Converting my garage into recording/jam room

Okay, here is my first take on a space planning draft (hopefully the image uploads!)

Edit, I am not sure how to directly insert an image but the link appears to be working.


ibb.co/m0HD9MR

I measured the space and it is a bit smaller than I had thought so I am stealing a bit of space from the adjacent motorcycle garage. 

To save space I have shown the PA speakers mounted in the angled walls above the guitar rigs. Thoughts?

I am treating this more of a tracking room than just a jam room, but with the ability to have a full band session.

I am very strongly considering building Ian's 12 channel EZTubeMixer for this project.

Any ideas how to maybe do some screening on the drum kit to keep the drum SPL under control without compromising sounds quality? 

Anyway let me know your thoughts! 

Yes definitely good thoughts. I will be doing exactly that.

Any recommendations on who to consult with?

I also emailed GIK to get their feedback as I bought all the treatment for the control room from them last year.

X2.  Worth his weight in gold cubed.....

Jeff is adept at working in problem rooms.  But honestly saying that : "Just because we plan to occasionally pull a car into the space is not a big deal."  Honestly, it's more than a big deal.  It's a huge deal, and IMO, a dealbreaker, but please, don't take our word for it.  Shoot for your dreams.  Report back.  <thumbsup>

Sofabeds suck. They're a horrible compromise at trying to be a good sofa and a good bed. I always tell people not to go for the "sofa bed option"...

For a mixing room, get nearfield monitors and stands next to the mixer. You can't really mix with speakers that far away effectively. Learn to build bass traps and you can create a rolling gobo/bass trap for mixing - if you're handy with pocket screws and 1x4 wood, you'll save a ton of money and have some versatile options. These can also be used to help minimize bleed between drums and guitar, etc. during tracking.

For a rehearsal room, having the speakers where you have them is a recipe for vocal mic feedback disaster. You really want the speakers on the wall facing you - not like how you'd be live. Or is the idea to have a "stage" to play to friends sitting on the couch? If that's the case, speakers on those wall mount stands ahead of where you're playing + floor monitors will do the trick. Hard to tell given the layout.

I think it can be a fun space, and glad to see you'll have a floating/raised floor for the drums. Look for online suggestions on building a decoupled drum riser that not only gives you elevation, but decouples the kick from the floor.

I'd also suggest toeing in the amps at a greater angle or almost perpendicular - easier for the band to hear each other and keep the volume low without monitor mixes, etc.

Auralex GRAMMA - I have three of these for my amps - it acoustically decouples your amp from the floor to reduce the bass coupling effect, but also gets rid of everything in the house rattling when you play the amp. They're inexpensive, portable, and they have several sizes for each amp. Worth the investment.

How is your power down there? Want to look at avoiding ground loops. While you're building walls, why not put in big conduit to pull snakes, etc.. You can have all your drum and amp mics off a snake and have the wiring in the walls to clean up the space.

Looking forward to more!

Great idea on the laptop controller!

I haven’t really thought through it but I was imagining having a video cam/screen in both rooms for tracking sessions to act as “the window”.

On jam nights I’m thinking I would just hit record and let it roll all night but a remote desktop deal would be much better.

You had some great advice for the room treatment, just remember angled walls and ceilings are desirable but will lessen the useful space size. Building bass traps (I mean proper bass traps, permanently build in) can be great.

I would also recommend Korg MW-1608 or 2408 mixer(s).

Best of luck, it's a great fun - project! :-)

I hear that. I’ve been doing a whole house Reno that’s taking me forever, and I’ve got the barn out back that will be the studio.... in due time. Gotta coax the bats out first though! And get the house done before my wife murders me hahaha

That's a good plan :-) Best of luck!

Have a friend who got a Hedbeck design for an existing small room in his house with one iso, then got the build quoted last month. $80k-120k depending on materials fluctuations, avg’d at $350/sq ft. I don’t know if budget constraints were part of the design conversation.

8’ - 2x4 Doug fir studs are back down to about $5.25 again. At peak they tapped out at around $13 a pop. That was truly insane. Especially since you’d toss about 1/4 of the skid aside cause they were more crooked than... well whatever, they were total shit and useless to build with.

Windows are pretty nuts as well. My wait time currently is about 3.5 months, and they are running me at or around 1k a pop. Granted I got the super high end Anderson’s, but it’s a forever home so we said fuck it and bit the bullet.

Crazy times.