Need advice on studio dimensions

W

Wardove04

New member
I am thinking of building a s small studio in my "underground" basement. It is a finished basement already (so I'm not dealing with a damp and moldy dungeon). The space I have to work with is about 20 ft' long, 6.5-7 ft wide, and 7ft ceilings. My plan is to build an all in one studio (tracking and mixing) - Guitar, Bass, Vocals, but not drums.

First question: The dimension is shaped like a hall basically. Is this not a good idea? I know it will impact the sound obviously, but how bad?

Second question: If the hall shape is a bad idea, could I cut the length roughly in half say (10-14 ft)? Would this be better.

Additional information: I will be doing this from scratch. In other words. I will be installing double sheet rock, hardwood-laminate flooring, fiberglass ceiling, acoustic (sound) treatment. Basically, If I'm going to do this; I'm only going to do this once, and hopefully with everyone's advice "right!"

Any helpful information or advice would be great. Thank you to all that reply :D
 
It's kinda skinny but go with it. Making it shorter won't help anything. I also wouldn't waste money on double-layer sheetrock - you are not gonna soundproof the space that way and it won't help from a treatment standpoint. Put your money into absorption instead.

Do some reading.


lou
 
Thanks for the reply Sky Blue Lou. Is it best to go with 1/2 inch sheet rock or 5/8 inch sheet rock? I plan on investing in absorption materials (bass traps, clouds, ect...) I know the space with be small, but I gotta use what I got (3 kids and a wife = sacrifice). I've been reading into this topic for a while now, and I just want to thank you for not making me feel stupid. I've seen that a lot of that on this forum.
 
I am not educated or experienced enough in acoustics to answer that question. I'll give you my thinking but I am as likely to be wrong as not. You should use the search function here and at John Sayers' site to get a more expert opinion.

I would use 3/8 sheetrock because it is more flexible and will transmit more sound energy through to the insulation behind it as opposed to reflecting it back into your space. And make your studs 24" on center as opposed to 16". Treatment and isolation are two very different things and require different approaches.

As far as being made to feel stupid - it's all about attitude. If yours is good don't worry about it.


lou
 
Make the room as big as possible, as long as it's not a square or cube shaped room you are on the way there, most of the problems here are rooms that are way too small. Cutting it in half could make it worse. A hall shaped room could work fine.

With some good treatment and some traps and de-fussers it will work, just do a search on the forum regarding design.

Alan.
 
As far as the sheetrock is concerned are you looking for soundproofing or just good acoustics for the room? The two aren't always the same. If you're looking for sound isolating think in terms of Mass, isolation, Mass. Meaning you want two walls, both with as much sheetrock as you dare to put on it (You could even put two sheets on top of each other with green glue between them) and an isolation space between the two to cut out any vibrational transfer. To REALLY get the job done as much as possible you'd cut the concrete foundation add rebar and repour between the two walls. finish it up with a double door and you could toss a drum kit in there too with no complaints from anybody. I helped build a practice room for a drum teacher in boston, he never had a complaint from house mates or neighbors, the real kick is that he lived in a duplex :P

If you're just looking for acoustical treatment try studio foam with home built baffling. If you can't afford the studio foam (Me neither!) check out your local fabric store and see what they have for heavy duty curtain fabrics, I've used a REALLY heavy curtain fabric in a few locations. Its fire resistant, dense, and kills echo immediately which is exactly what you want in a smaller or strangely shaped room.

Since its a hall anyway will you be putting a control room at either end or is it all staying open?
 
Since its a hall anyway will you be putting a control room at either end or is it all staying open?[/QUOTE said:
This project will consist of a control room at one end of the studio, all in the same room. I'm not too worried about making it sound proof, more so worried about making it sound right or pleasing to the ear. I want to be able to lay down vocals and be confident that the room isn't destroying the final product. I can have all the greatest gear in the world, but in a shitty room setting that great gear becomes ineffective. Thanks guys for all the input, keep it coming; I have a strong appetite for knowledge.
Click to expand...
 
OK,

If you really do not care about isolation - then things get easier (acoustically)

As was explained - the greater the isolating barrier you install the more difficult it becomes to treat the space...... especially in the lower frequency range (high frequencies are relatively easy to deal with.)

Build you walls one sided - and insulate the back side of the drywall - use the 3/8" suggested.....

For the ceiling I would not even bother to install drywall - simply insulate the bays with fluffy drywall and finish beneath that with either flame retardant cloth fabric - or with the cheapest 12"x12" ceiling tiles you can find at home despot - installed over wood furring strips.

Then listen to the room and see what you have......... if you need more than that come back and tell us what happened........

Rod Gervais
GIK Acoustics
Director of Education
GIK Acoustics. Acoustic Panels and Bass Traps. (USA)
GIK Europe, Bass Traps, Acoustic Panels (Europe)
Tel.(US)1.888.986.2789
Tel.(UK)+44(0)20.7558.8976
 
Thank you everyone. I'm gonna take a stab at this and I will get back to you guys, and let you know how it turned out.
 
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