Studio design for playing acoustic guitar

Started by Tricky Fish on 20 July 2014. 3 replies.

Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 19542.

I will be building a home studio / study in the next year or so and I would appreciate some advice on design. The room will NOT be a dedicated recording studio. The purpose of the room is to be (in order of priority): 1. My study, allowing me to work on my "day job" (i.e. computer work). 2. A practice room for playing acoustic guitar (steel string & classical). 3. A jam room for friends: I play with violin and keyboards frequently, potentially other instruments in the future. 4. A basic recording studio, primarily of my acoustic guitars (I'm not seeking elite level sound quality, but a good representation of my acoustic instruments). 5. Be a listening room. Some other comments, the room will: A. Be about 4m by 5m, but I don't know the exact size yet. B. Need to have significant bookshelf space for its role as a study. C. Have a desk with a computer on it. D. Have a couch. The main main issue I have is how to get the room to be effective as a practice room for the acoustic guitar because I like playing the guitar with some natural (good quality) reverb. With the acoustic guitar being very directional in its sound, when I play I like to hear its sound reflected from a wall (or other) in front of me (I want to hear what the audience would usually hear). At this stage, I think I will have a typical symmetrical home studio layout with one end of the room having the desk, computer and monitors. I think at this end I will have full sound absorption for recording / listening purposes. At the other end I think I will place the couch but leave the rear wall untreated (reflective), possibly with a diffuser. So when I practice acoustic guitar, I will face the soundboard of the guitar into the rear wall with the reflective surfaces / diffuser so that I can better hear the tone of my guitar. For listening, I face the front wall like a normal home studio, albeit with a more reflective rear wall than usual. This idea is theoretical and I'd like to hear from the experts whether this makes sense or not. I recognise that this is a recording studio forum and what I will be building is a little different, but I appreciate the expertise here. Any advice on designing and using this room?
Apologies for that. Now addressed. Great info in the FAQ, although it doesn't necessarily answer my questions.
Any feedback? I'd really appreciate feedback on designing this rehearsal / studio room for acoustic guitar.