John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi, this is my first post. I'd first like to say this is a great site.

I currently have a small space in my finished basement that I would like to turn into a control room and vocal booth. The shape of the room is kind of strange. I am having trouble deciding on how to get the most out of the space.

The room will contain 3 computers, so I need to isloate them, or the vocalist, but preferably both. It is totally empty right now, drywall with a pergo wood floor. The only furniture I have for the space is my workstation desk.

I have come up with a few design ideas, here is the best one I've come up with thus far. The problem I am having is, there is a box sealing off some pipes the comes down from the ceiling 8.75". It is annoying, and can't be moved. The booths in this plan are also kind of small. They would be good enough for computers, but might be too small for vocals. I'd like to have a larger vocal booth if at all possible.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

i think the way you are going is the only way - it is a small space really so to expect a decent sized control room AND a booth is asking a bit much considering the space available.

cheers
john

Yeah, it is small, so I decided to try to make the best of it.

I was reading up on the DIY absorbers on the site. I just have a few questions regarding placing them in my set up.

-Which absorbers should have slots, and which should be just cloth?

-I have a window in the front of the room. The center absorber can't be higher than 56". Should I make the two corners the same height, or floor to ceiling? Part of the right corner trap will extend into the window opening. That is not a problem for me because the window slides from the left, but how will this effect it's performance?

-The right rear absorber will have to be placed in front of the door come mix time. I was thinking of putting it on casters to help move it easily. Will this effect it's performance, being that it will be 2 to 3 inches off the floor?

-Should there also be some type of absorbers on the sides of the room? I can't seem to find a good place in the layout to place them.

Thanks.

Enjay - that's looking good - do you really need the window or is it your only source of fresh air??

YOu don't really have the room to have absorbers on your side walls but that's OK as they are behind your mixing area.

BTW - what is your ceiling height?? remember the ceiling is another wall that can be treated.

cheers
john

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, the window is the only source of fresh air in the room. The ceiling height is 75".

wow - 75" is low - not much space there. If the window is your only air source I'd reconsider the front wall - you've drawn it as if you weree going to flush mount your speakers but I don't think that's what you mean. I'd tend to build a bench/absorber under the window across the front.

You are going to have to deaden off that low ceiling with a layer of 703 covered with cloth - it's your closest wall.

cheers
john

OK, back to the drawing board.