One Room Studio?

[centurymantra]

Dude, this thread has provided me with an epiphany to move into a 'one-room studio' setup. I've been struggling along using the converted laundry room space next door to my tracking area as a "control room"...and I do use that term loosely. It's around 6'x8' with a 6'2" ceiling. Can you say cramped. Essentially, it provides space for the recording gear and rudimentary monitoring that I use in conjunction with nice Sennheiser HD650 headphones. It's really a joke and a bit of a shame that I'm using Earthworks monitors in that room. I've actually been draggin my DAW upstairs to a nice audio rig upstairs for serious mixing, but in a one room set-up those monitors would have room to breath come mix time and I could stay put for mixing while devoting that laundry room to amp isolation duty.

I think this is my plan! I will probably place an additional set of monitors in that small room though as a place to step aside and do some basic sound check/monitoring to get away from the tracking area.. I'm actually looking forward to giving this a whirl as I think it beats my previous plan of relocating the control area to the basement portion of the house next door to the laundry area. It's pretty dank and is more open but still has those six foot ceilings, not to mention the furnace.

[;ivlunsdystf]

I have been reading Lester Bangs essays again this week - he reports on a trip to Jamaica in the late 1970s where he sat in on a Burning Spear session - the musicians all got set up and started playing their songs, tape rolling, and the producer sat on a sofa in the control room reading a recent Newsweek magazine and apparently not paying any attention - except for every now and then he looks up from the magazine, interrupts the band, tells them to 'tighten up that bridge' or some vague direction, then it's back to the magazine reading -

That's one cool thing about a control room: People get to go in there and hang out and act cool. And it's pretty darned cool. Sort of like the senior lounge at a high school.

[scott anthony]

I will probably place an additional set of monitors in that small room though as a place to step aside and do some basic sound check/monitoring to get away from the tracking area..

Or to steal another one from the Lanois book, put a second board and mixing engineer in there. Both rooms mix the same tune at the same time, but don't compare. When you finish yours, listen to the other room's mix and steal the best elements by bussing the good stuff over to your mix. I've always wanted to try this...

[scott anthony]

That's one cool thing about a control room: People get to go in there and hang out and act cool. And it's pretty darned cool. Sort of like the senior lounge at a high school.

They can turn the monitors off and watch TV, commenting on unlistened to vocal takes (Mutt Lange "urban legend").

[judecca]

Dude, this thread has provided me with an epiphany to move into a 'one-room studio' setup. I've been struggling along using the converted laundry room space next door to my tracking area as a "control room"...and I do use that term loosely. It's around 6'x8' with a 6'2" ceiling. Can you say cramped. Essentially, it provides space for the recording gear and rudimentary monitoring that I use in conjunction with nice Sennheiser HD650 headphones. It's really a joke and a bit of a shame that I'm using Earthworks monitors in that room. I've actually been draggin my DAW upstairs to a nice audio rig upstairs for serious mixing, but in a one room set-up those monitors would have room to breath come mix time and I could stay put for mixing while devoting that laundry room to amp isolation duty.

I think this is my plan! I will probably place an additional set of monitors in that small room though as a place to step aside and do some basic sound check/monitoring to get away from the tracking area.. I'm actually looking forward to giving this a whirl as I think it beats my previous plan of relocating the control area to the basement portion of the house next door to the laundry area. It's pretty dank and is more open but still has those six foot ceilings, not to mention the furnace.

sounds like the right plan for your space...maybe even make your small (ex-control) room into a vox booth. the dimensions may need a little changing, though. look at http://www.acoustics101.com/ for some vocal/amp booth sizes that fit your current room.

ryan

[centurymantra]

sounds like the right plan for your space...maybe even make your small (ex-control) room into a vox booth. the dimensions may need a little changing, though. look at http://www.acoustics101.com/ for some vocal/amp booth sizes that fit your current room.

ryan

Yeah....I had thought about that. I'm working on getting the small side room acoustically treated for the purpose of having a tight sounding amp isolation area, and it could serve for vocals. Even though I've got the rafters stuffed with acoustic cotton insulation with a bit of diffusion over exposed metal conduits, the low ceilings will make it tough for vocal use. If the vocalist is seated it could work, provided they are comfortable with that. At the very least, it should provide a different 'flavor' for vocals if I get the room battened down.

