Customer Reviews

Acoustic Design for the Home Studio

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are a lot of books on setting up and working in a home studio - very few on treating the frequency response - fewer on doing it on the cheap using the room you have. This is such a book. The case studies are useful and after seeing a few, a pattern emerges and the mystique falls away and you realize that its not such a black art and you can do it yourself using various inexpensive materials. I definitely found this to be a great reasource for getting my room response under control while spending just a couple hundred dollars.

This book is a gem.

The equipment available today at the 'advanced amateur' level far exceeds that which was available to the professional only a few years ago. But the quality of the recordings being made do not come up to professional standards. Apart from skill at using the equipment, the biggest difference is the studio where the work is being done.

If the sound is being bounced all around the room in an uncontrollable manner, this will be recorded faithfully by the equipment. The equipment cannot distinguish the sounds you want (and hear) but takes in what your ears are rejecting.

This is an excellent book that gives a bit of the theory of acoustics and studio design and then gives practical examples of studios that were constructed using these principles. There are a number of designs described which cover a range in cost from near nothing to designs that you'd better discuss with your wife before you start spending money. Most of these designs do not involve altering the basic structure of the room itself, just panels you might attach and then take down when you move.

This book is an excellent introduction to a fairly arcane subject.

It used to be that musicians went to a professional studio to make recordings; but with all the advancements in computer and recording technology, such a studio is affordable for the home - and ACOUSTIC DESIGN FOR THE HOME STUDIO tells how to make a room perfect for the recording sound desired. Tips on how to sound-proof a home or project studio tell how to use an existing room, whether it be garage or bedroom, and provide diagrams, photos of revamped rooms, and tips on getting the most from such a project.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Before this book I read Basic Home Studio Design by Paul White. This book was very introductory and helped me get somewhat comfortable with the terminology and some standard ways of treating rooms.

Mitch Gallagher's book was definitely a step up from that. It was much more informative and introduced many ways of treating a room (broadband absorbers, bass traps, foam, ceiling clouds, etc.)

This book will without a doubt help one get associated with acoustics. Read the book in its entirety. The only crucial thing that I don't think it focused on much was how to measure your room yourself (acoustically, for flutter echo, decay time, frequency response, etc.)

But, it does give some information that one will be able to figure out and apply properly with a little internet research.

All in all, a very good book that will be very helpful.

This book was a disappointment. It is extremely light in content. The text pages have two inch left margins, a huge font and tons of superfluous pictures. There is not much more information in this book than can be had in a single article on the subject. A website article, EQ/Mix/SOS article, or any gearslutz discussion would probably contain 95% of the information found in this book.

Of particular disappointment was the lack of information regarding acoustic design for recording, i.e. tracking. The book focuses on the creation of studios with flat response for monitoring/mixing. The advice can be summed up as: design a better room (which you can't because you're a home studio...) and then add bass traps and some reflective panels. But studios are more than control rooms! I really wanted to learn more about creating "live" rooms for tracking as this is a huge obstacle for the home studio. How live should a room be for tracking various instruments? Stereo vs. mono recording? Vocals? Only on page 165, buried in a case study, do we even get a hint of information regarding tracking when he states, "...will knock the decay down to 0.35 seconds - longer than desired for a control room, but the liveness will allow the room to be satisfactory for tracking as well." Unfortunately this point is never elaborated on. We have no way of judging what defines "satisfactory".

There is a case study on designing a vocal booth but it is again light on information and there is no discussion regarding the efficacy of portable vocal booths or mic stand absorption devices, and no discussion of "no cost" methods such as hanging comforters or going mobile and recording in bathrooms or closets.

Yet I'm rating it as two stars because it is at least comprehensive on what it does cover which is essentially the design of a home control room, and it does at least discuss the merits of various no cost solutions. It's just that the book provides a poor value proposition for this information.

This book helped me to create a dozen acoustic panels from rockwool, covering them with burlap, and helped me figure out where to hang them in my home studio. It was great to be able to see examples of other studios and how the various acoustic treatments were handled. In addition, there is much basic information that explains why these treatments work and why they are necessary.

I have read many articles online concerning acoustics as well as have had the pleasure of working in some wonderful million dollar + studios. I must say that this book is perfect for the Novice who is just getting into acoustics as well as someone like me who has a backing and understanding as well as experience in the field. For its price, I recommend it to EVERYONE!

This book demonstrates very simple and cost effective ways to improve any space in your home for critical listening. Highly recommended.

This is a really good book. I am in the process of acoustically treating my home studio right now and this book was like my Bible haha! If you are wanting to learn about acoustic treatment and/or are needing to know what to do with your home studio I highly recommend this book! It's really easy to understand and a good read!

Great book, super practical and makes designing and adapting your space into a serviceable recording space less daunting. Very good. Recommended.