Is it possible is the first question, secondly what would it need and thirdly roughly how much

Imagine a typical 60's secondary school hall. Room for 400+ bodies. Solid wooden floor, Massively high ceilings, windows down both sides to about 2.5m, more windows further up, Big old wooden stage. You can just imagine how long a single hand clap bounces round and round and round.

Its up for use for the community inc local gigs but our local council have no idea of just how awful the place is for any form of music. Until access is sorted nobody in their right mind will even consider it (no vehicle access at all) but it is the only building of its size in the area and we want to use it

could it be done?

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I eat kebabs when i'm sober!

My initial reaction would be that it sounds like a job for heavy drapes along all the walls. Without proper measurements of wall length and heights it's a little hard to give an estimate on how much it would actually cost.

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www.exaviormusic.com
www.manninmusic.com Music Teacher, Isle of Man

I think you could probably divide the cost into two discrete parts.

The smaller part would be the consultancy fee for someone like Max to visit, take measurements, assess the problems, and come up with a viable solution. The greater part would be delivering that solution.

If I was in your position I would put together a small group of people and hammer out a wish list of priorities. Something along the lines of 'what could we do with this space?'. Once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, get a sufficient budget for a Pro like Max to come along and do his job.

Then with that level of technical input, put together a business plan. Even if you have a tame lottery winner who is prepared to fund anything, put together a sound business plan. Business plans are great, they let you explore ideas on paper so you can cost your ambitions and either prioritise or set targets.

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Sorry it was such a vague thread, how long is a piece of string comes to mind. Typically the council want to hire it out with no thought of practicalities. The single rather shoddy socket on the stage won't even get a refresh.

Our local music festival costs around £40k to run and ticket prices are nominal so as just to recover the costs. Due to the weather 2 years in a row there has been some very nervous moments where the rain has almost bankrupted the (voluntary) organisation. Utilisng this old school would be a benefit as we could use the 2 halls and grounds at a substantially lower costs, possibly funding any work. But then the question would be raised why should they pay for it. i can see the treasurer blowing smoke out of their ears now.

Who is Max? I've had a quick google but having limited knowledge of such professional activities can't be sure what I'm looking for

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I eat kebabs when i'm sober!

Sorry Dave...

Max is a former member and long term moderator of the SOS forums, much missed and a very nice chap indeed. Among his many talents he is a qualified and experienced acoustics consultant with an impressive portfolio of work. If you visit the DIY forum you can find some examples of studios he has helped with or even project managed. However, he also has a lot of experience with designing auditoriums and concert venues as well as studios. We mention Max because a) he's one of us, b) he's very good and highly reputable, and c) he doesn't charge as much as he could (he prefers to work in the music sector where most acoustics work is in industry).

But the key thing is that you need professional advice sooner rather than later. This is a large space you are looking at working with so even DIY solutions will require a lot of materials. That's a lot of money to spend, so it's definitely worth spending a little up front to make sure that you are spending your money wisely.

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.