Re:Basment Studio
2010/10/29 13:23:12
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just to be clear...
the insulation between the joists thing can make the room sound better, and if the world were a just place that would be enough<G>!
It will not provide any isolation between the basement and the space above. You did not mention needing isolation, so for now I'll assume you don't need it (and dang are you lucky!)
Before you start painting and what not, assuming you have some time & money to play around, there are some things you can do to make it even more interesting as a recording space.
1) instead of fabric, cover the space with boards of unequal size in a random (more or less) pattern - leave lots of gaps. This adds some diffusion and reflection to the space, and can sound really good. If the ceiling is only 8 ft the effect will be subtle.
2) again with the randomness... if you don't like the idea of attaching lumber to the underside of the joists you can put boards up inbetween the joists in a haphazrd fashion before you close it up with plastic and fabric. This will eliminate the uniform cavities, which can have an audible effect on the room.
3) I can't explain it, but the idea of a loosely coupled space works really well too. You can buy/build frames that do some goofy magic to make the room sound larger (sometimes much larger) than it really is. There is an outstanding paper available from the AES (aes.org), and Auralex (believe it or not) sells these panels as part of their pArt Science line.
Stuff that makes you go "hmmmm"
-- Bill
Audio Enterprise
KB3KJF