I am almost afraid to ask this...

J

justharold

New member
...because I am oh so ignorant about this sort of thing.

However, I am wanting to do some major fixes to my studio (both my recording room and my control room). I'll start with the recording room...

Here is a link to a drawing of the room: http://theburrellfamily.homestead.com/room.html

This is a basement apartment bedroom in an old 3 floor house. There are 2 outside walls (the ones with windows...obviously). The wall that has the closet is adjacent to the cellar. The door leads to my control room (which used to be a kitchen).

Now, my question is this...is it feasible to divide this room into 3? I am willing to do away with the windows. But given the dimensions of the room, would it be possible to isolate (as best I can) 3 seperate rooms?

I guess what I am trying to do here (to put it another way) is add 2 vocal booths to this room.

How would I go about this?

WARNING!!! Approach this post with CAUTION! Harold is a complete moron when it comes to this sort of thing. Layman's terms MUST be used and please be prepared for him to ask more stupid questions. :)
 
You can but you'd have to make the rooms pretty dead.

Vocals aren't that tough to deal with a combination of absorption and judicious positioning of the null of the mics in the other singers' direction. You don't need total isolation.

So you can simply build some portable partitions, or even score some from off lease from an office furniture supply house, to avoid major construction--you can get high-wall cubicles with 120 degree angles, that might be perfect for you. You could even get partitions with windows, so the singers could maintain eye contact. You could stand some panel absorbers on the walls, and a floating cloud (drop ceiling with fiberglass insulation above) wouldn't hurt.

If you want total isolation for something louder than vocals, that is going to be major construction, and it will take up a lot of your floorspace with double walls.
 
Thanks for the responses.

I am hoping to isolate the vocals as much as possible (and vocals are just about as loud as anything I will be recording).

"Major construction" doesn't necessarily scare me. I do want to do this thing right (well, as "right" as I can get it given my room capabilities).

I am wondering about the drop ceiling idea, though, given that my current ceiling height is only 6'10".

I, also, plan on using panel absorbers on the walls. How does one go about determining how big the panels need to be; how many; and where to place them?
 
I am wondering about the drop ceiling idea, though, given that my current ceiling height is only 6'10".
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That does create a problem, although lots of people have even LOWER. However, what do you MEAN by "drop ceiling"? Is the ceiling "exposed" joists and the floor above now. If so, don't do ANYTHING yet. You could waste a lot of time and money. We need more information in order to give you a solution that actually does something besides cover the joists :p
I, also, plan on using panel absorbers on the walls. How does one go about determining how big the panels need to be; how many; and where to place them?
Click to expand...

What makes you think you need them? And why panel absorbers? Have you determined specific frequencys or a general frequency band that is a problem?
Membrane absorbers can actually do more harm than good if not designed for a specific problem, as they can "introduce" other problem frequencys back into the room. Your best bet is broadband absorption via Rigid fiberglass panels and bass traps. But that remains to be seen after we have more information concerning the dimensions and conditions in the room, like wall construction, floor material, and ceiling conditions.
fitZ
PS. I think the room is too small to divide into 3 spaces.
 
Harold,

> is it feasible to divide this room into 3? <

It's not even big enough to divide into 2!

--Ethan
 
Thanks again all, for your input.

Rick,

In regards to the "drop ceiling", I was merely referencing mshilarious' idea of using one. I do not see how it would be feasible, given my 6' 10" ceiling height. The ceiling I have now is just a flat (whatever-they-make-ceilings-out-of) surface. Sheet rock, or the like...

As far as panel absorbers, membrane absorbers, or...whatever...I quite frankly do not know WHAT I need (which is why I am here :) ). I am also clueless as to finding out just what it is I do need. I also have no idea to find trouble frequencies.

The walls are plaster/dry wall. The floor is wood (well, there is a cheesy old carpet on it now that, one way or another, has to go). I can do whatever needs to be done to the walls and floor and whatever else...

I am just needing help. Again, I am clueless. Even if I cannot divide this room, I do want it to be the very best recording environment they I can possibly create.

(Seriously...is it too small to divide even in 2???)

Thanks again.
 
justharold said:
(Seriously...is it too small to divide even in 2???)
Click to expand...

Generally what you try to avoid is early reflections getting into your mics. That's because they are so quick that they muddle the original signal, and because they haven't traveled far, they are relatively loud compared with what you'd want for a reverb. The smaller the room, the worse it gets. It stops sounding like reverb and starts becoming a phase problem.

The usual solution is to make the room completely dead to avoid those reflections, since a small room is never going to have a good natural reverb. That means you are committing to adding reverb in processing (c'mon, everybody's doin' it!!)

Also, with a low ceiling height, a vocal mic is going to be really close to the ceiling (sorry I missed the ceiling height before). So you need to absolutely need make the ceiling dead, or you'll get a strong 2msec reflection. A mic a foot away from a vocalist is as close to your ceiling as the talent.

You'll see people here design little vocal booths, or talk about using closets as vocal booths, really tiny spaces like 4'x5' or so. Usually they are planning on using foam on all surfaces (or leaving clothes hanging in the closet). That's the approach you are heading towards--although we typically recommend rigid fiberglass over foam.

All that remains is for you to decide how much isolation you need. The amount of isolation required will determine your construction technique. I would think that 30dB is sufficient, that's going to be a much larger difference at the capsule, probably more like 50dB, and 30dB isolation at vocal frequencies is pretty easy to achieve and conserves floorspace. However if you decide to record bass amps, that's going to be disappointing.

Personally I like my cubicle approach, combined with rigid fiberglass on the walls. I would rip off the ceiling so I could insulate above for more absorption, finished with more rigid fiberglass, or the best acoustic ceiling tile you can find (which might be the same thing).

Now if you need isolation ABOVE the ceiling for a room upstairs, that approach has its problems.
 
Harold,

> As far as panel absorbers, membrane absorbers, or...whatever...I quite frankly do not know WHAT I need <

See my Acoustic FAQ. It will tell you exactly what to do. :D

--Ethan
 
I really do appreciate all of this gentlemen. If it is alright with you, I am going to get the measurements and the complete layout of my "studio space" (recording and control room) and then I'll start from scratch with this thing.

That is, I'll come to the table with no preconceived ideas. I'll just listen...
 
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