Most music producers and engineers do not have the luxury of doing their work in big-budget studios that are perfectly engineered to achieve a dialed-in sound. No, most producers (like I would I imagine) are producing in side rooms, bedrooms, and imperfect spaces in our homes and apartment buildings.
And smaller rooms like the one you’re likely in right now pose a completely different set of problems that most amateur music producers aren’t equipped to handle. We don’t have sound physics degrees or decades of audio acoustics experience. Hell, at least I know I don’t.
But when I was lucky enough to get linked up with KRK to review their ROKIT 10-3 G4 Series, I wanted the best results for the review. So I went straight to the source and asked Phil O’Keefe, Gibson Brand’s Senior Editor with years of experience as a Recording Engineer, how I could get the best sound in a small, bedroom studio.
KRK was nice enough to let me publish the interview here so that the producer community can benefit from his wealth of knowledge.
What is the best type of studio monitor for smaller bedroom studios?
Before we jump into this interview, I want to say that many of these things are subjective―ask ten different engineers, and you’ll get ten different responses.
I’ve always felt that monitors are one of the things that you should not skimp on for home studios because almost every decision you make in the studio is based on what the monitors are telling you. Accurate monitoring is crucial. I prefer smaller monitors in smaller studios because they take up less space and cost less. Also, a smaller monitor’s frequency response and volume won’t be too much for the room. For this application, I recommend smaller drivers and lower wattage. You don’t want speakers with 10- or 12-inch drivers and 300-watt power amps that are so large they drive the room into acoustic compression and overwhelm it.
A KRK Classic 5 will be a good choice in these rooms, or the KRK Classic 7 if you have a little more space. Another good option is the ROKIT G4, which has some handy features from the onboard DSP that can help new users optimize the speakers to compensate for some of the trouble spots in the room. If you can budget for a pair of ROKIT 5 or ROKIT 7 monitors, that’s probably an ideal entry-level option for small bedroom studios.
Additionally, if you can afford a pair of KRK V-Series or other upscale monitors, that could be a great choice, too. But for most entry-level users, I think the ROKIT G4s are an excellent place to start.
What problems does a bedroom studio create that most newer producers aren’t aware of, and how would you best remedy or avoid these issues?
Bedroom studios can have a host of issues! To start with, electricity.
You may have poorly wired outlets, which can lead to noise issues in the equipment you plug in. Electrical ground-related noise can cause a lot of issues. Tools such as AC line conditioners can help with electrical noise issues. Additionally, it is essential to wire up the studio correctly so you don’t create ground loops.
Another primary consideration is acoustics and monitoring. Accuracy can be difficult in a small home studio―some of that is just physics. The dimensions of a room don’t change, and they will impact the room’s modal response. If you have a choice, selecting a room with suitable dimensions is very important.
Additionally, if you have a room with interior surfaces that are all very hard (like cinderblock or brick), you’re going to get a lot of slapback echo and have a longer room reverb time. Getting better isolation and lower interference can be big problems―not only for bleed (where the sound you’re creating disturbs others) but also due to sounds coming in from outside, which might cause you to have to clean up your recording or re-track it.
Usually, these issues appear when recording things with a microphone, whether a vocalist, guitar, drum kit, or anything of that nature.
Soundproofing a room can be expensive and challenging. Since many people have their recording rigs based on a laptop with an audio interface, it’s often fairly easy to just move to a location with better acoustics and isolation for recording things like live drums. Then, additional work like keyboard elements, guitar overdubs, and vocals can be done at home. Cab simulators and impulse responses can also be very helpful for recording guitars. Many producers make beats at home with samples, loops, MIDI, and synthesizers, which are all recorded directly. Another way you can get around those issues is by picking quieter times to record – such as midday when your neighbors are at work.
Additionally, if you have a lot of noise issues while you’re mixing, or the room acoustics aren’t that good, you can also opt to monitor on headphones. A good set of headphones can be a real lifesaver. I have about 30 different pairs in my studio, but I have been using the KRK 8400s as my primary mixing reference headphones since they were first released long before I worked for Gibson. They’re fantastic, and the new KNS 8402s are even better. Closed-back, circumaural headphones are essential when trying to track or record, but you don’t have to use sealed headphones for mixing.
