Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    Years ago, some friends and I used to write and tape fake "radio shows"
    (just for fun) in a basement. We used to hang old blankets on the walls
    to dampen the room. Without the blankets, it was so echoey as to be
    useless. It made a big difference for voice recordings -
    intelligibility was much improved.
    
    You MUST keep the recording equipment sonically isolated from the
    microphones. That was a problem for us, because back in those days, we
    had little equipment or cash - our microphone cables were not very
    long... It was disappointing to play back a recording somewhere else
    and hear the cooling fan of the tape deck humming away in the
    background... And if you're playing back stuff with the same deck, you
    don't notice that the deck's sounds have gotten on the tape.
    
    Don't use fluorescent lights - they create electrical and physical
    noise. Also, don't use light dimmers on incandescent lights - the
    dimmers create rfi.
    
    If you put a wall between the recording area and the recording
    equipment, you'll want a double pane window for visual signalling
    between the engineer and the performer. We were rather aware that
    blankets are opaque ;)
    
    I wonder if the basement underneath could cause acoustic trouble...
    echoes?  Would thick carpetting help?

    I see the basic decision is whether to have two acoustically separate
    spaces or one.  Since I do 99% of my recording electronically, I need a
    control room slash performance space.  Occasionally I do record
    acoustically, and have never noticed hum or hiss or background noise
    from recorder or computer fans/disks.. close miking with a
    unidirectional mic takes care of it.  You'd be running back and forth
    like a maniac.  Perhaps just a baffle between the louder equipment and
    your acoustic recording space.. I take it you're talking about acoustic
    guitar and vocals.. you could easily set up a baffled space in a corner
    for that (also cutting down on the work involved in deadening the
    entire building).
    
    FWIW: When I have a music project I don't want to get to, suddenly cleaning
    the studio and rewiring or rerouting cables becomes a high priority. OR:
    ..labelling tapes.. recataloging my sample diskettes.. reading up on
    new equipment.. sorting thru old music comix for specific articles..
    .. you get the idea..
    
    karl

    With the investments going inside, would it be wise for you to consider
    a security alarm? 
    
    Of course it depends on your area, but it might be a good idea for a
    separate building.
    
    Mike

    Okay, Karl - you nailed me.  But the studio is something that's not
    just "busy work" ... I'm currently stuck in a 6x10 room that's in the
    corner of the top of our house - the ceiling is only 6 ft high at the
    roof peak!  Not conducive to group practice or any sort of moving
    about, for that matter.  It's a real problem.
    
    As for "work space" ... what I'd hoped to do was to isolate the control
    room from the rest of the place.  That way, I could use the "practice
    room" for group practice and acoustic recording when necessary, while
    limiting traffic in the ctl room (which would contain most of my MIDI
    gear, recording gear, computers, etc).  Traffic control is very
    important to me at this point.
    
    I fully intend to put in a burglar alarm, Mike ... crime isn't a real
    big problem around these parts, but one never knows.
    
    Are fluorescent fixtures going to be a problem if they're on a separate
    circuit?  Given the light quality and low heat emission, I'm tempted to
    get a couple of good fixtures - as long as I can be certain that they
    won't introduce any noise.  BTW - I know all about dimmers and that
    sort, and don't intend to use them at all.
    
    Am I going to have to be concerned about the "big open space" with the
    lofts?  I'd sure like to avoid having to enclose it.
    
+b

    > Big open space...
    
    Why not build some portable panels ("gobos") that you can set up at
    will? They can lie against a wall when not in use.
    
    I wish I had a room with some bigly natural ambience...
    
    Edd

    
    If you can afford to isolate the control room, it will pay off during
    mixdown. If the rest of your band wants to take a break and goof off
    for a few minutes, you can listen to the tracks undisturbed by
    extraneous noise. It will also help keep the monitor levels down.
    
    You would definitely want to build some gobos. I wouldn't worry as much
    about the ceilings, rather the configuration of the walls. I would
    deaden the wall against the control room wall, creating a dead end and
    also damping resonances that would pass through to the control room.
    Like Carl says, if you are worried about the reverb time of the room
    affecting acoustic music, you can surround the musician(s) with gobos
    and close mike. Natural, controllable reverb can be a blessing.
    
