please reply with sound damping advice

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 10:41 pm

Hey,
I am recording hiphop in a home studio. I have a good quality Shure vocal mic. I've built a mic booth before, but I don't have the space or resources to go through that process again. I'm set up in the corner of a room with flat walls and ceiling and a hardwood floor. Predictably, I have a horrible flat echo on my vocal tracks.
My question is: will applying sounproofing material to the corners do the trick? I'm thinking that if I just deaden the sound in the corner, I can do without having to build a booth. I'm also thinking of applying eggcrate foam two feet out from the corner, maybe 2x2 square on the ceiling, and at least a rug or something underneath the mic. Will this kill the echo effectively enough, or do I have to surround the mic with sound dampening material?
Any input would be appreciated. If anyone wants to see what I'm working with, I'd be happy to email you a picture of the space. Thanks a lot!

Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 6:07 am

Welcome to RO!
You have some good ideas to get you started. The rug, treating the corner,etc. Try not to stay in the corner,though. The acousical effects of the 2 adjascent walls will wreak havoc on your sound. Try to get in the middle of the room and use some baffling to treat the space around the mic. This can be something simple like a wall panel from an office cubicle, a series of fabricated walls/w. foam tiles, even a couple of mic boom stands with moving blankets thrown over them. These can be easily set up, moved, and removed as needed. A nice throw rug is mandatory with hardwood floors. The idea is not to "deaden" the room, as much as "control" it. A little liveness can go a long way, but helps in many cases. The egg crate thing in the corner is cheap and effective, especially if you use those "fiber" type crates as opposed to the foam plastic ones.
Look down some of the posts on this forum from the last couple of months. See what TeddyG has posted to expand your ideas. Experiment and good luck!

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