Try again -- Studio at the beach

We are a father and son musical team with a space for a studio located in Montauk, NY, USA --- called "The End" because, well, when you leave Montauk going East, it's a long swim in the Atlantic with the next dry land being the west coast of Europe. Where we are in the process: Bare basement with concrete walls and floors. The ceiling is open with room for 10" or so thickness of insulation between the beams. We are in the research and planning phase. The space: We have a reasonably spacious basement with dimensions approximately 30X30 with a 9'8" ceiling height (to the floor above). The attached drawing shows the basement stairs (not a straight shot, has a "return" -- hence allowing storage space under them), lolly columns (the dark circles), and a few indents in the concrete walls. The floor is concrete. Neighbors: No problem. We are in the basement and have lots of property with hills and trees. We can be loud if necessary. Esthetics: Open to suggestions. But we like the idea of etching and staining the concrete floor ourselves. Goals: to be able to record and mix a variety of acoustic and amplified music, from rock to jazz and folk. Want to have isolation areas if needed but a large enough tracking space so a band can play in one room if they choose. Design approach: As you can see, we like your corner control room approach. Not wed to it, though. Budget: around $20,000 for construction, acoustic treatment, etc. We are willing to do some of the work ourselves. Our request: A look at our first drawing. Any reaction, help, advice, suggestions you can direct our way regarding design, construction, acoustics, etc. will be gratefully appreciated. This is one heck of a great board and our sincerest thanks for what you all do to make recorded music -- and the environments in which it's created -- inspiring and accessible. Bob and Teddy Montauk, NY 11954

let's just stick with one topic, shall we :) ? http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=11061 (I know, it can be very confusing posting images and all)

Hai and welcome to this mighty forum. Great plans, I'd love to have a house in the woods/hills :) Your drawing was handmade and there for a bit harder to read but in general it looks like a plan. You might wanna consider Sketch-up or Visio to make your plans in the digital realm. Easier to share and to change.

Hi Bodoc, Congrats to your build. Looks good so far. I'd consider to swap control and life room, because you don't want people to stumble in while recording... Cheers, Roman

One thing that stands out is the budget. Double it and you won't get a rude surprise. That is assuming you do most of the labor yourself. Get and use Sketchup (free and easy to use) and buy Rod's Book. Andre

Good point, Roman. I was thinking of locking the basement from the inside to prevent such an accident. As far as sketchup is concerned, I will give it a try. I am not too familiar with drawing by computer.

I couldn't read the dimensions, and obviously the east wall has wrong detail, but you get the idea of what you can see with Sketchup. The poor sight lines from the north iso booth are apparent. I guessed 3'x6'6" doors. The control room widow is 3'x5'. Again the exact layout is wrong, but you get idea of the value of using Sketchup or another CAD program. Andre

Thanks sooo much for your terrific sketchup rendering! I can't thank you enough!