What can I do with this room?

[KuzinRob]

Hi everyone. I've been reading this forum a lot over the past few weeks since I purchased my first home and now have space to set up my acoustic drums once again. The neighbors don't mind me rocking out, but I would still like to minimize the nuisance.

Room specs:
- basement of 3-story split-level
- 16.5' x 13', 7.5' ceiling
- one 16.5' wall is paneling on poured foundation with heating baseboard and 32" x 17" single-pane window
- one 13' wall is paneling on studs on poured foundation (?? not a clue why) with heating baseboard
- stairs down from lower-level family room, hollow door at the top
- hollow door into laundry/utility room
- vinyl floor
- closet and some storage room on 13' wall where stairs are

What I want to be able to do:
- record drums
- play live (drums, guitar, bass)
- don't need a control room, mixing will be done on a networked computer in my office

Concerns:
- relatively small room with a low ceiling
- baseboard heating and dimensions precludes room-in-a-room (?)

Any suggestions or comments are welcome. Thanks!

[dintymoore]

At the hardware store here they sell moving blankets. Maybe you could hang some, and even make it so you could take them down or rearrange them. Maybe some area rugs, just use your ears.

I would avoid going into the "playing recording studio" thing where every surface needs some sort of treatment and there's bass traps, clouds and 1/2 of Musician's Friend in the room. There's a lot of bullshit circulating about that and like I've said before, given the chance, many people would destroy Abbey Road and Motown studios with that stuff.

I like Les Paul's concept in Guitar Player mag years ago, where he said that if he made a new studio he'd make it so that it didn't look like a studio, but more like a living room, with sofas and lamps. The emphasis would be on making a comfortable place for you and your friends to play.

[KuzinRob]

Hmm... interesting. Maybe since my neighbors won't seem to mind, minimal treatment is all that's really needed. Maybe just some deadening. Thanks!

[alexanderfay01]

Area rugs seems to be the best way with some heavy thick blankets will be good..

[Dogbreath]

With all those reflective surfaces (which is a good thing btw) I'd start with bass trapping in the corners to start. A couple of throw rugs on the floor and see how it sounds.

And while I agree that over doing the acoustic treatment can kill a room, not treating can kill a perfectly good recording.

[Dogbreath]

btw... the heavy moving blanket idea is a good one (and cheap ish) but it won't do squat for the low end buildup which is the main problem in most home studios.

just a thought.

[GIK Acoustics]

Hello!

The ideas presented above will help with the acoustics of the space but won't do much of anything for isolation. I would recommend checking out Rod Gervais' book "Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros" (second edition). Almost half the book is dedicated to isolation, figuring out how much isolation you actually require, and the actual right way to build so that you know you're taking the most effective approach and not neglecting any part of the room that could be the main source of transmission. For example, adding another layer of drywall to the walls could help, but if most of it is actually coming from HVAC or other sources, adding a layer of drywall might not help as much as you thought it would.

For acoustic treatment, I would say foam or moving blankets won't do much for the overall sound. In a live room, you want most of the room to not be dead, but be controlled enough so that your recordings aren't bass weak or bass heavy, and have a good balance in the room. Foam or moving blankets won't do anything other than kill the mids and treble, and leave all your low end problems to stay...so you will have a very unbalanced sound overall. Some bass traps in the corners would be a good start. I would also recommend diffusion and tuned bass traps for live rooms, as they can control the acoustics without killing the reverb in the room. With such a low ceiling and reflective floors, I would suggest a few clouds aswell to let the liveliness come from the larger dimensions. Our acoustics primer goes over a lot of the basics on room acoustics and how to get started with treatment...check it out here: gikacoustics.com/education.html

[craigslistq]

I think Basement is better for your record drums and play live (drums, guitar, bass) and other things.
Basement is help you control the music noise to reach the neighbors and can't disturb any any.do some extra steps to make your basement sound proof which is much better for you.

[dalecurtis]

Yeah i think area rugs, carpets or blankets are the best to reduce noise. This really helps. To have good and affordable area rugs and carpets visit this

[RAMI]

All the rugs , blankets, and carpet in the world won't reduce any noise.. Anyway, the OP is long gone, but I didn't want the last post in this thread to be a false statement. Now please let it die.