Now The live room....

This is my second post. I made a post in the Acoustics Forum with problems in my control room. Thank you Gullfo for your help there. Well now I'm trying to figure out the best way to set up my live room. It's basically almost square (yeah I know, the worst dimensions!) I actually recorded a bands demo and they in turn tore down a wall for me. Anyways, Here are the dimensions. The room is 14'L x 13.5 W x 7'8"H. The "cubby hole area is 9'L x 2'6"W x 6'2"(back wall angled up to 7'2' at the front). I had ideas for using the cubby hole area for an iso booth but the width is only 2' so it would be so tight for anything boxed in. In the pictures the green stiped partion is actually my self made gobo that I pull out when I need it. The freezer that you see has to stay there or go in my control room. The piano can be put anywhere and once had it in the cubby hole. I've been trying to get all the tools, and what not out of there but I have limited space. As you can see I started to put up bass traps and will get to that later......any suggestions on how to best use the space, I guess especially the cubby hole area..........Thanks for any input you guys have. You guys are awesome....... John

I'm not sure why I haven't got any replies so I think I need to explain myself a little bit more? I want to get a better recordings (vocals especially) and one of the problems is I get a lot of echo almost ringing. The floor is laminate with concrete and padding underneath. The walls have soundboard and then drywall. My thoughts were to build traps and try to get a iso booth in the cubby hole area. The trouble with that is that area is 2'6' and then there is a slab of concrete. I guess the idea would be to put a platform up or take the time and effort to remove the slab entirely and then resurface the area. I really don't have money to spend but If I could get away with spending only $100.00 or less that would be better for my wife. I know that's asking way too much. Like I said I have the homemade gobo and have used that but I really think I need a iso booth. If I use the gobo what would be the best position? I have moved it around but haven't found a great spot. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Aloha,

I'm not sure why I haven't got any replies so I think I need to explain myself a little bit more?

Things get a little busy from time to time so hang in there.

I want to get a better recordings (vocals especially) and one of the problems is I get a lot of echo almost ringing.

A quick look at your pics show a lot of untreated parallel surfaces, contributing to the mentioned echo/ringing. Here are some bits of info on vocal booths I've collected along the way. Perhaps they may of some help to you -

My understanding of small vocal booth/voice-over treatments tend to lean toward the "dead" side. During the insulating phase of my front soffits, I noticed how nice and quiet it got with each 4' x 2' x 3" section of rockwool that was installed. Bryan Giles cautioned however, against building a square booth saying; "Be careful, a dead square booth will have low end issues (you'll hear the issues on your mic.)

Steve (Knightfly) mentioned that "4' x 5' x 7' inside dim's is about the best modal compromise for a small booth." Modally, with a 6'4" ceiling you'd do well with wall dimensions (inside) of 5 and 7 feet. That combination shows no modal problems at all. This means that vocals in such a room shouldn't be "colored" by the room. You would want to keep the upper half, including the ceiling, absorbed with such as rigid fiberglas insulation boards, covered with a light plastic film (they shed) and fire proofed cloth (they're ugly) - you'd likely get better vocal sounds with the singer seated rather than standing, since otherwise they will be nearly at the ceiling. Being that close to a boundary (especially if it isn't absorbed) will cause comb filtering due to early reflections.

Mode-wise, a 5 x 6 x 7 (inside) booth looks very good. It will also fit into an 8 foot ceiling area if necessary, and is big enough for 3 (very) friendly vocalists or 1-2 with a guitar, so that's what I'm going to start with. Once I finish (don't stop breathing while you wait, I have 'way too many projects still open) you could change dimensions to suit, just do NOT make any two dimensions the same, or more than one dimension in even # of feet.

Here are some wall DIY units http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm and some more in depth info on room design and treatments - SAE Institute Reference Material Center – John Sayers http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html Be sure to click on the “acoustics”, “absorbers”, and “construction” tabs at left, and then tabs that show up at the top. Given the $100 budget mentioned, you may have be a bit creative in your treatments. Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Kendale, I apologize for being so hasty about replies. I know you guys are busy and forget that this is done on your own time. I really appreciate the fact that you can help all of us with our studios. Given the fact that you are doing this for free I hope you realize also that there are a lot of us that appreciate all you do! Thank you so much! As far as the build of an iso booth, I'm assuming I can put it in the "cubby hole" area without a problem from the slab I mentioned in the second post? 4x7 would run over the slab area. As far as the echo and ringing, yeah, the treatment panels are being built so I will put them up. Do I need anything on the ceiling? I had a bunch of diffusors up there, but read a post saying that smaller rooms don't need diffusors. Thank you once again Kendale and keep the great work coming. Thank you for your time........... John

Aloha,

Do I need anything on the ceiling? I had a bunch of diffusors up there, but read a post saying that smaller rooms don't need diffusors.

Given the ceiling heights mentioned, having a cloud absorber (or two) over the vocal, mix and parts of the live areas would help to reduce early reflections between the floor/ceiling. Whereas a diffuser at that height and proximity to your microphones may introduce some phase anomalies into your recordings. Aloha 8)

Kendale, Thanks so much for your input and advice. I'll review the threads. I hope I can come up with something without spending too much money at this point. I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly also..... John