Need suggestions for layout of new studio.

[stoneyblues]

First time poster, long time lurker. I've bought some of my equipment based on what I've read in here. I've finally outgrown my 9'x12' spare bedroom, and I have spouse and landlord (father) approval to put up an building for a studio. I have decided on an Amish built "cottage" style barn. My studio will be 14' x 28" feet with 84" sidewalls. The building will be delivered and set on my site and will be left to me to install electric, insulation, and interior trim. I had planned on making a flat ceiling at the top of the 7.5' sidewalls but now am wondering if a raised cathedral type ceiling would be better. I am planning on putting in plenty of fiberglass insulation in both walls and ceiling to reduce heating and cooling costs.

My goal is to have a place to record music as well as practice with my band. I need help deciding if I should divide the space into 2 rooms (control and tracking room) or leave everything in one room. I will be my own engineer most of the time. I've seen many great ideas here and I ask for your comments and suggestions as far as layout, wall and ceiling treatments, floor coverings. I will have access to around 500 2'x2' acoustic ceiling panels in a few weeks if they would be good for wall or ceiling treatment. If someone would even be as kind as to draw up a layout I'd be infinitely grateful.

1. Flat ceiling at 7.5' or raised toward rafters?
2. Floorplan?
3. Carpet or laminate flooring?
4. Heating and cooling?
5. Any general suggestions?

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by stoneyblues

I need help deciding if I should divide the space into 2 rooms (control and tracking room) or leave everything in one room.

I prefer one room, especially if you're recording mainly yourself and/or small groups.

I will have access to around 500 2'x2' acoustic ceiling panels in a few weeks if they would be good for wall or ceiling treatment.

Ceiling tiles? Those are not great, but if you group a bunch together to be four inches thick they might be okay.

If someone would even be as kind as to draw up a layout I'd be infinitely grateful.

Nobody here will provide you with a professional studio design for free. The best way to get help in a forum is with specific questions. But this should give you some good ideas:

http://www.realtraps.com/art_studio.htm

Much more here:

www.realtraps.com/articles.htm

And here:

www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

--Ethan

[NL5]

Best advice - go to John Sayers Forums - best thing I ever did for my studio.

[gullfo]

i would go with the high ceiling you can. 10 foot or 11 foot is good. 8 foot as a minimum. esp if you want to put in an acoustic tile ceiling you want the tall ceiling. this way you can build in any isolation you need and then put trapping overhead to preserve floor space. if you don"t need much isolation, then cathedral the ceiling would be nice.

depending on how you plan to use the space will dictate how you need to configure it. if you are only recording yourself, Ethans suggestion on keeping a single room makes sense. if you planning on doing this as a professional service, then dividing it up may make sense.

here's a rough sketch of how you might treat it as a single room.

[stoneyblues]

Maybe I should redefine my intent. My goal is to have a place to make high quality recordings of myself and groups that I'm involved with. Not so much as to open to the public for hire. Not that I wouldn't like to be compensated for my time its not a priority. I just want to spend more time on music and get better recordings of what I'm doing. Thanks for the suggestions and advice thus far and if anyone has anything to add please post away

[60's guy]

Originally Posted by stoneyblues

My studio will be 14' x 28" feet with 84" sidewalls.

I think you might be making a mistake if you build your room with those dimensional ratios.

I say that because my room is 7'~9" High - 14' Wide - 24' Long with an effective ratio of 1 x 1.8 x 3.09 which is almost good, but not ideal enough to yield best results to my satisfaction.

Four years ago I studied, analyzed, and constructed bass traps and mid freq absorbers to compensate.

Two weeks ago I performed an RTA on my room and it confirmed my suspicion that I hadn't studied and analyzed my room adequately 4 years ago.

Enough about my room.

The room you intend to bulid has an effective room ratio of 1 High x 2 Wide x 4 Long. I don't see that as being an ideal ratio.

A higher ceiling would more than likely be worthwhile researching on your end and yield the best results in maintaining the best room ratios.

Ethan Winer's site has a wealth of info......for the taking.

[bpape]

A high ceiling is always nice to have and offers the potential for much better sound.

The 14x28 dimensions are not a good thing to start with. If you can, widen it a bit but get away from doubling the dimensions.

I'd likely leave it as onse space.

Bryan