I'm just starting planning for a studio in my basement. There's two rooms I'm planning to use:
1) Converting a bedroom for recording/songwriting. I'm hoping to get away with "social" isolation -- I will mainly be recording vocals and acoustic guitar so it shouldn't be too loud. This room is directly underneath my bedroom, so it there's no one to bother or be making noise directly above. And I can turn off the A/C while I'm recording if I need to. I also currently have my upright piano in here.
In the photo below you can see that the ceiling is not completely flat. There's a lower area near the closet (heating duct I think).
2) A large room I'd like to use as a combination home theater and control room. This room is not symmetrical though and I'm not sure what to do about that. One end has a wood burning stove on a brick base (I think the base is about 6'x4'). It also opens in to the hall. See photos and a sketchup layout below.
The ceilings in both rooms are fairly low - 7'8". I thought maybe I should remove the drywall and fill in between the rafters with fiberglass?
I think the floors are carpet over cement slab, I also wondered if I should take out the carpet and stain or polish the slab floors to get a reflective floor and also make it easier if I want to move the piano between the two rooms.
My first question I guess is about the layout. Where should I put the speakers, listening position, projector screen etc?
I assume I will also need to close off the room from the hallway and maybe even from the stairs?
Or is there a better way I should be laying things out?
My budget is 10-20k for everything including equipment, and I'm planning to do a most of the work myself.
Thanks for any help!
basement studio
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