Studio in a caravan, am I crazy…

[Shadow Boxer]

Ok so I am putting together a studio in a large caravan with an annex of the side until I finish my actual studio which is taking way too long..
The caravan itself is about 13 meters long and about 2.5 meters wide, and 7 foot ceiling it is a huge caravan, I am using one end as the control room and the other end as a sort of a guitar iso room. The annex of the side is about 3.5 meters wide and 6m long with about a 7 foot ceiling at one end that slops down about a 6 feet.. this is the drum room

So now I need to treat this odd setup and I just don’t now the best way to do it, I need to make it as good as I can and would like to make as much of the acoustic treatment as I can to save cash..
Any ideas??

[Freematik]

I thought you were talking about a Dodge Caravan, which would be crazy:

But besides the low ceiling, seems like it shouldn't be too bad, dimensions-wise...

-Free

[spm_gl]

To my mind, it's a bit too small to divide into separate control and iso rooms. You'd be (acoustically) better off tracking with headphones.
Sound insulation is going to be very difficult, most caravans have a rather flimsy outer shell. So you might need to drive into the field to mix at reasonable volume :-)

[Weasel9992]

Yeah...don't divide it. I've seen a couple of situations like this work pretty well, but both of them have been post or network trucks.

Frank

[DanDan]

Well you asked! However, chances are that a caravan would work pretty well. The walls are flimsy and are probably actually quite good at bass trapping. I would buy or build RFZ/Cloud panels. A good 4 inch Cloud with a gap above would be advisable with such a low ceiling. Make them well, or buy the commercial one, they will be equally useful in the final build.
DD

[Shadow Boxer]

cheers for the advice! i will post up some pic once it is done

[Shadow Boxer]

good one

Originally Posted by Freematik

I thought you were talking about a Dodge Caravan, which would be crazy:

But besides the low ceiling, seems like it shouldn't be too bad, dimensions-wise...

-Free

[Remoteness]

Some of you folks may already know that I've built six mobile units for Aura-Sonic; well, four and a half, since Elroy is so darn close to being finished (I can smell the bread baking) and Cosmo is still in the works.

In any event, I’ve learned a few things along the way.
To create enough isolation you need mass and that weights a lot.
Considering that fact that most remote trucks are built with MDF panels, lead or sound deadening vinyl – that stuff is seriously heavy. Don’t forget all the racks of equipment and ancillary gear you will be hauling. You must make sure the vehicle’s suspension can handle it. If not, you’re in a heap of trouble if you don’t modify the suspension to handle the extra load.

I designed a second room for Cosmo, but the dividing wall will be a movable and removable soft wall system that will separate the (noisy) machine room and entrance way from the control cabin. We shall be using custom made quilted fiberglass absorber panels for the dividing wall. Four of these panels shall be mounted on a track system, so they can be moved into place creating the dividing wall or wall with entrance way or completely out of the way. Each panel shall have a transparent vinyl window. This will not completely stop the sound of a Marshall stack, but (in my case) will help isolate all the fan noise and such.

Elroy was designed to be a mobile studio, not just a control room.
We have tracked four to seven piece bands in there.
We’ve done vocal, brass, strings, percussion overdubs in there with no problems whatsoever.
We have thrown in a few Tube Traps, but there are no walls to isolate the instruments, just good mic’ing techniques.

I hope this helped!

Good luck on your mobile build-out project.

[Shadow Boxer]

thanks for the info, my set up is not mobile though the caravan is in a permanent so its just a matter of getting the best sound out of a small space

[Remoteness]

That's a whole other story.

Do you have any pictures you can show us?

[Shadow Boxer]

I will post some soon, cheers

[aussie_techie]

John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum • View topic - Studio in a Container
Its only slightly smaller than your caravan so you could do the same kind of thing.

Actually the container was only recently sold.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/austr...udio-sale.html

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Freematik

I thought you were talking about a Dodge Caravan.

That car looks more like a Chrysler Voyager to me.

At the PLASA show yesterday I did see a mobile studio with a massive Calrec desk built into a caravan.

[Shadow Boxer]

Originally Posted by John Willett

That car looks more like a Chrysler Voyager to me.

At the PLASA show yesterday I did see a mobile studio with a massive Calrec desk built into a caravan.

cool, id like to see that, you dont have any pics do ya??

[Remoteness]

Chris,

How are those pictures you promised us coming along?
I'm looking forward in seeing what you have to work with.

Originally Posted by Chris Innocence

cool, id like to see that, you dont have any pics do ya??

[Shadow Boxer]

Originally Posted by Remoteness

Chris,

How are those pictures you promised us coming along?
I'm looking forward in seeing what you have to work with.

hey mate,
i'll try get some done tomorrow.. sorry its taking so long, been flat out

[Remoteness]

No worries.
I'm intrigued by your build-out project.

[Shadow Boxer]

well of course the camera doesn’t work!!!!!! will borrow a mates and get some snaps asap. look forward to hearing some ideas on how best to work with the space