Recording in Unfinished Basement

[fulano]

The only "quiet" place in my house is the unfinished basement, so unless I only want to record whenever the kids and wife are not home and I am (which happens very rarely) I am going to need to go down there and record eventually.

Basically a 1300 sq. ft. open space with concrete walls.

Any advice? Is it even worth trying? I guess it won't hurt to try but I am thinking it will be quite a challenge. Has anyone recorded in a similar enviornment successfully? Any hints would be appreciated.

[rf1]

I think one problem you could have is unwanted room ambience... specially if the basement room is still empty...

what instruments will you record?

[fulano]

Mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals with the occasionaly fill in type instruments like a harmonica. For now no plans for a full band. No drums, basses or electric guitars, etc.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by fulano

Has anyone recorded in a similar enviornment successfully? Any hints would be appreciated.

Basements are fine, and LOTS of people record there. But you need to treat the space with bass traps, absorbers, and optionally diffusors. This can be done on a budget using DYI skills and some research about what to do. Or you can buy commercial acoustic treatment which usually includes expert advice.

--Ethan

[nate_dennis]

Check out the book "Guerrilla Home Recording." The book really focusses on "taking the room out of the equation." I guess the idea is that "pro facilities" require different tequniques than home studios do. I've read the book and when I get all of my gear plan on implementing a lot of the ideas. It can't hurt to read it. You can get used copies for $6-7 but, new, they're only about $20.

[I Got Riffs]

Personally, I would think the most important part would be to make sure you are comfortable in the room. If it's not somewhere you're going to enjoy hanging out in, then this may hinder your creative side. On the other hand, some people need to rid themselves of all distractions. Just make sure you have a good power source, keep your gear clean and watch out for spiders!

[Sailjunkie]

we've got so much crap down there that we have no need for diffusers and the like The only area where excess noise would be a problem is when I mic my amp (sometimes I can here my chair creeking etc.). My music is instrumental so no need to worry about vocals.

[fulano]

Thanks for the replies. One of these weekends I will get a chance to just try it out I hope. There is a lot of junk pretty much linining the walls around the entire space so I might get lucky and not need to condition the space much.

It's cold down there, which is one thing keeping me from trying it.

[D28Flatpickr]

You should think about sectioning off a portion for you recording space and insulating it from the rest of the world as much as possible.

Think long term. It's cool to just move your gear down to the basement and start making music, but consider the time and effort it takes to even play music much less record it and record it well. I have a wife and kids too and understand how valuable time is. It is hard to get time to yourself. I found that by the time I got the mics, cables, instruments out of the closet and set everything up, it was time to go to dinner, pick the kids up from school, take out the trash, got to work, wash the car, watch the kids, buy groceries, entertain neighbors in laws and whoever else stopped by, mow the grass, feed the dog, change diapers, fix the sink, clean the garage, take the car to the shop, make lunch, do the laundry, go to church, help with home work, change the light bulb, bebug the PC, rake leaves, pay the bills, return the overdue DVDs,.....

So, if you spend time on the front end doing the research and building, you can create a space for yourself where you can leave everything set up and ready to use, giving you more time later to play and record, it sounds good and helps you get better and better at both playing and production --- because all the other stuff can't wait -- I know, you've got a family to take care of.


1st the sectioning: Good for two main reasons, one: if the stairs to your basement empty directly out into the space you will have problems with wife & kids walking into a session. Two: sectioning off a portion of the basement for you recording area will also help with reducing natural reverb and reflections. You could do this by hanging heavy drapes, carpet, or fabric or if your handy- - build a dividing wall.

Insulating: You will need to insulate your recording space to reduce outside noise from coming in. If your basement has a suspended ceiling with fiberglass tiles, you already have some insulation in place - add some fiberglass batting between the ceiling and upstairs floor joists. If your basement has no ceiling and just exposed floor joists - over the are you section off, install fiberglass batting between the joists and hang Gypsum board preferably or foam panels (the smooth surface blue or pink - not the compressed white beads)

You will need to insulate your space from any noise made by appliances and mechanical equipment

Room treatments on the cheap: Once you have reduced outside noise as much as possible, you will need to treat the space for recording. As others have mentioned this is different for home recording than it is for commercial studios. Commercial studios spend big bucks to create acoustically perfect rooms. In our world the goal is to prevent the room from having a negative impact on our projects. This can be done with the help of absorbers, bass traps, and reflectors. All of which can be made with stuff you already have of can make yourself. Example an upholstered chair or sofa makes a great bass trap when placed in the right spot. Curtains or drapes are your absorbers, and sheets of 1/4" Luan plywood can be cut and placed for reflectors. The cool thing is with some creativity you can make a decent recording space that is comfortable and looks good for not a lot of dough.

Read and research home studio building and treatments as much as you can and have a good understanding of the basics before you start stacking gear in a corner and setting up mic stands. Sticking to the tried and trued fundamentals will give you the best results in the over sound and quality of you projects. There are a lot of resources on the web. Start here with the Studio Building forum. And have fun doing it!