Calculating Standing Waves

[kap_x]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum in which to post this..but I dont really see any others whose descriptions better fit it..

Is there any way to accurately calculate standing waves in a room that's not a rectangular prism? The room is cubeshaped, except for one corner that has a closet. the shape is hard to explain..maybe a drawing will work.

...|¯¯¯¯|
._/.......|
|.........|
|______|

*Note: The only reason I used "...." instead of normal spaces is because spaces made the picture come out incorrectly. (thus, imagine the periods are invisible)

the angle of the diagnal line is much steeper (more horizontal, at a 45 degree angle).
As you can see, it's a normal rectangle, apart from the closet, extending perpendicular from one wall, turning 45 degrees, and then turning another 45 degrees to end up perpendicular to the otherwise adjacent wall.

So...any suggestions on calculating standing waves?
hope that description is easily understood!
Thanks.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Calculating Standing Waves

There are a few different room mode calculators on the web & some are better then others.

Here's what I'm wondering though...what exactly are you attempting to figure out by knowing the exact room modes?

Are you planning on building tuned bass traps or looking for ideas on 'general' treatment?

Ideally, you'll have all your dimensions together; length, width & height.

If the boundries aren't exactly parallel, that's a good thing!

Figure out the averages & use that measurement(s)...

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Calculating Standing Waves

ETF is probably the best calc.

 

[kap_x]

Re: Calculating Standing Waves

I'm thinking about putting some bass traps, and it's also nice just to know what frequencies to look for when editing and such.

I can calculate for height and width...but length is my only problem. It's nice that the room's not square/rectangular, but it would also be nice to know.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Calculating Standing Waves

I'm thinking about putting some bass traps, and it's also nice just to know what frequencies to look for when editing and such.

???

Not sure what you mean by "editing frequencies" there...do you mean just regular old tracking & mixing?

Unless your going to build or buy tuned bass traps you don't really need to get too obsessed over it...learning the room, how things translate to the outside world is whats paramount.

I've been in a few EXPENSIVE rooms built by name designers that sound freakin' horrible & some really great home studios too. Even with a calculator & all that...they might get you in the ballpark but you still have to tune by ear.

When you say the room is a cube...do you mean that's an EXACT cube? Like 10x10x10' or something?

That's REALLY REALLY bad.

What are the rooms dimensions?

 

[Marcel]

Re: Calculating Standing Waves

a simple calculation is:
Frequency [Hz] = n*(acoustic velocity [m/s]) / (distance between walls [m])

where n=1,2,3,4,....
acoustic velocity is aprox 300m/s
for example your room is 2.8m wide that makes 110 Hz and now you know why the A is sounding so bad!!

the non rectangular shape is good to "eliminate" standing waves... but I'm not very known in this room design stuff