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Post by keymod on Apr 1, 2015 4:15:31 GMT -6
If you have a choice when setting up your ideal studio situation, would you prefer a separate live room/control room, or everything in one big ( as possible ) room? Would your preference change if you have a console? |
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Post by odyssey76 on Apr 1, 2015 5:34:44 GMT -6
Separate rooms for me. I'd like good sound isolation for my control room so I can hear what it sounds like through the monitors without the bleed from the musicians. Hard to judge if you're all in the same room without stopping the band, having a listen, making adjustments and then having the band start up again to do it all over.
Also, I always thought it was nice to have a separation of engineer/musicians just so the engineer can focus on their job and the musicians can focus on theirs. Just personal preference though.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Apr 1, 2015 5:54:01 GMT -6
Separate rooms for me. I'd like good sound isolation for my control room so I can hear what it sounds like through the monitors without the bleed from the musicians. Hard to judge if you're all in the same room without stopping the band, having a listen, making adjustments and then having the band start up again to do it all over. Also, I always thought it was nice to have a separation of engineer/musicians just so the engineer can focus on their job and the musicians can focus on theirs. Just personal preference though. +1 on all accounts. |
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Post by bluenoise on Apr 1, 2015 6:13:46 GMT -6
I'll also go for separate room, but in an ideal situation, GOOD visual lines are a must. I currently work in a studio where the control room and the big live room are separate with no sight lines and sometimes it gets in the way of communication.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Apr 1, 2015 7:23:43 GMT -6
While 2 rooms are Ideal, this is more dependent on the available space and how you work. If you record yourself mostly you might find 2 rooms more limiting.
A larger space usually means better acoustics, and will be cheaper .
I think this question is better asked on a case by case basis with dimensions , budget and goals.
I have considered asking this question my self, but decided I would wait till I had a space in mind.
I will say this though after seeing many very poorly built 2 room aprox. 6x10x8 that would have sounded far better as single rooms built the same or better! And these were billed as commercial music rooms!
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Post by matt on Apr 1, 2015 7:29:50 GMT -6
GOOD visual lines are a must. I currently work in a studio where the control room and the big live room are separate with no sight lines I wonder how many studios are getting away from glass windows and going to cameras and big TVs as video screens. Or supplementing their glass with this. Seems like a no-brainer when adding sight lines to an existing facility is problematic, or expensive. |
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Post by swurveman on Apr 1, 2015 7:47:57 GMT -6
I agree with Eric that if you're recording your self and using sequenced drums (Superior Drummer/Slate etc.) you're just as good having one room. You can have everything around you and-if you have controlled noise from your computer and other noisy stuff- you don't have to leave your chair much. However, I just had to move from two rooms to one and I record bands. I really dislike going back to headphones to monitor tracking. I wanted to start EQ'ing and compressing drums while tracking, yeah I know I'd take my lumps while learning, but there's no way I can do that now with the drummer in the room in a pair of headphones. I can put an amp in a bathroom off my room, but that's nothing like having the guitar player in the sound isolated control room listening to his cabinet miced in a large live room through a pair of control room speakers. Perfect isolation between the live and the control room was and is a great idea, and is the reason why virtually ( there may be exceptions) every studio that can afford it does it.
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Post by svart on Apr 1, 2015 8:01:50 GMT -6
2 rooms. I started out doing demo stuff years ago in one room. It was ok for fun stuff like jamming and recording friends, but it tends to fall apart on more complex projects or projects where you need to focus and learn. When I got the chance to build my new studio, I did two rooms with dual sliding glass doors forming an airlock between the rooms. They provide isolation between the rooms, but I can still see the artists in the next room. I think it's important to keep some kind of personal interconnection going between the engineers and the talent, which kept me from going with a camera system(that and cost). I think it's important to also hear through your monitors, so isolation is key, as odyssey76 mentioned, nevermind that sitting in a room with loud instruments and having to put on and take off hearing protection (you ARE wearing protection aren't you?) constantly really really messes up your perception of the instruments. Based on that alone I'd have isolation simply so that your ears are trained to hear the best from one source, your monitors. |
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Post by drbill on Apr 1, 2015 10:39:31 GMT -6
One big good sized room over two compromised small or small/medium rooms. But more importantly than a second room for me is a MACHINE room. So I guess I'd have to say ideally - 3 rooms with a LARGE CRM and Studio.