Another common problem is that people will incorrectly set the toe-in angle of the monitors. That’s something where the KRK App (Apple/Google) can help. It has tools that will help you set the angles of both monitors equally and get the phase between them the same so that they’re not canceling out. There are a few KRK-specific tools in the KRK App, but most can be used with any monitor brand, so it’s a worthwhile free download for any home studio owner.
How do you retain symmetry in your bedroom studio with limited space?
That’s a tough one. I don’t mean to cop out on this, but it will depend on the individual room’s specifics. If you have a rectangular room with standard ceiling heights, you’ll usually want to set up with the sound shooting down the longer length of the room, with your left monitor the same distance from the left wall as your right monitor is from the right side.
Now, things get funky when the room has a weird shape because symmetry can become much more challenging. It’s all going to come down to the size and shape of the room, how you’re set up within it, and designing acoustic treatments around it. Two-inch-thick acoustic foam or compressed fiberglass panels are great for reflected sound―keeping mid- and high-frequency sound from slapping off a side wall and bouncing to the mix position, but they’re not going to stop the sound entirely. This is especially true for very low frequencies, which will go right through those types of panels as if they weren’t even there.
Whenever possible, try to pick a symmetrical room with good dimensions―that will be best for what you want to do. Sometimes you don’t have a choice but to use a less-than-ideal room; in that case, you will need to learn the idiosyncrasies of the room. Try to become aware of things as you work in the room, look for how the frequencies are reinforced, play bass notes, and see how they respond. Does that same thing happen if you move to another room? Learn to compensate for the quirks of the space.
One thing to note here is that any space with dimensions that are the same or multiples of the same (ie: 8’W x 16’L x 8’H) will reinforce those same frequencies in all three dimensions, further compounding the problem throughout. Acoustically, the worst possible space to work in would be a cube.
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How vital is acoustic treatment in bedroom studios?
It’s essential and beneficial for dealing with issues within the room. Monitors do not work in isolation. So, the better the room acoustics, the more accurate the entire monitoring setup. As mentioned, room dimensions are essential. There are room mode calculators online that will show you which low frequencies will give you problems in a room, and that’s important to know.
You could be chasing your tail thinking, “gosh, every time this guy plays a low A, it just sounds deafening,” when it might be the room making you think it’s deafening. It’s not because the monitors are inaccurate. It’s because the room and the monitors are inaccurate representations of what is being played.
Are there any misconceptions about room treatment and bedroom studios that you want to set straight for new producers?
One of the big misconceptions is that people will line every wall, ceiling, etc., with carpeting or thin acoustic foam because they think that will make it sound better. It won’t. Those types of materials are effective absorbers only at higher frequencies. Instead, you get a very unbalanced, dark-sounding room, so you’re constantly boosting the high end and end up with overly bright mixes. All you’re left with are the midrange and low frequencies; low frequencies are the hardest to deal with in a home studio.
A mix of acoustic treatments designed for the specific needs of the individual room is usually the best approach― absorption placed at the early reflection points and some diffusion at the back of the room. If it’s a larger room, you can use dedicated commercial diffusers or even just bookshelves lined with books. In most cases, you want as much low-frequency absorption and bass trapping as possible. It’s almost impossible to over-absorb in the low frequencies in a small room.
Another big misconception is that louder is better. It’s not.
There’s something called equal loudness curves (or the Fletcher-Munson curve). Human hearing is not linear. We perceive volume differently at different frequencies. In other words, if you have a low-frequency or high-pitched sound playing softly, your ears will not pick up as quickly as a midrange sound at the same volume. Additionally, while our hearing becomes more linear at higher levels, the louder you turn it up, the more likely you are to exacerbate the acoustical issues that your room already has.
You want to monitor at a level our ears are accurate but not so high that you’re driving the room into acoustic compression and making the issues it may have worse.
