Small But Beautiful
Inspiration for Building a Room with Exceptional Acoustics
The title of this blog has been adopted from an article written by acoustic consultant Philip Newell for Resolution, a UK audio production magazine. Philip oversaw the design and construction of Fulcrum Studio and is referenced on the studio’s home page. His article* convincingly explains how ‘small room builds’ can be done and done well.”
Several important aspects of studio design are highlighted in the article, including acoustic isolation, creating a studio with a natural sound, the limitations of room equalisation systems and how Philip’s approach to studio design offers superior outcomes, by dealing with acoustic problems at their source.
The article prompted me to contact Philip, to ask if he was available to oversee the transformation of my space into a professional recording studio. Fortunately, he said yes and together we began the journey of designing and building Fulcrum Studio, using Philip’s highlighted principles and techniques.
Since completing the construction of 3m x 4.7m Fulcrum Studio (which qualifies as a small room) and working for many hours on a range of music production projects, I can confirm that Philip is correct. This small room build has been done well! Not that Philip’s reputation as an internationally renowned acoustician was ever in doubt.
Take a look at Philip’s website, to view some of the many studio projects (big and small) he has overseen on several continents.
Small Room Acoustics
Philip Newell’s article in Resolution magazine caught my eye and was the inspiration behind the construction of Fulcrum Studio
Philip initially overcame his own scepticism about the feasibility and quality of results for small room builds. Clearly, he is not afraid to push the boundaries of acoustics. In working with Philip, it struck me that he has a rare combination of knowledge, skills and experience. Not only a rigorous academic understanding of acoustics, but an ability to apply this to the real world of studio construction, through the inventive application of readily available building materials. I am very fortunate to have benefitted from Philip’s expertise and prior experience, acquired during projects for many other musicians and studio owners.
Not being in a financial position to purchase or rent a commercial property, I decided to create a small studio space at home. I was determined to ensure that although small, its acoustic credentials would be to a high standard and facilitate professional music production. Having previously rented several studio spaces, each compromised acoustically in their own way, I was finally able to create a high quality space to permanently set up my studio equipment and offer music production services, to artists in the local area, plus music collaboration online.
By telling the story behind the gestation and birth of Fulcrum Studio, I hope this article is helpful for artists looking for a recording studio in Bristol or for music production online and provides insight and inspiration for those who are considering building a high quality music production room of their own. More details about the acoustic design of Fulcrum Studio can be found in the ‘Fulcrum Studio Acoustic Design’ blog post.
Although acoustic design can be a very technical undertaking, it can provide room acoustics that when combined with support and technical guidance, enable a focused workflow and musical creativity to flourish. This is possible due to the studio having a ‘natural’ or ‘reference’ sound, with very little influence of the room surfaces or dimensions on the sound of the room. This in turn means that music produced at the studio will sound balanced, when listening on other playback systems, in other spaces.
Acoustic Isolation - a Quiet Space for Music Production
One of the main issues when creating a small, acoustically neutral space is that ‘soundproofing’ a room, more accurately described in professional circles as ‘acoustic isolation’, is key to creating a room that is quiet and without disturbances from outside, as well as preventing noise from leaking out and upsetting the neighbours. To achieve acoustic isolation, sound must be trapped within the room by reflecting it off of the walls and ceiling and back into the room. These audio reflections in small rooms occur more quickly and with more energy than in larger rooms, leading to a very coloured sound, which is initially a very long way from the ‘acoustically neutral’ specification of a professional music production environment. A 'rattly box’ as I once heard it described!
If a high level of acoustic isolation is required, it will require a lot of building materials to absorb the sound energy, which will be both expensive and take up a lot of space, further reducing the dimensions of an already small room. The compromise is to allow some low frequency sound to pass through the isolation structure and limit noise levels within the studio, to not upset the neighbours. In everyday use, this makes the studio ideal for quieter recording sessions that don’t involve acoustic drums or a full band. Check out the studio page, in the ‘about’ section of the website for more details.
