Where to focus my money???

[sponge bob]

I am getting ready to finally build my own building on our property, and install a nice tracking & mixing studio. We now own all our gear outright, but the limited construction funds must be intelligently spent. I probably wont be able to have every room look like a million bucks. Mostly tracking artists and now I'm getting some 5.1 jobs.

One studio owner I know says he thinks the live room sells his studio, but I would think an incredible & accurate control room would be the icing on the cake for any studio.

So here's the question-
What do you studio owners consider the order of priority/focus of finances in a semi pro tracking/mixing studio?

1. Control Room
2. Main Live Room
3. Drum Room
4. Client Lounge/ etc.
5. All or nothing!

I know this sounds like a strange way to think about designing a studio, but we're pinching and stretching every penny. I've got to finish the whole project in a new 1200 ft pole barn, and have only 30G's to spend to finish the inside. This is the song that never ends!

Thanks,
Sponge Bob

 

[Midlandmorgan]

good question! What 'triggers' most people from what little I can tell are the control room, comfort levels, and the overall 'feel' of the place. Having worked on both sides of the board, I can tell you that there is a certain disappointment in seeing a control room full of pro-sumer level stuff. Great sounds can be recorded using lower end equipment, but remember that a lot of people shop for a studio, a car, whatever, not of spec sheets but with their eyes.

Given your options, I would work towards having the best control room possible, and work around live room/tracking room issues to suit the immediate need.

But, as in all cases, there will be conflicting opinions.

 

[frederic]

I would agree with your colleague - the live room sells a lot of studios, no doubt about it.

However I'm assuming you don't want a "they are all equally important" response, so I'll put them in my priority order, considering I'm about to embark on the same thing.

1. Control room.
2. Live room.
3. Vocal Booths
4. Drum room.
5. conviences (kitchen, sofas, lounge, etc.


I say the control room is most important, because thats where you (or your engineers) will be housed the majority of the time. Tracking, mixing, etc is all done there. The room should be comfortable, acoustically transparent to what degree you consider reasonable, good airflow, and visually pleasing.

Close second is the live room. You're friend is right, live rooms often are the major selling point of one studio over another. I for one believe solid hardwoods are the key to a good live room. I have a particular liking for mahogony myself. Different woods result in different sound and reflections, and its not uncommon to mix woods.

Are you folks doing the construction yourself? or farming most/some/all of it out? I ask because obviously the more you do yourself, the farther your 30k will go. Significantly farther. For example, you could pay for the electrical/plumbing/framing, but sheet rock/spackle it yourself.

Just a thought.

I am getting ready to finally build my own building on our property, and install a nice tracking & mixing studio. We now own all our gear outright, but the limited construction funds must be intelligently spent. I probably wont be able to have every room look like a million bucks. Mostly tracking artists and now I'm getting some 5.1 jobs.

One studio owner I know says he thinks the live room sells his studio, but I would think an incredible & accurate control room would be the icing on the cake for any studio.

So here's the question-
What do you studio owners consider the order of priority/focus of finances in a semi pro tracking/mixing studio?

1. Control Room
2. Main Live Room
3. Drum Room
4. Client Lounge/ etc.
5. All or nothing!

I know this sounds like a strange way to think about designing a studio, but we're pinching and stretching every penny. I've got to finish the whole project in a new 1200 ft pole barn, and have only 30G's to spend to finish the inside. This is the song that never ends!

Thanks,
Sponge Bob

 

[sponge bob]

Yep, we are doing the majority of it ourselves. I have done spec & custom home construction, and one friend of mine is an electician. We are trying to figure the plumbing/restroom factor out too. I don't want clients running through our home looking for the "potty"!
In regards to the wood floors issue, is it possible to use some of the new imitation wood flooring, or is this something far deeper regarding resonance properties, etc? Reason is, I installed some "pergo" flooring in homes before, and its actually visually appealing and affordable. With my budget, a real solid hardwood floor probably is a long shot at best.

Thanks
Sponge Bob

 

[frederic]

Yep, we are doing the majority of it ourselves. I have done spec & custom home construction, and one friend of mine is an electician. We are trying to figure the plumbing/restroom factor out too. I don't want clients running through our home looking for the "potty"!
In regards to the wood floors issue, is it possible to use some of the new imitation wood flooring, or is this something far deeper regarding resonance properties, etc? Reason is, I installed some "pergo" flooring in homes before, and its actually visually appealing and affordable. With my budget, a real solid hardwood floor probably is a long shot at best.

Thanks
Sponge Bob

Okay, you obviously know what you're doing then so I can skip the whole "save money, use friends, get everything inspected properly" speech

For my commercial space, I intend to have two 1/2 baths, back to back. One with the entrance to the waiting area, one facing the main room of the studio. By going back to back, they can share water feeds and sewer pipes thus making installation a lot easier, since these pipes are already under the cement foundation. Adding new ones would require massive concrete work, something if I can avoid, I will. The wall between the offices/reception and the studio is the wall the existing bathroom rests against, so it should work out with minimal chipping.

If you're going to attach your toilet to your house mains, you might need a pump to move the waste over and up to the house, depending on distance, grade, etc. Plumbing is not my forte, I usually farm that out (other than sink traps, thats more my speed).

Pergo is good stuff - you're right, it looks good, provides a good wear surface, and is easy to replace as compared to hardwood. Staples and glue and a few hours. I have it in a new bathroom I built in our house.

I personally think larger spaces will benefit from the denisty/thickness of natural hardwood, but thats merely my opinion. Pergo has the density, but its very thin. You can make it thicker acoustically by epoxying it down on top of dense plywood. But of course then its hard to remove, should you need to.