New studio construction

Ahh CAD tools...you gotta love 'em.
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:D Me too. And CAM. Getting ready to build my own home CNC. You know, for custom Hemholts slot patterns in panels:p Hahaha!

fitZ:)

Oh, btw, I'm certainly NO expert when it comes to this stuff. I've read a lot, but have NEVER built the stuff I draw. CAD is the only tool(drawing) I have to interpret dreams and brainfarts;)
Once I get it down, I have a complete shop to build it.
 
Thanks for jumping in, Fitz! You're answer was more than I could ever had come up with. Jeez, I wish I found this forum a year ago! Anyway, my EASY answer is this - because this is what I did and I have to live with it for now.

Since I bought my doors at a bargain building outlet, I found out too late that no two were exactly the same. Some were off (width-wise) by almost an inch. Of course I didn't notice till quite a while later. I assumed that they were what was written on the tags on the jambs. My doors were already framed in my rooms, so I had to be creative (right or wrong).

All the doors I bought (seven) were pre-hung solid core steel doors. I took the trim off around the outside and fit them into the frames in the walls. Some fit great, some didn't. I actually had to install the doors backwards because standard doors are made to open IN and I needed doors to open OUT, plus they had to open opposite each other so the handles would be on the same side going through two doors. Sorry, that's off the track. So in my case, the door hinges are on the room side, not inside the wall, and there's new trim going outside the doors. the width of the depth of the pre-hung doorframes didn't matter to me because I just installed them flush with the outside of the wall and let them fall where they may inside (since there a gap between walls anyway). Now there's a good 7" space between the two frames (back to back). I'll cover the space with cloth - to prevent any of the insulation from ever getting sucked through the gap from the doors being opened and closed - then I'll trim INSIDE the door frames with wood and just leave about a 1/8" gap between the frames...similar to the gap between my windows. Remember, I have to make sure the two walls have no places where they're touching.

Where there was any kind of gap between my new doors and the existing door frames, I filled as much as possible with wood, fibreglass, and then caulked the hell out of it!

The tough part of this whole venture is not knowing if all what all the effort will sound like until it's completely finished. Some could be for naught...I don't know. I'm flying by the seat of my pants.

My suggestion...read as much as you can. There are an enormous amount of books out there about doing something like this. Keep up with this board...these people seem extremely knowledgable and have been more than helpful. Do the best you can do with what you can afford. I bit off more than I could chew, but once I was in, I had to go for it. I know I won't achieve perfection and I wasn't going for that, but I had to try to make the best studio possible for what I had - equipment-wise and financially. It's a dream for me - as I'm sure it is with most people here - and I have a wife that's great enough to let me go after that dream. It takes a lot of you're life...this music thing...but it's so much better when you have someone supporting you the whole way.

Wow, got mushy there for a bit! And she doesn't even READ this board! lol Thanks guys, for your help and your interest. I'll keep you all posted as to progress.
Rick
 
Hey, we'll have none of that mushyness here...what ya tryin to do Rick, give us a bad reputation:D
All kiddin aside, you said a mouthfull. If you've got a significant other, things can be pretty miserable without that support. I know from experience. 18 yrs of it. Emotional duress while trying to create or perform or follow your dream is a real drag. Fortunately, now I have someone who does understand and support it. Although.....:p there ARE those moments!
AAARRRRRGGGGGG@$#%^$%_^**^#!!;)
Rick, I wouldn't worry too much about your STC stuff. It looks to me like you've paid enough attention to details that even if it isn't perfect, its still 1000 times better than a bedroom. Hahahaha!
fitZ
 
RICK FITZPATRICK said:
Sorry to jump in here Rick, but I got up early:D

Hello sg400. You have to PLAN ahead. Take NOTHING for granted when building studio. In the case of wall thickness because of RC or multiple layering of gyp bd., you need to plan the thickness to either buy wider door jambs, or custom build them from jamb material or mill the material from thicker stock. Also, the framing for heavy interior doors must be framed accordingly, and with tighter tolerance between framing and jamb. All gaps between the frame and jamb must be caulked also. Here is my plan for double doors between a 2 leaf, 2 wall system between control room and studio. This is for situations where there is no room for a soundlock. Note the thickness to compensate for seals, caulking and air gap between walls. Also for threshold, which is a big problem with most designs. I didn't show that here, but it can be a formidible problem, if not planned in advance. Also heavy doors require heavy duty hinges. But this all has to do with your target STC. Why build walls with a target of 65, only to reduce the sound transmission loss by installing doors with a rating of 37. Weak link syndrome. Happens all the time. In this case, this is NOT a rated door assembly, as you would have to purchase the assembly with all associated hardware and jambs, to meet a rated target. This is only my attempt at overkill:D . But rated door assemblys can easily reach $1000 per door:eek: Hence my attempt at HR type design. Besides, it depends on the type music, your tolerance for noise intrusion into the recording, and how loud your local noise floor is.

fitZ:)
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Hey Rick! Why don't you repost that photo using some leaders and text so I know what your doing ok! I have a couple of doors that are hollowcore and would like to increase the mass on oneside and integrate absorbtion on the other? Your design looks interesting and I might be able to adapt portions into my specifics..but I need names of the pieces :)

