Ideal basement for home studio?

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Rat

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I apologize in advance for posting a know-nothing thread in case it's just annoying.

To preface: I'm taking some classes starting in the fall for working with the tech side of recording and I've been thinking about building a serious studio in the future. First as a part time thing and more serious over time as I get experience. I'm going to be buying a decent house in a few years so I've got a while to plan and I'm hoping for a little help with the following scenario.

Assuming I had a decent set of choices and the basement was a significant factor in which house I decide to go with:

What would the ideal basement be to setup a studio for practicing/recording/mixing/mastering be? I'm willing to spend a pretty big chunk of money (20K, more if needed) setting it up. Professional builders where necessary, that sort of thing.

If it's relevant, interested in working with rock/metal.
 
A large unfinished basement with as possible ceilings would seem a good start. Preferably without a furnace in the space.
 
Gotcha. What would be the minimum size to be seriously able to create a polished professional sound?

"with as possible ceilings would seem a good start." Erm, as high as possible?

Would an outdoor structure separate from house be a significant enough difference to considering going in that direction?
 
Lol. Yeah, high ceilings. I would do an obscene amount of search and Google on the topics. I can only give advice on what I have learned from that and my limited experience. Your build will depend upon whether you are going for isolation, room sound, or a combination of both.

Stay away from square rooms, build it right the first time without cutting corners, and include the acoustic treatment into the build.

There is a guy that can help you. I gotta find his PM to get you his contact info. I would have paid him if my budget weren't so tight. He helped for free anyway. :)
 
K, contact this dood. He can be found by the same user name as his email on GS.

Here is what he wrote when I first contacted him: "I can work with you to achieve the 'feel' you want in the studio and still have the acoustics work as they should. Have a look at my website - JH Brandt - Recording Studio Design & Acoustics Home & send an email to jhbrandt@yahoo.com with pictures of the proposed space and all the information you have including dimensions, drawings, and anything else that you can think of and I will give you a quote - which I guarantee to be less than the cost of one mistake.

He will be more able to answer your questions with facts.

Jimmy
 
One thing to keep in mind is power. It's a lot easier to run the right power and wiring before you put walls up. The ideal setup would include dedicated circuits and grounds, isolation transformers ect...
 
jimmys69 said:
K, contact this dood. He can be found by the same user name as his email on GS.

Jimmy
Click to expand...

Awesome, thanks a ton man. Thats probably exactly what I need.

Farno said:
One thing to keep in mind is power. It's a lot easier to run the right power and wiring before you put walls up. The ideal setup would include dedicated circuits and grounds, isolation transformers ect...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking about that sort of thing. I'm hoping I could save my self a lot of hassle if I plan everything out and can even kind of maneuver home choice around basement.
 
I would avoid a basement scenario if possible. A nice sized dedicated room with vaulted ceilings is gonna be way more versatile than most basement buildouts.

Isolating the basement from noises in the house proper would be both expensive and cut down on the ceiling height you'd have available to work with.

If you plan on having both a control room and a live room that would make having a huge basement to start with a neccessity, unless you put one or the other upstairs in the house.

In general, the bigger the room the better. Save the basement for a grow-op.
 
Would it be feasible to setup a shed type structure as the recording space? Could it work to have the recording in said basement and the mixing/mastering in an office?
 
Yeah. With video tech being to cheap you could easily have two-way visual via cams and audio talkback.
 
How much hardware would specifically have to be with the recording room? If I setup a inlaw-suite/shed kind of structure as the recording space would I be able to put the rest of the equipment in the basement and use it as a general purpose business area with the rest of the tech?
 
Rat said:
Would it be feasible to setup a shed type structure as the recording space? Could it work to have the recording in said basement and the mixing/mastering in an office?
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I was going to say, the perfect basement studio is a separate out building designed to be a studio, complete with kitchenette, bathroom and bedroom. It’s all any man needs.
 
Ah. Starting to feel like basement is not the way to go for this.

Would it probably be best to see about setting up a 20x22 shed and following this guide?

BUILDING YOUR COTTAGE RECORDING STUDIO

Pricey, but I see this as a potential life kind of investment. Would this be the best to get the best possible setup that could be down on residential property? Could one reasonable expect to produce professional quality music on this kind of setup?
 
Rat said:
Ah. Starting to feel like basement is not the way to go for this.

Would it probably be best to see about setting up a 20x22 shed and following this guide?

BUILDING YOUR COTTAGE RECORDING STUDIO

Pricey, but I see this as a potential life kind of investment. Would this be the best to get the best possible setup that could be down on residential property? Could one reasonable expect to produce professional quality music on this kind of setup?
Click to expand...

Now yer talking.

Oh if I knew then what I know now.
 
I would say to look for property that gives you the most flexibility for the future. Start off building your skills and gear in the basement. Then, you will form your own opinions as to where to go/build from there. I would have loved to have purchased a home with a walkout basement that I could have incorporated an external room. Shit, now I gotta sell my house. Dammit! lol
 
I'm in the same boat as you Rat! My lady friend say's I'm crazy for basing the majority of my homebuying decision on whether or not I can play drums!

I've been looking into Ranch style homes (I'm from Providence, RI; they're quite popular). Something with a finished basement that instead of a TV and couches it will have amps and drums. I'll check out that cottage link you posted, that's something I'd be interested in but not until the far future...

Good post, I'll keep an eye on it. Peace!
 
Build a dedicated garage. 8" poured slab with floor radiant heating, cinder block walls, no windows, double door entrance, isolated power and dedicated breaker panel. Wall outlets separate from lighting fixtures. Floating walls, heating/AC in separate room with cinder block walls as well, Golden Ratio floorplan dimensions. All wiring dropping down from the ceiling, upper attic area sealed away and conduit runs for all wiring.

If you want a career in music production, start the right way. Don't try to build a studio in a house, build a studio separate from the house. Get a meager home that's comfy enough, with enough property to build a separate building for the studio.
 
Rat, there are two worthwhile options: to use the basement or to build a separate studio building. Neither are wrong. The problem of sound isolation in a basement has been mentioned. In your OP you mentioned that you wanted somewhere to practice, somewhere that would assist you as you do the classes. I wonder whether you would do well to use a basement initially, without spending the earth. It will give you a good start and measuring the room's acoustics and installing the acoustic treatment will be great experience. Then, once you have the knowledge and some experience, you will no doubt have a much clearer idea about what you want and then it could be a better time to pay for a separate studio building, which will be to your requirements.
 
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