Getting new studio, room treatment needed!

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 12:32 pm

My family is moving to a new house in a matter of weeks, I'm very excited! I've been storing equipment all over the place and recording in friends' living rooms etc.

I am getting a detached garage with a 30'x17' loft type finished room over. The room has central heat and air, full bath, 2 windows (one at either end) and different front to rear surface depths due to the bathroom. Here are pics of the room as is, the pool table will be gone etc. when they move out.

Very Happy

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 1:07 pm

Warren,

Hey, ya gotta keep the pool table! Very Happy

The room looks great, and with that much space you're off to a good start.

> I know there will be guesswork involved <

Not really so much guesswork. All rooms need a mix of absorbent and reflective surfaces, including bass traps to reduce the inaccuracies caused by standing waves.

> my budget is fairly tight <

Yeah, proper treatment for a room that size would cost at least $3,000. But if you're serious about having a room good enough to record and make mixing decisions in, read "Build a better bass trap" listed on my Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

It's from Electronic Musician magazine, and shows how to build real bass traps and explains how they work.

--Ethan

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 5:51 pm

Ethan, I'm definitely going to build at least 2 bass traps for the monitoring area of the room, possibly 4 along that wall behind the monitors.

What kind of low cost solution would you suggest for covering that wall with foam? This would be my "dead" end. I don't imagine I'll need a whole lot in the back, with the staggered depths due to the bathroom and the couch soaking up some bass.

I envision the bass traps, covering that entire wall with a medium thickness foam, foam above the monitoring position on the ceiling, and staggered blocks of medium thickness foam along the ceiling and walls behind the monitoring position.

The loft type ceiling makes things different, going off of memory and these pics I'd say the highest point in the ceiling is 8-9', and the corners maybe 4.5' high. I'm thinking maybe 2 traps behind the monitors, and 2 smaller ones in the corners but I don't know what thickness to build for either.

Warren

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 6:56 pm

Warren,

> I'm definitely going to build at least 2 bass traps for the monitoring area of the room, possibly 4 along that wall behind the monitors. <

For a room that size you'll need at least eight bass traps, and sixteen would not be too much. Yes, a few will help a little, but if you want the room to be even close to flat, it's going to take more than four.

> What kind of low cost solution would you suggest for covering that wall with foam? <

I'm not a fan of foam. I much prefer 703 or 705 rigid fiberglass. Either of those is far more effective than foam, yet they cost a lot less. The only downside is you'll need to cover them with fabric to make them look acceptable.

> I don't imagine I'll need a whole lot in the back, with the staggered depths due to the bathroom and the couch soaking up some bass. <

You can always start off with a little treatment, and add more as needed. But again, a couch and an irregular wall really won't do much to prevent standing waves.

> I envision the bass traps, covering that entire wall with a medium thickness foam, foam above the monitoring position on the ceiling, and staggered blocks of medium thickness foam along the ceiling and walls behind the monitoring position. <

You definitely do not want to cover any entire wall with foam or fiberglass, as that will make the room far too dead. The best treatment is a mix of hard and soft surfaces, alternating the two frequently. That is, either two-foot wide strips of fiberglass from floor to ceiling alternating with bare surfaces, or 2x4 or 2x2 panels in a checkboard pattern. This gives a much more uniform sound that is neither too live nor too dead in any place.

Since you're planning to record and mix in this room, I suggest a hard floor and mostly absorbent ceiling. The hard floor is typical of live studio rooms, and gives a pleasing natural ambience when recording acoustic instruments. The absorbent ceiling is useful because it has the illusion acoustically of making the ceiling seem much higher than it really is.

--Ethan

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2003 7:32 pm

That pool table would make a great partition if lifted vertically, but the clients would have a hard time playing on it while your mixing.

Posted: Sun Feb 09, 2003 1:27 pm

hi guys, new time poster here...

Maybe the pool table can be built into the wall, like those retractable beds Very Happy

sorry, couldn't resist.. Nice space you have there, be sure to post pics when moved into it!

Herwig

Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2003 12:25 pm

Are those 4' deep storage spaces on either side wall going to cause acoustical problems?

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