John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I just had my control room framed up and now the ceiling in the control room starts at 6 ' 3" just above the front control room window and comes in about 5' slanted upward to about 7ft 3inches at the engineers desk and then continues at that height to the back of the room. approx 14 feet in total lenth.

Is this low ceiling going to be a problem. Should I have the carpenter just rip it out and make it flat from the top making intire ceiling 7'3". The live room will be 8' 6 high. Any, I mean any comments please!!!!!!

What does your local building department have to say? There are minimum allowable ceiling heights. Sometimes you can get away with a portion of the room having an angled ceiling or an obstruction that reduces the overhead clearance somewhat, but as a rule, height requirements are pretty strict in the U.S.

I noticed you're starting multiple threads for your project, each time you have a question that needs to be answered. I recommend you start one new thread for your poroject and keep all of your questions contained within it. So much of the input depends on what you have already planned and/or done, so having the questions posed within the context of the greater project is a real benefit to you and everyone else.

Also, all pictures must be 700 pixels wide or smaller, so please resize the images accordingly.

Thanks,

--Keith

Thank you for the direction on posting rules. I wasn't sure on how to go about the multi subjects. Also I fixed the pic sizes as well. I do have a permit and have had inspectors in and out through out each phase of the build. Putting that a side, do you think that after I have the drywall installed this room can be conditioned into a good listening room. I have alsways thought the shape here would work to my benefit and with the help of bass traps and possibly some ceiling conditioning like a rough fabric I can hear some decent mixes. Tell me I can make this work. I liken it to a windshield in a car It's really not that low where anyone would stand and bump their head. Like I said if you're standing right at the wondow it's 6'3". the mixinging console sits there. so starting at where the engineers chair is, the room will be apporx 7'4".

Sharward, what do you think?

So being that my ceiling height is 6' 3" while standing flat up against the control room window and it grows increasingly higher as you move towards the engineers chair to a height of 7'3, right above where his chair is, where it remains 7'3" all the way to the back of the room.
Ceiling treatment will be hard to do, short of thin insullation and fabric what else can save this room from being a giant reflector. Is it possible that my ceiling will just act as a huge deflector and just deflect the sound to the back and sides of the room where I can use loads of absorbers and bass traps.

I forgot to mention the room size is about 14' wide X 15" long.
Thanks

Hey John M.,

I'm nowhere near an expert on the subject acoustics in terms of room shapes and such...

I'm torn between moving this thread to Acoustics forum or Studio Design forum...

I think I'll move it to Studio Design because you're in a situation where the space is still under construction, so moving a wall or adjusting a ceiling angle isn't totally impractical at this point in your build. I'm sure you're bound to get some good advice from the folks who frequent that forum more often than they do the Studio Construction forum.

Good luck, Sir.

--Keith

it sounds like the height should be ok assuming its ok with code to have a ceiling height of 7' 3". the front portion of the ceiling should be a false ceiling with hangers above it to add trapping and then a layer of plastic under the cloth covering the framing . this keeps it move lively and redirect the sound back. you'll want to make sure the real ceiling above is properly isolated and keep in mind that the real ceiling will be the basis for room mode calculations.

Should I have the carpenter just rip it out and make it flat from the top making intire ceiling 7'3".

John - would it be possible to add the flat ceiling without ripping down what you have?? If you could I'd then line between the lower joists with insulation, cover it with a layer of plastic and then finish in cloth. Also set some lights in it.

cheers
john

I really appreciate all the help. But, the location has already been blown in with cellulose, I couldn't wait I had contractors sitting on their perspective asses. So, I'm screwed as far as changing what I have. The good thing is the place is dead as hell and I love the design. The bad thing? I will drywall the entire ceiling and it will become highly reflective. My hopes are that I will be able to deflect, defuse and absorb with ceiling treatments and that way avoid flutter, boominess and short echos.
Also what about a backwall treatment having a convex design. That should help with window to back wall reflections, right?

Am I just dreaming or can this be done?

The stuff that was used in my place was a material made up of recycled newspapers. It looks like and even smells like newspaper. It was blown against the inside walls and ceiling and then covered with a screen to hold it up and seems to adhere pretty good. It is unlike fibreglass as it forms an airtight seal. More like down feathers then fibre. It's pretty efficent from what can see. Now check this out, after going down in the basement after the blow job (pardon the choice of words) I was looking around down there and my wife came down stairs very upset and asked if I could hear her screaming my name. I told her I heard nothing. Just then a little light went on in my head and I tried to hide the smile on my face.

I had not even put the walls or ceiling up yet. I think this is going to work perfectly for my uses.

the real test will be if you can hear her stomping her feet...

you'll still have enough space to put in some absorption overhead on the drywall to keep the reflections down.

Thanks, I appreciate your response.
Now I need to hear from everyone that has something to give advice wise. What type of ceiling treatment is called for here. The entire ceiling is drywall at this point. The room is 14' wide X 15' long X 7' 4" height. I was thinking about something simular to what is found in a car known as the "headliner" Any suggestions? Also should I cover the entire ceiling? The floor will be bamboo with a area rug in the back half of the room. What about the front and sides? Should this room be pretty much dead?

John Mackniskas wrote:The stuff that was used in my place was a material made up of recycled newspapers. It looks like and even smells like newspaper. It was blown against the inside walls and ceiling and then covered with a screen to hold it up and seems to adhere pretty good. It is unlike fibreglass as it forms an airtight seal.

is it fire retardent? i'd be pretty sleepless if my house was insulated with shredded paper... also, the insulation factor of fiberglass isn't do to air tight or not, its the ability to trap air which in turn slows down the transfer of heat/cold. a "solid" insulator (unless deep/highly reflective/etc) is likely to be less efficient...

meanwhile John's suggestion of stuffing false ceiling with insulation and covering with platic and cloth effectively creates a "head liner" but acoustically nicer...

Thanks for the reply.