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Apr 1, 2015 11:48:36 GMT -6
One big good sized room over two compromised small or small/medium rooms. But more importantly than a second room for me is a MACHINE room. So I guess I'd have to say ideally - 3 rooms with a LARGE CRM and Studio. The one nice thing about the Modern DAW is you can get buy with a Machine closet or Machine cabinet ! As much as the lack of noise was of great benefit in the tape days, I also have to say at times having the machine next to me saved the day! |
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Post by tonycamphd on Apr 1, 2015 12:12:29 GMT -6
i have 2, but i will track drums in the room with my rig, it's way more soundproof against the mighty crickets 8)
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Apr 1, 2015 12:25:36 GMT -6
A control womb that's too small is useless. One room eliminates the need for isolation and all of the low frequency headaches isolation creates. It's a PITA but less of one than CRs or studios that are too small.
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Post by WKG on Apr 1, 2015 16:41:46 GMT -6
I'd like to have two rooms but I can do fine with one good sized room and my space right now sounds great. If I split it up, given the dimensions and layout, it wouldn't quite work as well. Besides I'd have to negotiate with my wife...
I've got a good bit of nice sounding spaces in my house though. Occasionally I'll run a snake to the living room which has offset walls, sloped/offset ceiling and hardwood floors, great for acoustic guitars, cello etc. When I've got bands in I'll use my IEM's or a set of isolation phones for mic placement and it works well.
A good bit of what I do is either my own or other singer/songwriters so one room is fine and actually I like the closer contact and interaction better. |
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Post by keymod on Apr 1, 2015 16:46:27 GMT -6
A control womb that's too small is useless. One room eliminates the need for isolation and all of the low frequency headaches isolation creates. It's a PITA but less of one than CRs or studios that are too small. Bob, do you mean too small to have the sound waves propagate correctly, or simply too small to be comfortable working in? |
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Post by carymiller on Apr 1, 2015 16:48:47 GMT -6
Two rooms...especially now with so many ways to administer remote control via WiFi and MIDI...as long as isolation between rooms is great and both rooms are treated but still "live" enough to work in most applications this is ideal.
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Post by keymod on Apr 2, 2015 4:17:19 GMT -6
Well, I have to say that I agree with most everything said here. I've been dreaming of my own two-room setup for longer than some of you have been alive. Life keeps getting in the way, lots of setbacks in mine, but I'm hoping this might be the year I put it into gear. I'm finally, it seems, in the position to start looking for a house that will have studio/music room possibilities. Going to talk to a Mortgage Broker tonight to discuss pre-approval and then I can search in earnest.
Thanks to everyone for the insight.
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Post by M57 on Apr 2, 2015 4:56:30 GMT -6
I've always wondered and been concerned that having everything in one room exacerbates whatever anomalies exist. I.e. if the room is absorbing or sympathetic with a particular frequency on recording, isn't that multiplied on playback? I'm so concerned about this that I avoid using monitors when mixing is focused on anything that's not virtual or DI.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Apr 2, 2015 10:27:48 GMT -6
A modern control womb needs to be large enough for 5-10 people to evaluate takes.
The propagation idea is audiophile bs. If it were true, headphones couldn't work. By the same token the idea of extending the bass with a single subwoofer is also audiophile marketing bs. It's trivial to demonstrate that full range stereo sounds completely different. Bell Labs figured that out in the '30s!
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Post by tonycamphd on Apr 2, 2015 13:24:16 GMT -6
the most valuable thing about nearfield monitoring is you can turn down to the degree of pretty much eliminating the room from the equation...almost 8)
A very good pair of closed back headphones, that you understand well, will eliminate all but the bassiest/puch of sounds from being misrepresented in a one room situation ime. I use molded in ear hp's with ear protector headset to block outside sounds, it also keeps headphone bleed off the mic when ur overdubbing, or tracking to a click(which i hate, and totally subscribe to the Bob Ohlsson method of let it bleed 8)
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Apr 2, 2015 13:33:41 GMT -6
I've always been amazed by how much the room actually affects the low-end of near-field monitoring when I master an album mixed in different studios by the same engineer using his own set of near-fields. The bigger the room, the fewer the LF issues.
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