John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I have recently finished construction on my studio. I am starting to treat the rooms to get the best sounding space possible. I have read a lot here over the past 2 years during the entire build and would like to get some thoughts on this stage of the process. I will be breaking down my plans for each space and posting the progress here along the way.

My entire basement space is dedicated to my live room, mixing room, vocal booth and theater room. There is also a Bathroom and a machine room. The entire basement is around 1500 sq ft.

The upstairs is living space for my family, there are 2 floors - the main and second floor. The main floor has our kitchen, great room, computer room and master suite. The second floor belongs to the kids, bedrooms, bathrooms and their bonus/living room.


PRIMARY SPACE USE: 5.1 and stereo mixing and edit of films and videos. Additional rooms for foleying and ADR/VO work. Theater room for previewing mixes in a real world enviroment.

SECONDARY SPACE USE: Recording and mixing music.

BACKGROUND: In the past I have recorded music/bands and what ever came my way, now my focus has shifted to mixing/editing sound for features. However, I would like to have a space that I can record music if I would like.

LOCATION: Ohio. House is in a residential neighborhood.

BASEMENT STRUCTURE: The basement is a concrete foundation walls. The basement is completely under ground. The floor is a concrete slab. The biggest issue I am facing is the Basement ceilings are 7'-6" from floor to ceiling.

CONSTRUCTION: (At this Point)

Walls: Double walls (MAM) with 2 layers of drywall on each side.

Ceiling: Since headroom was an issue I used isolation clips and hat-channel with 2 layers of Drywall

Floor: Stained concrete as my finished flooring in the studio, control room and iso room. The theater room is carpet.

Budget: At this point I am committed to do what I can to make the space sound as good a possible.

Floor Plan:

I am going to start my planning and efforts on the live room.

This room empty sounds very good. It is very live and open with nice reverb and decay.

I want to keeps the live aspect of the room but just control and flatten it out.

Floor Plan:
Some issues with the room is the ceiling is 7'6". I know this not idea but I will still want to treat it and get it sounding as good as possible.

I think some of the decay is masking the flutter echo I am getting between the ceiling and floor. I also imagine I have some between the parallel walls.

There is also a soffit covering an overhead beam in the top half of the room.

I have tested the space with REW (I hope I am using properly). I have made calibrations for the sound card and for the Radio shack SPL meter I am using to test.

Here's my initial thought on treating this space:
I have some 2'x4' 4" thick OC703 panels covered with cloth in a wood frame that I thought I could repurpose and use as overhead clouds.

I have read on other post that doing and checker board pattern on the ceiling works well. Is the plan above adequate coverage for the ceiling or am I better of with different size panels and spacing?

I also figure I should trap the corners because during my testing they had a build up low end.

My plan for the corners are to frame across them at a 45 degrees and fill from floor to ceiling with a layer of 2' wide 4"thick OC 703 and cover with a fabric.

Should I cover the panels (ceiling clouds and corners) with plastic or something else to preserve the highs and keep from losing all the liveness of the room?

Should I leave the airspace behind the panels or should I fill them with something?

Well, that is my starting point for the space and I would appreciate any comments questions or suggestions you may have.