Recording in Untreated Rooms

Untreated rooms present acoustic challenges that complicate recording, including flutter echo, excessive reverberation, standing waves, and frequency-dependent reflections. While professional treatment remains ideal, various techniques help achieve acceptable results when recording in acoustically problematic spaces.

Understanding Room Problems

Parallel walls create flutter echo, rapid repetitions that color recordings with metallic ringing. Clapping hands in a room reveals flutter echo as a distinct ringing after the initial sound.

Hard, reflective surfaces including drywall, hardwood floors, and windows bounce sound with minimal absorption. These reflections reach microphones shortly after direct sound, causing comb filtering and unclear recordings.

Small room dimensions create standing waves that amplify or cancel specific low frequencies. Bass buildup in corners and null points in the room create inconsistent low-frequency response across different positions.

Microphone Selection

Directional microphones reduce room pickup through their rejection patterns. Cardioid patterns reject sound from behind the microphone. Hypercardioid and supercardioid patterns provide even tighter focus.

Dynamic microphones capture less room ambience than condensers due to their lower sensitivity. Their rolled-off high-frequency response also reduces the brightness of reflections.

Ribbon microphones with figure-8 patterns reject sound from the sides. Positioning the rejection toward the most problematic room surfaces reduces their contribution.

Positioning Strategies

Close microphone positioning increases the ratio of direct sound to room reflections. Moving from twelve inches to six inches from a source dramatically reduces room contribution.

Room position affects reflection patterns. Avoiding room center reduces standing wave problems. Positioning away from corners prevents bass buildup. Asymmetric placement relative to walls creates more complex reflection patterns that may be less problematic.

Source orientation relative to walls changes reflection paths. Facing a vocalist toward the center of a room rather than directly at a wall reduces the strength of the primary reflection path.

Temporary Treatment Options

Heavy blankets hung on microphone stands create temporary absorption. Surrounding a recording position with blanket-covered stands provides vocal booth effect without permanent installation.

Mattresses and couch cushions absorb mid and high frequencies effectively. Positioning these behind the microphone or around the recording area reduces reflections.

Reflection filters mounted behind microphones provide localized treatment. Products like the sE Electronics Reflexion Filter or Aston Halo reduce reflections immediately around the microphone.

Room Selection Within a Space

Different rooms in a building offer different acoustic characteristics. Testing multiple rooms before committing to recording may reveal better options than the assumed recording space.

Carpeted rooms with soft furniture absorb better than hard-surfaced spaces. Bedrooms with beds, curtains, and closets often provide better recording acoustics than living rooms.

Closets, while small and sonically imperfect, offer substantial absorption from clothing. Walk-in closets can serve as vocal booths for dry recording.

Working With Room Sound

Embracing room character rather than fighting it suits some productions. The natural ambience of an untreated room can add authentic character to appropriate material.

Distance-based approach control lets the mix determine room contribution. Recording with room audible but controllable through level and processing provides options.

Committing to very close, dry recording eliminates room concerns entirely. Recording with minimal room pickup and adding artificial reverb later provides complete control.

Post-Production Correction

Equalization can reduce specific problematic frequencies from room resonances. Narrow notch filters address room modes that color recordings.

De-reverberation processing attempts to reduce room ambience after recording. Results vary by the severity of the problem and the processing quality.

Accepting some room imperfection and working within limitations produces better results than obsessing over problems. Untreated room recordings have become hit records when performances justified the acoustic compromises.