Advice for new room

[Wurlitzer]

Hi

I currently work in an untreated room that sounds horrible (basically the right hand side of the proposed one here). I'm about to knock a wall through to give myself more space, and would like to use the opportunity to give some more attention to the acoustics.

It's mostly for rehearsing, jamming etc, and I have no pretensions to pro level recording, but I do need to record and mix from time to time, mostly recording one voice or instrument at a time. I'm also a pianist/keyboardist and have a grand piano that I would like to record.

If you were setting up a room with these dimensions and wanted to put a PC-based station and monitors somewhere, where would you do it? And where would you be looking at consequent acoustic treatment? Any ideas gratefully received. Obviously the little boxy bit at the right is weird, but I can't block it off because it's a thoroughfare to outside and a source of natural light.

Thanks!



Edited to fix image - JP

[Folderol]

No image

[Wurlitzer]

I don't seem to be able to make it work. Have uploaded the image to a couple of free hosting sites and included the link, but it won't load ????

EDIT: Thanks mods for sorting it out.

[James Perrett]

Hopefully fixed - this site needs the actual image address. The previous link was to a page containing the image which would have worked if it was posted as a plain link.

[Sam Spoons]

Others with more expertise will no doubt be along shortly but I'd put the computer workstation/monitor in the bay at the left with the speakers either side of the bay as it's the place which gets you closest to a symmetrical layout. Then I'd treat the mirror points on the walls and ceiling with broad band absorbers, big, floor to ceiling bass traps in the corners alongside, the bottom right corner and anywhere else you can fit them and probably a few more panels on the walls and ceiling elsewhere around the room. The piano may benefit from a hard floor underneath but you'll almost certainly need some broad band absorbers on the walls and ceiling where sound might be reflected back into the mics.

The little boxy bit shouldn't do any harm to the acoustics as the walls are all off square.

[Drew Stephenson]

Is all the space available for music or is it also doubling up as a lounge/bedroom?

[James Perrett]

My thoughts pretty much agree with Sam's.

[RichardT]

Mine too.

My knowledge of acoustics is limited to what I’ve learned with my own studio and some reading around the subject, so take this with a pinch of salt - but something you could look at is a ‘live end dead end’ set up, which I’ve used quite successfully. This means treating the monitor end with a lot of broadband trapping, and leaving the other end less treated, perhaps with the treatment including some diffusion.

Of course, the fact that you want to record instruments means that the end away from the monitors must also be designed around that. People often say that a more reverberant space with a reflective floor is better for recording, and that fits in with an LEDE kind of setup.

I can say from experience is that playing a grand piano in a medium size wooden-floored space without treatment can result in a ‘clangy’ sound when you come to record it. So you will definitely need some kind of treatment for the recording space even if it’s less than around the monitors.

[Wurlitzer]

Is all the space available for music or is it also doubling up as a lounge/bedroom?

All music.

[Drew Stephenson]

I concur with the above. Dead end to the left, desk at the bay end down the centre line. Live (ish) end to the right with broadband absorption as required to tame the piano.
Unless you want the desk to be looking into the room? Which is possible but you will probably need to experiment with position a fair bit.

[Martin Walker]

My thoughts pretty much agree with Sam's.

As do mine - always strive for a symmetrical layout, and aim the loudspeakers down the longer dimension of the room.

Martin

[Folderol]

Actually looks like very promising dimensions too. None are the same, or even multiples of each other. You won't be surprised that my first thought was also to have the desk in the bay.
I'm quite jealous