Building a Basement Studio

Overview: I recently came upon a lot of recording equipment. It comes down to hardware and software so I can record and produce any and all genres of music. I currently use my basement to record drums, guitar amps, vocals, instruments, etc. The acoustics in my basement are horrible, and I'd like to change that. As far as soundproofing, my neighbors have yet to complain. It is a small basement with low ceilings, so I need to use my space wisely, and I depend completely on hardware and software for reverb, but I know that I don't want a completely dead sound. Loudness: as of yet, not an issue. When I can find some extra money, I'll look into it. Budget: I'd like to keep it under 1000, but if need be, I can go over. This studio is not going to be there for only 3 or 4 years, so I'm not sure that I want to construct that much. If I can keep it in the budget, I would like to make recording booths. Construction: All walls are drywall except the one in the sketchup labeled work bench. Concrete floor with carpet, which I would like to remove. paneled ceilings. The sump pump creates a problem, because if I were to build a room, I'd imagine I'd want to build it there. Also, there is a lot of house noise that comes through in the area with the couch and chair (with the low ceiling). Questions: How can I use this space for a versatile recording studio, capable of providing a good environment for recording vocals, guitars, drums, and other instruments? This is not a professional studio, so can I bypass booths and still keep up an OK sound? Can I build a vocal booth, and or an instrument booth without having to eat ramen for the rest of my life? Id like everyones input on this! Thanks! Danny Zerafa

bump. how about this? What if i were to treat where the drum kit is right now as the control room. then, I could keep the sump pump where its at, and have a door that goes to the heating room, so i could isolate the recording booth, which will be around where the computer is now. perhaps a vocal booth where the computer is? ill post a pic in a few.

here

i know that the more effort i put into this post, the more help ill get. but, right now im kind of stumped. is there any other information that this forum needs to help point me in the right direction? I hear that rather than hardware and software, a room is the most important thing on these forums. Well, I have right around 10,000 dollars worth of software and hardware, but from the recording ive done, i realize how much easier it will be after i can acoustically treat my basement. Id like any and all opinions! Thanks! Danny Zerafa

Aloha Danny, Exactly how low are your ceilings? Aloha 8)

as of now, the height in inches, which is poorly shown on my sketchup, is cut up into sections. 81, 75, 81, and 74. there is an ibeam where the 75 is, and there is a lot of noisy heating duct work where its 74. we have a drop ceiling, one in which it looks like a grid with panels in it, however, it was built piece by piece to emulate the grid with panels in it. so, i can remove the ceiling piece by piece, without messing anything up. it has fiberglass panels in it. here are some pics. read the comments to see which part you're looking at, because my sketchup even confuses me, and it is extremely messy because the band i jam with just moved all the equipment out. EDIT: I'll have a floor plan done asap. also, i cant get the comments to stick on there, so here is what i was going to put with each picture from first to last. 1. this area with the low ceilings would be hard to work with, and i think leaving this whole area for the work bench and storage of everything would be the best thing to do. 2. in my plan with the red writing on it, this would be me standing in the mix/control room. 3. this is the view from the stairway. i've been thinking that i should put the mix room on that far wall next to the heating room, and have the recording room/vocal booth be in the closer part of the picture. if i did that, I would put a door into it right where i was standing when i took the picture. 4. this is the ceiling (duh). you can see where new plastic pieces start and end. the ceiling is right up against the studs. it is not very strong, so i think stuffing it with anything would be out of the question. i can always try though. removal would not be a problem.

quick question. what are some good techniques to improve my sketchup models. i see that people create studs and such, but is this using a template or a wizard, or am i just that much of a newbie?

well, i tried to add something to my sketchup, and as soon as i hit paste, everything disappeared. i can still highlight all of the components, but all i see is a white screen with the blue lines that normally surrounded the components. this is very frustrating. help?

i have a liiiitle better handle on sketchup. i took the paddy2 sketchup from one of the stickeys and crammed it into my basement! i know its not perfect, but could it be a possibility? and yes, i understand that you cannot walk through walls to get to the mixing room. and yes, i just wrote window on one side of the wall, but assume there is a window somewhere connecting those rooms. and yes, i do not know how to make stairs.

Should I make an effort to draw up an actual floorplan for a setup like this?

Well, it seems that I've definitely worn out my welcome here. Once again, I apologize for my actions, and I guess I'll come back when I can gain some perspective on the recording industry.

Don't get discouraged, Danny! Sometimes it takes a while before the top guys notice your thread and comment on it. It seems like everyone is really busy right now, since there have not been many comments by the top guy recently. It's frustrating, I know. I'm in the same boat as you, hoping for comments on my studio design thread and some of my questions in other threads, but it's just a matter of patience, I think. Sooner or later, when the experts have time, they'll reply. And I'm very grateful when they do. Don't forget that the experts on this forum are among the top folks in the industry, and they are BUSY! To me, it's an honor and a privilege when they actually do comment on my little project, since basically they are giving us all totally FREE advice here, when they charge other people large sums of money for the exact same kind of advice. So I reckon I'll just wait patiently and be very grateful when they do comment, even if the comment says "Your design sucks. Start again.". That, in itself, is priceless information, considering the caliber of the people from whom it comes. I can live with long delays (after all, a studio isn't built in a day!) and meager pickings in the advice department, simply because it is free advice, yet is still the best you can possibly get in the entire industry. So I'd suggest that you just stick around and keep on posting, keep on asking questions, and sooner or later someone will comment.

"Loudness: as of yet, not an issue. When I can find some extra money, I'll look into it. Budget: I'd like to keep it under 1000, but if need be, I can go over. This studio is not going to be there for only 3 or 4 years, so I'm not sure that I want to construct that much." Neither am I :) Maybe when you get somewhere that you feel like working on, you may find others are willing to help. Also, clean the pictures up. There is nothing helpful about them,

$1000 = some acoustical treatment. Get products that you can take with you in 3-4 years.

Aloha Danny, Any chance you could post your skp file? Aloha 8)

I would say your best bet is using the room as a combined tracking room/control room. If you have only 3-4 years you don't want build anything permanent. For example (the respected)Ethan Winer personally likes these one-room solutions as do a lot of others too. Just find a spot for the recording gear and treat the acoustics accordingly. Then make some moveable gobos that you can use when tracking a band.