Tracking room EQ & Control Room EQ

[jj91709]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and have a question on approach to measuring and ultimately adapting a recording. My situation is that I have a home recording studio which has 3 rooms: a tracking room (with live drums, sometimes guitar amps, etc), a vocal booth, and a separate mixing/control room.

Use case 1: Measuring the tracking room acoustics
Even though I don't usually play sound through speakers in this room, do I set up my monitors in this room to conduct the assessment? I assume I put them at ear level and spread them out a little bit and then place the mic in the center, or perhaps near where the drum overhead mics will be located? Most of the recorded sound from this room will be coming from the overheads I believe.

Let's say this produces REW file #1.

Use case 2: Control/mixing room
My monitors are set up in this room traditionally. I plan to put the mic where my head would normally be located during mixing.

Let's say this produces REW file #2.

Based on what I find by reviewing REW file #1, I may do some additional acoustic treatment in the tracking room. But let's say for now that the acoustic treatment I have is complete and I now plan to apply an EQ to a given recording.

Questions:
Q1: How do I account for both room acoustics given I have 2 separate files? If I find, for example, that file #1 reveals a 10db peak at 500hz and file #2 reveals a 5db peak at 500hz, do I essentially add them together and say I need to reduce around that frequency 15db in what gets recorded? What if they offset each other (i.e., file #1 has a 10db peak but file #2 has a 5db valley at 500hz)-- do I simply subtract and say I need to reduce 5db at 500hz?

Q2: Logistically speaking, how do I make this happen in my DAW? I have Apple Logic. I don't see a plug-in for REW. Do I have to manually generate an EQ that accounts for files #1 and #2?

Hope this makes sense. Thanks for any insight you have.
Jeff

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Welcome to the Forum, JJ

Even though I don't usually play sound through speakers in this room, do I set up my monitors in this room to conduct the assessment?

Yes. REW can only measure an audible signal.

Based on what I find by reviewing REW file #1, I may do some additional acoustic treatment in the tracking room.

Q1: How do I account for both room acoustics given I have 2 separate files? If I find, for example, that file #1 reveals a 10db peak at 500hz and file #2 reveals a 5db peak at 500hz, do I essentially add them together and say I need to reduce around that frequency 15db in what gets recorded? What if they offset each other (i.e., file #1 has a 10db peak but file #2 has a 5db valley at 500hz)-- do I simply subtract and say I need to reduce 5db at 500hz?

There seems to be some confusion here. Treatments improve acoustics by reducing reflections and/or reverberation. REW measurements such as ETC can help with treatment placing. Before and after waterfall and / or RT60 measurements can show the improvements installed treatments have realized.

However, treatments have little-to-no effect on frequency response. That requires equalization.

Here’s a post I made a number of years ago on another forum that explains, complete with a visual: EQ vs. Treatment

All that said, you don’t have to worry about merging the room responses of the tracking and mixing rooms. Presumably in the tracking room you’ll be using close mic’ing of the instruments and vocals, which should all but eliminate any room contributions.

For the mixing room, measure frequency response and apply moderate parametric equalization as needed (most likely utilizing an appropriate house curve) and avoiding trying to EQ nulls, which are sharp, and deep depressions in response. If your DAW can apply a global EQ, you can use it. If not, you’ll have to use outboard equalization (read hardware).

Regards,
Wayne