Ideally, the best monitoring level is about 85 dB SPL, A-weighted. This is the level at which our ears are flattest, where our hearing response is the most linear, and we hear things equally well in the low-, mid-, and high-frequency ranges. It also happens to be about the loudest you can listen for an entire workday without the risk of damaging your hearing.
When it comes to SPL, there is a meter you can get―either a physical one or an app on a smart device that allows you to measure the loudness of the sounds around you. This is one of the best free (or practically free) tools any new recording enthusiast can get because it will help you set your monitors to a volume level that affords the most accurate response and simultaneously protects your hearing. It will be your best friend in the studio.
Should I get a sub for a smaller studio?
That’s a somewhat controversial topic, and some will say “no,” because most small rooms already suffer from low-frequency acoustical issues, and a sub can worsen them. But, depending on what you’re doing and what type of music you’re working on, a sub can be very helpful.
For some genres, it’s almost a necessity. For example, if you’re working on dance music, EDM, or anything with a lot of deep, low-frequency content, a sub can help you hear what’s going on in the lower octaves, where a lot of that energy lives. If you want to hear how the bass and kick interact in the lowest frequencies, adding a sub allows you to hear what’s happening. Since you’re working in a small room, you want to keep the volume relatively low. Otherwise, you risk driving that room and setting off those modal frequencies.
If you use a sub, try to size it reasonably. KRK offers four different subs in the lineup to choose the right one for your space. If you’re using something like a pair of ROKIT 5s, an S8.4 sub would be well-matched. That will give you enough bass reinforcement to hear what’s going on in the bottom, and it’s less likely to overwhelm the room. For a slightly larger room that maybe has seven- or eight-inch nearfield monitors, you can go with a bigger sub―like the KRK S10.4.
What best ways to reference your mixdowns against others when you’re producing in a smaller studio?
For starters, you want to try to get your reference mixes and the mix you’re comparing it against at the same relative volume. This is another case where your SPL meter can come into play. This way, if one track seems less bassy, you’ll know it’s not because of a volume difference; it’s because there’s less bass.
One trick that I have is to use Spotify. I created a playlist with some of my favorite mix reference tracks that cover a lot of genres. If I’m working on a jazz project, I’ll reference those; if I’m working on rock, I can refer to my rock tracks. Having a variety of reference material is great because it gives you similar points you can compare against. Look for stuff that’s universally considered to be well-recorded and accurate sounding. I plug my phone straight into my monitor controller and adjust the volume so that the track I’m playing back is the same as the mixing track. I’ll move between different monitors or speakers in different environments―not just in my studio but also in my living room or car.
This gives me a reference point, especially when recording in an unfamiliar room. The goal is to try to make the mix “translate” so it sounds good on all playback systems―just like your reference tracks.
What are three things anyone producing in a bedroom studio can do right now to improve the acoustics in their space?
If your room is horrible, rent time at a local recording studio. That’s the quickest thing you can do.
In a good room, you can use the KRK App and an SPL meter to get a proper monitor setup―with the speakers in an equilateral triangle, equally spaced from each other and you. Don’t have everything against one wall in the room or the exact middle of it because that’s a point where things cancel out. The KRK App can also help ensure your monitors are in-phase.
When tracking things, use a small acoustic screen behind the mic. One of the cheapest things you can do is set up a makeshift vocal booth―get a couple of tall mic boom stands with the boom horizontal and raised (creating a T-shape), and drape thick blankets over them. Put that behind the vocalist. The combination of a mic shield and blankets will cut down on those room reflections and make the room sound a little less lively and bright. That’s a good trick, and it’s relatively inexpensive to do something like that.
If you have the money for room treatments, start with four- to six-inch-thick compressed fiberglass corner bass traps. They can also be used in the wall-to-ceiling corners. Put some foam or fiberglass panels at the early reflection points on either side of you, and a bookcase or commercial diffusers on the wall behind you if the room is long (you don’t want diffusers close to you).
Lastly, as we discussed earlier, another important tip is to turn down the volume and monitor at a reasonable level (around 85 dB SPL). It is fun to slam, but that will worsen the acoustic issues. This will ensure you’ll hear more of the direct sound from the nearfield monitors and less of the sound bouncing around the rest of the room.
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