SoMm
 
Hello SoMm, oh oh, now I've done it.:p Gonna make me squirm a little huh? Now I have to actually tell what this is. Ha! Actually, I should have removed that panel on one of the doors. Thats not even solved yet. What that is, is a brainfart:D Steve and I had talked one time about trying to make a panel on a door decoupled yet sealed. I downloaded the sections of seals from company that makes thresholds, sound attenuated door assemblys and seals. But I didn't actually insert them into the drawing. The problem is how to attatch the seals to both the door and the panel. But then, the whole thing about 2 LEAVES became a subject on the forums, and I got to thinking this makes THREE leaves. I think. Anyway, the idea of the panel is to float it off the door with a seal thats like a Refridgerator seal, where it is a complete rectangle. But then after I drew it, it DAWNED on me.:eek: :confused: :rolleyes: How would it come up against a stop at the threshold. The threshold would have to either raise(which they make) or you would have to step over it. Not good design. Soooooo....back to the drawing board. But no matter. I'd be glad to do it for ya. Just don't laugh too loud. Someone might here ya.;) Thats the problem with drawing a plan section but no vertical section. Never got to it. But I still think its a pretty good solution without the panel anyway. Ok, enough ramble. Give me a day, cause I'm pretty bushed tonight.
I work about 20 miles from home, in a little town called Bandon. Along the coast in Oregon. Right before you get to Bandon you have to cross a river. When I started home tonight, they had the bridge closed from a ship hitting it. That meant I had to drive up river another 20 miles to the next bridge. Made for a long trip home. Not to mention there is NOTHING out there, and I didn't gas up before I left. Got half way up the detour and realized I was on empty. FUCK.:eek: But I made it. With lots of sweat, cause there is nothing but rednecks and bigfoot out there.:D
Wierd. Spooky. Dark. Rainy. ........whew!! Man, I wouldn't want to break down out there for nothin. Might not make it out alive. Ha!! The Coquille river. Never thought I'd live in a place like this. Oh well. Could of been the everglades! At least theres no gators....except in Steves back yard. Ha!
fitZ
 
Well, in the past two weeks, I've put in the wood (parquet) floor in the control room and finished the trim around all the doors and windows. I also received delivery of the new desk I had made. Unfortunately it's in pieces right now - I had to have it made to be taken apart and put together so it would fit through my doors (it's 42"h x 4'd x 8'l) - and it has to be stained and polyurethaned, as does all the trim. So now I gotta make the place as dust free as possible (fingers crossed) to enable staining without too much hassle. The carpet is scheduled to go in in two weeks. I'll keep you posted. I'll post some new pics shortly too.
Rick
 
hey rick, where in south easton, my band practices in my buddies basement in stoughton across from crescent ridge?
 
Hey Hellcat!

How are ya?
I'm not in South Easton...the S.E. was for South Eastern MA. but I'm still not too far away. My studio is in Whitman, just the other side of Brockton. So, we're still fairly close. :-)

I'll have you come by and check it out when it's finished. PM me.
 
Fitz - here's a question for you!

I figured I'd ask you since you seem to have done much research regarding these things. If you notice in one of my last pics (the one that shows the raised floor), there's a big pole in the room which will be right behind where I'll be sitting in the CR. My question is, should I bother to treat the pole? i.e., cover it with foam or something else or would it be OK to leave it as is? Would you believe I never even though about that until now? Geez! Major brain fart!
 
Geez! Major brain fart!
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Yours or the architects?

Hahahahahaha! I have them all the time.

I figured I'd ask you since you seem to have done much research regarding these things.
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I'm flattered, but it hasn't done me much good lately, as a lot of what I've learned seems to have been negated by contemporary standards.

Hello Rick, I kind of gave up giving advice lately. Better left to the experts. But
I'll give it a shot. Hmmmm, I don't think it matters. From my understanding, the only frequencys that geometric obstacles affect, are those with wavelengths that approach the same size. Lo Z just wraps around it and any thing that does reflect, will be diffused since its a cylinder....I think. But I don't really think that it makes any difference, though, as its so close to your head, your mind integrates any reflections that arrive within 20ms anyway. I doubt if ANYONE could hear anything different if it weren't there. Foam would help if you bump your head though:D Besides, even if you wraped it with 703 or foam, it still only absorbs in Sabines relative to the square footage, which is the radius of the wrap times the height. Not very much, and only those frequencys whose 1/4 wavelength matches the thickness of the foam or whatever anyway. Just pretend it ain't there.....as its pretty much sonicly transparent.
Well, thats my .02 for what its worth. And that ain't very much.

Hey, your studio is comin along great Rick. When is the first session slated for? When it does happen, I hope it exceeds your expectations, and makes you grin ear to ear!

fitZ:)
 
Thanks, Fitz. Knew I could count on you! :-)

I actually DID think about the bumping my head thing, but I figure after about twenty times or so of doing that, I'll learn NOT to lean the chair back. lol

I seriously don't have a session booked yet because the construction has been so sporadic, but I'm putting together some flyers now (to leave in music stores and mail to my circle of contacts) offering a construction special...book now for recording later in the year (I'm figuring late July - on) at a reduced rate. That way I hopefully will gain some interest and maybe generate some income with deposits to get things rolling. I'm gonna take some time to make sure there's no bugs in the system, plus there's some new toys (mics and PC stuff) I have to learn before I want to commit to any paying clients...so I have some friends and my own band to do some recording once things are ready to go. Man, it's been so long and now I'm so close...I hope I remember how everything works!
 
more updates

Here's what I've been up to lately.
This is a shot of the parquet floor I put in recently for the control room.
 
Ready for carpet

All the trim has been stained and the floor is ready for carpet...finally!! It'll be going in this weekend, so I'll have more info to show you next week. I'm gettin' close! Thanks to all of you for looking and for giving me some great tips.
 
The floor is ugly but won't be for long, which is good...cause I'm real tired of looking at it. :-)
 
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