Simple question...

D

Dimebag

New member
Hi guys...

Straight up : What would you consider the smallest room to be used as a studio???
...yeah, it depends on what you're gonna use it for, I know.
In my case, it's going to be used for recording (all recorded direct) and mixing. That's it. Musical style is kind of heavy/industrial and can be pretty bass-heavy at times...
I have the option of building a small room in the basement, but when walls and ceiling have been (semi) soundproofed, it will leave me with a quite small room, like 8 feet * 6 feet, and around 6 -7 feet high.
Would it be possible at all to use this space, or will I have to move it outside, into the garage (that would be much more expensive, though) ????

Ideas, insight, and comments are highly appreciated... :-)

/Dime
 
The room I track drums in is 10'x12'x7' and it works for me. I can't imagine working with a smaller room though.
 
If you're recording all the musicians at once, then you'll need a larger space to fit them, their gear, and drumkits. You don't want your drummer to reach for a cymbal and strike your bass player in the head :)

If you record one musician at a time, you can get away with a smaller space, because the guitar/bass player can sit in your recording room with you, have a long cord to the amp in the booth.

THe drummer's kit probably is the largest piece of gear you need toa ccount for.
 
I won't be using a drummer, and I play everything myself...
Vocals are being doing elsewhere (different continent even) so basically we're talking a room with a decent sound for mixing and creating... :-)
Could that be done in such a small room???
I only need a desk for the gear, and a chair for my rear, honestly...
 
Most building codes require a habitable room (something other than a closet, utility room, etc.) to be at least 70 sq ft, 7x10 on its max dimensions, and 7'6" ceilings.

You might not be concerned with code compliace, but consider that they exist for a reason, so this isn't going to be a very practical room to work in.
 
mshilarious said:
Most building codes require a habitable room (something other than a closet, utility room, etc.) to be at least 70 sq ft, 7x10 on its max dimensions, and 7'6" ceilings.
Click to expand...

minimum dimensions
 
Most building codes require a habitable room (something other than a closet, utility room, etc.) to be at least 70 sq ft, 7x10 on its max dimensions, and 7'6" ceilings.
Click to expand...

Feel free to frame in that size you won't hit a snag. The whole habitable space debate has more to do with taxes than anythng. I forget exactly what the codes were up here for habitable room size but it was pretty close to what is mentioned above and only applied to bedrooms. Bathrooms do not count. Niether do rooms above garages or rooms in the basement. sq/footage above a garage does not count towards the sq/footage of the house and therefore save you a small chunk of change in taxes. Also you will not pay taxes on that room as it is not a "finished basement" or "Extra Bedroom". That's why the govt doesnt like small rooms, they cant tax you for em :)

If you have a 500 sq foot loft above your garage and the house is listed as 1500 sq feet , in reality the house is really 2000 sq/ft. The city bases thier building permits on "habitable" space. Its some gobbly gook formula where they subtract stair wells,closets and lofts ect and spit out your majical build permit price. Up here in Ottawa Canada, your average price for a build permit for a 2500 sq/ft home is around 22 000.

If you can put up with the space it sounds like you can pull this off. However, your going to feel like a fish in a bowl, and the sound is going to be unreal.
 
BigHighLonesome said:
Feel free to frame in that size you won't hit a snag. The whole habitable space debate has more to do with taxes than anythng. I forget exactly what the codes were up here for habitable room size but it was pretty close to what is mentioned above and only applied to bedrooms. Bathrooms do not count. Niether do rooms above garages or rooms in the basement.
Click to expand...

Bathrooms and closets do not count. Most other rooms do, but it's not just bedrooms. Bedrooms will have additional requirements for egress, smoke detectors, for example.

There is a flip side to avoid taxes, which is the value of the house. Yes, if you finish off a really small room, your taxes won't go up. Neither will the price you get for your house when you sell it, nor the value of your house when you refinance it.

Building noncompliant rooms to avoid taxes is really, really shortsighted.

Oh, and as for minimum vs. maximum dimensions, no max is right, or perhaps stated better, the minimum for the longest dimensions. Look at this room--the smallest dimension is 7'x'8', the longest is 7'x10'. It is still noncompliant, because it's 5 ft2 too small. Kick it out to 7'x11', and then it's OK.
 
Last edited:
There is a flip side to avoid taxes, which is the value of the house. Yes, if you finish off a really small room, your taxes won't go up. Neither will the price you get for your house when you sell it, nor the value of your house when you refinance it.
Click to expand...

After building/selling a previous house with a loft above the garage, given my experience here and the bidding that went on, this is simply not true.

As far as home equity, finishing a room off above a garage will increase the equity of the house as it accounts for one more "finished room" of the house. This may be different in your area. I would break down the why's and how's but I have to get back to work :(


Building noncompliant rooms to avoid taxes is really, really shortsighted.
Click to expand...

I dont think anyone here is doing this to avoid the taxman. However a small utility room around you furnace and switchbox increases the equity of your home and does not increase taxes.
 
BigHighLonesome said:
However a small utility room around you furnace and switchbox increases the equity of your home and does not increase taxes.
Click to expand...

That's true. I was speaking more of a case where you can build a room of any size, and you choose to artificially keep it under 70 ft2. Instead, if you could build something that would qualify as a legal bedroom, your value will go up a LOT more.
 
For sure.

It depends on where the bedroom is. A 3/1 (3 above ground , 1 below) set up only increases the value margionally at best (walk outs excluded here). a 4/0 set up is what you want for bang for the buck. The only way an extra bedroom is going to rake in the extra equity is if its on the upper floor (same floor as master). The basement bedrooms (aka "Batcaves") generally have little or no light , ventiliation, and depending on the age, reek of mold and mank.

Now back to my studio building :)
 
My room in which I sleep in... is also my studio... My room is like 10'x10' with a 8'x6' walk in closet which stores mine and my girlfriends clothes, books, etc.

I think a person can get by with a 10'x10' room but the sound acroustics probably wouldnt be the best. But who knows. Plus you'd have to also record in that room so no seperate room for recording vocals. But I would'nt plan on having a band record there, way too small.

A 10'x10' room (or something similar) would allow for a decent (or good enough) control setup and a mic.

The only though thing about that is recording vocals you BOTH have to be listening through headphones. You can only use your monitors then for mixing when no vocals are being recorded.

My opinions anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top