What to do with the space

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role65

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Hey all,
Ussually hang out around VS planet since i'm a vs user, But thought you could offer a little more help over here. I am ready to convert my basement. I have a couple of spaces that i have to work around. I do a lot of direct recording guitar, bass, keys, etc. Will prob be micing drums, vox, acoustic guitar. My initial thought is to make the CR more open since alot of what i do can be done in there. and then also maybe use some GOBO's around the compuer to kill the noice and maybe do some live recording the CR space too. i have some crappy sketches of the space.

block walls, ceiling height 7'9", Not sure how to treat the big room. which i would use as a control room.
thanks,
Ryan
 

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Hey all,
Ussually hang out around VS planet since i'm a vs user, But thought you could offer a little more help over here. I am ready to convert my basement. I have a couple of spaces that i have to work around. I do a lot of direct recording guitar, bass, keys, etc. Will prob be micing drums, vox, acoustic guitar. My initial thought is to make the CR more open since alot of what i do can be done in there. and then also maybe use some GOBO's around the compuer to kill the noice and maybe do some live recording the CR space too. i have some crappy sketches of the space.

block walls, ceiling height 7'9", Not sure how to treat the big room. which i would use as a control room.
thanks,
Ryan
What are the blacked out spaces? Is the small one a cupboard? Can it be knocked down? Is the 23' the full length including the 6'x3' black thing? What's the distance from the top to the left black thing? The angle in the left black thing, the dimensions don't seem to show that, the 6' black thing + the 11' drum booth = 3', but the full width - the 17' width of control area = 3', so what's the angle? Is that a door on the right black thing? What distance in is the window? Any more info would be great. :D
 

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Blacked out spaces are areas that have to stay. the 3 x 6 area is where pluming and electrical terminates. it makes noise , plumbing. the basemen length is 26' total. the other area is a stairwell that has a furnace and a water heater to the side of it. it is 18' long. 7ft at the widest portion. 3ft at the base. Neither of the blacked out ares are built. But tried to show what will be needed take up the least amount of space for recording. yes it is a door on the right black thing. it has a clean out for the plumbing system.
the window is 7 ft from the right wall...tried another horrible drawing LOL
again i can really change the blacked out areas. the angle could change some but not much. thanks so much!
ryan

the length 1s 26 ft not 36! sorry typo
 

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This is a real tough one man. It's tough acoustically and throwing up more and more problems elsewhere. :(
 
Here's my suggestion. Best i could do. :o
 

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WOW! panda monk that's great.... Honestly i never thought of that, i was always trying to keep the drum and h vox seperate. But really i dunno why i always use a scratch track for vox guitar and the ever important metronome when doing drums bass and rythym...

so i'm assuming i would use mineral fiber or the receycled cotton material to try to iso the vocal booth from the drum room, as well as independent walls.

thanks for the direction!
Ryan
 
WOW! panda monk that's great.... Honestly i never thought of that, i was always trying to keep the drum and h vox seperate. But really i dunno why i always use a scratch track for vox guitar and the ever important metronome when doing drums bass and rythym...

so i'm assuming i would use mineral fiber or the receycled cotton material to try to iso the vocal booth from the drum room, as well as independent walls.

thanks for the direction!
Ryan
Just use standard insulation, and you might have to do RIAR(room in a room). Do you really need to be recording drums and vox at the same time? I'd suggest forgetting about the vocal booth and having one live room with gobos. You could record drums, then bass, then guitar, then vox, or all the instruments(miked drums, DI bass, miked guitar in Control Room), then vox.

For the absorption panels, use rigid fiberglass, mineral wool, or acoustic cotton.

Anopther problem is that the live rooms are 8' wide and almost 8' high. Square dimensions are bad acoustically. I couldn't see a way round this, because of the black bit on the left. There will always be a square dimension.
 
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your prob right...i should just be simple this is just a hobby for me and a few buddies. I have a ton of office dividers i could use as GOBO's too. what about floor treatment. it's concrete right now. I have some 3/4 wood flooring (koa) i could put on half of the live room and carpet the other half for a difference. I prob need to carpet all of the CR room?
Ryan
 
would there be any benefit acoustic wise to putting the CR in the 20 x 8 space and the live area in the larger space?
Ryan
 
sure. this way you have easy access to plumbing, plus in the CR you can escape without going through the live room...
 
sure. this way you have easy access to plumbing, plus in the CR you can escape without going through the live room...
That area doesn't seem large enough for a control room. The stairwell bit is just 8' from the top wall, and 14' from the(right) side wall. Although i like your suggestion, it doesn't seem to fit. The stairwell comes 7' into the room, and only at the bottom reduces to 3'.

This was my other suggestion. But i starting thinking about if there was a fire in the CR and someone was in the drum booth. I thought about angled walls or making the room smaller, but it would make it a lot smaller.
 

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gullfo- sorry for the wrong dims in the original sketch.

the stairwell is very difficult. I don't think my wife would let me have the other part of the basement which is 30 x 26 it's a little larger but it doesn't have any obstructions other than 2 support poles down the center line....let me do some begging tonight..LOL.
Ryan
 
gullfo- sorry for the wrong dims in the original sketch.

the stairwell is very difficult. I don't think my wife would let me have the other part of the basement which is 30 x 26 it's a little larger but it doesn't have any obstructions other than 2 support poles down the center line....let me do some begging tonight..LOL.
Ryan
That'd be a whole lot easier! :D Good luck with the missus. ;)
 
LOL well that thought was short lived.... i'm stuck with the space we have. i promised a game room for the kids, which i think would fit fine in the original studio space, but she doesn't see it that way...but that's fine i'll make do. back to plan A.

BTW i've looked @ alot of Gullfo's drawings and notice the he avoids right angles like the plauge...should i avoid them as well. i knew i would have to have bass traps in the corners, but should i build them in?

Ryan
 
LOL well that thought was short lived.... i'm stuck with the space we have. i promised a game room for the kids, which i think would fit fine in the original studio space, but she doesn't see it that way...but that's fine i'll make do. back to plan A.

BTW i've looked @ alot of Gullfo's drawings and notice the he avoids right angles like the plauge...should i avoid them as well. i knew i would have to have bass traps in the corners, but should i build them in?

Ryan
Yeah well square rooms(well dimensions) are bad(this includes your 20x8x8 live room) and cubes are worse. Rectangles are better, but still not perfect, although they are predictable. Angled walls can be of benefit, but can cause problems of their own. I'd stick to rectangular, and just treat with the correct absorption.
 
Angled walls can be of benefit, but can cause problems of their own. I'd stick to rectangular, and just treat with the correct absorption.

What problems? I've never seen a pro studio with right angles. Ceiling is splayed, and so are the walls.
 
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