I don't want a studio....... I want Bradland....

bachelorb

bachelorb

Cowboy Chord Virtuoso
Hopefully this is the beginning of a very long thread. I am currently in the idea phase and thought I would come to y'all for help.

After about 15 months traveling around in a 5th wheel trailer, we are finally going to settle down and live in something bigger than 300 sq feet. We have a house under contract, and the best part of it for me is the 20x30 (ft) room that I can do anything I want to.

Initially, I thought I would build a studio in it and be done with it. But, after seeing Miro's setup and others, now I'm thinking of more like a room that I can enjoy myself in. Since I am an amateur singer/songwriter, and only write about 15 songs a year (purely for my own kicks). I think I would like the room to be part studio, part entertainment room, part game room. But I would like this all wrapped up in one.

I'm thinking about having a studio at one end, but open to the rest of the room. Essentially, the studio would run along three of the walls and open on one side to the rest of the room. The room would have the Realistic Stereo system I dreamed of in my youth (don't hate.......relate.... :cool: ), a TV up on the wall to watch whatever games, and probably a small billiards table. There will also be a small workstation area to work on my analog stuff.

There are no neighbors, but the room does face a residential road (low traffic), and one wall is attached to our living area of the house, so these areas I'll need some sound isolation (or dampening) in.

I've been following some of the studio designs here and I haven't found a thread with anything like this, So here are my questions:

1. Is something like this possible?
2. How would I go about starting to design it?

Thanks,
Brad
 
You can set it up any way that it works for you...it's really up to you.

My studio is just a studio.
I don't use it for anything else...so I can't really say how a multi-purpose setup would work...but again, it's something only you can decide on.

My concern would be the potential "clash" of trying to have a recording space...with a pool table...and rec room/TV room....all kinda fighting for the same space.
Heck, In my situation, I have way to much audio gear in there, to even consider doing other things...I just wouldn't want to see a billiard cue end up hitting my reel-to-reel, or something like that...and I even have sole use of the room. No one else goes in there for any other reason...so I could make it also something of a "man-cave"...but no, it's my studio, and when I'm in full swing working...I've got guitars out on the floor, cables and mics...etc...so it just wouldn't work for me.
I do have a small Sony TV up on one of my rack cabinets...but I only turn it on when I'm doing something like soldering cables or overhauling a piece of gear...etc...that way I can watch TV while doing some dull job.

Now, a 20' x 30' space is sweet...:cool:...but again, if it was mine, I would be a pig about it, and want it all just for recording. :)

Also...it's funny how fast audio gear multiplies...especially when you have the space for it.
When I first setup this studio space...I only had a couple of guitars and amps, and a smaller console/tape deck...and the room looked very spacious...
...now I've got two walls covered with guitars...amps all around...a much bigger console...drum kit...racks of gear..etc...so I could almost use double the studio space in order for it feel spacious again.
I did trim down my drum kit (way down)...and I rearranged my amps...so it's actually pretty comfortable for the amount of shit I have in there...and that's the key....comfort.
You want to be able to move around...if you have a guitar strapped on, you want to be able to swing it around without taking out the TV or a lamp or what have you....and when you put up a couple of mic stands, you don't want to be ducking and crawling around them and a pool table and the stereo system and the TV...

...but like I said at the top...it's YOUR space, so you get to decide how you want it, and what's important. :thumbs up:

Oh...I don't know if you have kids or if you're going to have a lot of guests...so that's another thing...when a few people go in there to shoot pool...how's your recording gear going to survive...etc...?

Finally...if this is just a rental/lease house...watch out how deep you go with remodeling and installing things that you won't be able to take with you should you move one day.
Me...it's my house. Shit, I had two closets in the studio...and after about a year...I just ripped them out, and turned them into my guitar wall alcove. I wouldn't have done that if I was renting.
So...think about all of that....and then do the best you can.

Oh...one more thing...:D...the studio layout I had when I first set up the room is nothing like what I have now. There have been quite a few "adjustments" and a couple of major revamps...so that's another thing to keep in mind. Just like the gear keeps multiplying...a personal studio can be an ever evolving space...if you want it to be.

OK...that's all I got. :p
 
Multiple-use is fine . . . but beware of conflicts of interest. You can't do sensitive recording if there is a game of snooker happening behind you.

It is great to have a decent sized room to work with, and if you can leave it open plan, you will have a more versatile recording area.

You will need to read up about studio design, and in particular, about acoustic treatment. If you do some sketches and post them here, there are a number of members who can offer good advice.
 
