Treating my room

[reeeve1]

I've reached the point in my build where the structure is complete, and drywall is at the mud/tape stage, so I've only got electrics and basic joinery like skirting/flooring to do, so now I'm turning my attention to researching forthcoming acoustic treatment.

The room is 6m x 4m. There is a step halfway as its built on a slope, so the concrete slab was staggered to save concrete. Half is 2.7m high, the other half 3m high. (see photos for diagram).

This will be used primarily for band 'jamming' sometimes with an acoustic drum kit, other times an electric kit through PA. At this stage, I don't see myself doing much recording, and certainly not anything of any great quality, but you never know..... So primarily treatment is to get it usable as a band practice room. Typical 4 person, rock/pop stuff.

1) should I level the floor? Would a flat floor across the whole room be more beneficial than the space I would lose by building a false floor?

2) I guess the first thing to do is Bass traps in the four corners? Should they go floor to ceiling? How wide across the front face should I make them? I'd like a 12" break halfway up for a convenient shelf area, before continuing again upto the ceiling - is this a bad idea?

3) what about where the walls meet the ceiling? I've mud/tapped this and it's not very smooth. Rather than sanding/muddling to make it nice, would it be beneficial to have some kind of triangular treatment all along these edges to cover it? If so, what and how big?

4) Do I need clouds? If so, how big, and where? Should I have a larger one directly over the drum kit? Is the cloud over the drum kit supposed to be lower? If i don't level the floor, which end would be better for drum placements and cloud locations? How much of the ceiling should I cover with clouds, and how thick?

5) should I hang acoustic panels on the walls? For example - a thin timber frame with 4" rockwool slabs inside and covered with fabric? Is 4" thickness correct? What area of the walls should be covered?

6) I've keep seeing REW mentioned and I guess this is something I should invest it? Do I do basic treatment first and then test?

[Gregwor]

1) should I level the floor? Would a flat floor across the whole room be more beneficial than the space I would lose by building a false floor?

A level floor is nice but I wouldn't build a false floor to level it.

2) I guess the first thing to do is Bass traps in the four corners? Should they go floor to ceiling? How wide across the front face should I make them? I'd like a 12" break halfway up for a convenient shelf area, before continuing again upto the ceiling - is this a bad idea?

Make them as wide as you can (at least 24" wide) and floor to ceiling. The shelf in the middle would be alright but just know that every little piece you remove is making it that much less effective.

3) what about where the walls meet the ceiling? I've mud/tapped this and it's not very smooth. Rather than sanding/muddling to make it nice, would it be beneficial to have some kind of triangular treatment all along these edges to cover it? If so, what and how big?

Try to bass trap every corner. Any areas you decide to not have bass traps, cover unsightly areas with something or else sand it smooth for paint. Make the bass traps as big as you can.

4) Do I need clouds? If so, how big, and where? Should I have a larger one directly over the drum kit? Is the cloud over the drum kit supposed to be lower? If i don't level the floor, which end would be better for drum placements and cloud locations? How much of the ceiling should I cover with clouds, and how thick?

Your ceiling should have a good amount of absorption on it. You can keep it more live sounding without flutter echo by adding some cheap polys to hang.

5) should I hang acoustic panels on the walls? For example - a thin timber frame with 4" rockwool slabs inside and covered with fabric? Is 4" thickness correct? What area of the walls should be covered?

Without getting crazy into treatment design, aim for about 50% of your surfaces covered in absorption. For cheap great results, you can put polys between your panels.

6) I've keep seeing REW mentioned and I guess this is something I should invest it? Do I do basic treatment first and then test?

There certainly are benefits to measuring your room but if you're just using it for jamming, what I wrote above should be decent.

Greg