I don't want a studio....... I want Bradland....

[TalismanRich]

Brad,

One thing that caught my eye was the door with the vent below. Is this the AC/furnace? If so, you'll have to deal with the noise issue. Being in the middle of laying down that great vocal track and having the furnace fire up is a major bummer.

I don't have great isolation from my HVAC system, so I'll warm the place up a bit, then flip it off while I do my recording. That might not be too cool with the wife, if its 10 degrees outside (or 100 in the summer).

 

[bachelorb]

Sorry for the long layoff guys, but I was dreaming what to do with the space before we even closed on the house. Then life happened and happened again and again. Through health issues and home renovation, I am finally at a spot where I can turn my attention back to this room.

Over the last 10 months, I think I've gotten everything I would like to start this room. Here are a couple of pictures:






The room is 30 foot x 14 foot. The studio area is around 12 foot long x 14 foot wide the billiards area is 18 foot long x 14 wide. My goals are:

1. getting it arraigned.

2. Making it sound the best I can.

As for getting it arraigned, I am open for suggestions. The way I have it set up now is just where I put things originally and built up from there. For example: I was reading one thread where a person used a mobile mic booth with a bookcase behind him for recording vocals. That would be something I should be able to do with those shelves on the side. The only other thing is I would like to keep the rack with the mixer kind of a portable plug and play type deal. We travel and I wan't to be able to just unplug it and take it to the motorhome if we are going to be gone for a month or so.

anyway a couple of people posted without me replying....sorry about that....

Yes symmetry matters. You don't want to have the reflections from one wall hitting you sooner than those from the other. You'd be best off with the desk centered on that short wall. If you can move it back so that your listening position is 38% of the length of the room, that's supposed to be best for some arcane acoustical reasons.

Noted. I changed my layout to try to get symmetry. I am wondering if the 38% rule still comes into play with it being more of a multipurpose room?

One thing that caught my eye was the door with the vent below. Is this the AC/furnace? If so, you'll have to deal with the noise issue. Being in the middle of laying down that great vocal track and having the furnace fire up is a major bummer.

Yes it is. Luckily this room has an independent thermostat and furnace/ac. Not a problem for tracking, if I remember to shut it off (....which I don't......)

As always, thanks for any suggestions. I realize I am making some compromises with this being more a man cave, but in truth, I'll end up using it more for a football watching, music listening room anyway.....

Brad

 

[bachelorb]

One of the things I would like to do this week is set the desk. First though, I have a question. The floor is vinyl over concrete. We are removing some carpeting from another room that will be the same size as the studio area. Would it be best to leave the studio area in vinyl or would it be ok to carpet it?

Thanks,
Brad

 

[Mack Caster]

Hard floor surfaces are best. Carpet has a way of sucking some of the frequs out. I have yet to see a pro studio with carpet in the track/mix/master rooms. This does not mean you can't put some under the drums or desk, just try and keep it to as much as a min as your situation allows. The pic below shows some absorption rates.

View attachment 100799

 

[witzendoz]

The floor is vinyl over concrete. We are removing some carpeting from another room that will be the same size as the studio area. Would it be best to leave the studio area in vinyl or would it be ok to carpet it?

Thanks,
Brad

You know vinyl is not a bad thing, it is not quite a reflective as wood or concrete but it is a live surface and it is easy to keep clean, people never think of this until a drink is knocked over. My studio originally had concrete with some rugs until I finally put a wood floor in, but vinyl with a few rugs will work fine. You are best to put in some ceiling panels and keep the floor live. Check out my studio link for what I have done, works very well.

By the way my old studio many years back had carpet, was not that good sounding until I laid some wood panels over it to liven up the place. Carpet just kills the top end and makes the sound boxy.

Alan.

 

[bachelorb]

Thank you guys...... Hard floors it is!!!!

 

[ecc83]

Drums, (a kit?) were mentioned?
Good I think to build a 'plinth', a platform in floor board sheets that raise the kit some 6"/150mm off the floor. Put tough rubber strips underneath to stop it moving and then the kit can be spiked or screwed down to stop that walking! IIRC drum kits bugger floors! Fill the voids with any old absorbent crap, carpet and such, you have around.

