The Top 4 Things to Avoid

Choosing a room is less about finding good qualities, and more about AVOIDING bad ones.  Particularly, these 4:

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1. Small Spaces

The general rule of thumb is: the bigger the room, the better.

Big rooms allow for:

• More space for multiple musicians, and…

• More space for your ever-growing collection of gear/instruments

Not to mention…they sound better (more on that topic later). While beginners might prefer the privacy and coziness of smaller rooms, my advice is… Be smart…and choose the bigger one.

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2. Noise

In everyday life, you forget how much noise is actually around you.  But once you hear it through a microphone, all that noise is magnified 100x. All these things are common sources of noise that can easily ruin your recordings:

• Cars

• neighbors

• plumbing

• birds

• crickets

• wind

• rain

So pay close attention to which rooms are the worst noise offenders, and choose the quietest one with the fewest neighbors.

In addition to avoiding outside noises, you must also realize that YOU will undoubtedly be a source of noise for OTHERS. Ideally, you want a perfectly silence space where:

• you can make as much noise as you want.

• at any time of the day you want.

But since very few rooms are like that…Some degree of soundproofing may be required in order to create a useable workspace for yourself.  

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3. Poor Flooring

For your recording room, hard flooring such as concrete, tile, or hardwood is ideal.

Carpeted rooms often cause problems for two reasons:

1. studios get a lot of foot traffic, and the carpet wears out quickly.  

2. carpet absorbs high frequencies, but not low ones, which hurts the acoustics.

If and when you need carpet, such as for a drum kit, you can always lay down an area rug instead. The other problem to watch out for with upstairs floors especially is excessive foot noise.  If possible, choose a downstairs room instead.

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4. Poor Acoustics

Bedrooms in a typical family home look something like this:

• They’re small,

• With low ceilings,

• And parallel walls made of drywall.

Sadly for us…It just so happens that ALL those features NEGATIVELY affect acoustics. Ideally what you want is a large room with high ceilings, asymmetrical walls, and lots of irregular surfaces.  However, the chances of having access to a room just like this are virtually ZERO. Pro studios have them, but only because they spent tons of cash to DESIGN them.  You, on the other hand, will most likely need to compromise. Don’t expect perfection, just choose your best option. You can always improve the room sound later by adding acoustic treatment (and we’ll get to that part in a bit). But if at all possible, it’s best to use a room with great natural acoustics, as it will be less work for you later.