Bass Trap placement.... again!... sorry!!

[Dave Boulden]

I'm still wanting to add more bass traps to my small studio... however, I'm seriously limited on possible placement positions. I have a suspended absorber above my mixing position (front-left Image 1), but I can't actually put any traps in the corners as there are doors within 8 inches of 2 of the corners (rear-right Image 2 and front-right Image 3), one is covered by Ikea Billy bookshelves (though I plan to fill the bottom 3 shelves of the corner unit with some sort of burl wrapped rockwool blocks: Rear-left Image 4) and the last corner has shelves in the way (see first picture "Image 1").

I have two areas of floor and wall space where I can put something. One is under my keyboard stand on the wall top the left of my mixing position (mid-left Image 5) and the other on the opposite wall to the right of my mixing position (mid-right Image 6). Is it worth me putting bass traps there... will it be of any benefit? I'm intending to do this before upgrading my main nearfields later this year (probably Adam A7's)

For the construction of these traps, I'm intending to use one of the Sound-On-Sound designs... wooden frame, cloth covered, then inside filled with one layer of rockwool and behind that some loose hanging high mass 2mm polymer sheet (some of the 5Kg/m2 stuff I have left over from lining the isolation booth).

Thoughts anyone?

[TrevCircleStudios]

If you cant do vertical corners horizontal corners are the next best thing (though coudnt you hinge the panels across the corners so you can move them when you want to open the door?)

Here's what I did: Treating a domestic sized room

[FrankGIK]

Originally Posted by TrevCircleStudios

If you cant do vertical corners horizontal corners are the next best thing (though coudnt you hinge the panels across the corners so you can move them when you want to open the door?)

You could do both of those things. I'm particularly a fan of trapping the wall/ceiling corners, as Trev suggests. Aside from that, the answer to your direct question is yes...putting bass traps in both the locations you mentioned will help. Remember that every dimension in the room is a source for modal interaction, so trapping can only help and never hurt...especially if they're built correctly.

Frank

[TrevCircleStudios]

Yet another approach of course is to open the doors in the corners of the room (bass waves cause less problems after they have left the room)!

[Dave Boulden]

As it happens, I do usually mix with the doors open. Perhaps I should build a huge bass trap in the spare bedroom and have all the doors open

Thanks for the answer, Frank. I'm thinking of a similar design to this: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may0...s/qa0506_3.htm and making use of some SBM5 (http://www.isolgomma.co.uk/SBM5.htm) that I have left over as one of the loosely hanging layers.

[FrankGIK]

Originally Posted by Dave Boulden

As it happens, I do usually mix with the doors open. Perhaps I should build a huge bass trap in the spare bedroom and have all the doors open

Thanks for the answer, Frank. I'm thinking of a similar design to this: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may0...s/qa0506_3.htm and making use of some SBM5 (http://www.isolgomma.co.uk/SBM5.htm) that I have left over as one of the loosely hanging layers.

That'll certainly work, but it's hard to tell *exactly* what it'll do. I suspect that it'll work really well down low and fall off fairly rapidly up higher (500Hz and up).

Frank

[Dave Boulden]

Originally Posted by FrankGIK

That'll certainly work, but it's hard to tell *exactly* what it'll do. I suspect that it'll work really well down low and fall off fairly rapidly up higher (500Hz and up).

Frank

Thanks again Frank... it's specifically the lower end I want to tame, I'm not getting as consistent a result in the bass in my mixes as I'd like... on the whole I'm happy with the mid and high frequency response in my room, stereo imaging is pretty good.

[FrankGIK]

Originally Posted by Dave Boulden

Thanks again Frank... it's specifically the lower end I want to tame, I'm not getting as consistent a result in the bass in my mixes as I'd like... on the whole I'm happy with the mid and high frequency response in my room, stereo imaging is pretty good.

Where in the bass? Are we talking about kick fundamentals, bass guitar, low end of electric? The difference could be treating 50Hz or 250Hz, one of which is tough, the other of which is no big deal.

Frank

[Dave Boulden]

It's mainly correctly gauging the separation between kick drum and bass guitar and overall level below 250Hz. The stuff I work on a lot seems to have these overlapping quite often. I don't really do anything in the way of sub-bass, so I'd say the range I'm targeting is 80-250Hz. Even though I'm always careful to only have bass sounds extend into the low end of the mix, if I unknowingly over-egg it, the mixes loose some punch as the bass starts to suck the dynamics out of the mix. I'm able to spot it once I've lived with a mix for a day or two on a few different listening systems around the house, but I'd like to be able to properly detect and head-off such problems as soon as they start to manifest as I'm mixing.

[sureno]

that 2mm sheet is very interesting, have you done it yet Dave?

[Dave Boulden]

No, haven't had chance to even start on them yet... don't know where all time goes just lately!!!

Yep, the 2mm polymer sheeting is really cool stuff but feels so strange 'cos it's thin yet ridiculously heavy.

[sureno]

Originally Posted by Dave Boulden

No, haven't had chance to even start on them yet... don't know where all time goes just lately!!!

Yep, the 2mm polymer sheeting is really cool stuff but feels so strange 'cos it's thin yet ridiculously heavy.

may do this myself when i get round to the low freq traps