Acoustic Treatment Rooms and spaces can have a dramatic effect on what we hear. Too many reflective surfaces can often create a harsher and metallic sounding space and too many absorbent surfaces create a dry and empty sounding room. When monitoring audio a neutral sounding room is better as this has as little effect as possible on the sound between the source of the sound and the listener. It can be necessary to apply treatment to a room, sound studios are examples of treatment rooms. If you can’t always record in a studio it is helpful to consider the space and how it will influence your recording sound. The three main properties of acoustics are reflection, absorption and diffusion.
Reflective Surfaces which are reflective can be made from materials such as mirrors/windows or other shiny surfaces and wood paneling is also good for this. Most reflective surfaces enhance higher pitches, so the addition of reflective surfaces can make a room sound brighter. Absorbant To avoid too much reverberation and echo choose surfaces that absorb sound waves, especially in corners of a room, absorbent materials can be installed to stop echo effects; these can be items such as carpet, heavy drapes and foam (open-cell). Diffusive Diffusion helps to make a small room appear audibly larger through creating a sense of openness. It can be used to stop early reflections from room boundaries merging with the sound from the initial sound source. These tend to be textured to help bounce the sound around more.