The wooden structure can also carry mains sockets and (other side!) a number of XLR plates then have an snake to get to a wall plate. Thus the rig can be moved without unplugging a zillion mics.

Gobos too can have connectors on them, saves having lots of mains and audio cables around.

Dave.

 

[Mack Caster]

Check out my studio link for what I have done, works very well. Alan.

If we had a smiley for drooling that is all I would have put. That's sweet Alan.

 

[bachelorb]

Alan..... Thats nice!!!

The wooden structure can also carry mains sockets and (other side!) a number of XLR plates then have an snake to get to a wall plate. Thus the rig can be moved without unplugging a zillion mics.

I like this idea!! especially the gobos having connectors. My Drum kit is an electronic kit just a cheapie (I curse you "Stupid Deal Of The Day......"), but adding connectors to gobo's is now in my to do file.

Alright, I've got the desk placed.



It's at 38% and the monitors are at 38% of that. I can still play pool ok, but the TV on the right (which after I gut it will be a rack...) has to be angled. I have two questions:

1. Moving the Desk to 30% will give me almost three more feet. How does this affect a 30 foot room?

2. My tracking area is going to be at the front of the room. Between the monitors.... I haven't seen any others like this (come to think of it..... not many pool tables either . ) Can this be OK with the proper acoustical treatment?

Thanks,

Brad

 

[ecc83]

Alan..... Thats nice!!!



I like this idea!! especially the gobos having connectors. My Drum kit is an electronic kit just a cheapie (I curse you "Stupid Deal Of The Day......"), but adding connectors to gobo's is now in my to do file.

Alright, I've got the desk placed.

View attachment 100825

It's at 38% and the monitors are at 38% of that. I can still play pool ok, but the TV on the right (which after I gut it will be a rack...) has to be angled. I have two questions:

1. Moving the Desk to 30% will give me almost three more feet. How does this affect a 30 foot room?

2. My tracking area is going to be at the front of the room. Between the monitors.... I haven't seen any others like this (come to think of it..... not many pool tables either . ) Can this be OK with the proper acoustical treatment?

Thanks,

Brad

You are very welcome! I suggest you get some graph paper Brad and draw up a floor plan. If you don't have a scanner you can take a photo of it and attach. (corse' there are clever buggers here can do it in Paint!)

Dave.

 

[ashcat_lt]

It's at 38% and the monitors are at 38% of that. I can still play pool ok, but the TV on the right (which after I gut it will be a rack...) has to be angled. I have two questions:

Pretty sure the way you're supposed to do it is to put your earballs (your head when sitting at the mix position) at the 38% spot, and then put the monitors at the vertex of whatever sized equilateral triangle makes sense. Perspective may be a bit funny in this shot, but it sure looks like you've got the speakers further from you than from one another, which is less than ideal for stereo imaging just because of relative distance. In this case it also seems to leave a whole lot of wall for things to bounce off of between the speakers and your head. With the speakers so close to those sidewalls AND those walls seemingly asymmetrical as far as texture, I see this as being all smeared and weird. Maybe it'll work fine, the only way to tell is to listen, but it freaks me out looking at it.

1) IDK, but like I said, where your desk is doesn't matter, it's where your ears are at that counts

2) It should be fine as long as you're not blasting things through the monitors while the microphones are right there. Then you'd end up with bleed and/or feedback issues.

 

[mjbphotos]

Alan..... Thats nice!!!



I like this idea!! especially the gobos having connectors. My Drum kit is an electronic kit just a cheapie (I curse you "Stupid Deal Of The Day......"), but adding connectors to gobo's is now in my to do file.

Alright, I've got the desk placed.

View attachment 100825

It's at 38% and the monitors are at 38% of that. I can still play pool ok, but the TV on the right (which after I gut it will be a rack...) has to be angled. I have two questions:

1. Moving the Desk to 30% will give me almost three more feet. How does this affect a 30 foot room?

2. My tracking area is going to be at the front of the room. Between the monitors.... I haven't seen any others like this (come to think of it..... not many pool tables either . ) Can this be OK with the proper acoustical treatment?

