Studio room size issue

headcom

New member
Hello all,
I plan to build a professional recording studio in a room 2.5 meters high, 5 meters wide and 7 meters wide, which is also located in the basement of my house.
Do you think the size of the room is appropriate, especially in terms of height? It would seem that recording strings requires more height for frequency issues.

Do you have any recommendations in terms of room design, acoustics treatment?

Thanks in adavance!
 
Building a room for real strings is tricky. They sound best in larger spaces with excellent acoustics. Real string (and orchestral spaces) need a measurable RT60, which means refelections, hard surfaces, diffusion and long paths. 'Professional' really just means a room that can justify it's income generation. If you have a look at the popular string sampling packages, you'll see all sorts of spaces that enhance strings and are nice to play in. Some are huge but many modest - few are 5x7 in area. This means your space will need to be deader than ideal and then artificial reverb added. I've been in a couple where strings record nicely for quartets and small ensembles and they use artificial reverb fed to small speakers to make the room feel bigger?
 
How are you defining 'professional'? You are planning on charging people to come in and record? What's your experience level? What's your budget? Do you know anything about acoustic design?
 
thanks Rob for these interesting points of view. Actually, and ultimately, the goal will be to record small ensembles, so if I well understood your opinion, a modest room as mine 5x7x2,5 should be enough to have acceptable results that could be enhanced through post processing (reverb or others).
 
How are you defining 'professional'? You are planning on charging people to come in and record? What's your experience level? What's your budget? Do you know anything about acoustic design?

In fact, the first goal is to record my own music. But that does not exclude that I can recoup the investment later (and charge people for recording sessions)
Actually, I am a composer and musician, with a small sized home studio, but I would like to take it to the next level for recording my music.
No real background in acoustic design.
 
Hello all,
I plan to build a professional recording studio in a room 2.5 meters high, 5 meters wide and 7 meters wide, which is also located in the basement of my house.
Do you think the size of the room is appropriate, especially in terms of height? It would seem that recording strings requires more height for frequency issues.

Do you have any recommendations in terms of room design, acoustics treatment?

Thanks in adavance!

So, you think you can DIY the design?? You are ALREADY FUCKED. ok? I ran the calculations... You are definitely fucked. :P

You should call a real studio designer unless you have LOADS of money and time to kill.

How many airplanes have you designed, built, and flown? (and survived)
I have stopped posting on many forums because they all seem to be focused on DIY design... and, I CHALLENGE YOU, to look thru all the threads posted and see how many are asking questions like "How can I get rid of this bump... or null" - "My image is shifted to one side" - "I still have to check my mixes in the car" - "do you think I need to add a panel here..." Etc.

I'm happy to give you pointers, but you will have to either break down and CALL SAUL, or make mistakes like everyone else here and fail and waste your time and money.. (I know, you THINK that you'll save some money) - okay, carry on.

But if you're smart: Don't do it.
yes, get some advice here and then CONTACT A PROFESSIONAL if you plan on building something PROFESSIONAL.

Cheers,
John
 
Not really helpful telling people they're fucked and then saying engage a designer. Of course your opinion is based on your knowledge and experience - but there are ways of putting it - and all yours did was come across as the opinion of a bitter and twisted designer sick of amateurs building functional but flawed studios.

When I actually had work, we'd visit venues - theatres, community spaces, churches and cathedrals all over the UK and put on events. The wild range of acoustics varied from terrible to excellent - and the effort we'd have to put in to make shows sound nice varied so much. We've got lots of software aids now, but walking in, standing in the middle and clapping lets you know how hard it's going to be.

The designers of the more modern buildings are skilled people, but not infalible - My favourite venue is a massively over engineered Victorian space where the acoustics are very nice for speech and opera - the two extremes. The worst one is a modern designed theatre with an expertly designed auditorium that sucks the life out of music.

There's a perfectly respectable space for DIY, guided by the excellent books available, and following these it's perfectly possible to create a useful space that generates happy customers who pay - and THAT is what signifies 'professional'. Amateur vs Professional has never been defined in terms of quality, although people who work with the professional label do their best to belittle the amateurs in this world.

