VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[tokyofan]

Due to a huge construction project across the street from March I'm looking for new digs in Tokyo. I found one place I like a lot but notice that it's very echoey in all the rooms. Yes, it's basically an empty concrete box but didn't notice so much echo in other places I've seen. Should I be concerned or will carpeting and furniture dampen things sufficiently? I plan to do home recording but might not have the luxury of a booth this time around. So, need to be selective.

The numbers refer to tatami mats (1 tatami is roughly 1.5 sq meters)


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[Mike Harrison]

Chris...

There are others more qualified here than I, but if you've got a room reverb problem. do anything/everything you can to make the walls as uneven as possible and as absorbent as possible. That's usually why sculptured acoustical foam fills this need very well. But it needs to be stated again that there is a world of difference between sound reinforcement and sound proofing. Sound proofing is just what it says: absolutely no outside sound gets into a true sound proof space and no sound from within this space gets outside.

Putting foam (and/or theatrical drape, moving blankets, etc.) on the walls and carpeting on the floor will definitely reduce or even eliminate the 'bounce' you now hear, but it will not make your space sound proof. However, you're not alone. A lot of us have to deal with the occasional passing airplane or leaf blower brigade.

So get some stuff on the walls, throw a carpet (as thick as practical) with a pad on the floor, and add some soft, cushiony furniture. Or, in a pinch, you can do what's necessary to get rid of the bounce, then get a couple of free-standing acoustical baffle panels. A friend uses two of the hinged 5-foot-high panels (the S5-2) just as shown here: http://www.clearsonic.com/sorber.htm

Good luck!
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
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[jsgilbert]

I've done a bit of recording at a busy office that uses a Primacoustics Flexibooth. They're around $400 USD and I have been quite impressed with just how good I have been sounding. I've listened back on headphones and also ran the recordings through a spectral analyzer. Absolutely servicable. I'd also recommend some sort of mic that doesn't tend to pick up "room'. There's many available.


Primacoustic FlexiBooth
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[tokyofan]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm in the middle of applying for the place...and then negotiations. Will likely post again if I make the move!
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[Bruce]

Our own George Whittam just posted an interesting article showing a handmade booth one of his clients made. Quite simple and quite inexpensive in the world of such things:

http://eldorec.com/eldoblog/2011/1/19/notes-from-the-field-matt-wiewels-home-studio.html

B
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I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .

[Mike Sommer]

My first question: will you be able to dedicate one of those bedrooms into an office or office/studio area?

Furniture and all the things of our life, does bring absorption and diffusion to the mix, but I look at what the room needs as an empty space.

Though I've always loved the idea of room size based on how many tatami mats are required to fill the room; in the real world of acoustics it tells me nothing about its actual dimensions - I need Height x Width x Length - of the room you decide to place your recording area.


Based on the layout the 4.5J bedroom looks like the winning space.
On the south wall of 4.5J, it looks like there are windows- is this correct?

Besides being echoey, have you stood still and listened to how quite the space/ building is?
Are all the center walls concrete? (I'm sure the building is of excellent construction)

Some pictures would be nice.

If sound and NOISE mitigation is not an issue. Then all you need to do is eliminate echo and room resonance, by incorporating absorption treatment and there are many options that can be set in place to get you as a single sound source in your recording space.

Just tell me where you want to set up.
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Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[KaseyKruz]

For my first studio, I use office cubicle panels on two side and made a "booth" of sorts in a corner. Those panels have 702 insulation panels (or similar) on each side for sound absorption and reverb elimination. A blanket or two on the two bare walls and viola! - a decent recording room
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[tokyofan]

Sorry, I didn't take room measurements but it is a concrete construction. I have pics but don't want to bother anyone until I decide to move in.

Right, no windows in the 4.5 J. Just a couple solid, wood sliding doors to divide the rooms. Perhaps a make-shift booth in the wall recess. Other than the echo, it is dead quiet...which is hard to find in Tokyo!
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