Hello Ethan,
I'm a recording musician and have found your site interesting and valuable over the years. I finally have a recording space and I'm more than pleased to have my refuge. However, I'm always on the quest to improve it.

I'm wondering if you have any of your articles that you might recommend for me - its a small small space and is square. It functions as a control room, tracking room and mix room. It has low ceilings. And here's the kicker - I hope to record drums in there someday soon.

I have waded through your site (and several others) and since I'm just beginning this research i've become overwhelmed with the information. Perhaps you might recommend a book or two as well?

Again, thanks for your work and the generosity of your website.

Cheers,
Doug

Without knowing the size of your room or if you have any bass traps and other treatment now, I can only guess at what to suggest. So here's my standard blurb which will get you 99 percent of the way there. All rooms need:

* Broadband (not tuned) bass traps straddling as many corners as you can manage, including the wall-ceiling corners. More bass traps on the rear wall behind helps even further. You simply cannot have too much bass trapping. Real bass trapping, that is - thin foam and thin fiberglass don't work to a low enough frequency.

* Mid/high frequency absorption at the first reflection points on the side walls and ceiling.

* Some additional amount of mid/high absorption and/or diffusion on any large areas of bare parallel surfaces, such as opposing walls or the ceiling if the floor is reflective. Diffusion on the rear wall behind you is also useful in larger rooms.

For the complete story see my Acoustics FAQ.

There's a lot of additional non-sales technical information on my company's web site - articles, videos, test tones and other downloads, and much more.

--Ethan

Thank you Ethan. So much to learn!

Doug

>I'm wondering if you have any of your articles that you might recommend for me<

Ethan gave you some great advice but just to add to his links you can check out our Education page which has a list of the monthly newsletter of different articles on acoustics.
http://www.gikacoustics.com/education.html

Thanks Glenn - just visited your site the other day! I think you'll be hearing from me in the future. I will read the article you've mentioned. Cheers!

-Doug

Hi again,
I purchased and am reading a few books (one being Rod Gervais' book) and am enjoying the learning experience.

Again my studio space is 11'5" L x 10'5" W, with approx 7' ceilings. I am trying to coax my missus into allowing me to rob some more space from the basement to build a vocal/guitar space - for mic'ng guitars and to provide a vocal booth. I'm wondering if this intrusion would be worth it given my constraints with space. I have about a 5 foot square area to deal with. Again with 7' foot ceilings. I realize my dimensions are nowhere near ideal but they are what I have to work with.

The idea for the rest of the room is to
1) record the drums
2) function as my control/tracking room (keyboard,midi,editing).

What sort of surfaces would you all recommend for such a hybrid space - sheetrock? Wood? I'm assuming that I'll want such a small space dead but having watched Ethan's vids (thank you so much for those Ethan) perhaps dead isn't the answer? I'm still so new to all of this but am slowly gaining ground.

Thanks again.
-Doug

Well, as always happens whenever I post something, I found an article that pretty much answers that question, found here. Again thank you Ethan.

http://www.realtraps.com/art_booth.htm

The only other thought (which was actually my original thought) is to expand my studio in order to afford a drum room. I don't think I can get that much space. Ugh, real estate is expensive in my house!

-Doug

Even drums can be recorded in a one-room "control room" studio. In the old days with limited tape tracks you'd often have to pre-mix six or eight drum microphones down to only two tracks. Which requires a separate live room and control room. But these days with DAWs and their unlimited track counts, you can put every mic on its own track and sort out the balances later.

--Ethan

Excellent point Ethan. So perhaps I should be approaching this whole "space issue" from a treatment standpoint? Leave the footprint of the space alone, and spend any money I do have (HA!) purchasing the products needed to treat the studio, and yes I realize you have a vested interest in this position, but I also trust your honesty. Thanks as always.

-Doug

Yes, I sell acoustic products but I gladly disseminate DIY and general acoustics information freely because I believe so strongly in its importance.

Anyway, Yes, one large room is always better than two rooms that are each too small to sound good.

--Ethan

"Yes, I sell acoustic products but I gladly disseminate DIY and general acoustics information freely because I believe so strongly in its importance."

And i really appreciate your service here. Thanks as always.

-Doug