John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi there all. I need some advice on what I should do with my room. I've attached a vaguely accurate drawing so you can get an idea of shape and size.

The floor is wood laminate and the ceiling is plaster on plasterboard with 'Isover' insulation behind. The main walls are of rough-rendered concrete and is broken up by the stairs and doors to the right hand side and the large french doors at the entrance.

I've done a fair bit of reading and have all the details to know how to build different types of treatment - high/mid absorbers, bass traps, helmholtz resonators etc. - but I am still struggling to work out which ones I need and where!

The one is currently pretty bare and I would describe the sound as both boomy and with a distinct slap-back echo. I really want to use the room for live bands so I want to keep it as big and open sounding as possible.

I'm really only looking at building wall mounted treatments (rather than battening out entire walls etc.) as I'm only looking to spend perhaps a couple of hundred £££.

Any advice any one can offer is very gratefully received,
Jamie

What treatment you put where depends on how you'll use the room, and where you'll place the instruments and singers etc being recorded. At the minimum, a room that size needs absorption or diffusion on surfaces that will be close to microphones and performers.

--Ethan

i would start with trapping in the corners with super chunk style absorbers and then scattering absorption on the walls and ceiling to reduce the slap echoes, reduce more of the boominess, and then per Ethan's comments - find the spots were you will likely put people and instruments and tweak accordingly. perhaps a number of 2'x2'x4" absorbers checkerboard-spaced on 4' centers on the walls, 2'x4'x4" on the ceiling making a zig zag across the ceiling. a few area rugs as needed. heavy drapes to pull over the french doors when needed.

Thanks, thats a pretty good start! Already started making super-chunk-ish traps for the corners anyway!
I had been thinking about big heavy curtains but then I thought perhaps it might be better to make window-height movable gobo/screens that I could just wheel in front of the windows?

gobos work but the drapes might be easier and then you're able to use the gobos for instruments etc.