New studio space...considering my options.

I found this other picture that shows the opposite angle...so yeah, there's some nice space behind that Neve.


TheChurch-Miloco-2165.jpg

I absolutely LOVE the whole open space concept...that's always been my favorite layout.

Here's another one - Stuart Staples (Tindersticks) studio in France....it's a private space, not really a commercial studio.
They had a spread in Tape Op...and I've looked at the pictures many times. The whole wood beam thing has stuck in my head.

stuart-staples-2.jpg

Stuart Staples: From Kitchen to Barn with Tindersticks

I've been looking around where to source a couple of 26' barn beams that I could use both for some addition wall structure integrity, but also for the look.
I would have them across my 25' length spaced 9' apart and each 9' from the sides. Then I could also hang my cloud from them.

I will do something like that, only I may have to go for engineered beams, and then cap them with some finished wood that I could certainly "age" with some of the available methods....since old barn beams are often not rated for structural use, only decorative...unless you find the right ones - $$$.
 

That's Sylvia Massey's place...sweet.

That's about the same size as what I'm going for...I think my ceiling will even be much higher.
I think that is what's considered the tracking room....and there's another space that is her mixing room.

That is somewhat my dilemma...or maybe my area of focus. How to best set up the room for both.
While I love that look of facing the console toward the rest of the room, which is great for tracking...I will most likely face it the other way, which may be a bit awkward in very rare cases, but will be much better for the monitoring and mixing needs, facing the speakers into the deep end of room.
 
I think Daniel Lanois likes the one-room thing.

The brain will acclimate which ever way things are done but being comfortable and confident trumps all.

Bob Olhsson quote
Screenshot_2019-06-18 On studios The best of Bob Olhsson's writings and tour info.png
 
I was always a fan of Daniel Lanois...and not just because of the U2 stuff. I liked his music and his production mindset.

Yeah, there were some videos of his California(I think) studio setup...it's just laid out in a few rooms of a house, nothing really purpose-built that I could see.
 
We're working out the details how to place the large motor under the floor.

To be serious for a moment? CCTV cameras and flat screens are very cheap these days, you could looky-see in every corner whichever way the desk faces. Got a wall between you and an artists? Two screens, two cameras. Simulated window.

(I have had a 50 quid colour+IR camera in my garden for at least 6 years. The paint has all flaked off but it still works a treat!)

Dave.
 
The room is going to be wide open, and the iso-booth will have a small glass window...so no real need for an elaborate CCTV setup.
I know it's not that expensive to do...but it really won't be necessary in the studio space.

That said...I've considered many times using another room in the house for some tracking, since it has a 12' vaulted ceiling, nice hardwood floor...live but without a lot of flutter, since the room is also home to a lot of indoor plants because it gets the maximum amount of sunlight...so it looks like a damn green house! :D
I also have thought of using my front foyer for some drum tracking because it's got a tile floor and all wood walls and ceiling which is also about 12' up in a vaulted shape. That foyer is right next to what will be my new studio space...so pretty easy to set up a kit there and try it out. It might suck, but I think it has some possible use.
So those two locations would not have any sightlines with the rest of the studio...but TBH, you mostly need visual cues when people are not sure of their parts or when it's a newly written song or some changes to arrangement...though IMO, you can use the audio cues just as well. When band is playing together live, for the most part, they're listening to each other, and not necessarily needing to watch each other for any cues...only rarely is that needed, like for the big endless drum roll finish when everyone is waiting to hit the final power chord. :p

I do have quite a bit of coax cable on hand and some Cat 6 cable...so I may run a couple if lines if the opportunity is there to at least that foyer since one of its walls is also one of the "exterior" studio walls.
I know I'll be running some Cat 6 for sure, since my main network modem is in the other side of the house, and while WiFi is always there, I prefer hardline connectivity and never even turn on the WiFi. So I will want a couple of network drops in the studio for sure, and I may add a WiFi hub too in the studio, since I will have people over, and I know how everyone is smartphone addicted these days and looking for signal.

