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So I got to wondering, since I've been active here for a few years now, and have heard some really nice mixes, just exactly what other BB user's studios look like. I'll show you mine if you show me yours. So here are some pics from my humble studio. It's essentially a corner in my upper room/ office. My computer is a DAW that I custom built from parts about 4 years ago. i5 intel chip running XP-Pro. Several hard drives for storage and OS/apps. The CPU sets under the desk. On it I have an inexpensive DVD/CD writer and on that sets BB 2014. Most everything is done in the box, with only a few things...vocals and guitar being either mic'd or direct. My Yamaha DX-27S is on the left, and above it sets my laptop for internet and other musical purposes. Monitors are Mackie MR-5's. And yeah... I'm breaking all sorts of rules regarding the rules for placement of speakers..... and the laws of physics too, I'm sure. My one saving grace is that I added ARC to the system a few years back. If you operate in such a space as this, have a serious look at ARC. The only sound treatment in this room are the furniture and the carpet. The ceiling is old square acoustic tile (12"x12") with the rest of the walls being sheetrock/plaster with wall paper....and no sound proofing what-so-ever. I can hear every truck on the road one block over. I try to time my audio takes between trucks and trains..and in the summer, week whackers and dogs. Here is my humble work space. The one glaringly obvious thing missing is a lava lamp... Perhaps I can get one of those in the near future. I hear that having one on the monitor really improves the mix.  Guitar amps and the Polk sub.  Hope you enjoyed seeing my humble work space.....
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 01/17/14 05:21 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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 The lava lamp is out of the shot to the left.  CPU running Win7/ Sonar X3D/ Soundcraft M12 mixer/ Event 20-20 Monitors/ PA rack on right with Soundcraft EFX mixer/ QSC 1804/ dbx 231 Graphic/ Peavey Bandit 112/ Peavey Classic 30/ Studio Projects T3 Tube/ SP C-1 LDC/ AKG C-3000/ (2) Shure Beta 87A stage condensers/ Assorted 58's, 57's, etc.
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Here is my mess  That is the main desk the screen is an image of Herb's studio, that screen is attached to my trusty old XP Pro studio i build a while back, on each side is my M-Audio B-5 monitors, and you can see the laptop that i use for live and also much recording now. The desktop has the old M-audio delta card in it, and the lappy is connected to my new PreSonus Audiobox 1818VSL.  Here is my Rack system, kinda bare right now but holds my Audiobox, and the TC Helicon Voiceworks. i got the rack at Guitar center for $20 it was shakey and leaning to the side, i added a back, and a center shelf to it and it is sturdy as a rock now. Then put wheels and a handle on it so when you tip it back it rolls. to the right is my new Fender Mustang III with the two button footswitch. Great modeling amp with great software. Literally hundreds of patches available on line now.
Last edited by Robh; 01/17/14 09:26 AM.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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Love that Mustang Rob. Hmmmm.......do I need another amp? 
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She is a sweetheart for sure. I took it over to play with some friend that have a band. When I got there the bass amp was as tall as me, the lead guitar player had a Marshall half stack and a plethora, yes I said plethora! Of petals, and I show up with my little mustang. I thought for sure I would not be heard. The lil' gal cut through clean, clear, and actually shined. I was surprised at the tone I got.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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<-- Right now I'm working out of this room (minus the mixer, which is now at the new studio). That avatar is my office at home.
We're down to adding room treatments at the new studio .. and it has come a long way.
Main room is about 16 X 24, smaller than the previous finished 2 car garage but still serviceable. Mixer is on the wall, but we need to get the cables hidden yet, etc. etc.
Getting close to being picture worthy though.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Studio as college sophomore son visiting bedroom:  Murphy Bed (Most important piece of 'gear' in the whole room - let's me use the room as a 'studio' some of the year.  Panorama shot of the whole room:  Detail of the back side of GOBO in place to make a half-baked iso booth with the open closet door:  Detail of the business side of the GOBO showing the fluffy clothes pillows and blankets in the closet and the DIY music holder I made hanging over the GOBO:  Back side of the anti-flutter wall hanging I made from 1"x2" material and a throw-rug bought from IKEA (another copy of the rug is on the back side of the GOBO:  Not much to the actual music gear, because to me, the most important features of my 'studio' are the acoustic treatments that I use.
Last edited by rockstar_not; 01/18/14 07:37 PM.
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Wow, this is cool seeing all you guys' spaces.
Scott, "anti clutter device" LOL! I watch one of those "Hoarder" shows and it scares me straight for a little while.
Josie
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Cool studio pics everybody.....keep them coming.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Wow, this is cool seeing all you guys' spaces.
Scott, "anti clutter device" LOL! I watch one of those "Hoarder" shows and it scares me straight for a little while.
Josie Anti-Flutter, not Clutter! That framework with the thin throw-rug on it, hanging out 3" away from the wall does wonders for killing flutter echoes in the room.
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LOL! That's too funny. It plainly says Flutter, apparently I've got clutter on my mind. 
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Just out of curiosity, does the acoustic treatment have much effect on the vocal recording? I am currently just sitting on the floor of my dining room for vocals with some furniture for absorbtion. Curious to hear your thoughts. Take care. Greg
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Just out of curiosity, does the acoustic treatment have much effect on the vocal recording? I am currently just sitting on the floor of my dining room for vocals with some furniture for absorbtion. Curious to hear your thoughts. Take care. Greg IMO...depends on the size/configuration of the room. I've never used any specially purchased room treatment. But, I don't like a live room at all to record in so when my studio was in the typical sized garage I had rug on the floor and all walls. I prefer a close to dead room for recording and it provides me a more accurate assessment of FX or signal processing I may decide to use. I don't want any noticeable reflections when recording. That's my take on it....back to topic.
