acoustic instrument studio

hello, i am on the low end of the learning curve as far as studio design, acoustics, layout, etc, etc. so bear with me. trying to absorb all the required information for designing and constructing a small home studio seems imposible at times. anyway, i will be recording acoustic instruments only....guitar, mandolin, banjo, violin, bass, etc. are there any special considerations i should be aware of for this type of studio. in other words, are there things i should do differently in the overall design and layout since i won't be recording instruments like drums or electric guitar, and so on. thanks, tj

TJ, > i will be recording acoustic instruments only....guitar, mandolin, banjo, violin, bass, etc. are there any special considerations < Do not carpet the floor! Use any type of reflective material like hardwood, linoleum, or painted or stained cement. Then you'll need absorption on the walls and ceilings to keep the room from being too live and reverberant. --Ethan

thanks for the reply ethan. what would the benefit be of the hard surfaced(reflective) floor? as i said previously, i'm still educating myself on the subject of acoustics. so please forgive me for asking these remedial type questions. and i'll add another question to the mix while i'm at it. has/does anyone record in their control room. not direct in for bass and the like, but with a mic. if the typical noise in a control room(computer/recorder/etc) were removed, would there be a problem recording in the control room. i'd like to be able to do this for a number of reasons.

would there be a problem recording in the control room.

no problem tj. As Ethan said you just need the right balance between reflective and absoption surfaces. For acoustic instruments make sure the low end of the room is undercontrol and the highs are still in the room (i.e. not sucked out with heavy high end absorption. By the instrument line up and your location it sounds like bluegrass to me ?? I love bluegrass :):) cheers john

thanks for the info. my plan is to build a small external studio on my property. i'm sure it'll be a couple of years before i start on the construction. it'll probably take me that long to work out all the details. :lol: do any of you guys know of a USER FRIENDLY program to draw floor plans? i've tried a couple and they are NOT user friendly. i think you'd need a course in cad to use these. and yes, it's bluegrass. a friend introduced me to tony rice's music a couple years ago and that opened up the world of acoustic music and bluegrass for me. up until then i'd been a rock fan. still am. just not exclusively.

I use a drawing program called smartdraw - http://www.smartdraw.com you can download a trial version from their site. Bluegrass - yeah - how about the dixie chicks - "white trash wedding" :):) cheers john

Johnson, > what would the benefit be of the hard surfaced(reflective) floor? < Many benefits. See the sidebar "Hard floor, soft ceiling" in my Acoustics FAQ, second in the list on my Articles page: www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html --Ethan

Johnson - just to add to what Ethan is saying if you are sitting on a chair with your acoustic guitar with a mike say 1 ft away the first reflection will be off the floor - way before any of the room reflections come in. cheers John

Hi, I'm doing what you're talking about already. I have a small all-acoustic studio here in Fort Worth. I'm recording in a 14'X16'X9' room. It has a mexican terra cotta tile floor. Since I track only (no full-band stuff), I'm in the room with the performers. Here's an example of what I'm doing: http://www.earlclark.com/mp3/light.mp3 http://www.earlclark.com/mp3/gr004.mp3 John, you may enjoy these too! :D Earl

yeah - nice bluegrass - you got me :):) cheers john

thanks for the smartdraw tip john. i'll download it and give it a try. and thanks for the link to your site ethan. wow. lots of info there. i'm still amazed and grateful at how generous you guys are with your information. sounds good earl. are you recording onto tape or digital?

Digital...PC. Earl

ok guys...get out your red markers and critique the layout i've attached. this is my first drawing, so please feel free to make any suggestions for needed changes. i'll be starting from scratch, so i'm not locked in to anything yet. i'm not even sure i can do all the layout suggests. specifically the isolation of the computer in another room. i don't know if cables that long for the mouse,monitor, and keyboard would pose a problem or not. i'm gonna have to research that. and i included a small isolation booth just to have as another option. even though i probably won't need one, i'd hate to need one later and wish i'd built one. tj

TJ, Looks good - though you might need more volume dedicated to bass trapping. You also might consider building some kind of gear rack in the computer room that can open to the control room for easy access to your computer, recorder, and such. The door could be made of heavy double paned plexigals, giving you both visibility and sound isolation. CRT computer monitors often produce high frequency noise from their high voltage transformers. You might consider a flat panel display. Another great little extra for this type of setup is a wireless keyboard and mouse. Thomas

i figured i'd need more bass absorption. i was hoping someone might have suggestions as to the best location and type. i intend to use a flat panel monitor, but i hadn't thought about the remote mouse and keyboard. thanks. tj

funny isn't it that Bluegrass is turning up everywhere. When I used to tell folks I played bluegrass mandolin they all said "what is bluegrass". Like you I want to record only acoustic music. But to include baby grand piano. I agree with keeping the reflections. My room is 26 x22 x avg of 13' ceiling. Hardwood floors are the plan. I soundproofed not to keep sound from getting out but to keep it from getting in. I used spray (not blown) cellulose 3.5" thick and RC channel with two layers of 5/8 drywall. Now I am planning the floor. I picked out the oak flooring which will go over a concrete slab. I ran the cables under the slab through pvc conduit to the two iso rooms. I am wondering if a floated floor (not glued down and allows for foam padding underneath) vs. glued down hardwood directly on slab. To my mind it makes sense to use a floated floor with some deading agent under it. But I don't want boards popping up later down the line. What do you think? INCIDENTLY. I think I recognize that voice on Earls MP3. I only live 30 miles from Fort Worth and I believe that is the voice of Bonnie Cruciger on the first tune. Could be wrong. :idea: