| When setting up a home recording studio, one of the | | | | mountings) will have an effect on the sound. Bass is |
| most fundamental (and most overlooked) tasks is the | | | | often the biggest casualty in poor acoustic |
| positioning of monitoring speakers. If the monitors are | | | | environments, as bass dead spots can be created in |
| incorrectly positioned by even a few inches, the | | | | the nearfield listening space where the engineer is |
| representation of the stereo field can become | | | | sitting. This means that the engineer may try to |
| inaccurate and full of frequency 'holes'. This can | | | | compensate for this in the mix by turning up the bass. |
| potentially mean catastrophe for an engineer who tries | | | | In reality, it is just the acoustics of the room fooling his |
| to compensate for this in the mix. | | | | ears into making the mix unnecessarily bass heavy. If |
| For nearfield monitors, a basic guideline is to try and | | | | you playback a track in your home studio and find that |
| form an equilateral triangle between the left speaker, | | | | the bass is lacking, stand up and move around the |
| right speaker and your head (ears). Essentially, the | | | | room. You may be surprised to find that bass is |
| distance between the speakers is the same as the | | | | gathering in the corners or even under your mixing |
| distance between each speaker and your ears. This | | | | desk! |
| should ensure that it takes the exact same amount of | | | | One of the most practical ways to improve your |
| time for sound from either the left or right speaker to | | | | listening space is to move your speakers into different |
| reach your ears, creating a balanced stereo field. | | | | parts of the room. Often having a standard equilateral |
| This approach is good in theory, but it does not take | | | | setup flush up against the wall may not be ideal. Try |
| into account the impact of room reflections on the | | | | moving your mixing desk closer to or further from the |
| sound. Unless you are working in an anechoic chamber | | | | wall, or even against another wall entirely. Listen to the |
| (and let's face it, many home studios are in bedrooms!), | | | | sound at each position and find out where the stereo |
| up to 80 percent of the sound you hear may actually | | | | image achieves the most uniform density - this should |
| come from the room, with only 20 percent coming | | | | be where you mix from. When it comes to setting up |
| from the speakers! | | | | your home recording studio, it is more important to |
| Anything in a room, from the basic shape and | | | | follow what sounds right rather than what looks right. |
| dimensions of the space to the items and objects that | | | | Trust your ears! |
| are contained within (eg. storage cupboards, wall | | | | |