New studio design help

  • Thread starter Thread starter masofnos
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masofnos

New member
Hey guys/girls,
I just want to say that this is site is SO good! too bad i didn't find it before..
Anyway I need ideas/help on designing my studio, i have been thinking about what to do for a while now.

What I got:
The room is fairly big, its about 6x6 meters, so i got a fair amount of room to play with. Sound proofing isn't a big deal, since the neighbours are pretty much deaf haha.
I've got basic recording equipment like some ns 10s and a few nice mics (which is expanding when ever i can afford it).

What I plan on doing:
What i have been thinking about is dividing the room into 3 seperate rooms, one small room for a vocal/amp room, a medium size room for a control room, and the rest as a live room. One of the main problems is dividing it up, it would get to expensive to build a whole lot of permanent walls, so i could get some wall dividers or even make my own. But if i did that (my carpentry skills arn't fantastic) it wouldn't look the best. But if i was to make my own, i could just build the frame with 2x4s, fill the center with a foam (buy some cut outs from some sort of store), and put a thin piece of wood on the outside to make it look pretty. But then another problem arises, windows/doors, a studio that know one could see/walk through wouldn't be very pracitcal haha.

So yeah I need help! lol Thanks everyone!
 
Here's my best advice.

If you don't have the budget/skill sets/knowledge to correctly build standard residential partitions, let alone isolation partitions, I suggest you don't build anything, as the minute you start partitioning off space, you step into the rhelm of Building Inspection and Permits. There are many building Codes that require strict compliance to uniform building. These are designed to keep people safe from other people building whatever they want, which at least, can result in Insurance policies being voided, or at worst, can result in death, such as by fire by virtue of incorrect egress.

Not to mention HVAC/ ventilation. Especially in a studio. Musicians like to breath. I've seen people partition off space, totally oblivious to the fact they had separated HVAC SUPPLY ducts from RETURN ducts. They just got in and started throwing up walls.:rolleyes:

However, if you insist on building walls etc, do yourself a favor. Visit your local Building Inspection Department and ask them what you need to do to comply with local building codes. I believe you will re-examine your original intent.
fitZ
 
If you have a room that's 6 x 6 metres, that's a reasonable size room, and you stand a sporting chance of being able to create a workable recording environment with it, and a much better chance than if you have three smaller rooms. Think about having everything all in the one room and whether you could work with that.
 
hmmm got point about the walls, don't like the idea of throwing up on my walls haha, and yeah i wasn't to keen on building walls.
The idea of seperating it was to help make the room less like a box (having the walls at wierd angels and such), I could get like office dividers? to help stop sound bouncing back.
 
A possible solution for masofnos

The attached image is based on a home recording studio that I designed and built in a 20' x 20' two car garage that had a 12' ceiling. I used a double insulated wall system (detailed construction plans can be referenced on many websites). The wall system also uses a dual window pane setup and double doors which are illegal when used in commercial studio settings (fire regulation codes) however the double door setup might be ok for a residential home recording studio layout. Commercial doors always open out from the each room towards the outside exit. Constructing a commercial recording studio, designers employ a setup thats called an airlock or a throughway, which is an extra small room maybe 4'x4' in size allows for both doors to swing out towards the exit. However in a smaller home studio setting these airlocks or throughways would take up a lot of space. I also employ a studio construction philosophy that calls for soft walls, soft ceilings and hard floors. The devil is most certainly in the details. I do not know what your budget is, however you must take your time and think this through and you will come up with a design that will meet your needs.
 
masofnos said:
Hey guys/girls,
I just want to say that this is site is SO good! too bad i didn't find it before..
Anyway I nks everyone!
Click to expand...

Dude, if I were you I would just treat the room and leave it as one medium sized room. This means adding bass traps or mid range traps, etc. There are a lot of people out there who record well with one room that doubles as a control room and a live room.

Many, many reasons.

