Basement studio

Hello all, New to this forum, first post! :mrgreen: I still live with my partens being a 22 year old lad and currenctly I'm doing my mixes in my partens so called "computer room". Set up idealy for saving room space, but it isn't ideal for acoustics... [see pics] So I talked my partens into "lending" me a part of our basement. This part is quite roomy and it is rectangle :mrgreen: . A major downside is that the ceiling is really low... 206,5 cm (roughly 6' 9"). Another downside is all the plumbing. I don't have a clue what to do with it... Another thing that I did have in the "computer room" is a partialy sloped ceiling. I was thinking of making two wooden frames, stuffed with rockwool and sheets of drywall nailed to it. Just like so: http://www.kiwiaudio.com/studiobuild/IsolationFraming9.jpg you get the idea... One wall set to the front wall, and the other one is basically going to be my back wall splitting the basement in two. [see pics] This way I'll have my back wall and I coverd some of the plumbing issues. The door to my studio is going to be in the middle of the back wall. I think this is the best solution, because this way I can still treat the back wall (including the door) with diffusion or absorption (probably absorption because of the small space) and I can still put bass traps in my back corners. I already looked at my room ratios: Idealy H x W x L 1 x 1.14 x 1.39 1 x 1.28 x 1.54 1 x 1.60 x 2.33 My room [ceiling height is leading] H x W x L 2.065 x 2.35 x 2.87 2.065 x 2.64 x 3.18 2.065 x 3.30 x 4.81 My room [width is leading] These are sadly not going to work. H x W x L 2.63 x 3.00 x 3.66 2.34 x 3.00 x 3.61 1.88 x 3.00 x 4.37 The only two things I don't know what to do with are the low ceiling and the PVC sewage pipe. If I want to exclude the pipe from the studio, then I have to make another wall. The distance from the left wall to the PVC pipe is 251 cm. So I could use this room ratio: 2.065 x 2.35 x 2.87 Ceiling: Make an improvised sloped ceiling which includes an acoustic cloud, using acoustic material??? Just like this guy did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTAtp7CUIvs Basement studio layout: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/studiolayout.png Computer room: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/Computerroom1.jpg http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/Computerroom2.jpg Basement: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/Basement.jpg Plumbing left front wall (nice girls right?): http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/Plumbingleftfrontcorner.jpg Plumbing right front wall: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/plumbingrightfrontcorner.jpg PVC sewage pipe right wall: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g290/MisterGuitarHimself/PVCsewagepiperightwall.jpg Questions: -What should I do with the plumbing? -Is my drywall solution described above any good? -If yes, what about the door in the middle? -Should I give my room an ideal ratio (which will exclude the PVC sewage pipe from the studio), or should I just go with the standard dimensions of my basement and deal with the PVC sewage pipe? -What about the low ceiling and the so called "cloud" I talked about? Amount I will bespending are roughly €500 on construction. Drywall and wood isn't that expensive over here. Acoustic material is going to be an other price tag.

Bump.

Hi. There is an announcement at the top of the forum about what to do to assure getting as many responses as possible. The announcement leads to this post (click here). Actually, several people, who are experts on this forum, will most likely not reply if you don't do what is written in that post. So Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things! :) - Stuart -

Thank you! I've done the things that are mentioned in that topic (if not allready). Only thing are the pictures which I'm not cerain of :-|

I've done the things that are mentioned in that topic

Much better! :) :thu:

New to this forum, first post!

Welcome! :) And sorry for the delay in replying: I've been on vacation, and it seems nobody else is responding right now...

This part is quite roomy and it is rectangle :mrgreen: . A major downside is that the ceiling is really low... 206,5 cm (roughly 6' 9").

Not fantastic, but if that's the space you've got, then that's what you've got! Just have to make the most of it. It's better than having no space at all, that's for sure!

-What should I do with the plumbing?

It would probably be too expensive to move it? If so, then you can just work around it carefully.

I was thinking of making two wooden frames, stuffed with rockwool and sheets of drywall nailed to it. ... One wall set to the front wall, and the other one is basically going to be my back wall splitting the basement in two.

I'm not sure you need that at the front, since you will be using one of the existing basement walls as the front of your room, and you didn't mention any need for isolation. So you only need to build a wall at the back, to separate your studio from the rest of the basement. You would only need a front wall (and side walls, and a new ceiling) if you need to isolate your room form the rest of the house.

The door to my studio is going to be in the middle of the back wall. I think this is the best solution, because this way I can still treat the back wall (including the door) with diffusion or absorption (probably absorption because of the small space) and I can still put bass traps in my back corners.

Right!

The only two things I don't know what to do with are the low ceiling and the PVC sewage pipe.

You can't put in a new ceiling, since that would make it too low to be usable. I would suggest wrapping the pipe with thick insulation (mineral wool or fiberglass), at least 10cm, then wrapping two layers of MLV around that, then building a small soffit around it, with wood framing and a single layer of 16mm drywall. That should silence it very well.

If I want to exclude the pipe from the studio, then I have to make another wall.

Not necessarily: just make an isolation soffit, as described above.

Make an improvised sloped ceiling which includes an acoustic cloud, using acoustic material???

I'm not sure that have enough height up there to do a proper cloud. A cloud is at least 15cm thick, and needs to be hung at an angle of at least 12°. It also needs to be big enough to cover the area between the front wall and the mix position. Would that work out? I suspect the front end of the cloud would be too low down. Maybe not. You'd have to measure carefully to see.

what about the door in the middle?

That's fine.

-Should I give my room an ideal ratio (which will exclude the PVC sewage pipe from the studio), or should I just go with the standard dimensions of my basement and deal with the PVC sewage pipe?

I would do the soffit around the pipe and try to make the room as big as possible, while also looking for a good ratio. The only dimension you can adjust is your room length, since the height and width are basically fixed. But you should be able to find a reasonably good ratio. - Stuart -