Basement studio thoughts

I have a feeling you guys are going to save me a lot of money, work and heartache. I know from experience I cant get good sound in a square box but was hoping to make it somehow usable.
I wonder if a better solution would be to isolate my equipment (Otari 4 track, PCs and other noisy stuff) and leave the rest open.
Thoughts?
 
So considering my choices, how about placement of the console? Should it still be in the general area I have described? Seems like it , but just forget the wall in the middle and vocal booth.
 
So considering my choices, how about placement of the console? Should it still be in the general area I have described? Seems like it , but just forget the wall in the middle and vocal booth.

If you're saying where to place it in a single open space (no wall, no two rooms or v-booth)...I would put it in facing the outside wall, opposite from where you have it now...where brown rectangle is (can make out what is written on it)...so that your monitors would be firing toward the opposite end wall (where you now have the v-booth).
 
Here's a rough idea of what I mean...put the desk at one end facing the other in one open space.

studio1a copy.jpg
 
In late here but I would not divide uo that room. From the pic it looks tiny already. I get wanting isolation but there's other ways of skinning that cat.
Besides for a whole lot less money than one wall, you could build an iso cabinet.

There's workarounds galore. Setting drums up in the living room when no one is home, in the kitchen ( a very live room if it's big enough, ect.etc

You want your control room as big as possible. Spend your money on sound treatment
 
Take all of this advice to heart man. None of us are here to sell you anything. Just advice from our experience.
 
All sounds interesting. But doesn't putting the mixer facing the wall make it difficult to work with anyone else in the room?
 
I will have to confirm that those dimensions are correct. The room looks a bit bigger than this for some reason.
Looking from the console, "east" wall, past the closet I believe is incorrect. There is no wall there yet, it is part of the rest of the basement.
I think I have about 5-6 feet "east" from the edge of that closet before the new wall goes up.
 
Here is my console, a DDA QII. I bought it on Public Surplus for $500!
I had a birch housing made for it. It is 8 ft wide by about 4 feet deep. Under the console I have two sidecars full of rackmounted gear.
On top is more rack space (4U I think) plus a smaller rack area for some of my modular gear. A keyboard pullout is in center.
So it is pretty huge in that console casing but I get a lot of rack bang for my buck too.
The other big piece I have is a Otari MTR-10/12 1/2" 4 track reel to reel.
qII.PNGotariMTR10.PNG
 
The studio a retired coworker built in his garage has almost all of the garage dedicated to the studio side, except he also has it marvelously treated and has massive monitors and subwoofers suspends from the ceiling. I.e., it doubles as his mixing room too. The “control” room is the size of a small closet with a window he can turn sideways to look out and indicate recording has started, though he can talk through your monitoring cans if needed. Basically it isolates the computer and his own noises while recording. I wouldn’t go any further than that, but I just don’t find it necessary to be fiddling with the DAW while others are doing their tracks.
 
All sounds interesting. But doesn't putting the mixer facing the wall make it difficult to work with anyone else in the room?

No...not really.
You don't have to keep a constant watch over the console or the people in the room. No different than playing in a band, sometimes you look over, other times you look at what you're doing, and the rest of the time you look at the audience.

Most of it is about listening for stuff.


Under the console I have two sidecars full of rackmounted gear.

Careful with that...sometimes gear directly under the console can cause electronic interference...or vice-versa.
The other thing...it will get old quick having to get down on your knees under the console to work with the gear...and there's the possibility of putting your foot through a VU meter or faceplate.
I know it's a way to use all the space you have...I just don't think that's the best spot for rack gear. Above, to the sides or behind is usually better.
 
The sidecars face upward towards my face (Trapezoidal?), and when in use I pull them out from under the console and point them towards me a bit.
 
If it works for you and feels ergonomically comfortable...go with it.

When I built my original desk for my console/racks...I created it so the side-car racks were the support for the center of the desk and my console.
I had originally tried placing some under the console, and it just caused noise issues with the preamps, etc.

Know I have a bigger console, so those support racks are now just freestanding side racks (I just cut them free of the center piece when I extended things).

One thing I found awkward with the close side racks is that even though they have a front slant, you just can't really see what your doing without getting out and down in front of them. I fixed that by moving all my critical rack gear to other racks in back of me...and I use the side racks for patchbays, converters and other gear I don't have to fiddle with when mixing.

Just find what is the most comfortable/logic layout for your needs...but don't just work off a diagram on paper (everything always looks more spacious and better)...really focus on actual workflow considerations....like how many times you need to do XYZ...etc...and how far away something will be from your position..etc..etc.
 
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