Help with room treatments

Hi, This is my first post here, although I've lurked around for a while now. I just bought a new house, that had a preexisting studio in it (not such a far stretch here in Nashville... :D ). Anyhow, the control room has some serious issues with reflections. The ceiling in both the studio and control room is 13' 4". There is a stairway off to the left of the mix position that undoubtedly contributes to a lot of that, as well as the open walls and ceiling towards the top of the room. I have included some pictures in the link below. http://homepage.mac.com/frazierjim/stud ... lbum7.html I'm quite confident that putting enough absorption on the walls/ceiling of the stairway will eliminate most of the reflectiveness there, but it's the treatment of the control room I'm a little hesitant to "guess" on. I'm sure the ceiling above the "cloud" should have something, as well as the back walls and corner, but what? And as far as the studio room itself, It too is very "live", and I would like to keep some of that aspect, but control it somewhat. Any thoughts or opinions are most welcome...

Hi Jaimo - is there any chance of a drawing - I'm confused as to where the staircase is - is the kitchen area at the base of the stair or is it between the mixer and the kitchen but not in the shot? obviously you need much more treatment in both rooms. Those high ceilings are a good place to start IMO cheers john

Hi John, Thanks for taking the time to look at the pictures. Click on the link below to see a "rough" drawing. http://home.comcast.net/~jim.frazier/Pi ... Studio.jpg It's not exactly to scale, but it's close... The area with the Xx's drawn in is the preexisting treatment that was on the walls. It appears to be 703 (or similar) insulation put in wood frames, and covered in fabric. That is the same material and build as the "cloud" that is hanging over the mix position. The wall separating the stairway and control room appears to be standard dry wall attached to wood studs. It is 5" thick. The little kitchen area is at the foot of the stairs. As you can see, the stairway is open, and to the left of the mix position. Like I mentioned in my first post, I'm fairly confident that some 2 or 3 inch absorption material along the stairway walls, and possibly ceiling, will kill that good enough, but I don't want to "suck" the life out of the control room. And like I mentioned before, the ceiling height in both the control room and the studio is 13'4". There is no treatment on the ceilings currently, just drywall. But there are 2 "clouds", one in each room. You mentioned the ceilings are a good place to start. What type(s) of material do you suggest? If you get a chance, take a look at the drawing, and see if that helps give the pictures the perspective you need. Thanks again for any advice you can offer.

why not put a door at the bottom of the stairs and cut the whole area off from the control room?

Thanks for getting back... The problem with putting a door in there, is that the door frame of the door that goes into the studio is right up against that cabinet. So building a wall isn't a (convenient) option. Plus, the room is already smaller than I would have preferred... at least the opening to the stairway with the high ceiling keeps it feeling a little more "open". I honestly think that sticking some 2" absorption treatment all through that stairway, and essentially killing it, will allow me to leave it out of the equation for treating the control room. Plus, I can always put hooks in the wall, and hang a packing blanket over the stairway entry for critical listening....