How to calculate room modes?

P

phatastic

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Edit: room modes and control studio acoustics

I have an assignment for my recording class. We're supposed to figure out how many room modes in a project studio based on the given dimensions and then do a 4 page paper on how to acoustically treat the room, including a budget.

I'm not worried about the second part; with a little bit of net research I can finish it up in a couple of hours, but I have no idea how to calculate the room modes. Can anyone help me?
 
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I dont mean to sound like an a$$ but it seems like you want us to do your homework for you. :D

Didnt you learn how to calculate room modes in class?

For real I dunno how to do that, but good luck getting the answer. Ima try and learn from this thread too. :cool:
 
Actually I think they did, it's an 8 o clock class and I have missed one, so yeah probably.

I figured it was a simple calcuation so I thought this would get me a quicker response than emailing a friend of mine in the class to get his notes.

:mad:

Ass.







:p

I'll holler at him and see what he knows.

edit: WOW. My bad FP. I'm doing a little research and it turns out there's more to this than I thought.

Looks like I'll be answering my own question, lol. For those interested or are thinking of building their own studio, here's the scoop.

Room modes are frequencies which naturally enhance the volume/reverb of certain notes in control rooms. They can vary greatly depending on the dimensions of the room, so the only way to really know where they exist is to use specialzed programs that can calculate where they may be found. Modes are especially important for control rooms, since you want to get as flat a response as possible and so would be smarter to build your studio in a room with dimensions that create the best sonic quality (i.e. multiple room modes).

I'm looking around for a page with a good link to a mode calculator and a better explanation of everything I just described, I'll be posting it here in a second.
 
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Excellent link !! :cheers:

Actually all Ethan Winer's readings are very recommended for studio room setups.
 
THM said:
Excellent link !! :cheers:

Actually all Ethan Winer's readings are very recommended for studio room setups.
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Awesome. I guess I stumbled on a credible source. Glad to be of assistance. :cheers:
 
Still working on it - waiting for all cables to arrive (subterranean cable pipes are foreseen for electricity, MIDI, and audio - with eectricity cables decently seperated from the others). And I think I'm gonna try out the cheapest soundproofing foam before going to the more expensive Auralex stuff. But after all I definitely need soundproofing foam (I think to buy 192 square feet of 1'x1'x2" wedges); my monitor stands, mixing desk & synth stands are placed already but there's still remaining a very lot unwanted reverbs.
 
THM said:
Still working on it - waiting for all cables to arrive (subterranean cable pipes are foreseen for electricity, MIDI, and audio - with eectricity cables decently seperated from the others). And I think I'm gonna try out the cheapest soundproofing foam before going to the more expensive Auralex stuff. But after all I definitely need soundproofing foam (I think to buy 192 square feet of 1'x1'x2" wedges); my monitor stands, mixing desk & synth stands are placed already but there's still remaining a very lot unwanted reverbs.
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Is the unwanted reverb right across the spectrum or specifically in certain bands?

Incidentally, I'm learning how to design soundsystems for specific venues this semester so I am learning about different speaker types/directional sound properties/dispersion properties etc What monitors are you using? Can you give me a basic plan of where your equipment is in the room.

I'll gladly have a go at recalulating the rt60 and modal resonance factors of your control room based on the dimensions and materials used and see if we can't work out how to resolve the problems you're having if you like, although I appreciate that you may want a more professional involvement bud...
 
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...also...I know it may be a daft question...but have you tried changing the distance you are compared to your monitors? It may be that you haven't got a balance of direct sound and reflected sound in your listening position...there is a formula for calculating what is called the "critical distance". This is the distance you need to be from your monitors in your chosen environment in order to get a balanced mix of direct and reflected sound if you are monitoring in the "near field".

How many monitors are you using?
 
Thank you Lord; I'll make a draft drawing asap and send it to you with everything included (room size, dimensions, measurements, gear, materials, etc...)
 
THM said:
Thank you Lord;
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Ha ha ....lol

Makes me sound like some kind of acoustic deity!!

Perhaps it might be an idea to keep our to-ings and fro-ings public this time so that everyone else can see what's going on?

That way, if we get it right, people can hopefully learn from it...and if we start to wander off the beaten track a little, any professionals out there can stick in their two-penneth worths...

:cheers:
 
^^^^

Very good idea. I myself could probably pick up a lot from reading your comments to each other. Acoustic treating is still a relatively new field for me.
 
Lord Thathidge said:
Makes me sound like some kind of acoustic deity!!
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LMAO :D

You mean...eh...sausage deity !? :p

Hey dude, I just sent you a mail & pm - please check it out.
Cheers. :cheers:
 
Great thread! This is just what ive been looking for.

That article is really informative too.

my control room is box shaped. ceiling and floor, i think they are same distance as walls!!!!! How bad can it get??
 
Hi guys.

I realise this is a very old thread, but I've got a question on Room modes too. I thought bumping this would be better because I have the exact same story as the OP. I missed the class on Standing waves. Now I understand the concept behind them and I have calculated the room modes. The question we've been asked is this;

''4/ Calculate 6 room modes, two axial, two tangential, and two oblique, for a room 7 metres long, 4m wide, and 2.5 high.

For the 2,1,2 room mode, describe, in detail the designs and dimensions of two approaches to tuned resonant absorbers''

Now, my only issue is, what modes am I supposed to use? I used a site for my calculations ((that I'm not allowed to link to because I'm a newb haha)), and it gives me a lot of answers for each one. I'm just not entirely sure which answer I'm supposed to use =(

Any help is greatly appreciated, guys. :D

Shane.
 
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