

Done and dusted then!

I rather like the suspended office ceiling thing, if that's what it is. Lightly packed and re-foamed if necessary, it's an easy way of treating a room.

Now all that remains for you to do is sling up some links to the tracks made with this lovely new mixing suite... eh?