All ideas welcome

I just recieved permission from the city planning dept to build a new auxilliary structure 20x30' (actual code says 600 ft2, but after setbacks and existing structures one of the dimensions maxes out at 20') so... any ideas on interior spaces? I'd like to have at least a drum room (in the genre I usually work with the footprint of the kit is around 7x9', so that could be taken into account). Other than that, everything is open. Except the ceiling. The architect that I'm working with says that an easy way would be a 12' structure with a flat roof which would give me a sloping interior from 12' down to about 11'6" across the 20' span. Thanks

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Thanks for the tip. Okay then... I am in the planning process of the interior with size restrictions of a 20'x 30' structure. The architect has already designed and drawn the plans for the shell and they are in final check phase and I'm hoping to get a building permit in the next couple months. It is a modern/mission style attached to the house via an arched breezeway of sorts. It will be a slab foundation. The exterior walls are 12' high 2"x6" wood covered in sheathing and stucco, so given standard construction that would leave me with a finished interior space of 19'x29'. The specified finished ceiling will go from 12' to 11'6" along the 20' span. Below that there are no interior beams and there are no support posts. Interiorly, along one of the 20' walls, where the breezeway enters the structure, there are three descending steps. There are also plans for a 3'x7' half-bath that can be oriented anywhere along the rear 30' wall as long as the decision is made prior to pouring the foundation. The flat roof is surrounded by an additional three foot parapet. The roof was engineered to carry machinery but I still have room on the ground for it if need be. I can still do changes with the contractor regarding door and window locations. I believe only the number and size is required by code (cummulative amount of area). It can be adjusted given central air specs, but that may require another permit. I have lived here for eight years now and have been recording almost every week, two to three days a week in my house from 10am to 10pm for the last six years. No complaints yet. However, for my as well as their benefit I'm hoping the new construction to be more sound proof. What is now my home was built in 1907 on strictly pier foundation with no insulation and about 30 percent of all wall area is single pane double hung wood frame windows. They rattle like crazy when the trains and trucks come by (one of the sides of my property borders industrial factories and warehouses and on the other side of that, about six businesses down, there are freight rails). Current budget left for interior walls, ceilings, windows, flooring and treatment: 18-22K, but I would love to do it in half that. (Note: I am getting all construction materials at wholesale, three in my family have worked for years in residential constrution and I have full access to a finish carpenter/custom cabinet and furniture maker's shop, time and expertise.) The Questions: How small can I go regarding the volume a control room, and still expect decent results? (What sort of trade-offs are there? It seems that there might be a minimal limit for the dimensions of the actual walls and then acoustic treatments can continue to be applied ad infinitum. My current desk is about 6'w x 3'd) What is a recommended volume for the live room? (Is it a funtion per person? How far from source to wall is acceptable for an instrument like a drumset? Is the distance frequency dependent?) I don't have a scanner, otherwise I would post the actual blueprints. I will be posting a skp file shortly showing the orientation and current location of doors and windows and steps.

Welcome to RSD!

How small can I go regarding the volume a control room, and still expect decent results?

There is no hard and fast rule. Industry standards (as in recommendations, not must be followed to the letter) are based on 3500 ft^3 rooms. People have had success with small sweet spots in rooms as small as 1500 ft^3. The NARAS recommendation for surround includes a minimum height of 11 ft.

What is a recommended volume for the live room?

How many musicians at once? Do you want ambience from the room for say classical recordings? The budget seems tight, especially if you are expecting significant isolation from the trains and trucks. Possibly even unfeasible. Andre

"The roof was engineered to carry machinery but I still have room on the ground for it if need be. " /quote Dude, read up. Your about to shoot yourself in the foot if you don't. This isn't residential construction and a trim carpenter only helps in the final stages. I like the 2X6 construction. But with all those trains and planes and boats around, your in need of some low frequency support aren't ya? I'd also spend a few moments more with the ceiling/roof. Well, if you want to keep noise in and those others out. The parapet may work as a good shield but sound can hop right over it into your life, so to speak. Welcome to it!

Thanks to all I have a 559ft2 interior footprint and an average height of 11'9" if I use the finish ceiling as is, which I suspect is not the idea. That gives me a maximum volume of 6474.25ft3. I'm guessing that will drop 1500ft3 to closer to 5000ft3 after all iso. How should I split that up? I've done very little classical and don't expect to do much more. Not meaning to pigeonhole myself, but I'm not moving and I record what is local or will come to me. This includes pop, rock, some r&b, but not much live acoustic other than of course drums and some guitars, banjos, fiddles and such. That being so, basics usually get done with two to four people in the room. 2x6 wasn't chosen for acoustic reasons, just to hold the walls straight and the roof up. I plan the interior to be a DIY type project, so we'll stick to budget and plan and do everything we can to the best of our ability. Isolation has been a problem but I always assumed that the structure I was in was just bad and dealt with it. As I am able to increase the general isolation I guess maybe then I will start noticing all the low end that I was not able to isolate against. What sorts of solutions are there for low frequency isolation? Is that where you expect my budget will run out?

People have had success with small sweet spots in rooms as small as 1500 ft^3

So the size of the sweet spot is proportional to the room dimensions? What other factors are there to it's size? The ability for me to accurately hear during tracking and mix is the priority. I've been reading everything in this forum. Are there other sources you recommend I investigate? Of course I understand that it's not residential, my point is only that cost will be diminished with intelligent skilled labor accurately following plans and resources more fit to build at 1/32" tolerances and minutes of degrees if necessary. Thank you again for your replies.

No sir, what I mean is...it's just a different way of building and the methods used are not often found un day-to-day construction. Check this out: Click on the Construction link: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

Thank you for your reply. Rereading my post, I didn't mean to come off as defensive, but that may have been a product of my naivete. I think I'm beginning to understand a little more now after doing some reading. I 've been reading a whole lot around this forum and the local bookstore had Gervais' book, so I've been consuming that as well. I see what you mean about budget now. I have not yet priced out anything, but I've been compiling product numbers and suppliers in my area while trying to get an average materials schedule down for my given square footage, based on different isolation strategies. After some research, I am still not worried about construction techniques as long as all the critical stuff is called out in the plans by the engineer, but the budget thing is making me uneasy. So I guess my next step is to find out what my money can buy me. Obviously, I can't afford to completely isolate against the lows of the train. Any efforts given my budget would not only be half-assed but, at best, futile. My location might be bad but there is no going back now. Remember that this is for a "home studio," meaning that it is part of my home and that I have no intention of competing with commercial studios. My real intention is so have a place to mix local work, as well as a place for local acts rehearsals and preproduction-type work. In a list of priorities: 1. mixing environ 2. rehearsal space 3. recording space As such, isolating from exterior noise while tracking is last on the agenda. The unattenuable low exterior noise while mixing, though inconvenient will have to be endured. Again, the noise that I make has never been a problem. Although, out of consideration, I would like to do what I can to decrease the sound coming out. As a recording space, how the sounds behave inside is more important to me than isolating from the outside. I hope to have the time to draw up the existing plans as well as some of my propositions for usage of the space tonight. Thanks, Michael