Thanks,

Brad

Are those your monitors on top of the big floor speakers (or are the floor speakers your monitors)? Your monitors are not supposed to be at 38% of the 38% - 38% of the room is where your ears shoudl be, and the monitors to your head should form an equilateral triangle.

 

[bachelorb]

Are those your monitors on top of the big floor speakers (or are the floor speakers your monitors)? Your monitors are not supposed to be at 38% of the 38% - 38% of the room is where your ears shoudl be, and the monitors to your head should form an equilateral triangle.

Thanks, yes the monitors are on top.

I think following the 38% rule again is perfect here. Measure the distance between the front wall and the sweet spot your head hovers in and then place your speakers at 38 percent. This will keep your speakers out of any big nulls and peaks.

I saw this on a page, but would love it if I could move the monitors closer to the desk. That would give me more instrument space.

 

[bachelorb]

1) IDK, but like I said, where your desk is doesn't matter, it's where your ears are at that counts

2) It should be fine as long as you're not blasting things through the monitors while the microphones are right there. Then you'd end up with bleed and/or feedback issues.

Thanks for the reply. I measured so the speakers must be a perspective thing. I think i’d Better do some more research.... I was using the info off this page Mix Position: How to Setup Your Listening Room | LN

 

[bachelorb]

I suggest you get some graph paper Brad and draw up a floor plan. If you don't have a scanner you can take a photo of it and attach. (corse' there are clever buggers here can do it in Paint!)

Dave.

I have been working on the layout Dave. As an old draftsman, I’m kinda enjoying the exercise..... I’d of probably been done by now, but I got sidetracked on a new accessory for the studio.



....she and I have spent a few days getting acquainted....

 

[bachelorb]

Ok...... Here's my layout


I have this huge bookshelf that will be in the back of my vocal area. My voice/ guitar will be projecting towards the brick wall. I have a microphone reflection filter that I'm going to use between the front of the microphone and the brick wall.

I have to live mic the organ when I use it (in your opinions, is a hard floor better for this, or carpet?). My Drum area is electronic drums which I can plug directly into the mixer.

I have ordered some roxul 60 to cover the first and second reflection points. That leaves me 2-2x4 roxul panels for other uses. Where should I use these?

 

[Mack Caster]

Ok...... Here's my layout

View attachment 100955

Your attachment link is dead. It says it is an invalid file. ;-)

I have this huge bookshelf that will be in the back of my vocal area. My voice/ guitar will be projecting towards the brick wall. I have a microphone reflection filter that I'm going to use between the front of the microphone and the brick wall.

That's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

I have to live mic the organ when I use it (in your opinions, is a hard floor better for this, or carpet?). My Drum area is electronic drums which I can plug directly into the mixer.

Most pianos are mic'ed on hard surfaces. The organ is going to have a much lower low end. I would experiment to see if carpet may be better to suck the mid range out or if the music will have more mid to high freqs.

I have ordered some roxul 60 to cover the first and second reflection points. That leaves me 2-2x4 roxul panels for other uses. Where should I use these?

Maybe over your head where you will be singing? Again, the best thing is to experiment by putting them in different places to see what gives you the overall best sound. Sorry I could not be more specific but there is really no one set it and forget type of rules for your questions.

 

[bachelorb]

ugh....... I think I fixed that link..... These dimensions are to the right proportions.

 

[Mack Caster]

ugh....... I think I fixed that link..... These dimensions are to the right proportions.

 

[ecc83]

Justafort? If that bookshelf is full of books and especially is they are of random sizes, it will make a good 'diffuser'/absorber/sound stopper. Can you not fire amp and yodelling that way?

Why must the organ be micc'ed? You can get a cheap high level DI box from Behringer* and 'croc' across the speaker. Or use a DI box from the headphone output, it surely has one?

*Yes, some of their models are noisy but with an organ you will have plenty of level so should not matter.

Dave.