Jazz Pianist needs some room tips :D

Hey guys, Im new. My friend is looking to convert (as shown in the picture) [ http://img8.exs.cx/img8/1746/FLOORPLAN101.jpg ] Room1 into a piano room & Room 2 into a "control" room The wall dividing these 2 rooms is 6" thick, The two windows on the far right wall are about 15 ft from a moderately busy road and to top it off no construction is wanted & the budget is under $1000 ( might be able to push it a little more) As for the `control' room, i dont think monitors will work to well, as it seems like bleed is inevitable, are there any options here? We are not doing pro-recordings by anymeans.. which should be pretty apparent based on the budget :D, but just basic pro-tools LE stuff, monitoring on a set of of junky Yamaha MSP5's. About the windows.. What kind of curtains can we use to try an eliminate noise from the road? Are there any other options besides curtains? Like building a frame that can seal over the windows while recording, in addition to the curtains. The owner of the house also wants to install a window in the 6" wall dividing room 1 & 2, is this a good or bad idea based on the allready abundent problems. So basically, where should the piano be placed, where should a singer or sax player be placed, and what can we do to the room to make it "sound better" (whatever that means:D) & is there any option besides using headphones to make monitoring in room2 aceptable? Also, We will be doing live recordings as well, so what kind of headphones should i look for? (under $600) I currently have a pair of BOSE QuietComfort 1 Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones . thanks, & sorry to waist your guys time :) heheh If u cannot view the image, please see it here http://img8.exs.cx/img8/1746/FLOORPLAN101.jpg or email me at [removed] or BlackTEN51 on aim thanks-

No problem; just your basic low budget, can't change anything, you've got to be kidding, generic black magic application scenario... :roll: First, you can spend your entire $1000 on a set of platinum plated, litz wired headphones and you will NEVER know from the phones what your recording will sound like when played on speakers in a real room - that's just a fact of acoustics, the only exception to it is if you could afford an anechoic chamber to put full-range speakers in; then, you might hear the same thing as in your phones, but it still wouldn't vaguely resemble normal sound in a real room. Second, you didn't mention if your sound bothering others is ALSO a problem - not that it matters, because without serious construction you can't change that anyway. Sound isolation is a 2-way street, and requires heavy masses separated by damped air spaces, period. What you COULD do is build something like this for your windows, since they will undoubtedly be more "leaky" than your walls - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=272 So about all this leaves (and it's within your budget) is to build some of John's wall units and improve the acoustics of your space - you can find them here, along with some basic ideas of where each type should be placed - http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm Adding a window between rooms will lessen the isolation you already have, unless you can afford a second wall and two heavy pieces of glass (several hundred$$ just for the glass) As to instrument and mic placement, this is nearly an infinite subject. There are entire books written on this subject. Some of the variables are things like what part of the instrument emanates the most/best sound, modal peaks/nulls of the room, speaker/boundary interference (micing amps) - for a good start on this, check out Amazon for Professional Microphone Techniques by David Mills-Huber, Philip Williams This covers most instruments, including sax, grand and upright piano, hand percussion, ad infinitum... I'm not trying to be mean here, but when you tie my hands and ask me to box Mohammed Ali, I get defensive... :? Steve Oh, forgot to mention - if you could update your profile to include a location, estimates would make a lot more sense - thanks...

Thanks for the window link, that looks like it should help alot, if built properly. Also.. As for Room1 (as shown in the pic above) Are there any standard things you would do to it? For example rear wall absorbers @ the back wall of the control room are typicaly found in most controls,.. so in regards to room1 what basics should be implemented if any? thanks for your time. -much appreciated ps: profile updated

That room will have flutter echo problems if you don't break up those parallel walls - I'd build a few of the angled slot resonators shown in the link to wall units, only I would build each one as a single "tooth" in the sawtooth pattern - in other words, build each section as a 4'wide varying depth slat absorber, going from 4" depth one side to at least 10" wide at the other side- you could alternate these with absorber sections (plain rigid fiberglass, cloth covered) along 1 wall of each pair of parallel walls - this will tighen up the room, kill flutter but not deaden it as much as just absorption would. For the ceiling, you'll need to do a "cloud" of 2" rigid fiberglass or rockwool, at a minimum covering the ceiling area over the piano; probably more, but listen before adding the rest. It's better to space this away from the ceiling by at least 2", more if you can. Floor should be mostly un-carpeted, with a few throw rugs you can move around. IF you can, find out exactly how the 6" thick wall is built between CR and live room, and if it's OK to build a second door to enclose that alcove at the lower right of the plan... Steve