small studio on the cheap

[guttadaj]

I'm totally pumped. We've just sealed our basement floor and are planning on finishing it, complete with a studio for me!! It will be so nice to have a place to keep all my crap out without anyone nagging at me to put it away.

Now I am just a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind of musician (play drums, keyboard, bass, guitar) who just does some screwing around for my own enjoyment and maybe to share a bit with some friends and musicians I've played with over the years. So, I don't need to or want to (or have clearance to ) spend much money on this. We're also planning a rather small room - about 10' by 11' or so - and just want to get the basics covered, like fairly decent soundproofing and hopefully a good layout.

Here's where I'm hoping someone can help - layout. I don't really know what the key things I should be considering are. I'm mainly going to just be recording myself, so I would like it to be easy to operate my computer while trying to record in a quiet area without computer or other noise.

My first thought is to split the room in half (yeah, it's getting real tiny now) with half for my computer stuff where I'd sit to do mixing. The problem is that when I'm recording I can't be constantly going back into the computer room to operate my computer (press Record, run into the other room, sit down, play, inevitably screw up, run into the other room to stop Recording and set up a punch point, run back, etc... ). Any ideas on how to make that work more smoothly or where I can find good resources on this kind of thing?

Thanks!!
-Jeff

 

[TexRoadkill]

I would keep everything in the same room. Make a small closet that is sound proofed and has some baffled air vents to put all the noisy gear in. Just make sure it's big enough that you can change out gear and get to the wires in back easily enough.

 

[laptoppop]

My room is only a tiny bit bigger, but I decided to keep it as one room.

I agree - build a box, or buy a IsoRaxx or whatever, to keep the computer/gear silent, and stay in the one room.

The key is to use air baffles and internal fans (isolated with rubber) on the input and output, and line the baffles with something like rigid fiberglass insulation, and isolate the actual computer/equipment from the outside of the case.

-lee-

 

[guttadaj]

Thanks, guys!! That makes good sense -- and is easier without having to build a whole other wall . Glad I asked.

 

[Innovations]

You can get extension cables of sufficient length to put the computer outside the room and the monitor, keyboard, and mouse inside. Those cables will cost you less than the cost of a sonic isolation cabinet.

Also I would suggest an LCD monitor. Smaller, cooler, and less noisy.

The rest of what you need to know can mostly be found in the studio design forum.

 

[guttadaj]

non-parallel wall nightmare

Hi, guys.

Ok - I have the space in the basement for my studio. It's a pretty funky space and sorta small, but I prefer to think of it as quaint. I've read that to avoid standing waves you don't want to have any parallel walls, so I've drawn in some angles that we'll frame in. I'm helping my father-in-law do the work (read as 'fetching him stuff and generally watching in confusion and awe' ), and, while he's really good at carpentry, he's never seen anything like this. Don't you all wish you had in-laws like this? I've attached a real basic drawing to give you an idea. I know I'm no architect/draftsman - LOL

Is this the right idea? I want to make sure I'm doing this the right way, because my father-in-law, while excited and willing to build it and says we can do it, said that it's a lot more work to put these angles in like this. Is this sort of thing worth it for a hobbyist like me - does it make that much of a difference?

Also, while I'm at it, on the sound-"proofing" topic, I've seen talk about the 703 stuff and Rockwool. Do both of these get stuffed in the walls like regular insulation? (It looks like the Rockwool does, but I've read about hanging the 703 on the wall surfaces... ) Can anyone explain to me the relative merits of these and which might be my best bet?

Thanks!!
-Jeff

 

[guttadaj]

Someone told me that it's better to post GIF's or JPEG's instead of BMP's, so here's a GIF of the drawing. Also, just wanted to note that the wall with the 8' mark is the concrete wall of the basement and the rest would be framed. Any and all advice much appreciated.

Thanks!
-Jeff

 

[Michael Jones]

Jeff - You need to put a little more thought into your space. Having angled walls are good, yes, but throwing in angles for the sake of having angled walls is not good planning. Studio design and lay-out is not something you'd want to approach lightly or hap-hazardly.

I'll take a stab at putting together a lay-out for you, but I need to know a few things first:

What's with the little 4'x4' cutout or alcove? Is there something there? A water heater? A/C unit? Some other kind of utility?

Since this is going in an existing basement, where are the power outlets? Are there any now, or can I take some liberties with your lay-out as far as power needs go?

What are the existing walls like? Concrete? Concrete block?
Are there any windows? You know, at ceiling level. Whats the height of the ceiling now? Are there any colums that would end up in your proposed studio space?

I'm assuming the basement space is dry, heated, and cooled. Is this correct? Is there a sump pump somewhere in the basement?
If so, where is it located?

Can you post a picture of the current space?
Can you put together a really simple diagram of the entire basement showing all doors, windows, utilities, and blocks showing how the basement will be used when finished out? For instance, is there a utility room for washing and drying clothes? Will there be a "family" room? A den? A bar? A TV room?

Answer ALL those questions and I'll try to help with some logical lay-outs, that will provide a little more detail, for you to build from.

 

[guttadaj]

Hi, Michael.

Yeah, that 4' by 4' was bothering me too. I basically did it because there's a window on either side of that 8' wall. My wife, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and I sat down again tonight and banged our heads together to try to come up with a better placement of the rooms. Wouldn't you think the builder should plan his basements to better accomodate all the crap we want to put down there??

Anyway, we think we've found a better spot for the room, which would be approximately 9' x 9' when done and with no windows. Of course, it's going to be square, but I think that at my hobbyist level, I probably don't need to go nuts to have all those wacked-out angles. I'll try to get some traps, baffles, tapestries, etc. to treat the walls and hope for the best. And I think I'm going to go with a basic wall construction, except maybe use sprayed cellulose insulation and double-layered drywall with silicone caulk in between each layer and the stud too. I don't have a drum kit, so the loudest sounds I'll be making will be recording mic'd guitar amps and most of the time I'll probably be using an amp modeler to rough something out anyway.

Basically, I think I've come to the realization that I'm too small-time to do it up right and that I'm not going to have a studio like some of the ones I see posted here or in my dreams - ah, maybe someday though. I'm ok with that.

Here's a rough diagram of the basement and how we have it planned out now, just so you can see. If anyone has any lessons learned that might apply to someone doing a low-budget and really basic kind of studio, of course I would definitely welcome and appreciate them.

This is a great forum, and, even though I'm lightyears away from some of the crazy cool studios I see here, it's neat for me to see them and hear about what everyone's going through to put them together.

Thanks to everyone!
-Jeff