New basement project studio build.

Hi everyone. I've been lurking around here for years and I'm finally ready to begin design and construction on a project studio in my basement. Purpose of the Studio: The studio will be a project studio and a teaching studio. I will use the space as my composing studio with occasional live instrument recordings to blend with my samplers. I am a drummer/percussionist and will most often be recording myself. In addition, the occasional violinist, string quartet, trumpet player, or other soloist will be recorded. I will also teach drum lessons in this space. I'd say of all my time spent in this studio, 75% of it will be just me composing and mixing to video. 10% will be me teaching drums. 5% will be me recording instrumentalists. And the last 10% will be me practicing my drums. Goal of the Studio My 9-month old baby's room will be above me. (enough said? :)). I am most concerned with isolation from the above rooms. But there will be no loud rock bands late at night. My family room/great room, where most of the day time is spent, is not mechanically attached to the basement (might seem wierd, but true) I also want nice acoustics for mixing and doing some audio/video post work. I would also like to room to be clean and natural sounding for the occasional live instruments. Maybe a nice area in front of my desk for a TV or projector screen set up in an ergonomic way wouuld be nice. Size of Proposed Area I have a blank slate in the basement in the shape of a rectangle at the moment. 13-foot x 22-foot x 7-foot. The height is from concrete slab to bottom of joists. I have not ruled out jack-hammering the floor and digging down another 6 to 9 inches. But would prefer not to. Area Considerations The area is the corner of my house. Two walls are exterior walls of conrete block. We routinely got 3 inches of water in our basement even in mild storms. We since had a perimeter drain installed (where they trench around the inside of the foundation and install drain pipe) and have not had even a drop in about 6 or 7 years. So around the entire perimeter we have that plastic lip sticking out of the concrete slab against the wall. There is one HVAC vent in this studio area. The problem with it is it goes straight through to our master bedroom. Design Ideas I really do not know. I've been reading about acoustics and different types of treatments, resonators, traps, diffuers... but I really do not know what to put where. As I've said, I don't want this to be a 100% dead room. I'd like the sound to have some "air" and life to it. However, considering the small size I'm not expecting a "hall" sound. My Construction Ideas So Far * I will be using Dri-Core subfloor panels. I've already been stock-piling them. * I am thinking I will stuff the joist cavities with fiber glass insulation and then do 1/2 drywall - green glue - 1/2 drywall. I know 5/8 drywall is preferred. What are my losses here? * Walls will be steel studs. Walls also packed with fiber glass insulation and then 1/2 drywall - green glue - 1/2 drywall. Budget I need to keep costs under $4,000 USD. I will be paying my handy-man to do the framing and drywall for me simply because he is FAST -- worth the money to me. He will probably want $500 - $1000, leaving about $3,000 for materials. -- Any help will be very much appreciated. I have not begun any construction yet but am ready to pull the trigger immediately. I am open to any ideas and I value the insights everyone on this board has. Thank you!

Welcome to JLS RSD! Three problems are budget, ceiling height, and HVAC duct. Sound isolation is not cheap. Especially for low frequencies as kick and floor toms. Even with an extra 9" the raw 7'9" leaves little space for sound isolation and acoustic treatment. The HVAC duct transmits very well through the house and reduces ceiling even more. On to nicer things, with that space and usage you have listed I would suggest keeping it as an all in one room. Splitting it would create smaller rooms with acoustic problems. Andre

AVare wrote:

Welcome to JLS RSD! Three problems are budget, ceiling height, and HVAC duct.

Thanks Andre. I figured those three things would be problematic. Of the three, I'm mostly concerned with the ceiling. The HVAC duct travels between the joists and then opens up into the (soon-to-be) studio space. So I don't lose any more ceiling height with the duct, but I do gain a very effective megaphone into the master bed room. :lol:

On to nicer things, with that space and usage you have listed I would suggest keeping it as an all in one room. Splitting it would create smaller rooms with acoustic problems.

That's good to hear you say, as that was my initial thought.

I've been searching through all the sample studio designs that have been posted hoping to find one similar to mine as a starting point. Can anyone point me in the direction of one? Thanks!

maybe branch off the duct, or add another zone in the basement then run soffits on the walls over spaces (like desk or couch) where ceiling height is less important. budget is very low.