Is isolating the control room from the recording necessary?

D

dheh250

New member
I'm about to build a studio to record local bands and my own out of a former garage. I was planning on having the interface/comp and control part of it at the back and the drums with mics in the middle (I play drums). I have a lot of acoustic foam and some sound diffusors but I wanted to know if separating the two is a must. Normally I wouldn't mind building a wall but the garage has very high slanted upwards ceilings (around 15 - 18 ft high? is my guess) therefor building a wall would be tricky. Is there a way to isolate the two without building a wall or is it even necessary?

Thanks for the help.
-Derek
 
I record pretty much everything in my one room garage studio. The only reason I would want isolation for is to track drums. It would be nice to hear how the drums sound through the monitors while not actually having the drums next to me. A lot of times it is me playing the drums so it works out nice to have them in the same room.
I would say if you are recording other bands it would be nice to have isolation so you don't have hear everything all loud. You can just track at decent levels and it will help to get the sounds you are looking for without getting ear fatigue.
 
If you plan to record other people build a control room, it will give your ears a rest and let you listen to the recorded sounds as they are happening. It also gives you a chance to talk to other band members and discuss the project while tracking parts.

Cheers

Alan.
 
That's a good idea IF the room you're planning to divide is big enough. You're talking about a space that's 17'x40'-50' in order for it to be big enough to split in two. Otherwise, I'd keep it one big room.
 
thanks a lot guys i've got a lot to consider. I most likely will pick building the separate room over splitting the garage.
 
Adding a room for the CR

Derek,

If you plan to build a CR from scratch. It doesn't take too much more to 'do it right'. Do your research and possibly hire someone to do the design for you. Do not build it smaller than 1500 cubic feet in volume and make sure that the finished internal dimensions favor good modal distribution.

Good Luck!

Oh, yeah.. I vote for keeping the room you now have it tact as well.

Cheers,
John
 
This is an interesting topic for me. I don't have the space for a separate control room, and that doesn't bother me too much. I am in the middle of my build now, and as such did some vocals in a friend's studio. He too has a single room. I was amazed that with a live mic, and nothing else on in the room (no fans, no A/C, etc.)...how LOUD the PC for the DAW was. It was deafening. I am going to need to solve this in my studio.
 
I have read here and there how people have built cases for their DAW machines with ventilation etc... but I think that the purchase of a 'quiet' case & power supply + possibly water-cooled or heat pipe cooling would be best and probably the most cost effective solution.

A good use for mass loaded vinyl -- place inside the cheap, thin, noisy, stamped, sheet steel case. It will really help a LOT.

Cheers,
John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top