Starting with a clean slate

Greetings! This is my first post to this forum and I would like to introduce myself. My name is Mike and I am about to embark on the "journey" of building my recording studio! I have a stand alone building, built on a concrete slab with internal floor space of 19 feet 4 inches square and an 8 foot ceiling. There is set of cabinets along one wall and the only window is located there. The floor is currently exposed concrete and the walls and ceiling are sheet rock. This room will be used for band practice and jam sessions with recording equipment being added later as my budget allows. No control room has been planed to save floor space. In it's current state the acoustics are atrocious! I am currently employed as a broadcast engineer with a radio network, so wiring is not an issue, but I would really like to hear any input on improving the acoustics of the room. I plan on using materials readily available from local outlets like Lowe's and Home Depot. The budget is going to be "shoe string" for starters, current plan is to invest around $1500 to make the room viable for live music. Current plan is to do all the work myself with some volunteer help. Wish me luck! Mike S.

Hi Mike. Part of what you are hearing in that room is hard surface and the square dimensions. With some luck you can locate more information that will help you decide on a rectangular set of dimensions that will alleviate this room condition. Room ratios as they are called. With an 8 foot ceiling and 19.33 length, you "could" install a wall at 13 feet creating a 13 foot by 19.33 foot by 8 foot tall room. This would help to even out the modes that you are dealing with now. Even if all you are interested in is simply to treat this room and have no interest in isolation techniques, the square room is difficult to make useable for audio unless it is damped down completely creating a dead type listening environment. Golden ratio: irrational mathematical constant -Wiki ACCEPTABLE ROOM RATIOS (an overview) -Eric Desart I recommend getting as much as you can out of this conflicting information I linked to, and move on. It is a starting point to a long walk. Good luck with it, Brien

Excellent! Thank you Brian, I will start there. Mike S.