Tiny bedroom or Bare garage?

[BookSix]

Ok, I want to set my studio up in the garage (2-car) but I have limited dampening material and the garage is basically an echo chamber. Concrete floor, all sheetrock not to mention 2 ceiling heights... First, I was thinking of putting 7mm Laminate wood, from ikea, over the concrete:

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stor...tId=47543&langId=-1&chosenPartNumber=70082182

I also have about 12 2x4' pieces of auralex (yeah I know, but atleast it's a start... and I'll probably buy some corner bass traps (or make some of rigid fiberglass) and make a couple diffusors (such as the one made from 2x2's). I'm trying to decide if I'd be able to afford making a decent sounding room out of this or if I should stick with the 10x10 bedroom. I'll mainly be tracking acoustic guitar and vocals (most of the other stuff will be done in the computer or at commercial studios). Who's got suggestions on how I could make this room work? Here's a diagram of the garage:

www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/temp/garage.jpg

 

[bpape]

I'd shoot for the bigger room. What you have and what you propose to do will at least get you part of the way (though I'd skip the flooring for now and just throw some rugs when you need them).

The other option of a 10x10 room just has so many issues to it - Square room, SMALL room, probably at least 1 door, 1 window, 1 closet to work around, noise issues in and out via HVAC, etc.

Bryan

 

[BookSix]

Yeah, I wanted to avoid the small room cause of some of those issues. But as for the floor, I was trying to avoid rugs just cause I'd rather not suck all the high end out of the room and it might end up doubling as a living room/chill area (being that I'm gonna have a big LCD tv for my monitor and then I'll just put up the surround and the couch that I was gonna have in there anyway) and I wanted it to look nice plus I can do the wood for about $80. But in the end, I just want the best sonic option...

Another thing to mention, this is a rental so I can't do any major constructon, but I can put some holes in the walls.

I was thinking of building some basic bass traps in the corners to cover the water heater and extra storage area on the other side and then I was just looking for what I should focus on next...

 

[BookSix]

Also, can someone confirm my belief that my desk should go either by the garage door or by the house door? I'm assuming having a higher ceiling above one monitor as opposed to the other would be a problem...?

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Another thing to mention, this is a rental so I can't do any major constructon,

A rental and you want to put LAMINATE flooring in the garage? For $80? Huh. You could do that since its removable. Laminate floors float on a layer of thin foam and the individual pieces lock in to each other. It would be easy to remove when you leave. I think thats a good idea if its that cheap. If you can, at some point hang some 4" fabric wrapped rigid fiberglass "clouds". One or two over you mixing station and some up in the high part of the ceiling. Depending on what that ceiling geometry is like, you may want to straddle a few wall/ceiling and ceiling/cielng corners with the same material if your budget will handle it. Rigid fiberglass come in 2'x4' panels of various thickness. Use 4/6" across corners for good low frequency/modal absorption. Use it over your mixing station as early reflection absorption. Leave at least a 1" airgap between the fiberglass and the ceiling. A good way to hang these is fabricating a metal grid from standard suspended ceiling grid components. You can even build a frame that supports the grid as well.
fitZ

 

[Innovations]

Actually I would go with interlocking rubber floring in the garage. More suitableto the location.

A bale or two of 703 insulation spread around should be enough to tame the echoes in the garage.

 

[travelin travis]

i would go with the garage and use the tips already mentioned. a couple of rugs here and there and some 703 or rockwool panels. this stuff can go with you when you decide to move, it's economical (which leaves money for other gear), and should have a pretty big impact on the sound of the room.

the wood floor would be aesthetic; i don't see how it's going to solve any acoustic issues with the room.

 

[EdWonbass]

Go with the garage. The 10x10 will get small fast along with the acoustic issues. I'm in a 12x10 room. It is in my garage but I partitioned it so I can store my gear in the front half with the garage door and the rest is studio. I wish it was bigger but I don't want to pack up and move just to get a bigger space.
Is the 10x10 next to a room that can be used for tracking? I'm just asking because sometimes when I track drums I put them in the kitchen/dining room. My garage is attached to the house and has a door that leads right into the kitchen/dining room/live room.
If you had to use the 10x10 it would be nice to be able to use a room next to it when you need to spread out.
I think the biggest drawback with being out in the garage is keeping the temperature at a comfortable level. It can get pretty cold for me in the winter time. I have to keep a space heater running most of the time.

