Basement Studio Layout

[JasonBird]

hello,
i'm setting up a hobby studio in my basement....again...but this time i want to spread it out or utilize more space as needed. i drew up a map of the space that i have. my question is what spaces to use for what functions. in the past I've used the main room as a live band room and recorded in there with decent results. the problem that i seemed to have had in the past is the mixing and mastering space was not ideal. i did it in the little center room, which i used mostly as a control room. so i'm wondering if i should switch it around some and use the big room as a mixing and tracking, recording space, and the other rooms for vocals, and drums or whatever. how would you use this space if you were going to set it up? the rooms now vary i think between pretty neutral t fairly live depending on the room. there are lots of little opening and things to allow the sound to break up. i don't think that I've had issues with lots of echoes etc in the past. bass seems to be the big issue. not so much when playing or recording, but on mixing, my monitors are Event TR8, but my mixes have always tended to be bass heavy when i play out side of the mixing environment. anyways, i would appreciate any ideas and feedback.

thanks! Jason

 

[Ethan Winer]

bass seems to be the big issue. not so much when playing or recording, but on mixing, my monitors are Event TR8, but my mixes have always tended to be bass heavy when i play out side of the mixing environment.

This is very common, and the usual cause is one or more deep nulls due to reflections coming back from the wall behind you. The solution is bass traps, though other acoustic treatments will help further:

Acoustic Basics

--Ethan

 

[JasonBird]

thanks for the reply Ethan. i'm aware of the benefits and requirements to do sound treatment. but i feel like i need to back up prior to that issue and first decide what to do with my space. i used to mix in the small rooom that i also had the mixer and tracked from. i think that space is too small, so now i'm wondering if i should mix and track from the center of the main space? i was actually pondering the idea of placing the monitors on the ends of the bar counter top with the rears facing into the unfinished side and me and stuff on the carpeted side. that is about the most symetrical i can get i think. if i go longways then i have the solid wall on the left or right depending on which was i set up. or the bar on the other side. i may just have to try it several way to see how it works possibly. then, what to do with the other two rooms? the center one work ok for a vox space? i was thinking of the end room as a drum room, and then do the guitars and bass in the main space. i appreciate the link you provided and will read it a few more times....

thanks! Jason

 

[Ethan Winer]

I could spend three hours on this and still not hit all the points that matter. So let's back up a bit: What is the studio used for? To record yourself only? You and friends only? To hire out as a commercial space? And what do you plan to record? Pop music only? Classical music? The answers determine how many rooms you need and how large they should be. I'll tell you that for my home studio where I record mostly myself but also small ensembles once in a while, I decided to set it up as one large room rather than multiple smaller rooms.

--Ethan

 

[JasonBird]

sorry for the delay, band practice last night, and i can't access the site from work...anyways, the space will be mostly used to record our band, and other bands that would like to record. i do it as a hobby, and not a living, but i still would like to get the best sound that i can from it. I've had good success in the past and just trying to improve on it from the last time. in the past we recorded everything in the big room, and we had to track it all individually. mostly because we wanted to avoid the bleed across instruments. the music varies, but the band i'm in is hard rock alternative. we're on reverbnation.com creeping shadows is the name...i guess the obstacle i want to improve on is the mixing environment. again, thanks for your replies, hopefully my answer helped...

 

[Ethan Winer]

One room or two rooms doesn't affect bleed between instruments recorded at the same time. I prefer one room for most home studios for many reasons, not the least is you don't have to keep running back and forth between rooms to set levels. If your main concern is mixing, I'd set up the speakers at one far end of the largest room, and put everyone else around the room toward the other end. Then after you record you can play back a take and everyone can hear how it sounds.

--Ethan

 

[JasonBird]

alright, thank you Ethan!

 

[JasonBird]

Update- I decided to make two rooms and I removed a wall and basically eliminated the small room on the end. I removed the carpet and will treat the walls and ceilings as needed. I have a box of 12 2ft x 4ft of oc 703 panels on the way to make bass traps from. They are 1 inch thick so I'm sure that I'll be doubling up. I'll get some new pictures soon.