Client Spotlight: Thomas Toner – Stone Baby Sounds

When Producer/Mixer Thomas Toner rented a vibey 100-year-old house in Franklin, Tennessee to turn into his private studio, Music City Acoustics was excited to get the call to partner on the acoustical solution. The studio had two tracking rooms and a control room, and MCA initially consulted and built acoustic treatments for both. For this specific scenario, the focus is on the control work project, as many readers might want insight into how to acoustically treat their control rooms within home studio spaces.

What happens when you take a 15’3” wide by 15’4” long by 9’10” tall room in a 100-year-old house and try to put a control room in it?  Room modes are what happens. More specifically, converging or adjacent room modes which amplify all of the acoustic issues. 

Before Thomas reached out to Music City Acoustics to consult on his new control room, he had set up his gear in the new space along with existing acoustic treatments he already had.  What he heard when first listening back to the speakers was a very inconsistent low end with a lot of “boominess” and a lack of definition and clarity.  Most noticeable, however, was the ringing at 110Hz anytime a kick drum hit or low note was played on an instrument.  Right around 110Hz, the room rings when instruments are played, making that frequency and those around it last noticeably longer in the room. When you want to be able to accurately hear your speakers, the last thing you want is to hear your room singing along.