Ever walked into a music studio? Then you might have discovered they all have a lot in common. Of course, we’re not talking about the leather chairs and golden records on the wall, but the way they are built: to sound perfect.

Studios come in many styles and sizes, from tiny home studio’s, in the attic or the basement, to million dollar studios of top producers. What’s the secret of a room that’s built to make music sound great?

Room in a room

The first rule of most sound studios, is that they should ‘leak’ the least sound as possible. Since sound goes through every hole and also spreads through concrete, that means isolation is key. So the outside consists of layers of isolation. The best option is a room-in-a-room construction, where there is no connection between the recording room and the building. Think double walls with isolation between, double ceilings and double doors.

Reverb and feedback

Inside a great sounding studio, you’ll find diffusers: panels on the wall made of absorbing material with an uneven surface structure, to spread and absorb the sound waves. The room also needs thick panels for the lower tones, so-called bass traps. This all is to absorb the sound as much as possible, so the sound waves don’t endlessly stay around in the space, causing feedback.

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Feedback is not always bad: a beautiful form of feedback is reverb, the kind of sound you hear when you clap or sing in a hallway or a church. Here the sound ping-pongs through the room, creating a warm wet bath of sound. That works great with singers and choirs, but less good with drums or low notes.

For music recording purposes it is important that all tones and frequencies sound almost equal, to create the best quality recording. That explains why the ideal music studio is in general quite ‘dry’, and every frequency has the same length. And the nice reverb like in a church? They can always add that later.