Acoustic treatment really does work; however, it’s essential to evaluate the bare studio room in which you’ll be doing so. Lots of folks start out by planing on setting up a recording studio by immediately reaching for professional acoustic treatment. Nevertheless, this isn’t a good first step. In contrast, what you must do, before anything else, is evaluating, testing, and diagnosing the space. In this article, we’ll cover some basic evaluation techniques. You can (and must) apply them before going out and spending money on acoustic treatment you might not need.
Evaluate your Bare Studio Room: Selection
Firstly, we recommend that you find a suitable room in your house or apartment. This must be one that’s the furthest apart from sound pollution. For example, the one that’s furthest from a street. So, when you have that figured out, follow the next steps provided.
Clap, Clap, Clap your Hands!
To evaluate your bare studio room, walk around the space and clap your hands as loud as you can. Do so from every corner possible and listen carefully. Pay special attention to the reverberations that result from your clapping. If you can perceive a ringing sound that resembles a metallic one, this means that the room is small. In other words, you’ll need more absorption to find a dryer sound.
If clapping your hands around the space produces a pleasant reverberation, then you’re in a larger room with high ceilings. This means that you’ll need less acoustic treatment. (Even though it’s true that all rooms could benefit from a little acoustic treatment.) If you need some reference points to fine-tune your judgement, you could apply the same technique in other rooms. Take note in which of them sound better and why. After you start installing your first acoustic treatments in your designated studio room, use the clapping test through the process and observe how sound changes.