[gauze]

I started with one room since it was what I had to work with: the bands shared practice room.

I offered to record the other bands who play there for practice and because I was taking up more room than everyone else, so it's be a little bribe so I can keep my space. After working with a few bands and juxtaposing it with my own experiences in studios with control rooms I have to say things go faster when everyone is in the same room playing together with me sitting there giving them direction as to what we have to do next and the ability to do quick listen backs (without investing in a 2nd pair of monitors) is also a plus.

[judecca]

sounds like the right plan for your space...maybe even make your small (ex-control) room into a vox booth. the dimensions may need a little changing, though. look at http://www.acoustics101.com/ for some vocal/amp booth sizes that fit your current room.

ryan

Yeah....I had thought about that. I'm working on getting the small side room acoustically treated for the purpose of having a tight sounding amp isolation area, and it could serve for vocals. Even though I've got the rafters stuffed with acoustic cotton insulation with a bit of diffusion over exposed metal conduits, the low ceilings will make it tough for vocal use. If the vocalist is seated it could work, provided they are comfortable with that. At the very least, it should provide a different 'flavor' for vocals if I get the room battened down.

how low are your ceilings? some of the optimum vox rooms from acoustics 101 have ceilings of 89".

ryan

[centurymantra]

how low are your ceilings? some of the optimum vox rooms from acoustics 101 have ceilings of 89".

ryan

The ceiling in there is LOW...about 73"-74". It's part of the original "Michigan basement". The ceiling is exposed wood rafter area with plumbing and heating ducts running through various spots. When you yell in the room, you can hear the ducts ringing a bit. I jammed cotton insulation in between the vents as well as the rafters and it's nearly gone, but still not ideal. I actually just heavily dampened the room with several mineral wool bass trap panels, a couple of tectum panels and a strategically placed rockwool wall panel, along with a couple of nice rugs on the floor. I think I'm going to add a little bit of diffusion on some bare spots as well. I think it will be great for amps, maybe even a seated acoustic guitar player or percussionist that could play along with a live band. Not sure about vocals though...I'm probably going to try it out at some point, though they would definitely have to be seated.

[mfdu]

acoustic guitar maybe - it'd be a very particular sound with no breething space.

amp room - bewdiful.

but . . .

storage room for all the stuff you don't want cluttering up the recording space?
now that's thinking there, son.
spare mic stands, maybe even racks for mic cases, tape reels, drum hardware, spindles of cdr's, a printer maybe? zip disks for the ancient sampler that still sounds pretty good at a pinch.
give yourself space in the main room by clearing out all the crap. don't need gutar cables getting caught up in a pile of cd cases or maybe empty beer cans.

just my thoughts. but i'm kind'a a neat freak in the studio.

chris

[HuskerDude]

There's a fellow (or maybe former) TapeOp'er who has a one room setup that I've always loved.

http://www.chromasound.net/

It looks like he's blocked off the "control room" a bit more recently, but it's still all one space, and gorgeous.

[centurymantra]

There's a fellow (or maybe former) TapeOp'er who has a one room setup that I've always loved.

http://www.chromasound.net/

It looks like he's blocked off the "control room" a bit more recently, but it's still all one space, and gorgeous.

Yeah...that is nice...REAL nice.

[centurymantra]

acoustic guitar maybe - it'd be a very particular sound with no breething space.

amp room - bewdiful.

but . . .

storage room for all the stuff you don't want cluttering up the recording space?
now that's thinking there, son.
spare mic stands, maybe even racks for mic cases, tape reels, drum hardware, spindles of cdr's, a printer maybe? zip disks for the ancient sampler that still sounds pretty good at a pinch.
give yourself space in the main room by clearing out all the crap. don't need gutar cables getting caught up in a pile of cd cases or maybe empty beer cans.

just my thoughts. but i'm kind'a a neat freak in the studio.

chris

Good points. Fortunately, there are two closets built into the main room that serve this function quite well. The larger closet has slatted wood doors which even act as a wood diffusion area of sorts. Lining the closet with bass trapping material helps as well.