IT’S ALL ABOUT DA BASS

It’s been said in regards to audio that it’s the bass that "sorts the men out from the boys". Low frequencies in the studio tend to present the most complex problems and cause the most heartache for budding engineers and producers.

Whether monitoring, recording, mixing or treating spaces, low frequencies need to be handled with care and respect. The fundamental reason for this is that they generate the most energy, and thus are the wildest beasts to tame. Taking a look at the fundamental physics of frequencies, it can easily be seen why this is so. While 10,000 Hz (10KHz) has a wavelength of just 3.432 centimeters, 60Hz has a wavelength of 5.72 metres. This means that in your average bedroom, a 60 cycle soundwave will pummel through the wall! forethought, and some expenditure. Much depends on whether your space is purpose-built or a conversion. First off, a tight space is a good space. If there’s anything loose in the room, you can be sure that there’ll be a resonant frequency which will get it vibrating, causing unwanted noise, rattles and booms.

Next, you’ll want to look at how best to lay out your room in order to get the most balanced image from your monitors. Try to keep things as symmetrical as possible. In particular, you want the distance from both speakers to the rear wall to be identical, if possible - otherwise soundwaves will be arriving at different times, causing conflicting reflections to bounce back towards the listening position.

Purchasing or building some bass traps to balance your room or to absorb some low frequency is mandatory if you are serious about creating a balanced listening environment. Low frequencies tend to build up in corners - where walls meet walls - but also where the wall meets the ceiling or floor. It may also