If you had your time over

[Bulls Hit]

and had another chance at building your studio, what, if anything, would you do differently?

Do you ever think 'Damn, I wish I.....'?

 

[Michael Jones]

I'm still in the building stage, so I'm sure my list will grow, but hindsight IS 20-20.

My exterior walls are "staggered stud" 2x4's on a 2x6 base plate.
I think, I would have liked to use a 2x8 base plate. I didn't do it because it made for a really heavy wall section - heavy to lift and tilt up that is, and there's a framing challenge when it comes to installing the exterior doors. (2x4 and 2x6 door frames are pretty standard, but move to a 2x8 door frame, and its a custom job. - More money.)

But, it would have been nicer when it came time to work in the insulation.

At this stage, that's all I can think of that I would do differently.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Michael - are you saying you would have gone for 2x8 studs instead of 2x4?

Would a thicker wall would have made the insulation installation easier, and more effective?

 

[Michael Jones]

no, no, no.....
2x4 studs, on a 2x8 base plate
instead of 2x4 studs on a 2x6 base plate.

The problem arises when trying to "weave" the fairly rigid rock wool between the staggered studs. In fact, its nearly impossible, so you end up cutting a little piece to fit in between the back side of the interior stud, and the inside face of the outside wall.
A wider base plate would have made that easier to do.

But again, the solution to one problem may create another; in this case, the non-standard door frames that would have been necessary for the 2x8 base plate.

 

[Fishmed]

no, no, no.....
2x4 studs, on a 2x8 base plate
instead of 2x4 studs on a 2x6 base plate.

The problem arises when trying to "weave" the fairly rigid rock wool between the staggered studs. In fact, its nearly impossible, so you end up cutting a little piece to fit in between the back side of the interior stud, and the inside face of the outside wall.
A wider base plate would have made that easier to do.

But again, the solution to one problem may create another; in this case, the non-standard door frames that would have been necessary for the 2x8 base plate.

Thanks for the tip Michael.

I would have liked thicker walls, but my space was limited so I had to stay with standard size walls. If I ever get a chance to rebuild my studio, I would build a separate building way from my house. I just tried to do the most I could without breaking the integrity of my external walls.

 

[Bulls Hit]

no, no, no.....
2x4 studs, on a 2x8 base plate
instead of 2x4 studs on a 2x6 base plate.

Ah I'm with you. That's not an issue for me as I simply don't have enough room for staggered studs. Suspending the plasterboard on rails is about as hi-tech as I can go with my walls

 

[Sonixx]

I did it all over again...

I divided my basement (900 sq ft) into 4 smaller rooms... I hated it from day one.

I started tearing it down about 18 months ago and rebuilding... this time I have one room. Basically it's 900 sq ft with 11 foot ceilings which gives me about 900 * 11 = 9900 cu ft. The difference is significant. I have a picture library of before and after and one day I'll post them on JSayers' site.

My recommendation is unless you have to have a separate control room, don't. Keep your room(s) as large as possible. They cost less, they're much easier to treat.

 

[Bulls Hit]

It's moot for me as my whole studio will be smaller than a control room, but why do the 'professional ' studios have control rooms?

 

[Michael Jones]

...why do the 'professional ' studios have control rooms?

Do you want to monitor during recording?
In a single room studio, if you try to monitor during recording, your mikes are going to pick up the monitors. Aside from potential feedback problems, this could also create phase anomolies which would destroy the stereo separation you're working so hard to achieve.

"OK, so I wont monitor during recording", you say.
Fine. Nothing wrong with that. It works.

But the control room is a working environment. A very special environment that is designed with not only acoustic treatments in mind, but a geometry that is optimum for achieving a stereo separation during mixing so that your mixes will translate well to other listening environments; be they a boom-box, car stereo, or home theater.

Think of it as a working environment that is set up ideally for the rigors of mixing.

 

[mixmkr]

I think unless you are excellent in the art of slapping up a mic in front of an instrument and getting the *best* sound right off the bat, utilizing a control room allows you to tinker with your sound and hear a 'closer to end result', as you make adjustments, either with mic choice, placement...or something you do electronically in the control room. You are able to listen over the control room speakers VS guessing how it might sound over the speakers when you listen to a playback. That is one of the major benefits. (besides being able to say how much that last "take" sucked, and not letting the *artist* hear your comments!!)


Personally, unless you are highly experienced, getting a good sound without monitoring via control room speakers is a tough act. Out in the "studio", headphones don't give enough of an accurate picture, and more so aren't capable of keeping out the outside sounds which will effect what you are hearing in the cans. Usually with that route, it usually goes like; record, listen, adjust, record, listen, adjust, record, listen, adjust....etc. etc...

so...next question...how do you record your acoustic guitar by yourself, and adjust the sound while playing??? record, listen, adjust, record, listen, adjust...........!!!

 

[Sonixx]

FWIW... one has to make the choice on what's the most important...

for me, a larger room ended up being the most important. I've had both a control room (albeit smaller than I'd like) and now a much larger area. for me... track, listen, retrack, listen and so on with one room is not a lot different than before... with separate rooms. but, now the larger room more than offsets the inconvenience of one room. I have certain micing technics that I've come to trust which significantly limits trial and error micing. The larger room was an immediately improvement in both my tracking and ambience and for mixing.