ABSTRACT
Although variations between production rooms often play a big part in giving a facility its own particular sound, extreme variations in a room’s frequency response can lead to difficulties that can be heard in the final product. For this reason, certain basic principles (which are covered in Chapter 3 in the section Control Room Design) have become common knowledge to many who attempt the art of control room design. A few examples of these include:
^ Reducing standing waves to help reduce erratic frequency response characteristics within a room
^ Reducing excessive bass buildup in room corners through the use of bass traps
^ Keeping the room/equipment layout symmetrical throughout a room so the left/right, and front/rear imaging is consistent
^ Using absorptive and reflective surfaces to help ‘‘shape’’ a room’s sonic character
Fortunately for us, production and mixdown room designs have greatly improved over the last few decades. This is due to an added awareness of careful room design and the increased availability of acoustical products that can help shape a room’s sound. Because of the untold number of acoustic variables that are involved, a project that’s been recorded in one facility will often sound quite different when played and/or mixed in another, even when high acoustical construction standards are followed.
