What would you do??? Acoustical Help.

Hello All... I have another thread floating around here about building a studio from a prefab barn, but things have changed... (Link is in Signature, but is now moot) As it happens, we're buying a new house and the current owner is also a musician and had a rehearsal studio built out back. That's a great bonus, and saves me some construction... The sound isolation end of things is solid. It's obvious he did his research and the construction was done right.. very little sound bleed through or into the space.... It has it's own Heat, Air, & Electric. However, there is no acoustical treatment going on in the inside. laminated wood floors, gyp. board walls & ceiling. I've done tons of reading, but I'm still having trouble figuring out just how much of what I need. How much abortion (sf), How much resonance (sf), how much Bass Trap (sf), etc... Now, I know this forum tend to lean towards splayed walls, but being the space is smaller and is already complete, I won't be changing the main construction, but I'm not opposed to making some type of movable/hingable slat resonators or the like. This will be used primarily as a rehearsal studio that has the ability to record, but I would like to be able to get descent recording quality out of it. At the core of the studio will be M-Audio ProjectMix I/O, M-Powered Pro Tool 7.x.x, Assorted Shure & Audix Mics. Attached is the skp file. Any help, suggestions, direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your help.

SketchUP File - Base

I'm no good with sketchup, so I can't help you with drawings. But I do have a few ideas. I'd put the desk about where the drum kit is now. Ideally, the mix position should be 38% back from the wall opposite the doors. I'd experiment to see where in the room the drums sound best. I'm guessing one of the corners by the door, but experiment. Go around the room hitting the floor tom to get some low-frequency energy happening in the room. There will be a convenient spot where the low end just seems to fill the room. That's the spot. Put the floor tom down and set up the drum kit around it. I'd put the bass amp in another "sweet" spot as described above, and then arrange the rest of the amps/instruments so that people rehearsing/playing can hear each other well. As far as treatment, since you don't want to do any additional construction I'd start with the standard, broadband absorbers in the corners. These can be superchunks, 4" panels straddling the corners, etc., or you could go with moveable panels, something like the Mondotraps from Realtraps (or others like it). I'd also make sure there is a RFZ at the mix position. Then, I'd probably make some portable gobos that you can move around the room, placing them where you need them at that moment (ie, your RFZ panels could also be gobos, when tracking put them around the drums and/or between amps, when mixing set them up for a good listening position). This kind of setup can sound really good and give you a lot of flexibility.

like jwl says... + i'd put heavy drapes over the window and door for added absorption when needed.

Glenn, Nice! FWIW, I'd lose the panels over the floor corners (unless there's absolutely nothing else in the room) and add 2-3 more squares to each side wall, near the middle-front (either side of the mix position, give or take). Whatever gets added, make it above and below the rows that are already there. My $0.02.

one of my concerns is the kick drum - not a lot of bass trapping in that space but i'd probably start without the floor absorbers and see how it sounds, if its still too much bass in the room, i'd add them.

First, Let me say thank you taking the time to reply and look at my design problem. (Glenn, I see you answered on both forums... thank you for that. I also see you live in NJ also. Kewl) Let me also say there is some great ideas here and I'm grateful for the advice. There a few things I wish to clarify in my design problem & a few question I have based on your ideas...

I went to the Auralex Site and used they're online room calculator. (Note: I know there are other products, and at this point I'm by no means "endorsing" the Auralex Product Line. I'm using any tools I can find to get an Estimate of what I may need to address the rooms acoustics) By Using their Calculator (Which did not allow for the pitched ceiling condition to be calculated) I input the following information: 12'W x 20L x 11'H = Surface Area 944sq/ft Their Solution: (1) EPS-168T Kit ELiTE Pro System (20) 1" B22 ProPanels (2'x2') - @ 80 sq.ft. (8) 2" CT45s (2'x4') - (Bass Traps) @ 64 sq.ft. (6) 4" ProFusors (2'x2') - @ 24 sq.ft. Giving a Coverage 168sq/ft Room Coverage of 18% (I would have thought it would need to be higher. Like 25%-50%)

In my design scheme, I've placed all the absorption on the wall, Bass traps in the corner, and diffusion on the pitch of the ceiling. That said, the addition of the corner traps, heavy drapes, & offsetting of the panels is a great idea.. However, from a design point I want to ignore the fact that the DAW control center is in the room for now and approach it purely as if the room was a live room/rehearsal room. The reason being, I plan to add a control room off the sliding doors in the Future and will address the specific need of the control room at that time. For the time being, I will use a quality pair of headphones for monitoring. Glenn, that said, would that change your design solution. jwl... I like the idea of the room being "flexible" and able to change for a specific situation. What are "gobos" My next question. It sounds as if you would prefer the drums to placed in one corner or the other. Is the ideal? Wouldn't you want to keep symmetry in the space as well as the location of the drum set? Otherwise the soundwaves would hit different walls at different time. Is this ideal for just the sound on the room, or for recording, or both? Again, thanks for the help and I apologize for my ignorance, but your insight comes appreciated.

Just a thought, I think (no measurements to substantiate this) that using such triangle in the tri-corners can better be substituted by making the corner absorbers from floor to ceiling, unless you want this for aesthetic purposes.

Aloha,

What are "gobos"

Gobos (go-betweens) are partitions used to help isolate between instruments, amps, drums, etc in the studio. Often times are movable panels with absorption covered in material. Try here for some plans - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ight=gobos http://www.johnlsayers.com/Stuff/Draw1.pdf http://www.taytrix.com/StackIt_Gobosx.html Hope this helps, Aloha 8)