John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi all, my first post - I have been drifting in and out of this site for the last year or so. I probably should have posted a message before commencing construction of my studio, but oh well - hope I haven't made any major mistakes.

Bought a house a few months ago, obviously with a cellar, which I have now converted. We have dug down about a foot to get some more height, re-concreted the floor, then tanked it out with a curtain membrane, battened with 1 inch battens, plaster boarded, plastered and as of today it's first base coat of paint. I have put a small top opening window in bay area and installed a fire door with seals.

It is not soundproofed as such, I stuffed as much insulation I could fit into the ceiling before boarding it - but there is only wooden floorboards above in the front room. So not much I could do really. I am not to bothered about the noise anyway, as we are an end terrace house and on the other side of us the neighbour is practically deaf! Also it is in a basement with 2 foot thick brick walls all around.

My main priority and concern is getting the space acoustically correct as possible, I would like to put the speakers on the walls in window bay area (see pic). But not sure if this would be a trap, if this would be OK - were should I put acoustic tiles, bass traps etc.

Or should I cover all the walls with acoustic foam or maybe cover the room in fabric, I'm just not sure exactly what would be best? My budget is about £600-£800 for acoustic treatment.

The exact room measurement are on the picture, but the room size roughly is 4m x 3.5m (13 x 12 feet) the ceiling height is still low (even with 1 foot dug out - god that was a tough job!) just under 7 foot.

Main priority for the space is for my own productions, with occassion vocal and guitar recording - so a combo room. I have the computer in a soundproof box (and moved the boiler from in there!)

I have upped a basic sketchup floor plan (it's in metric Metres) and also an actual picture of the cellar, any help is most appreciated - I can't wait to actually get in and start making music again.

Thanks and kind regards

you could build it this way but the alcove for the window should be configured to expand away from your desk on each side to create a reflection free zone. also, consider the room is nearly square so you'll want to do something to alter the shape a bit. i'm probably over the edge in my sketch here but you could use the space i have in yellow behind the console for storage or machine closet. the alcove would be storage and the window... or a small booth

Thanks for the reply Gullfo and the sketch idea

I did think the alcove positon wasn't going to be suitable, unfortunetly I need the rest of the space for an electronic workbench which was going to go on the south wall and a set of DJ decks etc on the west chimney wall.

I can't really afford to loose all the space just for a music studio (though I would like to)

It's not a going to be a commercial studio or anything, just need something I can make music which sounds as true as possible. I own another commercial space that has been treated etc - so I can always mix down there.

If I do use the alcove, what can I do to make it the best it could be? I wanted to suffix the speakers but I would have to cut into the brick wall and as it's supporting the front of the house - I don't think this would be possible.

Now I know the monitors can't really go on wall mounts, so I was thinking putting them on stands about a foot away from the alcove wall and then the desk in front of that - would this still be in a null area?

Also what if i flipped you sketch and put the speakers on the right east wall how would that be? That way I can still use the other walls for work etc.

Thanks

P.S Added a couple of rough quick additions to the layout, just for concept - I intend to put the speakers on stands to the floor and a little more centered but around were the picture illustrates

with this arrangement - i'd put some 4" 703 absorbers behind each speaker - about 3" off the wall. and another under the window. the enclosed space will likely do quite a few weird things with reflections and bass boost.

Hi again

After much deliberation I have decided to go with Gullfo sketch idea, ( I thought with the amount of money and time I’ve put into converting the space - I may aswell put my setup in the best possible spot)
Although I wont be building or changing the shape of the room. (no yellow area's)

With this layout I can still get my workbench and DJ decks etc in (The decks will be going in the alcove and the workbench in the northeast/east wall)

Now, my next thing to do is start building the desks/bench's and work out where and what acoustic treatment is needed.

1st) How far from the wall should my monitors go (I will be building a desk that has the monitor stands on)
2nd) What angle and how far apart should they be placed?
3rd) What area's of the room will i need to worry about (i'm assuming the area that you have marked in yellow in your sketch) If I don't change the shape of the room, what should I do to treat this area?
4th) Where else and what type of treatment would I need?

Thankyou

ideally the monitors should be on stands behind your desk and situated so they're at ear level but not at the exact mid point between floor and ceiling (a node exists there) and you'll want come absorption on the front, side, and rear walls to minimize reflections without killing the liveness of the space. some trapping in corners will also help.