6 Tips for Furnishing Your DIY Music Studio or Jamming Corner at Home

The idea of having a dedicated music space at home is a dream for many musicians. Unless you’re a musician yourself, it’s hard to quantify just how liberating it is to have a space wholly focused on one’s musical passions. Music spaces allow for less restricted creativity and evoke an atmosphere that invites one to get into the zone. In a shared household, a music studio or jamming area can also serve as a special comfort zone, reflecting your individual style, personality, and even your values.

 

It’s no surprise that most people setting up a studio would lean towards decorating it in a particular style. A well-decorated music space with the right colours, lighting, and artwork can encourage even more inspiration and joy with each use. Decorative elements can also alter the acoustics of a space, deadening echoes and creating a “room sound” that is unique to it. When décor is intentionally put together in these or in any other creative spaces, practice, recording, and even jamming sessions with friends can be even more enjoyable. 

 

That being said, serious music spaces need to be functional before anything else. Here are some important furnishing decisions that you’ll want to make when you set up your own special creative corner for your music:

 

1) Skip the Egg Cartons and Cheap Acoustic Foam

 

You’re much better off leaving your walls free for storage or for a classy gallery wall with your favourite DROOL art prints, skateboard wall art, or typography posters. The thing about egg cartons and readily available acoustic foam is that they do very little to positively alter your room’s sound. At best, they will reduce the echoes, but you will often have to cover all the walls for a perceptible effect—leaving you with a mess that’s also a fire risk. 

 

In most cases, the benefits of these solutions are quite negligible, so you’re best off skipping the egg crates and foam panels and going for far more effective mineral wool bass traps. Put a couple of these in the corners of your music area and you should immediately hear a serious attenuation in echoes and messy bass rumble, allowing your instruments and monitoring gear to sound their best. If you need more sound treatments, add some heavy drapes (the heavier, the better) and a thick rug under any loud instruments or amplifiers. 

 

2) Choose the Right Space

 

 

Unless you live by yourself, you’ll want to select a room or corner that is away from high-traffic areas of your home. This will help prevent noise interference and distractions from family members or house mates. A basement or attic would be ideal, provided that they’re properly weather-sealed and dehumidified to prevent damage to your instruments and artwork.

 

While a music corner can be any size, you’ll also want it to at least be able to accommodate your current instruments as well as any artwork and future acquisitions. If you’re in a pinch, a spare wall with properly attached shelves and instrument hangers can conserve some precious floor space.

 

3) Consider Real Soundproofing

 

 

The acoustic panels and bass traps discussed above do not technically count as soundproofing since they do not prevent sound from entering or escaping a space. Rather, they are more accurately called sound treatments since they alter the sonic character of a room. While they do cut down on some noise and make instruments in your room sound a lot “cleaner,” they will not solve most sound transfer issues by themselves.

 

Real soundproofing involves preventing sound from travelling to and from a room, which you simply can’t do with just rugs, panels, and curtains. Because a lot of audible sound travels over the air, you’d have to minimize air leaks by sealing windows and doors. Sound can also easily travel through floors and walls made of low-mass materials. That means that you may also have to apply insulation to minimise vibrational transfers, which can be expensive.

 

Fortunately, you’re probably not going to be playing music at stadium levels in your home, so “good enough” alterations like door and window sealing may be enough to prevent complaints from your neighbours. You can also consider commercially available acrylic panel shielding for loud instruments like acoustic drums to dampen their sound energy and give your available soundproofing a chance to work.

 

4) Invest in Some Smart Lighting

 

 

Adjustable smart lighting can make a huge difference in setting the mood for different sessions. You’d be surprised at how different your inspiration is depending on the ambient light. If you have a gallery wall of DROOL artwork, you can also set up a lighting rail so that your music room has a stronger visual focal point to aid in your inspiration.

 

5) Include Enough Seating

 

Your choice of seating can further reinforce the vibe of your music room. Get a high-quality ergonomic chair for extended practice and recording sessions as well as a cosy sofa for more laid-back creative spells. Also, have a couple of nice stools on hand for guests who want to come over and jam.

 

6) Remember That You Can Never Have Too Many Shelves

 

 

If you’re at the point where you have a dedicated music room, it probably means that you need storage for instruments, music books, spare DROOL artworks, and countless other odds and ends. Ensuring that you have enough shelves for all of these should keep the inevitable creative messes under control.

 

Maximise Your Home Studio’s Potential with DROOL

 

Thoughtfully decorating your music corner isn’t just about creating an inspiring and personal environment. It’s also about keeping good relationships with house mates and neighbours and setting yourself up for consistent creative success. Refer to the tips above for furnishing your music studio, and order your music-themed DROOL artworks now to start kitting out your personal music space the way you want it.