Sanity Check my studio plans please

[Todzilla]

I don't know if I posted this a while back, but here's my situation:

I am a lucky-ass punk with the opportunity to build the budget studio of my dreams from scratch. My dream home is being built by a great custom builder, who is also a pretty good bass player. He is building me a detached music studio at the same time for only $10K. It is so cheap because he is leveraging all the other building supplies at the same time. Even so, it will be pretty nice. He's about to start on the studio, so I have one last chance to change the basic footprint. I welcome any feedback.

Here's a basic floorplan:

http://www.mindspring.com/~toddjones/studio16X22.gif

*The construction will be cinderblocks filled with sand.
*The ceiling height will be 10', but will will be vaulted and of modest pitch, yielding an average 11.5' height.
*The vaulted ceiling will ensure the floor and ceiling are
non-parallel.
*There will be two windows, both insulated and fixed glass.
*The entry way will "de-symetrify" the room, which I know is a no-no, but it is an expense driven way to have both a vocal ISO booth and an air space for sound abatement in an entryway. It will feature two sets of french doors, so during big gear load-in/out, there will be a big opening.
*I will have a small loft area 7 feet above the floor running along the back wall. This will be used to store some boxes, and/or house a futon for extra bedspace/meditation.
*I will foam up the front wall where the desk will be.
*I will put a bookcase on the back wall to act as a difusor.
*I will install bass traps in the corner of the front wall.
*I will install more bookcase difusors, bass traps and foam only on an as needed basis, since I won't really know how the room is sounding until it is complete.
*I don't want a dead room. I want it to sound really good (Duh!)
without boominess or shrillness.
*An HVAC system dedicated to the studio will feature an oversized duct between the compressor/exchanger (hanging out the entryway, not illustrated) and the big room. I will probably have the duct baffled along the way. For super quiet recording, I will just turn it off and sweat/shiver for a few moments.
*Floor and ceiling will be plywood (again, expense). I may well ceiling mount bass traps and I'll lay rugs down on the floor.

I am pursuing a one-nice-room approach rather than a separate
control/studio space approach for two reasons. One, I largely work by myself. Two, I want a good sounding room and cannot afford to build two of them.

My sound abatement needn't be utterly silent, as the house is in the country and approximately 250 feet from the nearest neighbor. Also, note that the front wall is the one facing my main house, so the entryway (the point of most anticipated sound leakage) will be away from the main house.

I will be building the desk myself, so the weird funky shape is no big whoop. I may well forgo the foam in favor of a built-in pseudo-wall in which my near fields would be flush-mounted. However, this does have the downside of inflexibility of changing to different sized speakers down the road.

What do you think?

 

[frederic]

building supplies at the same time. Even so, it will be pretty nice.

Sounds good

*The entry way will "de-symetrify" the room, which I know is a no-no, but it is an expense driven way to have both a vocal ISO booth and an air space for sound abatement in an entryway. It will feature two sets of french doors, so during big gear load-in/out, there will be a big opening.

The walls being asymetrical is actually not as bad as people often claim. If the doorway into the room is at a strange angle, say 39 degrees instead of 45 degrees, you could end up with less standing wave problems down the road.

*I don't want a dead room. I want it to sound really good (Du!)without boominess or shrillness.

All the foam on the front wall, is definately a good start. However, you do not have foam where you are going to need it most - the back wall (especially the corners), and the ceiling/sides. Since you do not want to create a dead room, don't coat the place in foam - cut it into 1'x1' panels, and mount them 6" or 12" apart all along the walls and the ceiling.

The back wall, since you will have bookcases, will require a little creativity. You could put doors on the cases, and foam them over, or possibly have a large fabric absorber hanging from the ceiling, that could be removed if you wish. There are many solutions to the problem.

will just turn it off and sweat/shiver for a few moments.

Very smart indeed

*Floor and ceiling will be plywood (again, expense). I may well ceiling mount bass traps and I'll lay rugs down on the floor.

