My Strange Control Room

[J-P]

(I originally posted this on another forum and someone recommended that I ask you all here, due to similarities between my situation and remote recording trucks and the like. Forgive me if you saw this on the other forum as well...)


I have a strange control room situation and was hoping for some advice on how to deal with it.

It's a small room. A very small room. It's 5' H, 4.5' W, and 9.5' L. One corner has a bit of a cut-in, so it's not exactly a rectangle. It's a little room off of a larger live room.

The walls are drywall and the ceiling is exposed wooden beams, plywood above.

I have a mid-size console, tape machine, monitors, and gear rack in there now. It's quite snug, but that part doesn't bother me so much.

It's obviously a very less-than-ideal room to mix in. It might be the worst place to mix ever, in fact. But it's what I have. I've actually mixed a few records there and it wasn't so bad. I keep volumes low and always remember that the bass is actually much lower that it seems in there. But I would like to do something to make it sound a bit better.

Has anyone here ever had to deal with a similar space?

There isn't much room, but I was wondering if there wasn't some kind of treatments that I could try...

Thanks much...

JP

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by J-P

(It's a small room. A very small room. It's 5' H, 4.5' W, and 9.5' L.

5 feet high?
If you can't stand up in it, it isn't a room, more like a storage space.
Sounds like a headphone situation or the monitors so close that they practicaly sit on your ears. Can you put your monitors out in the main room so you can at least check what you are doing within a regular space?
If you aren't using all the 9.5' length I would try trapping the entire front wall as deep as possible and the back wall too....heck, by the time you get some trapping in that space you've got no space. (assuming you have to keep the speakers in your mixing space).

I've done mixes in closets. corner booths in a converted chicken coop etc, but it was pretty much always on phones with a monitor check in another space. Best of luck...I feel your pain....I'd be bangin' my head against that ceiling so much I'd have a permanent knot on the top of my head!

[nathanvacha]

yeah man, five feet tall? working in a nook like that, that's deication man, i couldn't do it, it'd drive me nuts.

[RawDepth]

I would think it will get very hot in there. That can't be good for the equipment. Everything about this has "wrong room" written all over it.

(BTW, your post is in the wrong room as well.)

Good luck,
RD

[big country]

how tall are you?

hight of the ceiling is all relative

[Remoteness]

Well, it's not Apriil first yet so, I'm not sure what's going on with this thread, but...

Maybe when J-P comes back we'll really find out what the Gslutz' talking about.

[Robobo1]

[J-P]

Rick - good idea about the monitors in the main room. I think a second pair for listening in there would be great.

I don't hit my head ever. I'm about 5' 10" but am used it it, I suppose. The ceiling height is not really a problem when you're sitting down.

The monitors are about 3' away from where I sit, and about 2' apart.

It doesn't get very hot in there either, there's adequate ventilation.

I suppose calling it a room is incorrect. It's an area that was used as sort of a storage area/hang out area with a couch and end table and stuff. It has a window. It's under a loft. I don't know, it's hard to explain.

Remoteness, what is it that you don't understand?

I posted this in this particular forum because I thought people recording in location trucks would have similar sized spaces and would be able to share their experiences...

[Remoteness]

J-P, what I don't understand is the height, especially when you're doing long sessions.
I believe seven feet is a short ceiling height for a CRM, so five is some I could not handle day in, day out.

Sometimes folks want to walk around and stretch a bit. Call me silly, but a five foot ceiling is short for a proper CRM.

I guess, if you're not doing "commercial" business (IMO which would bother the client) it's possible. I mean I've recorded in small vans and made it work, but I wouldn't want to do it everyday.

As they say, YMMV.

In any event, I feel you posted it in the right forum since many mobile units have small CRMs.

[XLR]

There are famous predecessors (found this guy in the internet)

But aren't here happy mobile unit users around who can help him to improve the big bass trap he's sitting in?

[J-P]

Regardless of the comfort-level of the space, it's what I have. I don't mind the space at all, actually. Maybe I have anti-claustrophobia.

I mostly do my own band, but have done paid sessions. Four properly released and distributed records have come from this space. Along with countless demos and such.

I'd like to move to a proper place someday, but it ain't happening very soon. I spent about six months looking for a new place and couldn't find one, so decided to try and make this space a bit better.

Oh, also, I do have the option of extending this area into another small area (there's a thin wall between them). The other area would add another 3' to the length and has a bit higher ceiling - about 6.5'. I told you - it's a very strange place.

So, any suggestions? Thanks.

[Robobo1]

I think pictures are called for!

[J-P]

Nah, no pictures...

[Jimbo]

I think you should plaster all the walls and ceiling in 703/rockwool, and put a rug on the floor.

You can probably do this fairly cheap. I bought a six-pack of 2'x4' 703 for about $75, locally. So, for about $150, you could have enough 703 to cover the entire area that surrounds you when you are mixing, plus a few feet in back of you.

Once you've muted the room, you can separate those monitors out some more to get decent imaging.

[J-P]

Thanks Jimbo!