Control Room size in a tiny little space

[mpedrummer]

Hello all! First of all, glad to see the boards back!

I currently live in an apartment with a decently sized basement, though the basement is cut in half by an 18" thick loadbearing stone wall - it's an old building (1880s). The room I currently have my setup in is (approximately) 10' by 25', and the ceiling is about 7'. I'll try to measure more accurately later, for now, these are estimates based on how much space the 6'x6' platform I built for my drumset takes up.

Anyway, landlord permission aside, how would everyone go about dividing this space into a control room and live room? I know it's not ideal, and I certainly don't intend to sink much money into a building I'm renting. I do want to be able to record again, though.

The few times I've tried recording in the room as-is, I've either had awkward times getting sounds, and then switching to headphones for the actual tracking, or had a lot of difficulty with bleed from the monitors. I know it's possible to have the control room/live room as one, but not my cup of tea.

So, there's a few questions I have then...what size (or better yet, proportions) would everyone reccommend for the control room? Symmetrical, or should I angle the new wall somewhat? I'm hoping to have a closet for the computers, too. Once I get the accurate measurements, I'll try to post somewhat to scale sketches of the ideas I've been kicking around so far.

MPEDrummer

[TapeOpLarry]

If it's this small I wouldn't divide it up. Learn to record by tracking and listening back. Turn the monitors off when tracking! Use isolation-type headphones (Extreme Isolation one's are okay).

[lsn110]

What Larry said. I made that mistake with a control room in my last house. The isolation was great for tracking, but when all was said and done, I found myself fighting the room come mix time.

Since then, I've learned to love/live with the single room approach in my new place. Some things are tougher, some things are easier (like communication with the band).

Another thought, depending on how mobile your setup is and how often you record....For tracking move the "control room" upstairs into your kitchen (or wherever). Get a small security camera setup to see the band if necessary. Just a thought.

[mpedrummer]

It's about as portable as a tank without treads.

This is the part where I grouse to myself a little bit before acknowledging that more experienced folks than I are advising a different course of action.

Anyone have success stories with small rooms?

MPEDrummer

[brian beattie]

I'm with larry. Just get used to going back and forth. monitor your performance with your headphones, and check sound quality later, through the monitors. It gets easier and easier. That's how lots of folks do it. I've done it like that for YEARS. Hell, that's how they did it at kingsway, daniel lanois' place in new orleans. There was NO seperation between the control room and everywhere else, except a door frame with no door in it.
Of course, if you want DEAD sounding drums (no room ambience), chances are you'll need to do some treatment, at which point you might want to build a drum booth or something. I say do what costs the least. Whatever gets you recording sooner.
brian

[mpedrummer]

Just measured, looks like I was a little off in my dimensions, but not be enough to matter, I'd guess.

26'x12'x6'6", with a 4'x5' closet in one corner.

It looks like the previous owner/occupant of this space made a half-assed attempt at finishing this half of the basement. There's drywall for about 80% of the ceiling, and just wires and pipes above it. Thing is, there's also about a foot of space up there, too. The drywall has some hole in it, and just generally looks shitty. Would I gain much by tearing it out? Aside from lung problems, I mean. It seems like it might make the space seem larger, if not sound larger. Might help with tall people, too.

MPEDrummer

[Sean Shannon]

You could divide the room into a 12x13-ish space for the control room, and the rest would be for tracking. Angled walls, insul above ceiling, yada yada yada. The closet could be a small isolation booth. But that's a serious move, and I would only modify the place if I owned it. Plus, I record loud instruments (bands), so I appreciate a separate, sound proof control room.

As a renter, you could get 4x8 sheets of 1 1/2" rigid styrofoam insulation, cover them with fabric (fireproof), and hang those on the walls and use the full space. You could reduce the reverberance of the room by placing them strategically, and use them as gobos for partial isolation and sound control. Without a serious investment, you will always be compromising.