    Absolutely no way on flourescents or dimmers. With a combination of
    track lighting and overhead drop lighting on seperate circuits you can
    vary the feel of the room without resorting to the risks associated
    with dimmers etc. While building the control room, consider building a
    double wall by staggering the studs and in between putting a wire mesh
    tied to ground. This creates a Faraday cage which can lower the EMI/RFI
    in the control room dramatically, for little extra bucks. A retail
    store liquidation/auction may get you a nice double pane glass window
    for little bucks, or you could use half of a sliding door and frame
    around it. As for running all those signals in one cable, I've never
    done it before, and would consider it a risk. 
    
    Control room acoustics are another matter of concern.
    
    Good luck and have fun
    
    CdH
    
    CdH
    

    One of my friends was a carpenter, and he remarked on building studios
    for his friends by using the technique of building a room inside a
    room, or,
    
      strip all rock off walls to studs. Place new studs between and
    inside existing studs, insulate like mad. mount metal "z" strips
    horizontally on wall *loosely*, then attache 1st sheetrock layer to
    that *loosely*. Mount second sheetrock layer (perpindicular to first)
    firmly to first layer. Do not allow any "wall" to touch against
    another, (ceiling or floor).
    
    Ultimately, he says, each wall will be a little "spring-y", which damps
    sound within, and without the room. Upon the wall, I guess you'd want
    to put your particular sound dampening layer on top of the sheetrock
    (or paint it!  :-)
    
    Made me decide headphones were cheaper!!!  :-)
    
    Bruc Evans

Well, since I'm not a  home-moaner yet, I haven't had any first-hand experience
yet, but here are some of the things I've seen, heard, etc. about studio
construction.

First, I've heard some say that any space smaller than 30x50x15 is too small
for a good ambient recording space.  You have to deaden it as completely as
possible, or all the short echos will give you mud.  I'm sure some will argue
that it could be smaller; maybe so if you really know what you're doing.

The tascam guide to home recording I got years ago has loads of information on
deadening rooms in very few pages.  Like hanging rugs in multiple folds from
clotheslines on the ceiling, hanging rugs a few inches from the walls, using
pieces of various diameters of sono-tube cut to various lengths to trap certain
problem resonances, etc, etc.

I guess that egg-crate looking acoustic foam is good, but it's real expensive.

As far as sound-insulation, I've heard, as .-1 said, that sheet-rock "clips"
are the way to go.  The ones I've seen were made of resilient plastic, though.

Other things you can do are:

Stagger the (2x3) studs in a partition wall so the studs that support one side
aren't supporting the other side.  Weave fibreglass insulation inbetween the two
sets of studs.

Use two layers of sheetrock with overlapping taped joints.  Glue on the second
layer instead of nailing it.  By making a room literally air-tight you can 
drastically reduce sound leakage in and out.

Use regular styro-foam sound insulation in the walls between the studs (less
effective).

Also, homosote or bracewall board (celulose sheathing board) is a great sound
insulater.

If you want real quiet in a big basement or something, you can even "float" a
room on elastomer shock absorbers on it's own set of isolated 2x6 floor joists.

When I do buy a house, I'm going to be dangerous.

	In response to a similar request I once copied out an article 
on building music studios from Fine Homebuilding magazine and
circulated a few copies.  I'll try to dig it up again, it might give 
you some ideas on what else to consider, how to actually do it, etc.
Lessee, 3 or 4 years ago maybe......   I'll look.

	Reg

	Re: running cables

	You can use multiconductor cable to run a "snake" between the two
	rooms. I would not carry ac lines anywhere near signal lines,
	and I would make all signal lines balanced. But you could, for instance,
	run intercom/talkback lines in your multiconductor cable lines.

	Judging by the diagram, you could make a snake run under the floor with 
	less than 25 feet of multiconductor wire.

	re: room size

	I tend to agree with Karl - if you're doing mostly direct-to-tape,
	i.e. you use a sequencer and no as many mikes, then make the control
	room big enough to handle your keyboards. If you work alone, it beats
	running between rooms ;^) I don't agree with opinions on "large
	rooms being better" for recording quality. Most directional mikes
	used in home recording won't pick up that kind of nuance anyway, unless
	you're planning on shelling out for a U-47 or something. So your
	studio room size should be big enough to be useful, but not so big
	as to make your control room too small. To me, "useful" is big enough
	to put either a 3-4 piece acoustic band, or at a minimum, big enough
	to fit a drum set into.

	We won't get into the shape of the room right now...

	/pjh