Where should things go/absorbers in Control Room

[cstockdale]

Due to other construction limitations (ie rest of the house and keeping spouse happy), this is the shape and size I have for the studio.

Drawing is to scale. Ceiling is 8 feet.

I clearly need to treat the room or I will horrendous boxiness ...
I am going to follow the designs John has on the DIY panel link on the John L Sayers forum homepage.

Due to the way the door is built, I can't put a corner bass absorber in the corner where walls 2 and 3 meet.

I also can't put my desk on wall 4 because that is where the door is to the other room/iso area (which I will treat later and in a separate thread).

I need to fit a 3' deep by 5' wide desk in the room, an upright grand piano, and a drum kit. Amps and mics will all live in the iso room.

PLEASE PLEASE help me arrange things and figure out how many panels I will need and where they need to go.

By the way, the pink lines indicate walls that have been built using staggered studs, double wall, filled with insulation. Heavy black lines are to the outside of the house. Concrete exterior, with 2*4 studs, fibreglass insulation, and double sheets of drywall. The wall between the mix room and the iso room is currently 2 sheets of drywall facing the control room side, on 2*4 studs which are open on the iso side (to be dealt with later).

[mshilarious]

Hmm, I think you have to go mix position at #2, drums in the #3-4 corner, and piano out a bit from #1, keys facing the wall, angled slightly such that the back of the piano faces the drums. Absorption behind the drums (2 panels each wall) & piano (1 or 2), on the rec room door (1) and on wall #1 across from that (another 1). I would probably also slap one up on the iso room door to maintain symmetry. Bass traps go where you can fit 'em.

[cstockdale]

are you suggesting the piano placement for acoustic reasons (ie mixing), or for recording reasons (I know that having the back of a piano against a wall is not good for recording). If it is the former, then I will have to live with the piano sort of in the middle of the room, if it is for the latter reason, it is easy enough to pull it away from the wall when I need to record it.

[Mind Riot]

When you set up your mix position, you'll need to set up a Reflection Free Zone. This article Ethan Winer wrote has some detailed information on how to do it and why.

http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

Also, when you get your mix position set up, if the back wall is closer to your head than ten feet then you'll need to treat it with absorption. As mshilarious said, bass traps work well anywhere you put them, as long as you put them in the corners.

[cstockdale]

Originally Posted by Mind Riot

When you set up your mix position, you'll need to set up a Reflection Free Zone. This article Ethan Winer wrote has some detailed information on how to do it and why.

http://www.realtraps.com/art_room-setup.htm

Also, when you get your mix position set up, if the back wall is closer to your head than ten feet then you'll need to treat it with absorption. As mshilarious said, bass traps work well anywhere you put them, as long as you put them in the corners.

Thanks a ton for that link. Even the dimensions in the room being used as an example are nearly what mine are.

[mshilarious]

Originally Posted by cstockdale

are you suggesting the piano placement for acoustic reasons (ie mixing), or for recording reasons (I know that having the back of a piano against a wall is not good for recording). If it is the former, then I will have to live with the piano sort of in the middle of the room, if it is for the latter reason, it is easy enough to pull it away from the wall when I need to record it.

No that was for recording--you want the back facing into the room, and you want to mic the back.

It's OK to shove against a wall when mixing, as Ethan pointed out it makes little acoustic difference. Don't block your absorbers though. You might want to upgrade the casters on the piano if you plan to move it a lot.

[cstockdale]

oh, she's got good casters... it is a sweet piano. Upright grand, manufactured in 1920 in Toronto, a Heintzmann. I can't play it anywhere near as good as I would like, as I am a guitarist mainly, but I have a few things I can play and make sound sweet. My wife is the primary pianist, and we love to jam together. This is the first time in the whole time we have been together (5 years) that we are able to have the piano in the same room as all the other music gear. It has always been a pain to have to bring all my guitars/amps/fx/mic/vocal amp upstairs just to pl;ay with her and then take it all down again.