Which Space To Choose? New Condo

B

BigEZ

The Devil Has Blue Eyes
Hi All,

First I'd like to say that I have a home one room project studio...not looking to get into the whole idea of treating everything or having seperate rooms for recording, mixing, vocal booth etc. I just moved into a new two level loft style condo and looking for studio placement recommendations. I have two options to choose from...

-The main living area is roughly 20 ft x 20 ft, with the ceiling being two full levels above the floor....however, the loft hangs over about 10 ft of this space. It has 6 large windows on one wall and hardwood floors. I love the acoustics here when just sitting on my sofa playing guitar and singing. Love the natural reverb but not sure if that would translate well in recordings and mixing.

-The other option is the loft itself which is roughly 10'×20' and is then open to the lower level. Ceilings are only 8' and it is carpeted. When playing here the sound is a little less alive and crisp sounding but perhaps a little more 'deadness' would translate better for recording and mixing.

Which space would you choose and (if you have time to expand on your response) why?

Thanks,
 
I think you'll need to try some recording in both and then trust your ears. What may sound great while sitting and playing might not translate to great sound through the mic.

I'd probably opt for the more "dead" space, particularly if you are laying down multiple tracks and mixing.

You can create your ambience later - try a good convolution reverb. (Or go the whole hog and get a Bricasti M7...)

Paul
 
I agree. You could use both.. but I'm always going to recommend using the larger room.

Start with some movable gobos on stands to get some 'closeness', but if you are doing 'one instrument at a time' takes, adjusting the microphone proximity will usually get you what you need for the track.

Your mixing / listening position will require symmetry and reflection treatment. Bass trapping (LF decay control) will be necessary for accurate finals - but you could always do that elsewhere. - Unless you wanted to go for full treatment of the smaller room for a mix area.
--Just my two cents...

Cheers,
John
 
UPDATE...NEED GUIDANCE PLEASE!!!

So basically, I'm f$cked. In either space the natural reverb sounds amazing while tracking thru headphones but come mix time the monitors create so much reverb that everything sounds so far away. I do NOT want to treat the entire space as its too huge and would likely be very costly to treat including the cost of an acoustic engineer. What are your opinions if I build a bunch of huge portable traps to bunker in my listening position? I.e, 2' wide by 8' tall? I know it would take quite a few but I've built others before and can do it again. Let's say I do an area of 6'×6', it would be super dead, do you think this would be appropriate for mixing?

Thanks,
 
As soon as I saw the pics, I knew there would be too much reverb for mixing! I'd say building a 'wall' of traps woudl be the way to do it, basically isolating the mixing area - don't make it too small, though. Be careful your computer monitor doesn't take a dive off the balcony, too! :eek:
 
RokZtaR said:
UPDATE...NEED GUIDANCE PLEASE!!!

So basically, I'm f$cked. In either space the natural reverb sounds amazing while tracking thru headphones but come mix time the monitors create so much reverb that everything sounds so far away. I do NOT want to treat the entire space as its too huge and would likely be very costly to treat including the cost of an acoustic engineer. What are your opinions if I build a bunch of huge portable traps to bunker in my listening position? I.e, 2' wide by 8' tall? I know it would take quite a few but I've built others before and can do it again. Let's say I do an area of 6'×6', it would be super dead, do you think this would be appropriate for mixing?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

jhbrandt said:
I agree. You could use both.. but I'm always going to recommend using the larger room.

Start with some movable gobos on stands to get some 'closeness', but if you are doing 'one instrument at a time' takes, adjusting the microphone proximity will usually get you what you need for the track.

Your mixing / listening position will require symmetry and reflection treatment. Bass trapping (LF decay control) will be necessary for accurate finals - but you could always do that elsewhere. - Unless you wanted to go for full treatment of the smaller room for a mix area. --Just my two cents...

Cheers,
John
Click to expand...

I think you have the answer already.
 
The issue is that I don't want to secure anything to the walls...absorbers, bass traps, etc. So I'm wondering if I built large free standing panels (4" thickness) that would be very close to the sound source (i.e. tightly around my speakers, desk and listening position), would that be suitable or do you think that would be too close and "dead" for mixing?
 
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