In just my own business area, I get the look down the nose from some 'Professional' Lighting designers, a few 'Profesional' Sound Designers and worse of all 'professional' drone flying people. There are hundreds of professsional individuals taken to court each year for getting it wrong. Some are true experts, some, inept individuals who should have given up and taken up gardening. They all, however, have the right to call themselves professionals.

Sound on Sound Magazine here in the UK visit studios in people's homes each week and try to fix them. We know it's not easy to design recording spaces, and I'd have no qualms engaging an acoustics company to design a space - IF - I had the money. I don't so each of my projects over 30 years has been developmental, and as my education also progressed, the results have always got better - BUT none have been unworkable, and all made money. None have been perfect, but the maths and the books worked pretty well. Sometimes, I had to make compromises and in these cases, the books were always right - they predicted the problems.

One project from around 96 was an old Victorian school - and I got the old hall - an arch roofed 9m x 22m 18" thick walled space with a slightly smaller hall joining it. That became the studio space, but as it was a community funded project, we made the big room a recital room - enough for 100 seats with a thick pile carpet, no wood, concrete floor, plastered brick walls, big church style windows, and a timber painted roof. it sounded so good accidentally, that it took little time sticking a socket box on the wall through to our studio.

If you are clueless, engage a designer and follow their plans. That's a great idea. If you can follow the maths and have a book like Rod Gervais's - you can make a damn good stab at something business like, and most importantly, nice to work in.

7x5 is a bit tight for separation if you go over 4 people, but with care and sensible treatment I could work in that size (and actually do as my floor area is about the same)

So John - how would you deal with this size space? Not all clients have floor area, so what do you tell them? Give up, don't waste your money? You're the expert here - so why not be positive rather than dismissive.
 
Got your attention. Good!

But, instead of actually thinking about how right I am, you go off on the defensive and attack me. NO... I'm not bitter and twisted. I am pained seeing these young people WASTE their money, time, and energy doing things that they don't need to be doing!. You guys are musicians, artists, producers, engineers, etc., you don't need to waste your time doing something that you don't do. You should spend your time getting BETTER at what you love!

I guarantee you that the first 5 studios that you design will FAIL. Flop!

How many times did you skin up your knees and elbows learning to ride a bike?
How many airplanes have you designed?

This is physics. There is NO respectable space for DIY design.. there's PLENTY of space for DIY building! It is foolish to try to design something when you DON'T KNOW OR UNDERSTAND PHYSICS!

So, if you are happy with a shitty room with problems that will never go away, swing away. I guess it's like most psychiatric patients never get better and will always need a psychiatrist.

But it still hurts me to see you guys flailing away and doing everything wrong when there are good consultants and designers available to help. That's all I want to do. I do NOT encourage DIY design.

Here is how to deal with that space. Start with 9.5 feet (ceiling) and calculate the best ratio/room size the will meet Bonello and then Modal Distribution. Get my room mode calculators, see my videos, and download all the files from my resources page.
I am busier than a one-armed-paper-hanger! I am not trying to get business. But you do need to check out some reputable designers.
I feel like Gandalf here... "Bilbo Baggins! I AM NOT TRYING TO ROB YOU... I'm trying to help you."

Again, I'm not talking about perfect. There is no such thing. I'm talking about the best bang for you buck!
I am not belittling the amateur. I am trying to be a voice of reason and sanity in INSANE forums that promote the BULLSHIT idea that anyone can design their own studio. No, you can't. Go ahead and try, but don't waste my time complaining later.

Now as far as the original post. 7 meters by 5 meters by 2.5 meters is horrible... no matter what you do with it. It will be horrible! ok? Is that clear?
Make the room Length = 683 cm, Width = 491 cm, Height = 250 cm
Then it works. Then you need to hire someone to treat it. (don't fucking waste your time) ;)
Cheers,
John
 
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