Basement Studio Advice

[dziembo]

I'm building a basement studio from scratch, and after much research, I've come up with a rough plan of action. I would greatly appreciate any advice/comments as I've never done this, and my plan is solely based on things I've read that seem to make sense. The room is basically going to be a control/mixing room as I'm simultaneously building a separate tracking room. For monitoring, I'll be using near-field monitors on stands.

I'm starting with an unfinished basement, so the shape of the room is my first concern. It seems as though most people advise against a square or rectangle room, so I pulled A-Design from Acoustics 101 (http://www.acoustics101.com/room_itself_gateway.htm - bottom of page) that is basically an eight-sided room with no parallel walls except back and (very small) front. I understand the benefits of non-parallel walls, but I'm not sure if this exact design is overkill. I'm also not sure if this diagram has precise, calculated angles, or if it is just a general representation of an effective shape. Any ideas? Given the available space I have to work with, this design makes the overall room much smaller than if it were a rectangle. However this is certainly acceptable if the acoustic benefits are substantial.

The raw space is 16 x 13 x 7h (ugh). If I build the room according to that eight-sided design, it will occupy a 13 x 13 area (which I think would be very bad as a square, but is OK because of the shape?). This would allow me a much-needed closet on one side. I'm also planning on putting a window in the front wall looking into the tracking room.

Assuming the shape is OK (unless you guys advise against it), my next task is to acoustically treat it. All the walls will be framed, so there will be no concrete surfaces except the floor. I was going to just put in a carpet, but I've recently read a lot of anti-carpet stuff, mostly on this message board. Also, I have a ridiculously low ceiling to work around. I'm planning on mounting 5/8" sheetrock to resilient channel on the ceiling, as I will need some degree of soundproofing from above. If carpet is no good, what do you recommend for a floor? Also, how would you suggest I treat the (already-low) ceiling if I go with a hard reflective floor?

This portion is especially for Ethan, as I plan to buy a bunch of rigid fiberglass from him to construct some wood-panel bass traps. What type of traps/how many would you recommend for a room this shape and size?

Again, I really appreciate any comments/suggestions you have. My head is spinning round-and round from researching this stuff. Thanks!

[Ethan Winer]

Dziembo,

> most people advise against a square or rectangle room <

Yes, but with a space as small as yours I don't think you have much choice. Anything you do to make the shape different will reduce the work space and room size even further.

> I've recently read a lot of anti-carpet stuff, mostly on this message board. <

Yes, much better to leave the floor reflective, or maybe have a small area with carpet, and treat the ceiling to be totally dead to as low a frequency as possible.

> I'm planning on mounting 5/8" sheetrock to resilient channel on the ceiling, as I will need some degree of soundproofing from above. <

Even with a layer of sheetrock you'll still get some sound upstairs. It may not be worth making the ceiling lower for the small reduction in sound transmission you'll get. Note I said may as I can't say for sure how much difference one layer of drywall will make. One huge advantage of leaving the joists exposed is you can then apply a substantial amount of ceiling treatment between the joists, without making the ceiling any lower at all. Then you can cover it with fabric.

> What type of traps/how many would you recommend for a room this shape and size? <

As many as you can fit. Seriously. A small room needs more treatment than a larger room, and eight traps just for the corners is the minimum you'll want. A few more on the walls will be even better.

--Ethan

[Eric Best]

dziembo, I would do some more looking at shapes before I went with that. Have you checked out John Sayer's site. Look at the recording manual, wall units and the recording manual.

Eric