Treatment / Desk Placement in a room with complicated ceilings

[keganheiss]

I'm setting up a recording / rehearsal space in a less-than-ideal room (doesn't every post start this way?), and after reading as much as I can I wanted to check some suppositions and ask a few questions.

The room is roughly 20' x 8' with 9' high ceilings at the highest point, but as you can see from my renderings very little of the ceiling is flat, and a pair of alcoves further complicate the geometry. There's a set of windows behind the drum kit that I didn't draw in the model, as well as a bunch of other instruments, amplifiers, chairs. The floor is carpet which I plan to pull up.

I think I've placed the mixing desk in the best place I could. There's no way to get symmetry and have the speakers aimed down the longer side of the room. I've tried a couple locations in the room, and this has resulted in the least hyped, least colored mixes... though they're still problematic.

I plan to build some bass traps to treat the majority of the 90 degree corners.

My questions:

• Are the angled ceilings helping or hurting the mixing space?
• Would it make sense to build a 'cloud' above the left-hand side of the desk to make the wall / ceiling behind and above the desk symmetrical?
• Would it make sense to build a gobo to block of part or all of the window alcove, making the room more symmetrical?
• Do the non-90 degree angles need to be treated the same way as 90 degree angles to reduce standing waves?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Robert Tielke]

did you consider to place the monitors into the small area aside?
Id say the room should be used in a more symmetrical way

 

[mjbphotos]

I think you've got the desk in the right place, and the angled ceilings help, as it reduces the amount of parallel surfaces. First reflection point absorption on the walls to the left and right of the desk, bass traps in the corners, and in the alcove in front of the windows and on the wall directly in front of the drums (at least when recording drums).

 

[Ethan Winer]

^^^ I agree with this. It's almost always best to have the speakers fire the longer way down the room.

--Ethan

 

[mjbphotos]

Someone buy me a beer, Ethan agrees with my advise! I guess I've learned some things here!