Right now I've got more critical considerations on the table...first getting this approved from the town board...but after that I've got some figuring to do how best to run the HVAC, which to me is a very important part of the build. The main studio space is pretty easy to deal with, but I need to have heating and cooling fed also to the iso-both (maybe not heating) and also to the storage closet, since mics will be in there, 2" reels of tape, etc....and then, that HVAC has to also include the new bathroom and that front foyer between the bathroom and studio. I can probably just take care of the bathroom, and the door will be open most of the time, so the foyer will get ambient heating and cooling...but it's not clear how we are going to do that yet.
The new "ductless" systems are great for single rooms or when you have a couple of rooms with open spaces between them...but with the studio, there are doors, and so the cooling in the studio space will not get out into the foyer, bathroom or even into the storage and iso-booth if I go with a single ductless system.
It looks like I will need to run ducts...which isn't a problem, but the contractor and I just haven't had that detailed discussion yet....we've just been talking about some kind of AC.
He's coming back on Monday so we can drill into some details...and he says it won't be a problem to work some of this out as we go...once we get the approval to go.
:)
 
Ok. BTW you can run VGA quality video and two audio lines over CAT5e you know? The passive boxes are peanuts. HDMI over two CAT 5 lines.

Dave.
 
Update...

Tomorrow the paper work is finally heading to the town building department. We expect to get the initial denial because of the non-conformity WRT the side property line, and then we're looking at a (hopefully) July 12 date to get on the zoning board schedule for the variance appeal two weeks later, if everything goes as planned. I have all the required variance paperwork ready to go, and the architect is basically done with the detailed drawings of the plan.
We think we are well prepared with plenty of details and logic for the variance appeal, and I do have some personal "hardship" reasons that I will add to the pile once we are before the zoning board.

Nothing is guaranteed...but I've spoken to a few people who have gone through the process in my township...and it appears the worst case scenario may be that I will have to go before the zoning board a couple of times, maybe even three times, to plead my case, but usually at that point they tend to grant the variance in these cases, since it's just a small extension to an existing structure.
If this was something major, or with some kind of environmental concerns or some kind of traffic impact, etc...etc...then I would need a lawyer, and the fight would be harder.
In my favor is the fact that my side and back property lines butt up against dense treed areas, that effectively act as a buffer between me and the houses on other properties...so my small structure extension will not be visible to anyone unless they are standing in my backyard.

At least...that's the gamble, but I'm staying optimistic, and if we get the variance, we should be breaking ground by end of September/early October...which will be just enough time to complete the basic foundation and structure walls/roof, and have it weather proofed. Then the inside finish work can proceed without any weather concerns.

Meanwhile...I have my other contractor getting ready to start the rest of my house remodeling...which was originally going to come after the build project...but I decided to go with two contractors and split the work, that way I can have both thing going somewhat simultaneously, and finishing about the same time.
If it all stays on track...I will only have an effect delay setback to my original timeline of about 6 weeks, maybe 8...which is OK.
I'm having hardwood flooring installed on my entire first floor, some windows getting replaced, and all my interior doors as the first part of my remodeling portion. I'm trying to decide if I want the new studio hardwood floor to match what is going in the rest of the house...or maybe go for a more dramatic difference.
I do know that for the studio floor, I want something that is durable, but also that will not look bad if it gets dinged up from mic stands, and heavier audio gear getting moved around. Flooring that already has a kind of a rougher look to it, like with knots and marks, etc...rather than some super smooth, even faced wood, which I think would be OK for the house flooring.

Right now I have to start looking at wood floors...the house portion calls for 800 sq. ft....luckily, my dinning room already has hardwood flooring, so I'll save a little there, but still a pretty good amount that will cover living room, kitchen, bathroom and main entry. My living room and kitchen are an open floor plan, so it makes sense to just do it all the same.

