In a 19x12 foot room I was going to put hardwood flooring, but what about
leaving the floor in just concrete?

Will have acoustics on the walls and ceiling and an area rug or two.

anyone using concrete floors in control and recording rooms?

Thanks for your input

Craig
Spokane Wa

Thanks for both comments....drums will be used in the room and are now and
it is very verbie and loud ...so heavy acoustics will have to be used.

large and heavy equipment racks will be in the room also... so concrete
would be perfered so the rack dont leave tracks in the wood...

thanks again
craig

I like the sound of concrete. It's more reflective at high frequencies than
wood, but it's easy to dampen reflections with carpets.

I really like concrete for drums & percussion, & have a lot of available
carpeting for tuning.

The biggest problem
with concrete is that it typically looks like ****.

My wife did a paint & glaze job on my floors that looks like
slate/marble/granite. It looks great, gets a lot of positive comments.

Scott Fraser

Craig,

drums will be used in the room and are now and it is very verbie and loud
....so heavy acoustics will have to be used.

I agree with the others that concrete can be fine. It's not like a wood
floor is going to vibrate in the same way as a fine old violin! All that
really matters is reflectivity versus frequency.

I'll also point out that reflection problems occur not only at mid/high
frequencies but at low frequencies too. So a complete treatment solution
will not be limited to just mids and highs, and general ambience and echoes,
but should include bass frequencies too.

--Ethan

Ethan Winer wrote:

I agree with the others that concrete can be fine. It's not like a wood
floor is going to vibrate in the same way as a fine old violin! All that
really matters is reflectivity versus frequency.

And how much damage it does to a dropped mic!

Standing and working on bare concrete is also rather hard on the body (particularly the knees.)

Kurt,

Standing and working on bare concrete is also rather hard on the body
(particularly the knees.)

I agree, but slapping a layer of wood over that won't change anything. In
order for a wood floor to be more comfortable than a cement floor the wood
floor has to be mounted on a "flexible" base.

--Ethan

In my modest observation, the reverberating quality of concrete has an
identifiable-sounding "ping." I think wood floors soften the tone of
this. Either sound could be useful. I would probably not mind the
concrete sound on a guitar amp, but I'd prefer wood for a drum kit. I
guess it depends on a bazillion other factors too.
-dave
www.themoodrings.com

"Ethan Winer" ethanw at ethanwiner dot com wrote in message
...
Kurt,

Standing and working on bare concrete is also rather hard on the body
(particularly the knees.)

I agree, but slapping a layer of wood over that won't change anything. In
order for a wood floor to be more comfortable than a cement floor the wood
floor has to be mounted on a "flexible" base.

--Ethan

The hardwood is actually glued to the concrete. Maybe the glue retains a
little bit of "flex"??? It seems to feel "softer" in my dinning room (5/8"
solid oak boards glued over concrete). Not much though...

Mike

"Ethan Winer" wrote:

Kurt

Standing and working on bare concrete is also rather hard on the body
(particularly the knees.)

I agree, but slapping a layer of wood over that won't change anything. In
order for a wood floor to be more comfortable than a cement floor the wood
floor has to be mounted on a "flexible" base.

Man, I would up lusting for the dance floors at my daughter's studio in
Austin this summer. Beautiful to see, wonderful to work on, and of
course, expensive. But they put the bounce in one's step in a grand way.

--
ha

I agree with the others that concrete can be fine. It's not like a wood
floor is going to vibrate in the same way as a fine old violin! All that
really matters is reflectivity versus frequency.

Absolutely true!
The designer of the Walt Disney Hall in LA replied that it didn't matter if he
use that really expensive Japanese wood that he used in the Tokyo Hall, maple,
spruce, birch or concrete. The sound would be the same.

What matters is the solidity of the structure, and the shape. The wood just
looks a lot better than concrete.

Certainly, finish will have an effect at the high frequencies, so a porous
finish on concrete would hafe an effect, but if it is painted smooth, it will
reflect better.
Richard H. Kuschel
"I canna change the law of physics."-----Scotty

ScotFraser wrote:
I like the sound of concrete. It's more reflective at high frequencies than
wood, but it's easy to dampen reflections with carpets.

I really like concrete for drums & percussion, & have a lot of available
carpeting for tuning.

The biggest problem
with concrete is that it typically looks like ****.

My wife did a paint & glaze job on my floors that looks like
slate/marble/granite. It looks great, gets a lot of positive comments.

Scott Fraser



Isn't there a lot of concrete wall surface are in Rudy
Van Gelder's studio?

--
--
John Noll
Retromedia Sound Studios
Red Bank, NJ



http://www.retromedia.net

Isn't there a lot of concrete wall surface are in Rudy
Van Gelder's studio? BRBR

I know when A&M rebuilt their big room about 15 years ago they left much of it
untreated concrete, & it sounded wonderful & VERY live. Shelly Yakus was
probably responsible for much of that installation.

Scott Fraser

Thanks for all your info...found a nice thick pershian rug that will take up
most of the room...am having a acoustic guy check the walls and ceiling
out...for treatments..

Craig

anyother ideas welcome..trying to make this the best that it can be for what
it is