John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I have just purchased an old house on commercially zoned property
in a downtown area near Portland, Or with the sole purpose of building
a nice project studio biz. The location is great - walking to restuarants
etc. A real great buy. We own all our own gear, which feels great.

We have aprox 950 sq ft for the studio with in the basement, & are going
to live upstairs for a few years- killing 2 birds with 1 stone!

So here's the dilema I need wisdom on. The ceilings are only 7' 2"...
Is it still possible to acheive great tracking and mixing with such low
ceilings, or am I in big trouble here?

Are there any bits of advice regarding such low ceilings that I need to
know? FWIW, the thought of having to bust through concrete to lower
basement my floor isn't what I would call an option at this point!

Thanks for any advice & info.
J

I'm not an expert at all, but that is very low!Your ceiling will need a lot of sound treatment, so the sound has "somewhere to go", but then, in your case, most of the musos will probably have to sit down while recording.
Don't get me wrong, not being a smart ass, but it is gonna be difficult in that sort of space. However, the genius called John sayers and the rest of the gang, will probably come up with something workable for ya....

How about living down stairs and recording upstairs?

Good luck

How about living down stairs and recording upstairs?

- J - check out Blue Bear Sound. at http://johnlsayers.com/Studio/index.htm - Bruce has a low ceiling height in a typical north american basement.

cheers
john

Thanks for the replies
I checked out Bruce's studio and it looks like a good example of what I'm up against. I also have hvac duct work that I have to redo/remove, but
heck, I love a challenge. This house was built in the 40's, and it seems
like most houses in this age & area have the same heigth problems too.
Guess we'll move forward, and deal with it.

Thanks,
J

then you'll also have jackposts to deal with as well

cheers
john