Too small for studio?

[Jegero]

Hi,

I am in the process of dividing a detached workshop in half to provide the Mrs with a dedicated sewing studio and leaving myself with the other half for the workshop... I'm toying with the idea of dividing my half again and turning part of it into a recording/mixing studio. The space would probably end up being around 9.5 M³ (1.5Mx3.5Mx2M)...or 5'x11.5'x6.5'. Is this space too small for a studio?

It would only be used by me for messing about in and not in a commercial manner so I'm not really worried about space for movement, but more from an acoustic/sound quality stand point.

Anyone else using a small space like this for recording and mixing?

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by Jegero

Hi,



I am in the process of dividing a detached workshop in half to provide the Mrs with a dedicated sewing studio and leaving myself with the other half for the workshop... I'm toying with the idea of dividing my half again and turning part of it into a recording/mixing studio. The space would probably end up being around 9.5 M³ (1.5Mx3.5Mx2M)...or 5'x11.5'x6.5'. Is this space too small for a studio?



It would only be used by me for messing about in and not in a commercial manner so I'm not really worried about space for movement, but more from an acoustic/sound quality stand point.



Anyone else using a small space like this for recording and mixing?

Mine is 7" x 5" I use office cubical dividers that are 6" high, it's plenty of room even having speaker tripods with the speakers above the divider
I use a computer desk for my mixer and effects, and a 11in HP laptop also use one of those flex arm mic booms that clamps on the desk. The problem is it gets hot or cold in the garage, so I have another smaller setup in my office but I use head phones there so not to bother anyone, but I want to crank it live I do it in the garage

[rick-slo]

Don't see that as enough room for a good recorded sound or even moving around in.

[Brent Hahn]

It's not ideal but I could work with it.

One issue is getting it dead/diffuse enough. There are two very small spaces in my house that are good for recording, but they both have storage shelving (full) on three of the four sides, and in one of the rooms there's acoustic treatment on the fourth side. Maybe that's something that you could do.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Jegero

Hi,

I am in the process of dividing a detached workshop in half to provide the Mrs with a dedicated sewing studio and leaving myself with the other half for the workshop... I'm toying with the idea of dividing my half again and turning part of it into a recording/mixing studio. The space would probably end up being around 9.5 M³ (1.5Mx3.5Mx2M)...or 5'x11.5'x6.5'. Is this space too small for a studio?

It would only be used by me for messing about in and not in a commercial manner so I'm not really worried about space for movement, but more from an acoustic/sound quality stand point.

Anyone else using a small space like this for recording and mixing?

It could work if you think of it more like a large ISO booth, and get it pretty dead w/ some broad band absorbers on walls and modified (i.e. narrower profile ) bass traps in the corners , ceiling wall, and ceiling floor, lines (probably have to be DIY to get them to not overtake available space too much).

[jim1960]

To make that space usable, I think you're going to have to treat it with a lot of absorption panels because there's no space for the reflections to dissipate.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by jim1960

To make that space usable, I think you're going to have to treat it with a lot of absorption panels because there's no space for the reflections to dissipate.

Taking away about another foot of the width and length of free space (let alone the use of any corner bass traps). Might be a room you could play in with some satisfaction (like a bathroom space) but not record in.

[FrankHudson]

I'm not great at visualizing 3D spaces, but I used to work for a radio broadcasting network, and for spoken-word work they often used smallish Wenger booths for recording and sound isolation.

Wenger Sound Isolation rooms

The place I worked at had full-fledged, purpose built music studios too, and though the Wenger booths weren't cheap, they were cheaper in many cases than building good small recording spaces. As to sound isolation they seemed good to me. I never really evaluated one as a music recording space and as a environment to reduce unwanted reflections, but Wenger's promotional material seems to indicate they take that into account.

