A deaf guy gave us his basement. Space Utilization

Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2003 2:03 am

And you thought I was just telling a bad joke.

One of my friends- who is about 90%+ deaf- has given us full run of his basement for studio space. No MAJOR construction allowed, but we've got some room to put up walls and such. Isolation isn't too much of a concern. And this is a temp. solution for us anyway.
The basement is poured concrete. Almost 8' to the joists- which are 2x10's. I didn't draw in stairs, furnace, water heater, etc...which are all at the 'bottom' of the pic. I did it really quickly, so its crappy.

The problem is the POLES that hold up the beam. How can we utilize this space and work around the beam. Music type- guitars and vocals for now. So a good mix position is Priority#1.

I'll answer Q's as they pop up.

26' across, about 50+ feet total length (not all ours), poles are centerd and about 7'8" apart.

<img src="http://members.bwwonline.com/jeffzika/kiffers-basement2.gif" alt=" - " />

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2003 3:46 am

Jeff,

> No MAJOR construction allowed ... The problem is the POLES that hold up the beam. <

That seems mutually exclusive. I mean, how are you going to remove the support poles without doing a major overhaul of the entire structure?

--Ethan

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2003 8:45 am

That IS the problem. NOT removing the poles is what I'm trying to work around. If a pole is in the 'work area' do you think wrapping it with fiberglass will get it 'out of the way' acoustically?

Of course, I could just pull the pole and tell everyone to not walk at that end of the house....

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2003 9:43 am

Jeff,

> If a pole is in the 'work area' do you think wrapping it with fiberglass will get it 'out of the way' acoustically? <

Well, gee, how big are they? Assuming only a few inches, I can't imagine they'll have much impact on anything. But sure, you could wrap them in fiberglass, or even just heavy fabric.

--Ethan

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2003 11:04 am

Jeff, if they're typical basement posts they will have minimun effect on your recordings. they will act as a diffuser for higher frequencies and they are small enough that they will have no effect on lower frequencies. I think that the heavy fabric idea will make the poles acoustically "invisible."

Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2003 11:15 am

Thanks guys.
They are 'typical' posts. Small diameter, steel. It seemed like a simple thing. I guess I was over thinking it. I'll just put some fabric over them. I just found out they are filled with concrete, so they are rock solid. I just didn't want any 'pinging' off of them.

Thanks for the peace of mind.

Jeff

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