Weird chimney thing in room

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:38 am

Hey guys,

I just bought myself some basic gear and have set up a little recording studio. (MTR, mic, pop filter etc). My question is this. I have had to stop recording in the spare as someone has just moved in. In my room is a metal/steel chimney comming up through it. It comes up from below and goes up to the roof. Noise travels alot through this.. ie i can hear old mates tv from down stairs comming through. Do you think that this will greatly effect my recordings (acoustic guitars, vocals). I dont really have much choice as it is a share house and is really the only room i can use.

cheers guys.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:07 am

Greatly affect is an under statement. If you can hear it with your 'naked ear', imagine what a microphone will pick up. Not to mention any sounds that you create in that room will probably resonate it even greater so you'll be having a very tough time unless you can isolate it.

Is it a functioning chimney? Meaning does it actually get use or is it dormant? If it doesn't get used then you could potentially cover it with something, Auralex foam perhaps...just a thought. If it does get used then you obviously wouldn't want to attach anything to it.

That's a tough situation.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:15 pm

It doesn't get used at all, it just sits there looking at me ruining my plans. Is that stuff you were talking about expensive?

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:12 pm

If it indeed does not get used, you could build a chase around it. Basically build a wall, most likely with three sides. You could use wood framing, add insulation inbetween the framing vertical members and install sheetrock to the outside of this. Mud it and paint it!

For a real kick, remove the damn thing Smile

And fix the holes! This would be the better option based on what I know.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 6:40 pm

haha don't think i will be allowed to remove the thing as i am renting the place. Although i would love to. Don't think i will be allowed to build a wall around it either but that is an awsome idea. Im probably looking for a more temporary solution.. something that can be applied and removed as if it was never there... also budget is a priority as i am a uni student and just spent about 2 grand on all this gear... and now i have a big bloody pipe in my studio ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh haha......

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:37 pm

Putting the cart before the horse, it happens all the time.

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 7:56 pm

Trying to make music in an apartment situation is at best risky.

Obviously, your window of opportunity when things are there quietest is in the dead of night. Unfortunately, your roommates that are upstairs & downstairs won't appreciate your lullabies much.

Conversely, during the daytime when you're roommates and yourself should be in class, you could always fail some classes to create your musical masterpiece.

Now for the practical reality.

You won't be using any condenser microphones but only SM 57/58's & electronic pickups with modeled DI boxes & software emulation. Dynamic microphones are generally less sensitive with tighter pickup patterns and will still deliver you a quality vocals sound along with being not bad on acoustic guitars. Drums? You want drums? You better get good with electronic MIDI pads & software drum programming. You'll still turn out quality tracks & music just as has been done in many of the great NYC Studios whose recordings all suffered from Subway background noise. Really. Believe it. It's there. So make music and leave the noise alone. Wait till one of those stupid little noises makes the song!

Isolation? Separation? For those you need a lawyer. I don't believe in it. Don't use it. Don't go there.

Organic engineer
Ms. Remy Ann David

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 9:11 pm

Thanks for the advice remy.. thing is i just bought a nice little rode m3 condenser and i love its sound when miced up to my maton. I am looking at getting an sm57 for micing up my amp and some of the more louder vocals but overall i am happy with the rode m3 for vocals and micing up my guitar. I dont really want to part with this mic as it would seem like a waste of money in my eyes... more so looking for a way to fix the chimney problem... my house mates are cool with me recording late at night so thats not a problem... What about if i got some sort of sound deadener and wrapped it around the pipe.. or even cheaper.. some blankets?

cheers guys.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:36 am

lite,

Here's the straight poop on sound absorbtion...

The only thing that will effectively stop sound is mass.

The more mass you have, the more sound will be restricted, in your case, from passing from your room into the "chimney" and the opposite is true.

IDEALLY, you would want to build some sort of frame that would be able to be sealed (caulked) at the edges, filled with damping material (insulation of some type) and cover the frame with some type of mass barrier (gypsum board).

short of that type of construction project, you will only be able to reduce the noise passing up and down this pipe.

Blankets will help reduce the sound transmission, but while it won't eliminate the sound transmission, it might be enough to be tolerable.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:39 pm

Thanks madmax. I think i will try out the blankets first and see how that goes. I'm not so much concerned with noise traveling via the chimney to and from my room and below more so with how the chimney will effect my rooms acoustics when micing up my guitar and vocals. cheers man you helped alot.

peace..

This topic sponsored by: