Indiana Home Studio Build

Glad to hear the control room acoustics are shaping up. I'm thinking that the speakers (or your listening position) might be in a null, which is causing the huge dip @ 130Hz-ish. Try moving them, even a few inches, and it might help....

James, my first post on this site had to go in your thread... 8) I have been reading the site for months now (not participating but reading AND learning a lot). It's fair to say that i've read almost every post on this board (noup, not kidding) and learned a lot already. I also purchased the Rod Gervais book on amazon and also helped a lot. Anyway... I'm from Argentina, and i plan to start building my studio next year (Jan 2009) so soon i'll be posting some ideas so you guys can help me out on the design, and hopefully i'll have a great building diary as yours. James, i just want to tell you how inspiring your post has been for me. I ve learned a lot and got lot's of great ideas from your pictures. You are an example of how things should get done for those of use that want a "home studio" but with a pro look. Great job dude.!!! James, thanks again and keep those pictures cooming.! I want to see how it all turns out for you. Best regards.!!! And MANY thanks for sharing this part of your life with us. God Bless. :wink:

Wow! Thank you ale-recording! :oops: Your words are kind indeed! Best of luck with your upcoming project! You are doing the right thing by reading around here, and also by buying Rod's book. It has helped us all out immensely. We are heading into the home stretch now, and I should have some new pictures to post soon!

For those of you following along at home, here is the NASTY paint color (first coat only, obviously). Soon to be remedied... We will have to re-primer first, then repaint. Oh the joy!!!

James, what are your plans for the live room regarding acoustics ? I see that you went with a "rectangle shape" design... same as the CR. From what i could see in your plans the original idea was to slant the walls a little bit but that was changed due to space limitations. Im curious because i have a similar situation where every inch of space is needed, and i'm wondering how are you going to treat the room to make it sound good... Of course corner absorbers, some clodus, bass traps... that alone should do the trick ? It's possible to get a great sound out of a "rectangle shaped" room ? Thanks in advance.! And keep those pics coming (can't get enough of them LOL) God Bless. :wink:

As far as the plans go for acoustic treating the live room... The current plan calls for the back wall to be wood paneled, then floor-to-ceiling bass traps in all of the corners, fourteen 4" bass traps on the walls, and a large ceiling cloud on the back half in front of the wooden wall (drum location). I will also move the ugly couch out of the control room into the live room, and have a couple of nice large Persian-style rugs on the floor. I also have six movable gobos for additional treatment as necessary. Once complete, I will re-evaluate as necessary. As a side note, this room sounded pretty decent before the renovation with less treatment (mostly Aurlex foam with some rigid fiberglass traps straddling the corners). The old room was carpeted however, and the renovated room will have hardwood, so that is going to change things significantly!

Sounds like a plan.!! 8) Sorry if this question is sort of noobish :shock: ... but, i'm confused when it comes to parallel walls. I know you should avoid parallel walls... but with a good acoustic treatment (such as you mentioned) is it possible to get a good and nice sounding room ? From what you're saying about your CR IT IS possible right ??? Looking forward to see how it all turns out for you. Best regards.

This is a tough one! No one is saying you should "avoid" parallel walls, but only that it is much easier to get a good sound out of a room with non-parallel surfaces. The wave reflections will not bounce back together as readily, and it helps to prevent standing waves from repeated bounces. I *WISH* I would have used the splayed walls that I had in my original design, it would have helped considerably with my room. As you can see, it is possible to get a good-sounding room with parallel walls, but it is just a lot easier if you splay the walls a bit. I put a lot of work into the acoustic treatment in my CR, and looking back, if I had thought the process through a bite more, I would have had to work a lot less to get a good sound!

ale_recording wrote:

Sounds like a plan.!! 8) I know you should avoid parallel walls... but with a good acoustic treatment (such as you mentioned) is it possible to get a good and nice sounding room ?

Read this post for a quick answer. Read the thread it is in for a more complete answer. Andre

Andre thanks for the link!! It really make some things a little bit more clear for me. I'm looking forward on james's Live Room to see how it turns out and hopefully get some ideas for my construction (I will also have "rectangle shape" Live & CR). Best regards!

Got the first coat of the new paint down last night. We still need to cut the edges and paint the corners, but at least we made it this far. Here is a pic showing the contrast between the old color and the new color. The old color is the bright orange to the left, and the new color is the lighter yellow to the right. Once again, the picture does not do it justice, plus the new color is still wet. It looks much nicer this morning now that it has had some time to dry, and you don't get sunburned when you look at the walls any more!!! I'll post another pic or two once the painting is complete (probably by this evening or tomorrow at the latest).

Here are a few sketches of the studio layout. As you can see, my Sketchup skills are sorely lacking! At least it gives you an idea of the layout of the entire project.

Hey that's looking great.!!! Quick question... How deep are your corner traps ? 4" or different sizes ? Why did you decided to leave open the space that says "stairway to upper level" ? Wouldn't the soung go that way and make a mess for your isolation ? I'm probably wrkong but im picturing the liveroom as an "open" space... like a need an extra wall to make the room close and airtight... :shock: Keep up dude... Awesome job you're pulling here! Best regards.

Corner traps are full triangles, floor to ceiling, they are not flat traps straddling the corners. The dimensions on the fiberglass pieces are 17" X 17" X 24. Looks like this: Then this: and then this: As far as the stairway leading to the upper level... Yeah, as it stands, I am losing some isolation, but the door at the top of the stairs is quite solid and well-sealed. This is only Phase I of the Live Room, and the plans for Phase II include sealing off the stairs with a wall and a door, as well as tearing out the entire ceiling, insulating, and putting a double-layer of sheetrock on resilient channel. I will also build HVAC silencers for the live room at that time. I just need to get the studio up and running for a while (a year or so), and then I will tackle Phase II.

Thanks for the quick response.! Sounds like you have a well design action plan for that live room. Keep up with the good job and let us know how it's coming together. Best regards.

We finished painting the new paint color last night, but I am thinking that I might want to add ONE MORE coat, just to make sure that all of the old ugly neon glow orange is covered for good! Next up, wood paneling for the back wall and some white trim painting around the stairs... and of course, clean up the stinking mess that we made during the painting phase!

Looking good! I like the paint color on the 3rd picture (i think that one is closer to the real color and not so "bright" as the others). Question... you said "wood paneling for the back wall " are you planning on "beefing" up that wall with an additional layer of wood ? Best regards.

ale_recording wrote:

Looking good! I like the paint color on the 3rd picture (i think that one is closer to the real color and not so "bright" as the others).

Thanks! Yep, that is the closest to the real color.

ale_recording wrote:

Question... you said "wood paneling for the back wall " are you planning on "beefing" up that wall with an additional layer of wood ?

Well, I am not really beefing up that wall, I am just covering it with wood paneling. Behind that wall is a stud wall, backed by concrete, then miles of dirt!!! (The studio is in the basement.) The purpose is mainly for aesthetics, but there are some folks that feel that it might have some different acoustical properties than drywall, and will give me some mic placement options.

Sweet Jesus - Its almost done!!! Looking nice James. I'm glad you were able to extend those bass traps and fix em' once and for all. And those Sketchup drawings..... Jeez..... They look great! Your S.U. skills are pretty good if you ask me. The drawings look exactly like your place. I especially like the Marshall and Blond Fender amps. Where did you get them?

BradJacob wrote:

Sweet Jesus - Its almost done!!! Looking nice James. I'm glad you were able to extend those bass traps and fix em' once and for all. And those Sketchup drawings..... Jeez..... They look great! Your S.U. skills are pretty good if you ask me. The drawings look exactly like your place. I especially like the Marshall and Blond Fender amps. Where did you get them?

Well, I downloaded them from the Sketch-up site. I actually own a Marshall half-stack and a Fender Twin, but not a blond, unfortunately.

Well, the painting is finally done in the live room except for a few pieces of detail work around the stairs, and the doors to the closet, all of which are white. I also finished with the wood panels on the back wall, but I was one board short!!! Dang! I will have to buy one more board to complete the wall, although my son told me to not even worry about it since the corners are going to be covered with bass traps anyway. Hmmmm.... I'll probably finish it anyway. Next up, the floor! Here are a few pics of the progress:

James that's really coming together, congrats! That board missing... mmm... Murphy's Law comes to mind! LOL Is the floor going to be exactly like the one in the Airlock & CR ? (By the way a dig that color) Best regards and keep up the great job :wink:

James that's really coming together, congrats! That board missing... mmm... Murphy's Law comes to mind! LOL Is the floor going to be exactly like the one in the Airlock & CR ? (By the way a dig that color) Best regards and keep up the great job :wink:

ale_recording wrote:

James that's really coming together, congrats!

Thanks! It has been a long, long road.

ale_recording wrote:

That board missing... mmm... Murphy's Law comes to mind! LOL

Yeah, is that hilarious, or what? I thought I measured things so that I would have 2 extra boards in case I screwed up here and there. Oh well, measure, cut and stain one more board! Not a big deal I guess.

ale_recording wrote:

Is the floor going to be exactly like the one in the Airlock & CR ? (By the way a dig that color)

It is the same type of engineered hardwood, but a different color, sorry! It will be a lighter color than the CR and the airlock.

"All journeys start with one small step" as they say. I actually got started on the flooring for the live room, believe it not!!! 30" across, and 27 feet long! Nothing more this weekend, today is Father's Day in the U.S., and I am spending the day with my family. You can also see the soldering task that I still have in front of me!