MicroStudio (TM)

[laptoppop]

Ok, maybe not (TM)

Here's some rough thoughts toward a space that I'll be remodeling into a itty bitty studio.

I've attached a picture of my insanity...

The space is 20x10 feet. I'm thinking of splitting it up into two spaces, 8x10, and 12x10.

The front and back wall of the "control room" would be absorbent -- probably 4" knauf fiberglass (703 equiv).

The ceilings are pitched with one side 8 feet rising to 12 feet on the other side. The highest point is right over the two doors I'd be putting in. I'm thinking I'd make it an equal triangle, which would limit it to around 10 feet at the peak, then cover the whole thing with more of the 4" fiberglass panels. In the triangle above the ceiling, I'd hide the air conditioning ductwork, and sound control soffits.

The floor would be wood - probably a laminate like Pergo.

The sides of the rooms would be covered with some floor to ceiling slot resonators. Across from the door in each case would be a bookcase -- Natural diffusor.

The corners in the control room would be deeper bass slot resonators.

There would be a 3 foot square window between the rooms. I've drawn the angle side to side, but it would actually be top to bottom -- i.e. the top further apart than the bottom.

Yup, its tiny....but could this work? How can I make it better? I pretty much can do anything within the 10x20 area.

-lee-

[John Sayers]

here's another way of doing those side wall slots

cheers
john

[laptoppop]

Thanks for the thought, John - it can make it easier to build - one big array versus smaller boxes.

I assume you are referring to the side slots for the "studio" part -- or do you mean for the "control room" part as well? Don't I want to angle the beasts away from the front for the side walls on the control room?

Time to show my ignorance big time:

I'm a bit suprised by the overall convex (inward) triangular shape. Wouldn't that tend to concentrate the returns from the flat front parts of the resonating boards? Wouldn't a rounded convex (bulging in the middle by about 3-6 inches) be a bit better at spreading the sound around?

In building a resonator, is there any advantage in using the 4" fiberglass, instead of the 1" or 2"? It seems like it might be there just to damp the vibrations, and not be as frequency sensitive as it is when the fiberglass is exposed directly. Am I getting that right?

I am figuring on using the 4" for the ceiling to really make it dissapear from as much of the spectrum as possible (unless you tell me that the extra cost over 2" is not worth the minimal gain!!!!). Should I save the money? I want good sound, but I'd rather buy some more equipment!

You don't seem to be laughing (publicly ) at the size of the rooms -- they're tiny, but I really want to be able to use the monitors while setting up the microphones, etc.

Thanks again for your input!

-lee-

[John Sayers]

I only offered that as a alternative as you room is so small (he he ) You have to remember it's relative to the scource which is your speakers - direct sound from them will still reflect back to your rear wall. plus you can run a shelf thru the middle if you are short of shelf space.

Yes I'd go with the 4" in the ceiling but the 2' will be fine in the resonators.

Don't under estimate the possibilities of a small room One of the best rooms I designed was for Hello Testing in Sydney that was no bigger than yours. Everytime I went back I was impressed with how good that room sounded and Paul made heaps of award winning commercials out of it.

cheers
john

[laptoppop]

One issue that I didn't elaborate on at first -- I am very concerned about reducing sound transmission in/out of the microstudio, as well as the sound treatment inside the microstudio.

What I was planning on doing was to make sure there was insulation inside the wall, then overlaying the existing gypsum wallboard with 3/4" plywood, then overlaying that with another layer of wallboard. -- Lots of mass --

Of course, these extra caulked layers make the inside pretty darn sealed too. Will this hurt my attempt at having a good sounding room?

Thanks,
-lee-