Pros and cons of splitting up studio space.

[SimpleMeasure]

I finally got what I always wanted... I have a dedicated 24x36 space with 13 foot ceilings to make into a studio. I am loosing 4 feet of the width plus wall space to environmental/mechanical/storage and a bathroom, so I have a 19.XX by 36 space to work with. I am so happy I could crap.

I am trying to decide whether or not to gain more live room or more control space. The area for control/iso is full 24 wide so I will have either a 11x17 or a 9x17 ctrl room and a 9x7 or 11x7 iso booth. The question is will there be enough gain in the volume of the room to make it worth going to 11 wide? I have successfully done work in smaller areas, and made my living for about 3 years in much tighter environs. The thing is I now finally have the space I have always wanted and I do not want to waste any of it and regret it later. The live room will be used for a gameroom/exercise/home theater when sessions are not booked and I am really thinking the premium in that area will pay off in the long run. There are just too many hacks with garage band in the area that will do a 3 song demo for $300 and an album for $750 to try to market myself to the general public and make my whole living anymore, but I do have some loyal clients that are itching to do some stuff with me and until I get this outfitted they are growing impatient. Because I am aiming to be a part time project studio, the family concerns weigh almost as heavily. I can easier afford to compromise studio "perfection" for livability.

There is a slight slope to the ceiling going from 13' in the center to 11 on the outside. I think because of the high ceilings and extra length of control room, (I worked in a 9x11 ctrl room with 7.5 ceilings and treated it to where I could do good work) the volume of space will make the 9' width liveable. With the smaller room I would turn the desk around as seen in the images. I guess I know what I want to do, and have done with worse conditions before but I am hoping not to make a huge mistake here. I know how to treat for standing waves and the math is pretty good on either design, I will trap corners, absorb first reflections, and diffuse the rear wall so I am pretty sure I can fake it in the 9' wide. I like a neutral control room so I am ok with having to make it a bit more dead if it is narrower. As for the iso, in the drawing I show drums in there but that is not my primary use, vocals and acoustic instruments would be used 99% of the time with the occasional drum recording. I had a 7X9 booth before that I got a killer tight sound from, and if I want a bigger sound, I'll jsut do drums in the live room and put another instrument in the booth. I do want to stay with 90 degree angles on wall construction for simplicity and will treat accordingly. I have considered splay in the ctrl room and asymmetry in the live but again, practicality for family use trumps sonic perfection.

Just looking for more minds to give input on the issue.

 

[homestudioguy]

I'd suggest you do some extensive on-line research or contact a professional.
You have what youve always dreamed of so you want to be sure you get it right the first time.
Post this question on "Gearslutz".

 

[gecko zzed]

It is difficult to tell from the diagram what already exists and what you intend to change.

Here are some observations.

1 It is a long way around to get into that small room with the drums. That's going to be very annoying. You need better access.

2 Additionally, you should aim to keep service areas (e.g. kitchenette) separate from recording areas . . . not use them as a walk through.

3 In the top picture, the layout means that people entering the control room have got to get past the mixing desk and monitoring stuff to get to the couch. That's asking for things to be bumped, knocked, tripped over and so on.

4 However, in the bottom picture, people can hardly get into the room because of the location of the couch; also not good.

It would be useful to have a picture showing the area as it currently is.

I note your commendable idea of making the big room multi-purpose. However, I foresee complications if someone decides to play pinball while someone else is recording.