Help! Clueless?

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2003 8:01 pm

Alright, I've been trying to read everything on this site and some others and I'm more confused than ever. I have a basement studio. It's unfinished with poured concrete walls, concrete floor, and about a 7 foot ceiling. The dimensions are 42 feet long by 24 feet wide. There is a furnace in the middle of the room and I use half the room as my studio. The studio portion measures 21 x 24. The only treatment I currently have is a vocal booth in one corner using Auralex. I know that I need to deaden the wall which faces my monitors. I plan on using Ethan's alternating traps/absorber method once I can find the illusive 703. Any other thought? Do I need diffusors? Should I deaden the other walls? The ceiling?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but any help you can give me is much appreciated.

Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 4:28 am

Brad,

> poured concrete walls, concrete floor <

Unfortunately, cement and brick are the worst materials for a recording studio because they are so rigid and inflexible that even the lowest frequencies bounce off them.

> The dimensions are 42 feet long by 24 feet wide. There is a furnace in the middle <

Consider building a wall to make the room smaller, keeping the furnace on the outside. If nothing else that will make the room more manageable so you don't have to treat that entire large space.

> The studio portion measures 21 x 24. <

That's a good size, but is it walled off separately or just the portion you use within the larger space? If it's already walled off, ignore what I said above.

> I know that I need to deaden the wall which faces my monitors. I plan on using Ethan's alternating traps/absorber method <

Yes, and you'll need as many as you can fit and afford.

> Do I need diffusors? Should I deaden the other walls? The ceiling? <

If you apply my traps all the way around the room you may not need any further treatment. I suggest you cover the entire ceiling with 703. Better, use 705 at least two inches thick.

--Ethan

Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 5:45 am

Thanks, Ethan. Sounds like I have some work to do.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003 4:47 pm

Ethan, here's what I ended up doing several months ago, now I'm wondering if I need to do more. Building a wall to separate the room really wasn't an option for a number of reasons. Therefore, I divided the space by hanging heavy blankets down the middle of the room.

I then completely covered the other three walls by gluing 4 inch thick mineral wool directly to the walls and covered the wool with blankets. I removed the carpeting, so I have a reflective floor. I haven't yet treated the ceiling, but am planning on getting 705 to stick between the wooden ceiling beams.

Does the sound like a decent plan? Is gluing the absorbers directly to the wall a bad idea? Thanks.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 7:49 am

Brad,

> Does the sound like a decent plan? <

Absolutely.

> Is gluing the absorbers directly to the wall a bad idea? <

Not a bad idea, but slightly wasteful. You would have gotten the same result by using two inch thick material and spacing it away from the walls by two inches. But that would have been more work and more expensive to build and mount a frame, so what you did may have been less expensive in the long run.

--Ethan

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 9:36 am

Brad,

the only thing i am going to add here is the reccomendation that you purchase some spray treatment for fire proofing fabrics - and you treat the heck out of those blankets you're hanging up.

Don't take chances with untreated materials.

Good luck,

Rod

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 4:24 pm

Thanks guys. Rod, I'm with you. When I put up the blankets I sprayed them heavily with a fire retardant spray that I purchased based upon the recommendation of someone here. Thanks.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2003 5:47 pm

Brad,

:c:

Rod

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