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Room acoustics in a former church sanctuary?

Hey all,
My wife and I have stumbled on an extremely cheap property that used to be a church which we might buy. We are both artists/musicians, so a Goth space like that seems like a fun challenge to turn into a home. I was wondering if a church sanctuary could be used for BOTH producing music in, and for my hi fi. I wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on room treatments, but it could be a work in progress over many years, in which case some long term investments wouldn't be out of the question. I do feel that a separate listening room takes the fun out of listening to music for me personally, though I respect others for using one (and I am aware of the acoustical advantages of them). The sanctuary is roughly 30 by 40 feet and has a fairly low, barreled ceiling with a rear upper loft. I was thinking of putting my very modest Vandersteen 3a's off from that rear wall below the loft which would project forward into the rest of the space. The rear upper loft would be used for a music room (instruments and the like). Maybe this is an impossibility, maybe the echoes could never be reigned in... I am curious what you folks think.
nickyt
wolf_garcia
6,694 posts
 
If you're in the US you can pay for the entire thing by starting a religion...you only need to hold services once a week (or never), get an interesting hat for events (religions benefit from cool hats), make up whatever you need (religions are great for mythological improv) to comfort the patrons, and everything becomes property and income tax free.
gsm18439
895 posts
 
I converted an old bank. Not cheap, of course. But I have something unique. Personally, I think that this is worth a lot.
donjr
1,335 posts
 
I think that religion called Flying Spaghetti Monster might work. As Wolf said, hold a service once a week or once in awhile you pay no taxes.
nickyt OP
12 posts
 
Wow, some pretty interesting suggestions (especially the hat idea). Funny, I bought those Vandy's from Chad Kassem's Acoustic Sounds outfit, also in Salina! I did see a while ago that he was doing some direct-to-vinyl recording in a church, I didn't realize he owned the church. Certainly I would imagine some cool possibilities with live music/recording.... I just wasn't sure about music reproduction. I assumed the desired acoustic requirements for live sound and for music playback would be totally different. Seeing Jeff Keary's (Souncheck, here on AudiogoN) crib lifted my spirits. I even had envisioned a similar Feng Shui! Obviously some real money went into that crib, but I now can imagine much more possibility with the idea, even on a smaller budget. As far as ending up with a money pit, I am glad to accept the warnings. We will scrutinize all the costs first, but I gotta say.... 125k for 3000 sq ft on a half acre in Vermont sounds pretty good to me so far. Finally, the whole reason we'd undertake the crazy idea is because we LIKE to execute projects, and wouldn't mind at all working our fingers to the bone on them. I wouldn't want a home if it didn't allow for creativity. I really didn't expect any positive responses after I wrote the first post. So, thanks a million, you folks have brightened my day.
studiosoundman
27 posts
 
Nickyt,

A link to some images of the space and build would be very helpful prior to responding.
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