Acoustically Treating a Rehearsal Space or Practice Room
There are many reasons why you might want to treat your practice room or rehearsal space. Sonic Clarity and noise reduction are the two most common reasons. An acoustically treated practice space will help isolate sound and prevent noise transmission outside of the room. But the greatest benefit a treated practice room will provide is increased sonic clarity during writing and practice. This will enhance the writing process and make it more enjoyable. This will even save bands/artists time and money when it comes time to hit the recording studio. As an experienced audio engineer myself, I can't count the number of times bands have came to my recording studio and one of the members heard something recorded different than what they had been practicing for months even years. This anomaly is certainly caused by being not being able to hear each other clearly during the writing and rehearsal process. Usually this phenomenon becomes evident in the studio when one musician starts confronting another musician of recording something other than what they had practiced or how they had the composition written. When in actuality they have been playing it that way the whole time. It's just the other artists or musicians never heard all of the notes/parts being played clearly before. This ends up costing bands more studio time as they typically have to relearn parts in the studio or parts have to be re-recorded. Being able to hear each other clearly will also aid in the creative process as you will have a better idea of how the song really sounds during arrangement/writing. An investment in your rehearsal spaces acoustics will pay for itself time and time again. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
When it comes to treating a practice room, we recommend a minimum of 20% room coverage. Depending on the size and shape of your room you may need substantially more coverage. If you are worried about reducing sound transmission, installing your panels on the wall you don't want sound to transfer through is the first step. This will give you the most effective results for decreasing sound transmission beyond that wall. Placing acoustical treatments through out the rest of the room will certainly help control reverberation and will increase sonic clarity. Installing a panel tracking system will allow you to move your acoustical treatments around the room to achieve the different desired results without having them permanently mounted in one position.
To calculate 20% room coverage simply multiply the room's total square footage (room length x room width) dimensions by .20
The resulting number is how many square feet (sq/ft) of acoustical treatments you will need to achieve a beneficial change in the rooms acoustical properties. Remember 20% coverage is the minimum recommendation and it is usually a good idea to exceed the minimum requirement to greatly enhance the acoustical properties within your room.
Note: You need to account for the ceiling height when determining your rooms requirements. The previous equation is for room's that have an 8ft-10ft ceilings. So for every extra 8ft increase in room height, your treatment requirements double. If you have a 16ft ceiling multiply the final number by (2). If you have a 24ft ceiling multiply your final number by (3). This will ensure that your room is getting adequate coverage.
If you have any questions about calculating the requirements for your particular space please fill out our FREE ROOM ANALYSIS FORM. You can also send photos of your room to customerservice@NGAcoustics.com - Or you can call us to discuss your rooms requirements between 9am-9pm et. @ (336) 684-0287
Our acoustics experts are here to help! We promise to help you find the BEST possible solution for your rooms needs!
There are many reasons why you might want to treat your practice room or rehearsal space. Sonic Clarity and noise reduction are the two most common reasons. An acoustically treated practice space will help isolate sound and prevent noise transmission outside of the room. But the greatest benefit a treated practice room will provide is increased sonic clarity during writing and practice. This will enhance the writing process and make it more enjoyable. This will even save bands/artists time and money when it comes time to hit the recording studio. As an experienced audio engineer myself, I can't count the number of times bands have came to my recording studio and one of the members heard something recorded different than what they had been practicing for months even years. This anomaly is certainly caused by being not being able to hear each other clearly during the writing and rehearsal process. Usually this phenomenon becomes evident in the studio when one musician starts confronting another musician of recording something other than what they had practiced or how they had the composition written. When in actuality they have been playing it that way the whole time. It's just the other artists or musicians never heard all of the notes/parts being played clearly before. This ends up costing bands more studio time as they typically have to relearn parts in the studio or parts have to be re-recorded. Being able to hear each other clearly will also aid in the creative process as you will have a better idea of how the song really sounds during arrangement/writing. An investment in your rehearsal spaces acoustics will pay for itself time and time again. Trust me, you'll thank me later.