Fulcrum Studio under construction
Layers of Troldtekt wood wool panels being attached to the studio’s timber stud walls, over a layer of acoustic fabric
Fulcrum Studio’s exceptional internal acoustics were partly achieved with an inner layer of Troldtekt wood wool panels on the side walls and ceiling. These are manufactured in Denmark and available through Skanda Acoustics in the UK. The panels are made from a mixture of wood shavings and cement and act as porous sound absorbers.
Creation of a ‘Natural’ Sounding Room
The beauty of Philip’s thinking behind small room acoustics and his approach to studio construction is to deal with problems at their source, in preference to acoustically ‘correcting’ a room after it has been built. Treating the cause and not the symptoms of acoustic unevenness leads to better results. Rather than building an acoustically isolated structure and then ‘treating it’ with remedies such as fitting absorption and diffusion panels or applying room equalisation, Philip’s design prevents the accumulation of uneven frequencies before they build up in the room, by absorbing sound using a combination of plasterboard/deadsheet stud walls, mineral wool layers, acoustic fabric and the aforementioned wood wool panels. With the addition of rear wall absorbers, a very flat frequency response has been created in the room. The impact of specific room dimensions is negligible, so walls do not need to be angled, making construction in a limited footprint easier.
Room equalisation can change the tonal balance of playback sound in the room by applying a specially designed EQ curve to sound emitted by the speakers. The same system can be used with different EQ curves for headphones. However, the major limitation of room equalisation is that it is ‘position dependent’. The successful application of room equalisation to correct acoustic imbalances at one spot in the room may have a detrimental impact on other locations in the room, leading to a very inconsistent and ‘lumpy’ listening experience.
At Fulcrum Studio, the benefit of not ‘correcting’ the room using equalisation is that those in the studio do not need to sit in a predefined and limited ‘sweet spot’, but sound emanating from the speakers can be enjoyed over a large area, both at the stereo focus of the speakers behind the desk and in a large area behind this. Sounds recorded in the room also benefit from a flat frequency response.
There are many a musician, mix engineer and music producer working in rooms that are acoustically compromised in some way. This has lead to a rise in the popularity of ‘room correction’ or ‘room equalisation’ systems. However, these are an unnecessary complication and expense, when a room has been designed from the ground up to be as acoustically neutral as possible and not as effective as treating the acoustic problems at their source.
Phillip sums up this issue in his article by stating that “Most of the acoustic problems in small rooms are of a non-equalisable nature and so the only real solution is to deal with them at source.” His design for Fulcrum Studio does this very effectively.
The absorption of the majority of sound energy across a wide band of frequencies, which on its own would make the room sound acoustically ‘dead’ and uncomfortable to work in, is counteracted by a hard floor and front monitor wall, as well as other reflective surfaces in the room, which add ‘life’ to the room, without unduly compromising it’s overall acoustic qualities.
Traditionally, small rooms tend to sound ‘boxy’ or…small. Many home recording artists and musicians work hard to counteract this inherent boxiness in their recordings, if they record in small spaces. At Fulcrum Studio, although the studio is physically small, it doesn’t ‘sound’ small, because the acoustic qualities of the physical room dimensions do not apply, due to the degree of sound absorption. Sounds in the room are not given the oportunity to repeatedly bounce around and impose the sonic signature of the room dimensions. Because of this, working on music at Fulcrum Studio is best described as liberating, on both a technical and creative level.
Philip concludes his article by stating “These treatments are proving to be an inexpensive and practical solution to the small room question, and the results can be very good indeed.” Having successfully built Fulcrum Studio , I whole heartedly agree with this statement! I can’t thank Philip enough for his overwhelming knowledge, experience and patience, as he guided me through the construction of Fulcrum Studio.
If you feel inspired to start your music production project at Fulcrum Studio, contact Richard today, to book your free taster session and claim an introductory discount as a new client.
Mix your music at Fulcrum Studio and experience for yourself the pleasure of working in a professionally designed and constructed acoustically neutral space. Those outside the Bristol area can also benefit from the studio’s advanced acoustics through music production online.
*Small but beautiful, written by Philip Newell
Resolution magazine - Small Room Acoustics Supplement
V14.2 March-April 2015
