Okay, I'm fairly new to all this I just bought the Build it Like the Pros book and will start reading it soon. Anywayz, I plan on building my own house once I have a more stable situation (4 or 5 years from now). My question is this:
What is the best room for recording if I were to build it from scratch along with the house?
I've looked everywhere, well a lot of places, for pros and cons about things such as basements, ground level, and upstairs studios and have yet to come across something comparing them all. I'd like something with good acoustics as well as sound proofing.
I was thinking that if built right the basement could be a really good option but I was worried about acoustics of an all cement basement. I was also curious if a basement could be built directly underneath a garage? I figure it would be best for soundproofing that way.
But yeah, basically if someone could give me a pro/con list of different options for where to build the sutdio that'd be awesome. Thanx guys!
Room Decisions?
Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 10756.
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Thanks for the advice. As far as most of that goes I don't have any budget, size, or location restraints as I haven't decided on when or where to build yet. I'm merely researching right now. I tried a few searches and never found an opinion on this. If you've seen one please provide a link. :)
I'm just trying to get a general idea which of the three locations/levels is, on a general consensus, better to have a studio: Basement, ground level, upstairs.
Thanx again.
Welcome to JLS RSD! With the lack of information you have given,including: budget, sound isolation requirements, number of musicians, the factors for deciding which level are generalizations. Main floor has no stairs for moving equipment. Second floor can give nicer views to the outside. Everything else depends on money. AndreI'm just trying to get a general idea which of the three locations/levels is, on a general consensus, better to have a studio: Basement, ground level, upstairs.
In the grand, as in cash, scheme of things, what is better depends on too many factors to simply say "oh the basement is the ideal location". It may not be, but to see it and know of all the intrinsic faults and attributes is more ideal. As your desire is to essentially build a home, and use one of the rooms to record in...who would know? But if you asked me directly, I would say, none of the above. It is possible to develop a build that can isolate to near silence, if time and money don't stand too directly in the way. So this question you ask, is really a question you have to ask yourself. As for what I think, and who really pays much attention to that :), in the backyard, unattached and built specifically for this purpose. Welcome to it!I'm just trying to get a general idea which of the three locations/levels is, on a general consensus, better to have a studio: Basement, ground level, upstairs. Thanx again.
i'd agree - unattached and built for purpose is likely to be your best option. depending on your intent - 5-10,000 sq ft would be a good size to aim for. if its a commercial space, plan on adding enough space for bathroom, kitchen/lounge, and all the commercial requirements like ADA etc. if its for personal use, then you can probably think smaller and skip the bathroom and kitchen and just use the ones in the house when needed.
Okay so what I am getting from the replies so far is that you can make any room sound like a professional environment? There's not one that has more difficulties, obstacles, or restraints to overcome?
If that's the case then I'm probably going to be doing a basement studio under the garage. I've read that with Spancrete you can create a space with no beams. I thought about doing a seperate building but would rather have it attached to the house for several reasons.
Anywayz, again if there's any cons to building a basement studio versus somewhere else please feel free to inform me of what they are and why I should consider one of the other options. Thanx.
Aloha and welcome to the forum,
Here are a couple interesting articles you may want to check out....
Designing the Studio Room Ratios In Rod Gervais’ book “Build it Like the Pros,” http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670 he points out both L.W.Sepmeyer’s & M.M. Louden’s formulas most widely used in professional studios worldwide. He also notes that the orders listed are (top to bottom) the first to third best ratios in both cases. L.W. Sepmeyer Height Width Length 1.00 1.14 1.39 1.00 1.28 1.54 1.00 1.60 2.33 M.M. Louden Height Width Length 1.00 1.40 1.90 1.00 1.30 1.90 1.00 1.50 2.10 Eric Desart on Louden’s Ratios http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ght=#64490 1.00 1.35 1.85 Hope this helps, Aloha 8)What Size Should A Control Room Be? SAE Website - http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html I suggest that a control room ideally should be at least 6m x 5m with a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m (19.68480’ x 16.40400’ x 7.87292’). John Sayers, SAE Manual (Mix Position @ 38% = 7’ 4”) This size room means a good sized working area with space for the musos, friends and hangers on. Also because you don't want rear reflections to interfere it is better to start with a longer front to back dimension than the side to side dimension: i.e. 6m x 5m. So what size should a control room be? These days people are building bigger and bigger control rooms because so much happens in the control room now. Often the bass player and keyboard player actually sit in the control room. I often have the vocalist singing in the control room while the bed tracks go down, so a good size control room is a good idea. So many people think that you need a big studio and end up putting a poky little room at the end and call it a control room. I suggest that a control room ideally should be at least 6m x 5m with a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m. This size room means a good sized working area with space for the musos, friends and hangers on. Also because you don't want rear reflections to interfere it is better to start with a longer front to back dimension than the side to side dimension. i.e. 6m x 5m. The studio, on the other hand, requires a different set of considerations. The first to consider is do you want just one room or more? The trend nowadays is for more than one studio so that you can get isolation between players and different acoustics for each room. The acoustics you want for a live drum sound is totally different than you want for a vocal for example. I recommend at least 2 rooms. You can put drums in one, guitars in the other, keys , vocals and bass (DI) in the control room or maybe the band in one and the vocalist in the other. Getting separation between guitars and drums is usually OK in a good sized room but keeping them out of the vocal track is hard if they are all in the same room. Just a note here - the kitchen is an important room to consider. Gallons of coffee and tea are drunk in studios. An engineer was once asked - how do you normally have your coffee? "Cold with a fly in it !! "- was the reply. Also a kitchen allows for a fridge for the beer and a microwave for the pizza, vital ingredients in every album recording session. Toilets (bathrooms for you in the US) are also a vital service a studio should offer. The coffee and beer has to go somewhere. John Sayers
Hey thanx for the post! The subject for a bigger control is I guess newer to me, though it all is really. It seemed as though most studios have bigger live rooms rather than control rooms.
Also, I received Rod Gervais’ book in the mail last week. I haven't started diving into it just yet but I can't wait to start learnin'!!