Recording - March 2016 - 30
frames with sound absorbing materials
like foam or pillows. Larger windows can
be draped with heavy curtains and blankets. Packing blankets like movers use are
very good in this application.
I'll scout the location for anything that
can be used as a makeshift amp or
drum room. A little extra isolation, combined with the use of a simple decoupling device for a loud source like a guitar amp, will cut down noise escaping
the building. It will also give you a bit
more isolation between instruments and
voices while recording multiple sources.
Closets, mechanical rooms, even bathrooms can be adapted for this purpose.
I mentioned decoupling guitar amps
from building structural elements (floor
and walls) to help attenuate noise. I
used to just place guitar amps up off the
floor on chairs or stools, as shown in
Figure 1. Lately, though, I've been using
swimming-pool flotation "noodles" to
help decouple the amp from the floor.
They're cheap, light, and work great.
You should do this for other loud
sources as well. Speakers and drums at
full volume can get things vibrating
through floors and walls. If there is a
loud PA setup or monitors, putting them
on foam pads will help a bit. Drums are
a little trickier, but a riser of any sort
(along with some carpeting) will help.
If you do use an ad hoc isolation
room, you might want to remember to
open the door between takes. Since
closets aren't usually that well ventilated,
you'll want to let your tube amp cool
down... and I'm told this is a nice thing
to do for drummers, too.
Another quick and cheap way to deal
with noise in and out is to make use of
creative scheduling. You may have to
record during the day while the neighbors are at work. You may record quiet
sources or single mic overdubs at night
after traffic has calmed down. You can
schedule bed tracks of loud music during
the day when the outside noise will be
completely masked by the volume of the
material being recorded inside.
The venue may also have sources of
noise present inside that need to be identified and dealt with; air-conditioning
units and furnaces, improperly damped
air vents, noisy mechanical equipment,
etc. Air movement sounds are usually
completely masked by loud musical
sources and aren't much of an issue. For
30
RECORDING March 2016
quieter music you'll want to position the
mic as far away as possible from the air
vents. Choice of mic is also a factor-I'll
talk more about that in a bit.
I always look for the On/Off switches
for anything like HVAC equipment or
mechanical devices like pumps. (My own
home studio is on a property with a well,
and the pump is an issue.) I will physically turn those systems and devices off
while recording quiet passages or when
doing vocal overdubs. It's a bit of a
pain, but the results are worth it.
A room is a room is a room?
Once you have as much of a handle as
possible on the isolation constraints of your
venue, you need to start to get a picture of
how it will perform acoustically. It's not difficult to make some very astute observations about a room's acoustics, just by
walking around and talking. Seriously!
Human speech is mostly made up of
midrange frequencies, and so is music. If
speech sounds full and intelligible, it's very
likely music will as well. Talking won't turn
up any serious issues in the high or low
end of the frequency spectrum... but it will,
if it sounds good, give a general sense that
the room is workable.
The human ear has a great capacity to
compensate. If the sound is generally
good, our brains will fill in the frequencies that are missing and attenuate those
that are exaggerated, within limits. The
room and subsequent recording don't
have to be perfect to be acceptable, even
good. That said, you should do everything you can to make it as good as possible, given time and budget constraints.
You really need to listen to the space.
When working in a recording space for
the first time, I walk the room from end
to end, alternately clapping my hands
and singing out both soft and loud. I'm
listening for the reflective quality, the natural reverb of the room and how that
varies throughout the room. Is it zingy or
is there warmth? Most rooms will be
more lively in some areas than others.
Make note and use the appropriate area
for the appropriate sound characteristic
you're attempting to capture.
In my opinion, natural ambience is a
good thing. I like a lively drum sound
most of the time. I also think both
acoustic and electric guitars sit better in
a mix if there are some apparent natural
reflections in the mix... except for when
a very intimate song benefits from a
very close and dry acoustic. The secret
is to know what you're after, and what
part of the room provides the best
chance of achieving it.
If the room is full of furniture there will
not be a lot of apparent sound reflections.
In fact a room full of furniture is much
more likely to be a decent recording and
listening space. "Decent" shouldn't be the
http://www.placidaudio.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - March 2016
Contents
Recording - March 2016 - Cover1
Recording - March 2016 - Cover2
Recording - March 2016 - 1
Recording - March 2016 - 2
Recording - March 2016 - 3
Recording - March 2016 - 4
Recording - March 2016 - 5
Recording - March 2016 - Contents
Recording - March 2016 - 7
Recording - March 2016 - 8
Recording - March 2016 - 9
Recording - March 2016 - 10
Recording - March 2016 - 11
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Recording - March 2016 - Cover3
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