Attic Shaped Studio

[endorka]

Cheers Glenn, yes, 70 Hz is almost certainly the ceiling. Confirmed by noting changes at that frequency when I move the mic up or down. The ceiling is woefully under treated at the moment so there's huge scope for improvement. I'm thinking something like 200mm deep low density insulation over the entire flat part of the ceiling. Perhaps using inside out modules so the visual aspect of the ceiling doesn't drop too much.

50Hz and multiples thereof are the width modes. Also very under treated. I've been pondering several options for those. One is the tuned membrane panel from the BBC paper in the early 90s. I think it's about 150mm deep and has a thin metal face. Apparently it'll tackle 50Hz. Another option is "Boggy" type absorber / diffusers at the back of the room (away from influence on the mixing position) to improve ambience when recording drums there.

Cheers!
Jennifer

[gullfo]

i don't suppose you have an accurate sketchup model of your room? or detail measurements of it all on paper etc you could share with me. i have some basic treatments which may be something that can assist as well as the Boggy style diffuser units as dynamic components as we could experiment on what might work. i'm thinking you might benefit from my "twisted path" absorbers which use layers of MLV in the absorption packs to create longer air paths. these typically increase the overall path to boundary significantly without extensive depth or tuning.

[endorka]

I've been discussing some improvements with Glenn. Once the speaker flush mounts are finished, the celling will be next. New absorbers are shown in light green and are 20cm deep low density fibreglass.

The plan is to install four inside out modules in the ceiling for two purposes;

1) Raise (most of) the ceiling from 230cm to something higher, perhaps 260cm. This should get ears further away from the acoustic bad things that happen halfway between boundaries, and perhaps improve the recording acoustics, especially for drums.

2) Installation of deep absorption without lowering the visible height of the ceiling. I could do this on the existing ceiling but it would bring the visible height close to 7 feet, a bit too cramped feeling for my liking.

Construction will be similar to the recessed absorbers I installed at the rear of the room with an outer layer of OSB and an inner plasterboard layer. Hopefully it easier because they'll be half as deep and don't need to be cantilevered like the rear ones.

The joists close to the sides of the room are twinned and tripled with only a narrow gap between them, so the two absorbers at the sides will be installed on the existing ceiling. This will also allow them to reach fully into the corner above the soffit baffle where I think specular reflections are coming from.

Of course, I may remove the ceiling plasterboard and find the plan isn't possible because of some obstruction or other. Let's hope not, especially as I'll be left with a large stack of superfluous plasterboard and OSB sheets in the garage

Cheers,
Jennifer

[gullfo]

they make fiberoptic snakes you can use with your smartphone so you can drill a small hole and peek around. the one i have has a built-in light and is 10m long... and of course you can take snapshots etc.

[endorka]

Source of the post they make fiberoptic snakes you can use with your smartphone so you can drill a small hole and peek around. the one i have has a built-in light and is 10m long... and of course you can take snapshots etc.

Thanks Glenn, I have something similar, bought to make a similar investigation before I did the "behind the wall" work for the absorbers at the back of the room and the HVAC silencers at the front. Unfortunately, all it saw was a very deep bundle of loft insulation

I'll give it a go, and then remove a hatch sized rectangle of plasterboard to see what lurks beyond. Should be very easy to repair that if nothing can be added.

Cheers,
Jennifer