John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Yes, I heard of LEDs. Much lower consumption and no heat.
So basically I could stick some tube LEDs on the clouds (wall side) for the ambient light and a bunch of single LEDs for the direct light.
Simple and great ....but how do I calculate the amount of light I need?

check with the manufacturer. most of the direct light ones use multiple LED and have their lumens etc documented. usualy i like to use multiple circuits rather than dimmers so i can scale the lighting from ambiance only, 35% of room lights - over console and producer desk/couch only, and 100% for bright when needing to wire up, clean, etc.

You mean like three levels, i.e.
1-ambience
2-desk and couch
3-100% bright

That's a cool idea and rules out dimmer problems. I was actually thinking on using an electronic dimmer on a different breaker (I'm wiring all my audio on a dedicated circuit breaker) but I think I'll give your system a go

How can I find out how many lumens I need? Out Of curiosity, how many do you use?

Cheers
Sono

usually 4 or 5 ~700 lumen lamps over the console and same for the producer area. plus another 6-8 around the front, middle and back. this is a total of 14-18 lamps. i like 2700°K (warmer) versus 3500°K (neutral) but FMMV. make 3 active over producer and console for the middle light setting. if you set up your switching and plugs correctly you can always adjust the number that are on or off per setting. use track lighting also allows to start off with fewer (or more) and you can selecting adjust plus aim.

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation
Nevertheless, I apologize but I got lost here. Could you please explain again the two following points?

gullfo wrote:if you set up your switching and plugs correctly you can always adjust the number that are on or off per setting. use track lighting also allows to start off with fewer (or more) and you can selecting adjust plus aim.

Thanks a lot for your help
Cheers
Sono

if you use outlets on your ceiling that you plug your lighting into, you can adjust the numbers that go on or off at a given setting. same for track lighting except track lighting by it's nature allows adding or removing lights from a given track.

Of course!! Sorry, I guess it's "brain dead day" for me today......
I didn't know what track lighting was (by that name, anyway)
I think I'll put three switches on the desk to control each set of lights. Then I can assign the lights I want to each switch.
I just need to make sure I have enough sockets per switch, in case I need changes
That is a great tip, Glenn!

If I'd like to access one set of lights from two switches (say from the door and from the desk), I would need to wire the switches in parallel using 3 way switches, correct?

Thanks again
Cheers
Sono

yep

Cheers
Sono

I've been trying to sketch up the clouds following your example clouds pic. I came up with something along these lines: What do you reckon?
Cheers
Sono

Bumpety Bump......

Don't have SU on my BB... Will check when I get back online.

Thanks Glenn
Cheers
Sono

looks good. the front frame you show will be filled with rigid insulation? cool! also consider some widely spaced slats or other scattered hard surfaces (some symmetrical pattern on 1/2" plywood for example) on the cloud faces to ensure you keep the high frequency energy where you need it. put some 3.5mil (or so) plastic on the face of the cloud insulation before covering with cloth.

Yes, it's just a sketch. I like your light scheme drawing too
I'll keep working on it
Thanks again for your support mate
Cheers
Sono