 

[BookSix]

I didn't really want the wood to solve any sonic issues. Just seemed better than the concrete astetically and I don't want carpetting that is just gonna suck the highs out of the room.

I already plan on getting a few bundles of oc703 and making 8 ft tall bas traps for the corners... plus a few other things....

 

[BookSix]

And yeah, the floor is that cheap. Gonna make 4 8x8' squares with ikea laminate floor and lay them in a square pattern to create a wood floor in the middle of the concrete.

I also have 4 2x4' auralex clouds built on 2x2's and I was gonna add 703 behind then hang them over the workstation.

Also, a few notes: I won't be doing any final mixes here. I will be going to a commercial studio to finish that stuff up. I'm mainly going to be writing, arranging, programming and track acou guitar and vocals.

And one last thing. Will I have any major issues with the ceiling height differences? And like I said, the desk will face the garage door and be under the high ceiling (see pic in link above).

 

[BookSix]

Update: I've got some pictures linked in this post (ignore the pretty little dressers! They are from my girlfriends daycare... temp while I wait for my monitor stands). And here are a few questions:

What's the easiest way to cover up and soundproof around the watermeter (you can really hear the water flow through it):

http://www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/garage/watermeter.jpg

Then, I planned on making 2' wide bass traps of 703 for each corner, floor to ceiling. But as you can see, the garage door rails will get in the way... Any sgguestions? Should I juat make bass traps that high and leave the corner open above the rails?:

http://www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/garage/fromhousedoor.jpg
http://www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/garage/frontleftrearcorner.jpg
http://www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/garage/rightrearcorner.jpg

Then, these are just pics of the back of the room. Any suggestions here? Once again, 2' 703 traps won't work cause they won't span the corner due to the small alcoves in each. Also, in a couple of the pics you can see the ceiling issues. Anything in particular I hould do with the heights or corners etc...? Thanks!!:

http://www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/garage/behindleftmonitor.jpg
http://www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/garage/behindrightmonitor.jpg

 

[BookSix]

So my garage studio setup is moving along... I'm working on getting some bass traps and other treatment up in my room but I'm having some problems. I wanted to put up 2' x 8' x 2" 703 bass traps but my corners are very odd. The front two have a garage door about 15" from them and the garage door rail (89" up) would also get in the way of my 8' tall traps. As for the back corners, see this diagram:

www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/temp/garage.jpg

As you can see, each corner has a small alcove and they can't be spanned with a 2' wide trap... Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[c7sus]

Carpet on the floor isn't gonna suck all the highs out of a garage.

That would seem about the least of your issues in that room, what with the water meter and the water heater out there. Is the furnace in the garage too?????

 

[Innovations]

So my garage studio setup is moving along... I'm working on getting some bass traps and other treatment up in my room but I'm having some problems. I wanted to put up 2' x 8' x 2" 703 bass traps but my corners are very odd. The front two have a garage door about 15" from them and the garage door rail (89" up) would also get in the way of my 8' tall traps. As for the back corners, see this diagram:

www.brettmichaelwiesman.com/temp/garage.jpg

As you can see, each corner has a small alcove and they can't be spanned with a 2' wide trap... Anyone have any suggestions?

Corner traps do not have to exactly span a corner at a 45 degree angle to be effective. They also do not have to be in the vertical line. the corner trap could be across the edge between the wall and ceiling. Sound does not recognize any particular up or down direction. Also bass builds up between one corner and the opposite corner (because it is the longest distance in the room) So the important thing is that one end of each corner pair has absorbent material. In other words having traps on both ends of one diagonal and none on the others is not as good as having one end of each diagonal covered.

 

[BookSix]

Corner traps do not have to exactly span a corner at a 45 degree angle to be effective. They also do not have to be in the vertical line. the corner trap could be across the edge between the wall and ceiling. Sound does not recognize any particular up or down direction. Also bass builds up between one corner and the opposite corner (because it is the longest distance in the room) So the important thing is that one end of each corner pair has absorbent material. In other words having traps on both ends of one diagonal and none on the others is not as good as having one end of each diagonal covered.

So I could turn the same traps on the side and do a ceiling to wall "corner" rather than floor to ceiling corner and have the same effect? What about not putting them across the corners at all? Would 4 traps put right near the corner but not across it (perhaps two against the garage door and two on the rear wall) have the same effect also?

 

[orksnork]

not exactly...

the buildup at the ceiling to wall is only two surfaces...the corner would be two walls and the ceiling or floor...

that's your best bet for handling some bass