Haha that's awesome you have neighbors that are almost deaf. :)
 
Yes, another vote for the one-room-project studio.
The largest project studio I helped build, was 30' X 30'. It was too small to include separate rooms.
Being able to grab and adjust whatever you need to without going through doors is huge.
skip the walls, put the money and effort into acoustic treatment.
As was previously mentioned 6M X 6M is ONE nice sized room, chopping it up will ill serve you.
C>
 
masofnos said:
hmmm got point about the walls, don't like the idea of throwing up on my walls haha, and yeah i wasn't to keen on building walls.
The idea of seperating it was to help make the room less like a box (having the walls at wierd angels and such), I could get like office dividers? to help stop sound bouncing back.
Click to expand...

Masofnos,

Sometimes adding a few centimeters to one of the dimensions can eliminate modal issues due to multiple coincidences, but other than that I would definitely consider what Fitz & gecko zzed suggested.

What is the ceiling height? - You can go to my publications page and download the Room Mode Calculator. If you need help with it... - Also weird angles are not recommended in a control room environment. Symmetry is very important and you are better off with a rectangular enclosure.
Office dividers are designed to work well in offices. ;) You need absorption at lower frequencies than they provide. Information on treating your room can also be found on my site and articles at RealTraps and GIK. Good luck with your studio!
Cheers,
John
 
Circle in the Square

Since some of the pros have had their say, especially about dividing (chopping) up your room, being very concerned about weird angles that will most certainly instigate problems, and questions about your construction skills, plus HVAC concerns and whatnot. If you do not require multiple isolation spaces. You can then eliminate all of those partition obstacles that will cause acoustical nightmares. Why not create a circle in the square, YES! a round room within your confines. there's no need to purchase the Jakartan guru's acousto-biblio-lexicona-perfectionata-text-book seeking insight pertaining to room mode calculation math (which works in a perfect world, but not necessarily in the real world) meaning your room, however if you feel the need for (above board) details, you can find all of this info for free online. Also consider the fact that recently, a famous European city spent over $20 million just in research, design and development for a concert hall, including the latest (on sight) room mode moldeling techniques during construction, and when the construction was completed and the doors were opened to the public, there were so many complaints about the acoustics, the building went through an immediate extensive and expensive renovation, besides all that, your room is a nice size for a modern personal / professional recording facility. The circle in the square design philosophy is about a round open space, within a square or rectangular room which allows for certain acoustic advantages. I did not dive into details. This basic diagram may help you come up with your own ideas and designs, so if you have any questions about what going on with this rough diagram, just ask.
 
zandru,

~facepalm~ Have you lost your mind?!? - Well, good luck with that experiment... don't forget to place the crystals on the ley lines and axis crossings... :rolleyes:

by the way, my calculators are free for anyone who wants to download them & they are extremely accurate for what they do. -- Tell me please, what are you talking about - acousto-biblio-lexicona-perfectionata-text-book ?? Have you even read any of my posts on this forum or others? Most people know me as a realist and objectivist so don't group me in with the rest of the 'just out of college' - 'only one way to do it' novices. ;)
I recommend that you have a look at my recommended reading list - it's on my pubs page. --- and read at least ONE of them. :)

Cheers,
John
 
~facepalm~
Click to expand...

That is a massive understatement John.

YouTube - ‪Facepalm Compilation‬‏


The circle in the square design philosophy is about a round open space, within a square or rectangular room which allows for certain acoustic advantages.
Click to expand...


Philosophy?:eek: ummmmmmm..............:rolleyes:


I did not dive into details.
Click to expand...
Please do. Where ever they are. And then maybe you would be so kind as to provide them here...I need a good joke.




note to self: file under "acoustical oxymorons"



:laughings:
 
Dear John, My reference about the Guru's acousto-biblio-lexicona-perfectionata-text-book might be understood as frivolous levity, however my quip was meant to point out to masofonos that texts concerning room mode calculations and material absorbtion coefficient charts etc! are not necessarily the be and end all. Whats really important is the love, fun and the enjoyment that one receives from creating and playing music. There are many options available for masofonos to consider. I wish him the best, and I also hope that I have clarified my referenced quip, and all is well. In closing, I would suggest that you do not sell your Snap-On tool set on ebay, the shipping costs alone would most likely be prohibitive for a profitable sale, It appears that you might be stuck them, So maybe I will take them off your hands. Take Care and have a wonderful summer.
 
