rehearsal space

Here's something that doesn't happen everyday.... my bandmate/rhythm guitarist is also a drywall contractor, and he's just purchased a warehouse (escrow closes in December, has to do with IRS/taxes/something his acountant siad he should do) anyway, he has announced he is going to build a "room-inside-a-room" for the sole purpose of being our rehearsal space... (I'm half tempted to offer to move all my recording gear over if he'll "build to suit" ) :lol: so, what's an ideal room dimension/ratio? The warehouse is 6000 sq ft, so there's a bit-o-room. The initial idea is to have a space that replicates how we set-up to play gigs, which is fairly tight, owing to small spaces, and well that's just how we're used to playing... so 16 - 18' wide by 12' typically will fit all of our gear (we're not into choreographed dance steps, pyrotechniques, etc).. I'm thinking maybe 18w x 27d with a 10' ceiling? Drummer will have a riser (probably stacks of drywall ) ............1 : 1.5 : :?: The building is 60 x 100, so this is a small portion longer? higher/lower ceiling? He's asked me for my "guidance" (like I actually know...). This will be built/wired for "sound" (repeat after me..."write-off") Thanks for any suggestions!

One favored ratio is 1:1.6:2.33 - simplified, this would be (with a 10' ceiling) 16 x 23.3 feet. IF you wanted more floor space, just keep the same ratios - for example, multiplying all values by 1.2 would give you 12' ceilings, with inner floor size of 19.2 x just under 28 feet (27.96 to be exact) In actual practice, these old "golden" room ratios were derived painfully on paper and can be improved on somewhat - for example, the numbers I gave above actually have some modes doubled and tripled in the upper range (that we care about for modes) at around 200-300 hZ - lowering the ceiling on that room to 11 feet actually improves things. Once it's built, just the basic corner/ceiling/reflection points treated should make it pretty nice to play in. Having a rehearsal space that allows you to set up the same as you would on stage is very nice, did that myself when I was still willing to wipe others' noses, and it did a lot to tighten up the band... Steve

knightfly Thanks! could we achieve better results from hanging baffles down 1' instead of dropping the ceiling? Stainless

Cool! A fellow Sacramentan!! 8) (At least, I think that's what he was trying to spell when he filled out his profile! ;-)) Hey Stainless, brew up some coffee, pull up a chair, and check out my little partial garage conversion rehearsal room project. You'll only need, what, a few days to go through it all. :P Welcome to the forum -- hopefully I'll have a chance to check out what you and your friend are doing sometime... and vice versa... Have you bought Rod's Book yet? If not, it'll be the best howevermuchitcosts money you'll spend on this project of yours. --Keith :mrgreen:

could we achieve better results from hanging baffles down 1' instead of dropping the ceiling? Better to do BOTH - to leave the main ceiling at 12' doesn't get rid of the stacking of modes... Steve