Thats also smart - the denser the material the less sound passes through it. Just make sure its affixed very tightly, so your sub frequencies doesn't rattle the place over time. I would recommend screwing, rather than nailing, the plywood to the ceiling and walls. Also consider using chaulk or silicone on the studs first, then screwing down the plywood. Minor details like this will add minimal cost (compared to the whole project), but guarrentee things remain tight for years to come.

I am pursuing a one-nice-room approach rather than a separate control/studio space approach for two reasons. One, I largely work by myself. Two, I want a good sounding room and cannot afford to build two of them.

And there is nothing wrong with a one room studio. I've had them on and off over the years as I move around the northeast, and here is a little tip that might help you out...

When recording IN the one-room, set your EQ flat where you can, and record direct from Mic to recorder, with headphones. Since you are recording direct, you are recording "as-is" so your using headphones is more to monitor or listen/enjoy, rather than making mixing decisions at that point. If you do that for most/all of your tracks, you can then adjust EQ/outboards during the mix.

My sound abatement needn't be utterly silent, as the house is in the country and approximately 250 feet from the nearest neighbor. Also, note that the front wall is the one facing my main house, so the entryway (the point of most anticipated sound leakage) will be away from the main house.

You have your design facing the right way - that makes a lot of sense. Very good indeed.

I will be building the desk myself, so the weird funky shape is no big whoop. I may well forgo the foam in favor of a built-in pseudo-wall in which my near fields would be flush-mounted. However, this does have the downside of inflexibility of changing to different sized speakers down the road.

I think you have a good design there. You might find you need some additional acoustical absorbtion/dispersement products on the other surfaces, spread out, but I do like your design.

Remember, you can hang studio foam with velcro Attach vecro to the edges of your bookcases, and you can add, subtrack, and move the panels around to your tastes.

Very nice!

Frederic

 

[Dom Franco]

Looks very cool....

Let us know how the building progresses... Things always change and you may have to make some decisions along the way.

You will learn a lot by doing it! Enjoy every phase of the project!

Sincerely;

Dom Franco

 

[The Rold]

Hi All:

Just curious - wouldn't the parallel side walls be a nightmare for standing waves and flutter echos?

Nice design tho..

Thanks!

Harold

 

[The Rold]

The reason I ask is this - this dude named Malcom wrote an article for MIX a while back; here is an excerpt:

>Concerning non-parallel side walls; unless you really lust after
being trendy, don't bother.
These things are so popular I've seen echo chambers built non-parallel, but on balance they're probably not worth the aggro or the expense, as flutter echo is remarkably easy to exterminate. All it takes is a tiny amount of absorptive treatment or a wall offset of one inch in ten feet.
So if the mixer hears slap echo in the front of the room, drop in a couple of 2 foot absorbent squares to kill it.

Better yet, you won't have ten feet of parallel side walls if you hang a QRD at either side of the mixer's head as suggested by Doug Jones. Great idea, strongly recommended, saves a fortune. <

Any thought on this? Is this credible? The rest of the article ( http://www.mcs.net/~malcolm/control.txt )is excellent, but this part concerns me.

Any thought would be appreciated; I'm in design mode as we speak.

Thanks..

Harold

 

[frederic]

Any thought on this? Is this credible? The rest of the article ( http://www.mcs.net/~malcolm/control.txt )is excellent, but this part concerns me.
Harold [/B]

Its credible, to a point. Not everyone with parallel walls have standing waves - and the reason has a lot to do with the wall coverings, and all the "stuff" in the way between the walls. Its amazing what a piece of upright plywood with a lot of foam/fabric attached can do, which is why in the past on this forum I've recommended constructing such, and moving it around until the problem is reduced.

Also, the longer the room, the less often you have standing wave problems. Also, book cases, gear, and other stuff on the back wall reduces the wave issue. Sound doesn't reflect well off absorbing and oddly-shaped surfaces. Knobs, are oddly shaped

The studio I'm building at the moment will have some parallel walls. Just the way it is. However, I will compensate by saturating the surfaces with a mixture of dispursing and absorbing panels affixed to said surfaces.

I'm going for "reasonable", not "perfect". My studio prior to moving to NJ was a 9'x11' bedroom with blankets stapled to the walls - almost anything is much better