zandru said:
Dear John, My reference about the Guru's acousto-biblio-lexicona-perfectionata-text-book might be understood as frivolous levity, however my quip was meant to point out to masofonos that texts concerning room mode calculations and material absorbtion coefficient charts etc! are not necessarily the be and end all. Whats really important is the love, fun and the enjoyment that one receives from creating and playing music.
Click to expand...
Thank you for explaining. You should, however, when offering your opinion state that it is your opinion. - And as a guru (teacher), I would offer that what you think is important in the recording field is not the same for everyone. - Most people would prefer to make money at it - so that they can continue to do it - because they love it. ;)

zandru said:
There are many options available for masofonos to consider. I wish him the best, and I also hope that I have clarified my referenced quip, and all is well. In closing, I would suggest that you do not sell your Snap-On tool set on ebay, the shipping costs alone would most likely be prohibitive for a profitable sale, It appears that you might be stuck them, So maybe I will take them off your hands. Take Care and have a wonderful summer.
Click to expand...
Again, you miss the point of my signature line which is; "you might have a bunch of equipment but it takes a LOT more than equipment to make a studio or a recording engineer." Or "Just because the guy has a cowboy hat, doesn't mean he's a cowboy" OR "Just because you have a KitchenAide doesn't mean you are a good cook." Do I need to continue?

I really don't want to get so far 'off-topic' but it is important that new people who read this later understand that your suggestions are not based on knowledge of acoustics or testing data and are simply your opinion. - Which you are entitled to. - But you really should 'study up' before you go posting on the world-wide-web.

Acoustics is counter-intuitive and I will leave you with a quote from James Moir; "If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious, it is probably wrong."

--- and if I missed your point, then - yes... shipping is a real 'deal-killer'. O_o

Cheers,
John
 
peterpan0305 said:
hmmm got point about the walls, don't like the idea of throwing up on my walls haha, and yeah i wasn't to keen on building walls.
The idea of seperating it was to help make the room less like a box (having the walls at wierd angels and such), I could get like office dividers? to help stop sound bouncing back.
Click to expand...

Peter,

You could... but remember that office dividers are good at dividing offices. ;) - they work for voice frequecies - usually from 400Hz to 4kHZ, if they are good ones.

You would be better off treating your room with traps first and then reflection panels. Have a look at my paper "Room Acoustics Design and the Frequency-Power Spectrum" found on my publications page. There is an incredible amount of LF energy present in music and my article may help you understand why bass trapping is so important.

Cheers,
John
 
Got to go with one room treated, you will find the medium size room you have when you start will get smaller and smaller as more equiptment is added. Plus all the money you would spend to chop the room can used for treatments or gear. Good Luck to you
Tim
 
Two cents. Ready? And Go!


Our practice room is roughly 24ft by 21ft. It gets filled VERY quickly. Unfortunately, we as a band have lots of gear. Double-bass drum kit with a rack on each side. Keyboardist with three keys and a mixer, on two Ultimate pedestal stands. Guitarist with loud amp and Roland JC 120 and Taurus pedals. So we're already sucking up lots of real estate down there.

I've managed to help the trip hazards by weaseling our mic lines up in the joists, so they're off the ground when rolling cases and cabinets around there. But it still gets claustrophobic when we're setting up and tearing down. Gladly, by the time cases are tucked away in the laundry room, we all have enough room to be ALIVE when playing. I don't wanna stand still when jamming, neither do my bandmates. Even when tracking, I'm still getting INTO the music, and want to feel comfy while doing so.

So plan on using your whole workspace as your recording room. You can build your listening station right next to the band, and still get good results. If anything, your "office divider" sound barriers would work well to keep sound bouncing off your desk, monitors, racks, blah-blah-blah back there by your equipment. So plan on making your space comfy, clean, and desirable for creativity.

First major investment should be good solid double-layered drywall and carpeting, so everything is a fresh clean slate to start your work. Building big ass bass traps now, knowing they will never be "unneccessary" or "ready for Craigslist" is the second investment. Buying or borrowing a reference microphone and "listening to the room" should be the third and final investment, before you finish treating the room acoustically.

Aside from that, it's all gonna be personal taste and preference.

Well....




....that and the alotted budget. Can't cut too deep into the beer budget.
 
Splicing a hundred random thoughts together with commas does not a sentence make. ;)
 
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