Probably priced over most home users budgets I'd guess, but I bring this up out a chance that the OP or some one else has more money than space in their budget.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Jegero

Hi,

I am in the process of dividing a detached workshop in half to provide the Mrs with a dedicated sewing studio and leaving myself with the other half for the workshop... I'm toying with the idea of dividing my half again and turning part of it into a recording/mixing studio. The space would probably end up being around 9.5 M³ (1.5Mx3.5Mx2M)...or 5'x11.5'x6.5'. Is this space too small for a studio?

It would only be used by me for messing about in and not in a commercial manner so I'm not really worried about space for movement, but more from an acoustic/sound quality stand point.

Anyone else using a small space like this for recording and mixing?

I'm absolutely not the person that would know the answer, but from my practical experience the space you record in is the number one consideration for what your result is going to be. I have a small third bedroom that gets used for mixing, but almost always with a good set of headphones. Any time I've done recordings in it you can HEAR that it is small. If you try mixing with powered monitors it sounds like you're trying to mix in a small room. No surprise there, but you get the picture.

I have a large open floor plan living room / kitchen with vaulted ceiling that makes everything sound pretty good without treatment.

In your case you may want to keep the space larger and close off your equipment except when you are actually recording. Depending on what you are using you may be able to build a movable enclosure that seals your gear off when not in use.

[Bob Womack]

With the walls that close it is impossible to get away from bass coupling but with your shortest wall being five feet the lowest frequency that can be reproduced is 226hz. That means the half-wave and quarter-wave modes of your space will create potential for strong midrange buildup in both your recordings and your monitoring playbacks.


Bob

[MikeBmusic]

Why is it necessary to divide your part of the space into 2?

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by Jegero

Hi,

I am in the process of dividing a detached workshop in half to provide the Mrs with a dedicated sewing studio and leaving myself with the other half for the workshop... I'm toying with the idea of dividing my half again and turning part of it into a recording/mixing studio. The space would probably end up being around 9.5 M³ (1.5Mx3.5Mx2M)...or 5'x11.5'x6.5'. Is this space too small for a studio?...

Your space is 10' x 13' and you want to divide it in half (5' x 6.5')? Your wife's space is the same size? Why does she need 10' x 13' for sewing? Maybe negotiate a few extra sf for yourself.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Taking away about another foot of the width and length of free space (let alone the use of any corner bass traps). Might be a room you could play in with some satisfaction (like a bathroom space) but not record in.

I don't disagree, but if he's determined to record in it, he's going to have to find a way to stop all the reflections from hitting his mic which they're going to do with some ferocity given the dimensions he's anticipating. It's going to be no easy trick to pull off. If I were in his shoes, I'd be hunting for some space in the house where his wife might be happier to set up shop.

[Rick Jones]

I've been in a similar situation. I have five kids, my wife runs a craft and printing business from home –– which uses the only spare room downstairs and shed –– and limited budget (so no renting a studio space that wouldn't pay for itself).

The only space I could get to myself was by commandeering an end of the loft conversion (the majority of it has become the master bedroom and bathroom. I had a dividing wall put in right at the very end of the loft, under the roof.

I do a lot of copywriting and even some tattoo designs from home too, so having my own space away from the madness of a big, active family was important to me.

I messed around with acoustic panels, cork tiles on the desk, a ceiling cloud and bass traps –– and at one point had a dead room with even more limited space that would only work for recording (playing in there sounded awful) but still wasn't a good studio.

Now (after having to repaint and everything), I have it set up to knock out flutter echoes with some foam-backed canvasses and panels and it's a nice spot to play and work in –– and adequate for making guitar videos and amateur recordings with a zoom handy recorder. Best I could do.

I have a few arrays of panels on plastic coraboard backing that I could put around me in one of the corners if I wanted to do voice recordings or vocals at a push, but it's nicer for acoustic guitar when it's a bit lively.

Hard to photograph, just because it's so small, but here's some pics (there's usually two guitars in clamp on neck holders in there, but the weather is too hot not to case them at the moment, so they're under the desk):

[Rudy4]

SNorse / Rick,

Good solution, even if not ideal. I like cozy and well-organized spaces, and you win the Marie Kondo award!