Decent size room. Do as you wish in it. :D

Just don't worry about all the gotta have this, gotta have that, gotta have room treatment. Blah blah blah.
Dont concentrate on HAVING TO HAVE BEFORE YOU CAN DO.
A recorder, some mics, a room, and some musicians, and you can make music. :D

Have fun, and dont worry. With a room and your addiction to buying gear, that vacum of a space will fill up quickly. :D
 
Have fun, and dont worry. With a room and your addiction to buying gear, that vacum of a space will fill up quickly.
Click to expand...

You've got that right!!! I'm already trying to find a place for a $10 organ I found on craigslist!! :D

Right now, except for when family comes over, it will just be my wife and I. I'm in my mid-50's and we will own the house. What I'm really looking for is a room I can rock out in without a) bothering the wife in the other room, and b) cut down on the reflections so the room sounds good (for music listening as well as recording). In the last year, I recorded 15 songs sitting within three feet of a toilet while my wife napped 10 feet away on a couch (trying to get snoring sounds out of a song is a bitch.....), so I'm not looking for the perfect environment, only a better one.

For example, the room within a room is out because I don't want to have to walk through two doors to get to it, but I would like some kind of sound damping to isolate my vinyl binges from my wife's HGTV binges in the living room though.

I'm trying to learn a cad system right now (you would have thought being a draftsman for 20 years, it would be easy), and when I do I'll post some pictures of what I'm trying to do. Right now, the sky is the limit, so all ideas are welcome.

Thanks for the help so far,

Brad
 
It is great you get to build to suit. Lots of options. My last house, I had the whole basement and big plans for it. Recording studio, game room, art studio, bathroom, guest room. Got the recording studio and art studio done before we moved. My tenant finished the game room.

I didn't put anything into sound isolation. I recorded mostly at night and the bedrooms were two floors up, no noise or interruptions. I kept the studio as a separate room and it didn't open into the rest of the game room. I did that for privacy as I have kids.

For you, do whatever you want. You might add a 2nd layer of drywall to the wall that adjoins with the rest of the house. And maybe double up the door or use an exterior door, if you can. Then you only need to think about acoustic treatment, but that would be after the room is built out and the house is done.

Congrats on the pending freedom!!!!
 
Does your wife know that you call yourself bachelorb?!?

Sound isolation is the hardest part. The best, of course, would be to build a whole room inside the one you've got now. It's also not that much more difficult than whatever you'd try to beef up the existing walls. In a tiny bedroom this is not an option, but in a room this size...

Course you didn't tell us about the ceiling height. Rooms have (at least) 3 dimensions, and all of them are important. ;)
 
Heh,heh...I've never seen a studio that was NOT a multi-function room.

If there's any kind of couch or chairs, that end of the room becomes a busy junction for yapping, complaining, b:tching, posturing, shooting-the-breeze, telling-tall-tales, eating, drinking, certain recreational activities, oh, and on rare occasion, contributing knowledge to the music at hand.

Sometimes, the cacophony is only momentarily interrupted with silence for the takes or mixing. Sometimes, of course, it's all business. But there's always the potential of something else besides recording going on.


Ponder5
 
Course you didn't tell us about the ceiling height. Rooms have (at least) 3 dimensions, and all of them are important.
Click to expand...

Gotcha.... We don't own the house yet, but we are under contract. Here's a couple of realty pics:

studio2.webp
studio1.webp

Ir looks like the ceiling is about 8 foot high..... Also. the brick wall is against the living areas of the house. That could be a good insulator right??

Miro.... I brought up your studio for two reasons; 1. you mostly use it for yourself only. and 2. It looks like a very comfortable place to be.... When I was going to be studio only, I wanted something like that..... now I've moved left of center a little...

Brad
 
mjbphotos said:
Nice room,, but does not look 20' wide. A lot of windows to consider, too.
Click to expand...

Yeah...I was thinking the same thing...it looks more like 15'.

AFA the windows...as long as you're there's no issues with sound going in/out...they shouldn't be a problem.
I've got three 6' wide sets of windows in my studio...and it's great....I can look out into the gardens and get lots of natural light into the room. I just made sure there was not rattling, and I put treatment around them.
Worst case, you add some heavy curtains that you could open/close as needed.
 
mjbphotos said:
Nice room,, but does not look 20' wide. A lot of windows to consider, too.
Click to expand...
It's probably more like 18.... it's the width of a two car garage door plus a foot on either side I think.... I've never seen it personally.
The windows may be a problem, depending on the monitor placement. I think where I want the monitors, I would like the window wall to be a side wall.

Where are your windows in reference to your monitors Miro???
 
bachelorb said:
Where are your windows in reference to your monitors Miro???
Click to expand...

Behind them.

