Recording - November 2015 - 19

of the speaker, which is usually the mid/highfrequency driver, should be pointed to where
your ears are. If there are objects that are getting in the way, like computer monitors, you
need to raise the monitor, and then angle the
monitor downward so it is aimed at your ears.
The other component is speaker boundary
interference, and that has to do with the energy that's coming off the speaker, bouncing off
to a wall and coming back out of phase. It can
cause all sorts of problems, so it's a good idea
to put that speaker at least 2' away from any
wall surface. This will help eliminate a lot of
those problems.
So should you also favor symmetrical
mixing rooms?
Ideally. The mix position should have
the same distance from the left wall and
the right wall. The room should be as symmetrical as possible. However, the mix
position should typically not be in the center of the room from front to back.

Oh, in terms of depth.
Yes, it's the same problem as we discussed in terms of the ceiling. So you
might want to be 35-40% back. You tend
to get a smoother response there, but you
may or may not have that luxury depending upon the size of the room. Also, in a
perfect world your monitors should not be
touching the front wall-they should be a
couple of feet away to avoid that speaker boundary interference, if you have the
space to do that.
Are there other ways you can maximize whatever room you're working in
to make it sound like a "real" studio as
much as possible when you're tracking
drums or even guitars, for example?

With the proper room treatment as discussed, which will give the room even reverberation characteristics and no flutter echo,
you will be in the ballpark for making excellent recordings. However, if you're working
in a small room, it tends to sound small.
That's because the reflections coming off of
the walls and ceiling are so close in distance
to the original sound source. Diffusion will
dramatically improve this.
Here's a little critical listening experiment
your readers should try: walk into a small
room with your eyes closed. Clap your
hands. Why is it that it feels like a small
room? Try it in a large room, and notice
that size as well. Well, your brain does a
very good job of calculating all the reflections and how long it takes for sound to get
from one ear versus another.
If you eliminate the reflections off of the
walls from a small room, with absorption, the
room will be excessively dead and unnatural. Singers will hate you. No matter how

loud they sing it feels like there's no energy.
The same is true for other players-it messes
with everyone's dynamics, it doesn't feel
good. But diffusion will make the room
sound larger.
There are lots of off-the-shelf diffusion
products such as QRD type diffusers and
2d products such as the PartScience Space
Array. If money is tight, you can DIY with
approx. 12' x 24" angled plywood panels
set at around 10 degrees. This will create a
specular diffuse field within the space and
is ideal if the room is quite small.
Intersperse the diffusion with some absorption to control the reverberation time in the
room.
Learn more about Jay Kaufman and his
work at kaufmanandassociates.net.
RECORDING November 2015

http://www.royerlabs.com http://www.kaufmanandassociates.net

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