Has anyone built a cottage/garage studio like this?

[ckolony]

Hi:

I'm wondering if anyone has experience building the "cottage studio" discussed in this article.

BUILDING YOUR COTTAGE RECORDING STUDIO

Specifically wondering if the dimensions of the spaces here are actually big enough to be useful in the context of recording full bands and doing some decent mixing. They seem to end up pretty small.

 

[Massive Master]

I would find the control room unusable due to the size. Everything else - Meh, it could work if there's enough broadband trapping.

 

[dyermaker8]

Disclaimer,. I have not built a "cottage studio". I am however in the process of sorting out my bedroom studio,. with hopes of moving into a larger space(large garage basement(apx. 20'x25') in the next couple of years. Based on the homework I've done I can see a couple of issues with this design, some of which maybe viewed as "opinion".

First off it really looks like the the whole thing has been repurposed rather than built to purpose

The control room is to small, and to face the window your mix position must be placed around where the first "o" in the word control is in the drawing. That puts you about 2.5' back facing the longer wall leaving only 4.5' behind you,. I can imagine the end room layout and it seems constrained, and that seems like a small issue compared to the likely room mode issues your likely to occur. From a small room acoustics stand point you want to be seated facing the short wall,. Then your sound treatment options become more practical and predictable.

Room 1 looks servicable, but again , bigger is better,.

Wheres the bathroom?

Why an entrance/office for a home studio,. waste of space.

All in all i'd rather have the majority of the space open with maybe a small bathroom and 1 iso booth. Might take more time to get everything miked up since without a control room you'll end up doing more test recordings, but you'll make up for that lost time by :
A: being able to leave some things setup permanantly, like drums, so that they become controls rather than variables in your mix process.
B: The improved room acoustics from a larger, properly treated room will mix much faster/easier than the alternative.

Read these before you spend your money and good luck whatever you do.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...oustic-treatment/small-room-acoustics-365127/

Acoustic Treatment and Design for Recording Studios and Listening Rooms

 

[ckolony]

I have the same instinct about size. Are there any specific considerations that one should think about in terms of foregoing a separate control room?

Disclaimer,. I have not built a "cottage studio". I am however in the process of sorting out my bedroom studio,. with hopes of moving into a larger space(large garage basement(apx. 20'x25') in the next couple of years. Based on the homework I've done I can see a couple of issues with this design, some of which maybe viewed as "opinion".

First off it really looks like the the whole thing has been repurposed rather than built to purpose

The control room is to small, and to face the window your mixposition must be placed around where the first "o" in the word control is in the drawing. That puts you about 2.5' back facing the longer wall leaving only 4.5' behind you,. I can imagine the end room layout and it seems constrained, and that seems like a small issue compared to the likely room mode issues your likely to occur. From a small room acoustics stand poind you want to be seated facing the short wall,. Then your sound treatment options become more practical and predictable.

Room 1 looks servicable, but again , bigger is better,.

Wheres the bathroom?

Why an entrance/office for a home studio,. waste of space.

All in all i'd rather have the majority of the space open with maybe a small bathroom and 1 iso booth. Might take more time to get everything miked up since without a control room you'll end up doing more test recordings, but you'll make up for that lost time by :
A: being able to leave some things setup permanantly, like drums, so that they become controls rather than variables in your mix process.
B: The improved room acoustics from a larger, properly treated room will mix much faster/easier than the alternative.

Read these before you spend your money and good luck whatever you do.

https://homerecording.com/bbs/gener...oustic-treatment/small-room-acoustics-365127/

Acoustic Treatment and Design for Recording Studios and Listening Rooms

 

[witzendoz]

My control room is slightly bigger than the recording room that is shown, and it's too small (mainly due to all the analog gear in there, if you were all digital it would work better LOL).

It looks a bit small but the article may have been written around what space they had available. I would forget the isolation rooms and the entrance office and make the other rooms better.

Alan.

 

[famous beagle]

Also ... if I were building walls from scratch, as is in this plan, I would think you'd want to make them non-parallel, correct?

 

[witzendoz]

Also ... if I were building walls from scratch, as is in this plan, I would think you'd want to make them non-parallel, correct?

Yes but in rooms this size you loose too much space. It has 1 non-parallel wall in the plans. If he can build it bigger do so, this plan is for a typical double garage studio.

Alan.