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Just out of curiosity, does the acoustic treatment have much effect on the vocal recording? I am currently just sitting on the floor of my dining room for vocals with some furniture for absorbtion. Curious to hear your thoughts. Take care. Greg This has several factors for consideration. 1. Pickup pattern and gain of the microphone. Microphones with more off-axis rejection, will be less sensitive to reflections in the room, and therefore need less concern about acoustic treatment. I can record my vocals and acoustic guitars in my living room with my SM58 knock-off or my EV PL1 with very little concern about reflections. 2. A big concern with home studios is reflections off of nearby surfaces. One major faux pas of home recordists is to record into a mic that is on their desk, where they have their computer monitor basically in a line between their mouth, the mic, and the screen. Of course it's tempting to do this, you can look at your music while you sing. This can result in a very unpleasant comb filtering, as the sound bouncing off the screen comes back to the mic with a slight time delay, and notches out frequency content due to some of the frequency content being out of phase with the direct sound. The furniture you refer to should be highly absorbent, even taught tightly woven cloth and particularly vinyl/leather can be quite reflective. You want pillow/blanket soft, nothing tight woven or shiny. Shiny normally means acoustically reflective as well as reflective to light. Here's a weird outcome of this. Leather seats in cars - used to be for luxury cars only. The same vehicle with cloth seats instead of leather seats, is quite a bit more quiet in the interior. This is one of the reasons you see perforated leather surfaces used commonly now in seats. If you can order the exact same content in a vehicle and opt out of leather seats, it will be generally quieter in the interior. 3. Sitting versus standing - you can project better standing, usually. This is normally good, but also means you probably are putting more acoustic energy into the room, which can reflect back to the mic - so sitting might actually help the overall recording situation, but perhaps not the vocal performance! I agree with chulaivet, I prefer to record in an acoustically dead space at home, and then add in reverb. If I can get rid of most nearby (within a few feet) reflective surfaces, I can record a better sounding vocal. This also includes the ceiling - one surface often forgotten. In my setup below, I have a big comforter that I throw over the top of that GOBO, and safety-pin it to the clothes rack inside the closet. Reflections from ceiling - gone.
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Post-script. I should be receiving my new recording interface soon. Maybe I'll make some demonstrations of the effects of the treatments I have in this space. I can't easily remove the anti-flutter/anti-ping wall hanging as it's a rather 'permanent' installation.
Last year, I posted a link to a file I made just showing the difference of recording in front of the monitor vs. in my little 'booth' corner. I'll see if I can dig that up.
-Scott
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Greg,
If you like the sound you are getting then stay with it. There are some who don't want a totally "dead" space if the room you are recording in is a naturally "good" sounding space. Some people record vocals in the bathroom for the natural reverb. Some even use two mics - one for the singer and one several feet away for the "ambience". I was just reading last night where vocals were recorded in a stairwell to get that sound on the record. It's all a matter of preference.
Fabric or rugs on the floor and walls or soft furnishings or acoustic treatment all change the sound. This really hit home for me as I just rearranged my room leaving one short wall in this long narrow space with no softness. It sounded totally different. I had to take my homemade rollaway vocal booth - two tall plastic garment racks on wheels with big old fluffy comforters thrown over them - and roll one of them in front of that wall to enjoy listening to music in here again.
Josie
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Josie, that's a great idea for a DIY vocal booth!
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Know your space/needs and the difference between recording and monitoring.
The sound I want when I sit down and mix (or listen to music) is different than recording.
The sound I want when recording is a variable. My daughter sounds best in a hallway with an open end and openings at 90 and 270 degrees.. Reflections happening just a little later than usual allows her to develop a certain sound, both in recording and performance.
My bedroom (believe it or not) is the best room I've used for recording live drums; the opposite of the hallway. Larger, very insulated and dead (large soft furniture, acoustic ceiling tile with 6" insulation above, insulated walls etc.)
Find what works for you. If you want dead, go for it. But I've found 'dead' ain't always what I'm after.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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I'm in the spare room. Sorry about the grainy pics. Please note my high-tech, hot-pad modifications to those KRK Monitors to limit the low frequencies. Oh, and that 3M Painter's Tape 'keep-the-binding-on' repair to my Martin DM flat-top. Great sound from a low end Martin btw, even with the tape. The laptop with extra monitor is the DAW. I've been putting that condenser mic in the closet and recording vocals that way - seems to work ok. Sometimes I move to the hall door and look across into the next room if I feel I need to 'sing big'. I run the vocal mic through that Behringer Eurorack mixer w/phantom power, and from it to the audio interface. For guitar parts, if I'll even play any now, I sometimes plug direct into the M-Audio Fast Track Pro and use Sonar plug-ins to shape the sound. But, that's an older Peavey Bandit (not working), and an Ibanez TSA-15H guitar amp. Btw, I just picked up and dusted two days ago. It was a disaster.    
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Nice space Scott. Love those hot pads! Bandit NOT WORKING? Can't believe it. We had a gig last week and mine died (Red Stripe) - or rather I thought it did. Turns out it was just the effects switch button on the back that was gamey. Assuming you've already done the deoxit number on the jacks and pots, what are the symptoms? Peaveys don't die. My wife was using her 37 year old TNT100 bass amp at rehearsal last night. Here's my baby. 
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