How can i (/how would you) turn this space into a good "home studio"?

[nabskater]

I am lucky enuff to have a guest house next to my house that nobody uses except my band, so its the perfect practice space. What i want to do is figure out what the most economical way to turn this into a recording space is. Just a few specs on it. Its has an /"""\ shaped 2 story roof. The pics will hopefully illustrate what im tlaking about, but its 2 stories in the middle and slopes down to meet the sides of the 1st story walls. Anyway here are the pics.
























Here is a pic trying to show the ceiling situation. It came out blurry but you get the idea.




Now my real question is, what do you think i could/should do to make this space more recording friendly? Its really nice to have high ceilings because it takes care of a lot of the sound bounce, but i was wondering if anything oculd be done to make it better. Also Where do you think would be the best positions for the amps and drums? And one last question, what about vocals? Where should the singer stand you think and facing which direction? Thanks!

[Gravity Jim]

Man, you ARE lucky! I'm drooling over that space.

Before you start slapping stuff up on the walls, here are some things to identify:

1. Are you going to build a control room? Or will your recording gear be in this open space?

2. What problems are you perceiving with the sound of the space now? Are you hearing high-frequency slapback? Does the room sound "muddy" or inditinct when you play there?

3. It sounds like you intend to simply record the whole band playing together as a general rule. Is this the case?

4. How "permanent" or expensive do you want these enhancements to be? (How do you feel about replacing the carpet, for example?)

Also, in the fourth pic, what's that railing behind the couch? Does this place have a lower level?

[nabskater]

haha i know im lucky!

1. No control room, since i am a senior in high school, i going to be going off to college next year so nothing super permanate makes sence. See the little table with water bottles and stuff on it in the bottom right of the first pic? Last time we recorded i brought my computer from my regular house over to the guest house and put it on that table. And i figure since were going to try to be recording as a whole band and nobody i know knows anything about sound (as in to Man the control booth), a control room wouldnt be worth the effort

2. Its really hard to tell when we are practicing because obviously im hearing my amp from 3 feet away and above the speaker so its not an accurate representation of its true sound. I have to move to the opposite side of the room to hear the sound straight from the speaker. It just seems to me that the drums being under that overhang might cause some promlems especially with overheads/cymbals. Im more after what do people do to Live Rooms to make them suitable for the whoel band to play at once? Anything special?

3. Yes, for the most part the whole band will be playing together. Of course things like overdubs or solos and things like vocals and rainstick wont be with the band, but as far as the majority of the instrumentation goes, yes we will be playing together.

4. We couldnt (parents) and wouldnt (lack of monayy) do anything as drastic as replace the carpet. But any ideas are welcome

And yes, it has a bottom level but it is about 2 feet long then its the garage. This whole thing is sitting on top of my garage basically.

PS since your a recording guru, have you had any experience with Presonus Firepod, or any firewire mixers? Thanks so much!

[nabskater]

What exactly is a gobo, and how do i know where to put these said gobos?

[Gravity Jim]

Yep, with your answers in mind, fezz is right.

Treat the walls for reflections with something like Auralex (you can get some really good help from Auralex on where to place the foam... just send them a floor plan and they'll use their computers to figure out a basic plan or you). Or hang heavy fabrics like moving blankets on 2-by lumber (so they hang out from the wall about an inch and half, creating a nice dead air space).

And build some cheap gobos (you can find lots of plans on the web). Wood frame, stuffed with fiberglass, covered with burlap, and Bob's your uncle. You use these to help mitigate leakage from mic to mic.

You want the drums to be able to take advantage of the high ceiling... get them out from under that overhang.

Don't know anything about the Presonus Firepods (I'm a MOTU guy), but I'm sure they work just fine. Firewire is plenty fast for lots of tracks at once.

Fezz, should the drums sit on something more reflective, for brightness? A sheet of plywood? Or is he okay on the carpet once they get them moved out into the room?

[NeoFauve]

Wow!

You could probably isolate a combo amp or two somewhat, just using the couch or the arm chairs as gobos. At least temporarily.
And those beams give you a pretty easy way to hang blankets or foam.
Your folks might appreciate you not nailing a bunch of stuff to the structure.

Great room.
Have fun with it.

[nabskater]

Good deal guys. I think i could definielty make this into a wonderful space. I guess allw e really have to do, it rearange everyhting when we record and then put it back to practice. I was looking aorund the internet and found some really good gobos panel plans. I think they will come in handy for isolating the instruments to prevent to much mic leakage and also to deaden the vocals ( somehow we got some kinda of bad/weird room sound last time). Im Excited. So do you think it would be wise to put gobos up all around the drums when recording? and if so, about how far away from the set would they be? And what about amps? Have you found any particularly good way to mic them when recording live?

Fezz, i think it was you that had a "method" of amp micing having to do with 2 condencers and getting the amp off the floor, but i cant remember what it is, care to refresh me?

[Mikey]

All good advice from fezz and Jim.

One thing though, what type of music are you doing?

If it were me, I'd do what they say above, only, I'd line up the guitar amps about 6 feet back from the vocal mics and place PA speakers about 6 feet back from the vocal mics with the drums at one end or the other facing the vocal mics. Then take a couple condenser mics (drum overheads maybe) and place them about 3 feet in front of the drums. Turn everything on and go for it. Sure, it's only 2 track but it's really all you need at this stage. When you get out of college, if you still have access to that space, get serious about dividing up the room with gobos and isolationg instruments.
(Brought to you by the fine folks that helped Sam Phillips produce some of the greatest music ever.)

[nabskater]

Cool guys, this will be fun. I once our bands gets a little more money (and time) i think we'll have a crack at it

[Gravity Jim]

I can attest that fezz's twin-condenser guitar amp micing thing is awesome. Iffen you just use your ears to find the sweet spots in the room, it destroys... I got a delicious tone the first try.

[nabskater]

Nice. I was just wondering do you think it would be to much bleed if I used a condenser on the guitar amp with some gobos between the amp and the rest of the band? (Im trying to get all the questions out of the way now, so once we get the funds we can just go)

[TT100]

Very nice setup and great advice from the guys here. I'm about to do the same thing but with a more conventional room. We're moving this Friday into a bigger house and downstairs, on the same level as the garage is a 15'X15' room with an 8' ceiling. I was considering carpet, tile or wood for the floor and went with carpet to deaden the room a bit. Right now it's concrete slab as the owner pulled up the flooring to go with tile. Then the divorce happened.

Coincidentally, the carpet salesman is a drummer and used to own a music store. He has a couple of sets of left over inventory and looks like I'm going to pick up a set of near new Gretsch drums & cymbals very cheap.

It's going to be nice to finally have a place to set up the gear and leave it out.

Good luck with yours!

TT