L-shaped room/n00b's control room

I just bought a house and I finally get to turn the basement into my very own recording studio :D my control room is pretty small and L-shaped and I don't know exactly how to set it up here is drawing of the dimensions here is the only pic I could get before my camera's batteries wore out the walls are all gypsum board the room is roughly 7'h x 9'w x 12'L the couch sections are just wood frames with cushions set on them and they stand about 3' tall (the back section) the desk is 2' 4" tall my questions are: how should I set up the area behind the couches? considering my room dimensions, what would be a good size studio monitor & how many watts should I be looking for? I've also got about 9 peices of R-19 fluffy(yellow) insulation sittng around that the old homeowners left behind, would these be usable for this project (i.e. bass traps)? thanks, Cliff

Aloha and welcome to the forum, Cliff Congrats on your studio build! Any chance you could please:

Edit your profile to include your location. This is very important, because this is a worldwide resource, and as such, material costs and availability vary widely. For example, masonry is cheaper than gypsum in some parts of the globe, whereas it's the exact opposite in other regions.

You'll probably get more of a response by doing so and this will really come in handy two or three posts down the road. It's also part of the forum guidelines: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231 Thanks! :wink: If you could provide a little more info, it'd be helpful: - How much isolation/soundproofing do you need from the rest of the house? - What kind of music/instruments will you be working with? - What volume levels will you be working with? - Is there insulation in your current walls? - And finally, provided the area marked out below is NOT a bearing wall, is it a viable option to knock out this corner and even out your floor plan? Otherwise, you could look into trying some of the following to get started: Setting up the Mix Position - Roughly 38% from the front wall avoiding peaks/nulls (front to back, left to right, ceiling to floor) - Equilateral triangle formed by left, right mix position - Monitor angles 60 degrees - Monitor height – woofer at ear level (avoid mid point of floor to ceiling measurement – either sit higher or lower if necessary) - Side absorption panels – left/right of mix position - Corner absorbers in front left/right and rear left/right forners - floor to ceiling - Ceiling absorber panel/s over mix position Looking forward to your build! Aloha

Thanks for the quick reply

kendale wrote:

- How much isolation/soundproofing do you need from the rest of the house? - What kind of music/instruments will you be working with? - What volume levels will you be working with? - Is there insulation in your current walls? - And finally, provided the area marked out below is NOT a bearing wall, is it a viable option to knock out this corner and even out your floor plan?

1) I don't really need any isolation from the rest of the house; just between the control room and recording area (which is the room next to it) 2) I will be recording drums from the room next to this one, and the guitar/drums/vocals seperateley, and mostly direct (mostly heavy metal/rock) 3) I'll have to get an spl reader to really say for sure 4) there is insulation on the walls facing outside (the left wall and the bottom wall) but none in the rest. 5) behind that wall is where the stairs are, so I won't be able to do anything about it. thanks, Cliff