My mix position sits at one of the windows, I'm facing it....so the monitors fire away from it, and the back wall has no windows.
Never had any problems with them AF recording...and I don't have any close neighbors so there's no issues with sounds coming in or going out.
It's a lot more comfortable than the more typical "bunker" style of studio. I can look out into the gardens and yard...lots of trees...etc....very pleasing view, especially on a nice sunny day.
 
This was kind of my original thought. I do like the idea of facing the windows though.(the dotted line is not a wall, just a imaginary line where I think the studio stops and the game room begins

studio.webp

Is symmetry important for the sound waves (meaning should the monitors be centered in the room vs here where the monitors would be to one side )
 
I have my console facing the long wall...like what you did...but I'm not as close to the right wall as you are. You have your desk almost in the corner of the whole room. Then again...things look a lot differently on paper than they do in reality.

I divided my room in half (with an imaginary line)...one side is where I have my amps, guitars, etc...and the other side if the console, racks, tape decks...etc.

At each "half" I have a 6' window in the center of that half..the windows are basically a large piece of glass in the middle that doesn't open, and two of the roll out/open windows on each side...the typical Anderson deal.

So I placed my console in the center of the one "half" facing the window. The console and side racks are actually lined up symmetrically relative to the window...so when I sit, I'm dead-center of the window, and of course, the console.

I dunno...if you're going to spend a lot more time playing bumper pool and watching TV in that room...then OK, I can see giving the lion's share of that space to the "game room" side.
Otherwise, it that's basically going to just sit there unused most of the time, and only becomes used when you have guests over...and you are going to spend most of your time in that room recording...then you might want to adjust the proportions.
Again...it's amazing how fast a studio will fill up...and also, how much space you need to feel comfortable and not all bunched up kinda in a corner etc.

Your call, of course....
 
bachelorb said:
This was kind of my original thought. I do like the idea of facing the windows though.(the dotted line is not a wall, just a imaginary line where I think the studio stops and the game room begins

View attachment 98620

Is symmetry important for the sound waves (meaning should the monitors be centered in the room vs here where the monitors would be to one side )
Click to expand...

Your studio is too small and the game room is too big.:)
Besides, no one's playing games, looks more like a tea party. :D
 
bachelorb said:
Hopefully this is the beginning of a very long thread. I am currently in the idea phase and thought I would come to y'all for help.

After about 15 months traveling around in a 5th wheel trailer, we are finally going to settle down and live in something bigger than 300 sq feet. We have a house under contract, and the best part of it for me is the 20x30 (ft) room that I can do anything I want to.

Initially, I thought I would build a studio in it and be done with it. But, after seeing Miro's setup and others, now I'm thinking of more like a room that I can enjoy myself in. Since I am an amateur singer/songwriter, and only write about 15 songs a year (purely for my own kicks). I think I would like the room to be part studio, part entertainment room, part game room. But I would like this all wrapped up in one.

I'm thinking about having a studio at one end, but open to the rest of the room. Essentially, the studio would run along three of the walls and open on one side to the rest of the room. The room would have the Realistic Stereo system I dreamed of in my youth (don't hate.......relate.... :cool: ), a TV up on the wall to watch whatever games, and probably a small billiards table. There will also be a small workstation area to work on my analog stuff.

There are no neighbors, but the room does face a residential road (low traffic), and one wall is attached to our living area of the house, so these areas I'll need some sound isolation (or dampening) in.

I've been following some of the studio designs here and I haven't found a thread with anything like this, So here are my questions:

1. Is something like this possible?
2. How would I go about starting to design it?

Thanks,
Brad
Click to expand...


"and only write about 15 songs a year "........if only I would be so productive...... ;-)

-einar-
 
Besides, no one's playing games, looks more like a tea party.
Click to expand...

I looked for people dancing to the Bee Gees and a mirror ball templete symbols on this interweb thing...... I guess its not as common as I thought :)
 
Yes symmetry matters. You don't want to have the reflections from one wall hitting you sooner than those from the other. You'd be best off with the desk centered on that short wall. If you can move it back so that your listening position is 38% of the length of the room, that's supposed to be best for some arcane acoustical reasons. In your case that's like 10 feet in, but that just gives you plenty of room to get around behind the desk when you need to patch things. It also leaves space where you could put bass traps in that wall/floor corner and probably some space for storage. The speakers themselves will be centered around the center of the short wall, and can pretty much be anywhere between the wall and the desk as long as you maintain that equilateral triangle. I prefer the sides of that triangle be somewhere around 4' most of the time.

Put all of the furniture in the game room section on those little plastic things that make them easy to slide around without ruining the floor so that if you want to bring in a few people to play, a drum kit, or just to have some extra space, you can move them out of your way.
 
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