I spent the last couple of weeks pressure washing my two decks, then stripping and sanding...and the last two days I've been re-staining them. Still have a few days to go...they are each about 16'x18'...plus the upper deck has a "pergola" type of structure that I cover in the summer time for added shade...so all that has to be stained too... :facepalm:

A lot of moving pieces...but I figure I might as well go "all in"...and just make this the summer/fall of remodeling madness! :p
I'm looking at probably $80k to $100k when it's all done, depending on how much the final finish and acoustic treatments in the studio portion add to it. :eek:
Well...you can't take it you, so spend it while you got it! :D
 
Well...maybe I can do some video stuff when the build gets going...but it's kinda slow and boring watching guys nail wood. ;)
I will most certainly do a picture documentation though.
 
oh my gosh, I can tell you never purview reality television. You get writers to drum up drama, the sheetrock guy gets pissed off and smashes the windows the glazier puts in, the architect gets into a fight with the builder, the owner gets up in the grill of the variance board, a dead body gets found digging the foundation that explains the disappearance of the previous owner's spouse who was thought to have run away, a last second complaint by the neighbors threatens the whole project. Ratings, man, the game is about ratings and nothing gets the eyeballs like conflict :D
 
I've seen enough reality TV nonsense....but I don't think I can direct the construction crew to put on a show...they would probably shoot me with a nail gun. :D
 
Wow. 'Envy and Hats off to you Sir! :>) Reading this I still sting when me wife nixed me wanting to open the front room up to the rafters so I'd have at least one high ceiling to play with.

:listeningmusic:
 
Wow. 'Envy and Hats off to you Sir! :>) Reading this I still sting when me wife nixed me wanting to open the front room up to the rafters so I'd have at least one high ceiling to play with.

:listeningmusic:

Don't envy me too soon...I still have to get the approval from the town to do the build. :D

Though yeah...opening up the ceiling to the rafters is of key importance. That, along with the overall dimensions is what will make the room really impressive and also improve the sound quality and minimize the amount of treatment, or the need to go for a real dead room to tame issues.

I decided yesterday with the contractor (after a few different considerations) to just let them do exposed collar ties at about the 12' level, rather than trying to hide them higher up with a closed off vaulted ceiling, and then adding a couple of larger beams at the 10' level.
I want it open to the peak, and I will also let the AC duct run down the peak, exposed, kind of with an "industrial" look, rather than sticking it in in the chase of a vaulted ceiling.
He said they collar ties normally go every 32"...or every other rafter...so I'll end up with about 8-9 of them, and maybe we could cheat a bit and reduce that down to like 7...but TBH, they will come in quite handy, as I plan to use them for hanging some of the broadband traps off of...and also the cloud at the mix position. So being exposed collar ties, it will be easy, otherwise I would be attaching through the drywall into the furring channels, which would be a bit more work to do cleanly and I didn't want to add more weight on the double drywall that will be attached to those furring channels. Maybe here and there it would be OK, but this way, the collar ties will support the majority of the treatment up at the ceiling.
I'm envisioning a couple of rows of 2'x 4' traps, hung from the collar ties so that they are maybe a foot or two lower...no lower than the 10' height. So the sound can be trapped both going up and also when reflected back down off the ceiling. I'm thinking I may build all the traps myself...but there will be a lot of work to do, so I may opt for some ready-made stuff from GIK...they have options I like, and the prices are pretty decent.
At the walls I'm thing about the half-round curved diffuser traps from Acoustic Geometry...like two columns worth on the back and side walls, to the 10' height.
I also have the 6 mega bass traps I made a couple of years ago...I will put three in each of the back corners, two on the floor and the third stacked on top of them.

At least those are some of the ideas...but most of that will come after the room is done, and I hear how it sounds without anything.
This process is both frustrating...and also exciting, to hopefully realize a dream studio (at least for me)...though like I think I said in an earlier post, I just wish I could have been at this position about 20 years ago, but I hope to get at least a good 10-15 years out of it, maybe more if I'm lucky and healthy and still motivated when I get much older! :)
 
Aha! Whilst talking about "hanging things"? How about some permanent XLR mic cables finishing about 2mtrs from floor?

I once saw a photo of a studio in Nasville FESTOONED with mics so hung and it looked really cool" Gets cables of the floor to boot!

Dave. (Envy? I am SO green with it I might put out shoots!)
 
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