help with simple new studio design

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relaxandreflect

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we are building a new house, and i will be in a 12x12 room with a walk in closet. i am thinking of putting my desk and rack w/ mixer in the closet if it is big enough and using the whole room as a recording/practice area. the room will be built with thicker walls and insulated for sound. i was thinking of lining the room with thick velvety curtains. i would like to have a plexiglass soundproof door on the closet so i can see out. i am on a budget, but am willing to build stuff myself. my questions are as follows, and all suggestions or modifications to this setup are welcome.

is this a good idea for a setup?

where would i get a glass or plexiglass soundproof door?

should i go with carpet or hardwood. if carpet, what type?

are the curtains a good idea/type, or should i use something else?

any ideas for running cables?

i have radio dj mic arm for my studio mic. should i mount from the ceiling or the wall?

should i put a ceiling fan in this room? if not, why?



thanks in advance for any help.
 
relaxandreflect said:
we are building a new house, and i will be in a 12x12 room with a walk in closet.
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If you are building the house, can't you design a better space?

i am thinking of putting my desk and rack w/ mixer in the closet if it is big enough and using the whole room as a recording/practice area.
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Don't. You can't mix in a closet. Combine them into a single larger room.

the room will be built with thicker walls and insulated for sound.
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Good.

i was thinking of lining the room with thick velvety curtains.
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Don't. That would be expensive and totally ineffective--it would make your room dead in the highs but still boomy in the lows.

is this a good idea for a setup?
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No. Post a floorplan of the space and we can help with something better.

where would i get a glass or plexiglass soundproof door?
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A regular ol' sliding glass or exterior door with a window works fine, but if you need lots of isolation, you need two of them.

should i go with carpet or hardwood. if carpet, what type?
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Hardwood with an area rug.

are the curtains a good idea/type, or should i use something else?
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No, read the 4,857 threads where we have discussed use of fabric-covered rigid fiberglass insulation.

any ideas for running cables?
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Yes, run them through the walls to panels. There are several suppliers of XLR panels.

i have radio dj mic arm for my studio mic. should i mount from the ceiling or the wall?
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Whatever you like.

should i put a ceiling fan in this room? if not, why?
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Go ahead. Don't use it while tracking though, the motor and the air movement are noisy. It could be nice to use at other times.
 
relaxandreflect said:
here is a link to the plan. i will have bedroom 2. unfortunately, this is the room i have since all the other rooms will be used. thanks for the quick anwers, mshilarious. you always have great advice.

http://www.frankbetz.com/homeplans/printer_friendly.html?pn=1224&vw=4
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The room location is fine--will they make slight changes to the partition walls for you at this point? If so I can sketch a pretty good one-room plan, combining the closet space with the main room.
 
Well, here it is anyway. Sorry I only have MSPaint at work, so it looks like crud. The green stuff is curtains in front of the window--and it wouldn't hurt to put rigid fiberglass behind the curtains (hmmm, rigid fiberglass shutters, that's an interesting idea), the other green stuff is fiberglass panels on the walls--I didn't measure these, it's more of a conceptual drawing. Plus some bass traps.

The closet will be handy for your gear, plus you can put your PC in there to keep down noise if necessary.
 
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thanks for the drawing. they can still make any wall changes at this point. i like this setup, just need to draw it out on graph paper with my desk to size so i can see if it fits (L-shaped)
 
relaxandreflect said:
thanks for the drawing. they can still make any wall changes at this point. i like this setup, just need to draw it out on graph paper with my desk to size so i can see if it fits (L-shaped)
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You could put your desk in either of the other corners, that room is fairly symmetrical on a few different axes.
 
just cause i'm the curious type and always need to know why, why is it bad to mix in a closet as opposed to a room with a lot of instruments and things? i know this is prob stupid, but i like to know the science behind it so i can apply it later.


also, i don't have studio monitors yet. if i spent the money on a nice set of studio headphones instead, would i be able to do the mixdown through those?
 
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Why don't you use that 11 x 20 room over the garage!?!?
Also, don't mix using headphones.

Doug
 
trust me, i would love to use that room, but the wife won't let me. that will be the theater
 
You can mix with anything you can hear with (boombox, headphones, stereo speakers, whatever). HOWEVER, you most likely will not be getting accurate mixes that will translate properly when played on something else (like in your car, for instance). The objective of designing a mixing room is to create an environment that causes the sound you hear to be representative of what it will sound like somewhere else. The elements required for this, at a minimum, are an acoustically designed space and studio monitor speakers with a fairly flat response.

I just thought I'd throw this in since it hasn't been discussed yet.

Good luck,
Darryl.....
 
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