Modeling my Control Room.

[ZEKE SAYER]

The room is about 10' X 10'. What i'm looking for is a design that will "Relax" the mind and have a nice filling. I'm thinking of painting the walls and top white with lite blue carpet, with some led-zep and ozzy posters and some more stuff like that. I'll also be puting up some track lights. What would any of you do? Does this plan sound good. Give me some ideas.


Oh, and i'm on a tight budget.


Zeke

[Michael Jones]

Are you talking just "paint and polish" of an existing room here, or did you want to build something?

I'd try to stay away from carpet, its going to make your room sound bassy.

Oh, and its feeling, not filling.

[ZEKE SAYER]

Yeah. I'll have to use that room. I can't build noting. By saying "Stay away from carpet" do you mean it's ok to use it in the live,drum and vocal room, but not ok to use in the control room? cause i got it put down in the live room and it sounds ok. Do you think i should put down some of that wood flooring stuff?

Oh, and what will work well for acoustics that looks good but is not too much?

Thanks

zeke

[Michael Jones]

You owe it to yourself to go here:
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html
and read the part on acoustics, and check out some of the studio plans.

If you've got carpet in your live room, and it sounds good to you, that's fine. If it sounds good it is good. But as a general rule, carpet tends to absorb only high frequencies, making the room have a bass-heavy response.

Wood flooring is expensive, but if you can afford it, its more neutral as far as absorbtion goes.

Inexpensive acoustic treatments would be some cloth covered 703 set up as wall panels in the room. Don't use foam!

703 is a product made by Owens Corning. Its a rigid fiberglass insulation, and comes in 2'x4' sheets with thicknesses varying from 1" to 3". You will not find it at any home improvement center. You'll need to look for insulation suppliers in the yellow pages.

As far as colors go:
Warm tones, like reds, oranges, purples (shades and variations thereof) tend to be very relaxing, especially if lit effectively.

Cool tones, like yellows, blues, greens (shades and variations thereof) tend to be more ....energetic, and some people say, induce creativity.

So, take that for what its worth.

[zenpill]

Michael,

You mentioned cloths on the walls, I am about to build my house here in the mountains of Costa Rica and of course I will be setting aside some space for a small home studio that could seat drums and about four more instrumets. It is quite hard to get all this material you have mentioned around, what I was thinking I could do was to drop HEAVY courtains from the ceiling to the floor, also less expensive.

I will be posting an idea of a floor plan soon as well as all information about the project as for I have to finish the plans for the whole house soon in order to start the construction and if I'm not wrong I'd have to include the detailed plans of the studio as well. Which really sucks because I'm trying to educate myself a bit more on the subject before I design my home studio. Gotta rush though.

Please excuse my poor English grammar, spanish is my mother language.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Zenpill

[ZEKE SAYER]

I was thinking of getting some of that "Pill'n Stick" Wood floor stuff that they have at Home Depot or Lowes. It looks good and i think i heard ta they are made with wood. Will that work? And the Fiberglass stuff, What can i rap it with?


zeke

[Michael Jones]

zenpill - the heavy curtains will work, but I believe the rigid insulation will work better.

Zeke - Ridig insulation is usualy wraped with a fabric. I like cotton because it doesn't induce static electricty like polyesters can. The peal and stick flooring is ... ok, I know its all a matter of cost, but a higher quality flooring will last longer and look nicer.

[ZEKE SAYER]

I was thinking, I don't think wood flooring would "Look" right in the control room so i think that i'll just put down the same carpet that's in the rest of the studio. Is a real low cut carpet (not even a centimeter high!) And with the proper wall treatmean, this won't make that big of a diffurence will it?

zeke

[Michael Jones]

Zeke, look, no offense little brother, but are you going to keep asking the same question until you get the answer you like?

Yes, it will make a difference. But I understand that economics dictate and if you have to go with carpet for budgetary reasons, then do it. You wont hate it, and you'll learn to deal with its short-commings. Its just not the BEST solution. But it is do-able.

[Blue Bear Sound]

You should listen to Michael, Zeke.... he knows what he's talking about...

And you're right - wood flooring looks terrible in control rooms...

[ZEKE SAYER]

Sorry Michael. I didn't mean to ofend you.

[Michael Jones]

De Nada Amigo.
No offense taken.

[redcannon]

if you are looking for cheap wood laminate flooring, check out this website:

http://www.lumberliquidators.com

much of it is .99 cents per sq ft!

i just bought a bunch of it and layed it down in the control room i am building, and it looks great! just as good as the pergo stuff, but way cheaper.

[Michael Jones]

Originally posted by redcannon
if you are looking for cheap wood laminate flooring, check out this website:

http://www.lumberliquidators.com

much of it is .99 cents per sq ft!

i just bought a bunch of it and layed it down in the control room i am building, and it looks great! just as good as the pergo stuff, but way cheaper.

Great link man!
I noticed they have a store on Ben White Blvd. too. I'll have to go check them out.

[redcannon]

yeah, after i found the website, i noticed the store on ben white. that's where i ended up buying the flooring. they stock everything you see on the website.

it was a great deal! it beats the hell out of home depot's $3.50 per sq ft laminate flooring.