NEWB here (to the forum anyways): Input on building a studio with 550 Sq/Ft

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rugbyguitargod

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Whats up everyone? Im new to the forum, but have been recording/engineering for a little over 7 years now (all amateur level stuff, but decent quality), and i'm currently recording/mastering my band's full-length Death Metal EP.

I am also getting financing lined up for a 2-story 16x32' work shop. the area on the second floor will be my wife's art studio for her business and the first floor will be my recording studio. i am looking for some input on the best way to utilize the 550 sq/ft of space I will have. Its an open floor plan, and we're drywalling/finishing it ourselves with the materials. I've seen some sound-deadening materials such as Green Glue, ect that offer a great STC factor. My goal is to have a large studio/performance area, with a control/mixing room. I will use sound treated partitions to isolate certain things depending on what is being performed; i find this much cheaper and makes the work area more flexible, albeit not 100% ideal for true isolation. I do plan to construct the walls, insulation and ceilings in a manner that offers the most cost-effective STC.

My concerns are things which i have very little knowledge of. Room shapes, dimensions, ect. Basically, if YOU had 550 square feet you could do anything you wanted with, how would you do it? Thanks guys!

-Steve
 
You should read through some of the websites by the experts who post here like John Brandt and the GIK folks.
16'x32' = 512sf, where's the extra 38 sf coming from? ;) How high a ceiling are you planning?
Ther's a lot of variables - are you planning on tracking whole bands at one time? is it only going to be you and your band, or are you thinking of having people come in and paying you for recording them? How much space do you estimate you need in your tracking area? You don't want your mixing/control room to be too small or have bad relative dimensions (like a cube). Will there be utility area, bathroom, stairs, entrance doors in this space - assuming so, you've got to plan based on that.
For my own use, I'd probably wall off 10' of the length, leaving a 16'x22' main room for tracking and mixing, an 8'x10' iso room and 8'x10' for bathroom and storage closet.
 
Last edited:
mjbphotos said:
You should read through some of the websites by the experts who post here like John Brandt and the GIK folks.
16'x32' = 512sf, where's the extra 38 sf coming from? ;) How high a ceiling are you planning?
Ther's a lot of variables - are you planning on tracking whole bands at one time? is it only going to be you and your band, or are you thinking of having people come in and paying you for recording them? How much space do you estimate you need in your tracking area? You don't want your mixing/control room to be too small or have bad relative domensions (like a cube). Will there be utility area, bathroom, stairs, entrance doors in this space - assuming so, you've got to plan based on that.
For my own use, I'd probably wall off 10' of the length, leaving a 16'x22' main room for tracking and mixing, an 8'x10' iso room and 8'x10' for bathroom and storage closet.
Click to expand...

Sorry, i was originally planning for a 16'x32' but we (my wife and I) decided on the 16'x34' building which is 544 sq/feet. Its going to have 8 1/2 foot ceilings. I am intending on having the stairs built external to the building so as not to affect workflow and usable square footage. I am definitely planning to have a bathroom, but wasn't sure how to go about planning the actual floor/room layout. one of the 16' walls will have an insulated/well-sealed 8'Wx8'H industrial roll-up door for ease of loading gear in and out.

I definitely want to have paying clients be able to come in and record, with enough space to record an entire live band too if i wanted to. There aren't very many good studios in my immediate area (closest legit recording studio is in Winston-Salem, his name is Jamie King); i have the knowledge and experience to really get some good clientele here, but i want to make sure i do this right the first time with the floor plan and general layout. Thanks for the feedback, looking forward to much more input!

-Steve
 
I read several times through Rod Gervais' "Home Recording Studio: Build It Like the Pros" and it has a lot of good info in it. There are several books on the subject, but that's the only one I've read and thus the only one I can vouch for. Not a bad way to spend $20 or $30 if you're about to start planning/designing your studio space.

Just know that it's not a cheap endeavor to get high levels of isolation. But it's not too bad if you know where to focus your money and efforts.

About the only high-level advice I can give from my novice perspective is to avoid squares and cubes in your room layouts. An 8'x8' room will be problematic. An 8'x8'x8' room will be a disaster!

Good subjects to read up on before you get started are room modes, flanking paths, getting a good air-tight seal, and where/why to add mass to surfaces. Don't forget to factor into your budget for acoustic treatments for the finished live and control rooms...bass traps, ceiling and wall absorbers, maybe diffusers, etc.

Good luck, and ask any questions you might have. There are some great and experienced fellows that come by this forum occasionally.
 
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