Riverhouse Recording

Formerly "Hampton Studio" - Marketing Made Me Change It :) Thanks to Anton for getting me started properly. All the information below plus a construction timeline is available in my HamptonStudioVision document: http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/10/8/ ... _Aug11.doc My "as built" (current state of rooms) can be found here: http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/10/8/ ... _Aug11.skp I offer this file only as a reference to what I am starting from. Studio Vision The business vision for Hampton Studio is to start off as a hobby studio until it’s shaken down and will then transition to a part time business recording solo artists, small ensembles, university music students, student film makers, loop production, podcasts etc. Construction goals are to start initially with a control room on the west side of an existing basement room and a smallish vocal/isolation booth on the east wall. The control room and iso booth will be will be properly constructed with respect to isolation and acoustic properties from the ground up, ie this build is starting from bare walls, with surround sound capabilities. Down the road, construction of a larger room (“Studio 2”) is a possibility. Design and form are the preferred manner to ‘correct’ any acoustic anomalies as opposed to using equalization, recognizing, though, that EQ may be necessary at some point. I really want to do this ‘right’. Location The studio will be constructed in the basement of our family home. We live in London, Ontario, Canada in an alternating brutally hot, frigid cold environment. Family approval is in place ☺ Me I am a graduate mechanical engineer from the University of Western Ontario and completed the Audio engineering program at the Ontario Institute for Audio Recording Technology. My work experience is primarily project management/sales/marketing. I plan to construct the studio entirely myself - I have years of construction and renovation experience. I will rough the electrical and have a licensed electrician approve it. Budget There is a budget of $2500 per room for construction only. Approx. Overall Room Dimensions – 7’6”H x 12’8”W x 24’10”L - this is the space I plan to carve up into a control room and a booth of sorts. Status • Current thinking is to base room designs on John Slayer’s “small_studio.skp” model as a starting point • Currently demolishing existing rooms and preserving materials that can be re-purposed. Completing as-built sketchup. • Plan to use maple hardwood flooring in both rooms. • Reading: • Rod Gervais’ book o Recommendations for Surround Sound Production o Mitch Gallagher’s Acoustic Design for the Home Studio o Inhaling : • John Slayer’s Forum • Ethan Winer : http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html#part1 • Gathering design elements & questions LOUDNESS The control room and studio are below our Home’s television room. This is not a critical area, but the joists below will be isolated per page 71 in Rod G’s book “ceiling with dual-legged resilient channel” (Fig. 4.22) Only the neighbour’s garage and side yard are closest to the studio, with their living spaces on the farthest side away. Some initial questions (in no particular order) 1. My location is London, Ontario, Canada. The temperature reaches up to 40 deg. C humidex in the summer and -30 in the winter. Typically we use vapour barrier in wall construction – Is it required considering I’m basing the design on JS’s “small studio” ? 2. Should I seal the inside of the concrete walls to control dampness? There is currently no problem with leakage/sweating etc. 3. Is it best practice to install my hardwood over the entire floor area, and then add the walls on top, or fasten the walls to the concrete floor and then add hardwood? 3b. Should I be using 2x2’s for the hardwood strapping, to allow construction of cabling channels underneath the floor? 4. Typically, do people construct a noise proof case for their CPU underneath their console?

Hai Shamca, and welcome to this mighty forum. Great introduction, nice to see some-one follow them forum-rules. About your plan: It might be a good idea to forget about 3D for a moment, tho it sure looks cool, and focus on a floor-plan first. How to setup a room. Your added pic doesn't present a clear floor-plan. Do you consider adding a elevated floor on top of you existing concrete floor? If so, why?

Hi Ro - thanks for taking the time to respond. I don't plan to elevate the floor per information I've gleaned from this forum and Rod's book. I suspect you are referring to my question about 2x2's for strapping? Well, as I'm sure you're aware there needs to be some sort of strapping to fasten the hardwood to, and I was wondering if it was worth while using a 'higher' cross section of strapping to allow some sort of cabling conduit? Appreciate any opinions/thoughts/corrections here. I'm concerned about question 3 - hardwood floor then walls, or walls fastened directly to concrete. Cheers, Shaun

"3. Is it best practice to install my hardwood over the entire floor area, and then add the walls on top, or fasten the walls to the concrete floor and then add hardwood? 3b. Should I be using 2x2’s for the hardwood strapping, to allow construction of cabling channels underneath the floor? 4. Typically, do people construct a noise proof case for their CPU underneath their console? " Shamca, as I understand it, hardwood flooring should be installed after walls are constructed. This stands to reason, for what if this floor becomes part of a problem and has to be removed? Which leads me to question 3b :) If you are raising your wooden floor with cleats to attempt to allow passage underneath, are you considering filling all voids below the wooden flooring with insulation/sand, something rather then leaving them open to resonate? Granted insulation doesn't give you the mass you want, but what you are talking about is M/A/M on your floor, as I read it. As far as enclosing a computer to isolate the noise it makes, for me, I constructed a small machine room/storage area and got it[computer] out of the recording area. You don't want to close the computer up in anything that does not have ability to exchange the heated air it makes with a steady cool flow. I was wondering about your electrician statement. Here @Xit 4 in Alabama, the only one that can pull the permit for electrical will be the licensed electrician. So we just let 'em do the work too! Hope that helps a bit, Brien

Another possible solution on the computer is to go water cooled. I converted over using a Zalman Reserator 1 v2 over a year ago and couldn't be happier. The only way I know it's running is by looking at the lights on the front. Best investment I ever made. If you've ever built a PC yourself, you shouldn't be afraid of the effort required. The installation is actually quite simple. And as a side benefit, it actually cools better than a noisy fan-based cooler. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5PtiwUQMk0 In the video, he shows an optional fan, but I didn't get it and didn't need it. http://www.zalman.co.kr/ENG/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=183

Hi Brien - thanks for helping. Shamca, as I understand it, hardwood flooring should be installed after walls are constructed. This stands to reason, for what if this floor becomes part of a problem and has to be removed? >>Good, that makes sense to me to. I asked because I saw photos of a >>studio here that had the framing ontop of the flooring..didn't seem >>correct. What type of flooring did you use? If you are raising your wooden floor with cleats to attempt to allow passage underneath, are you considering filling all voids below the wooden flooring with insulation/sand, something rather then leaving them open to resonate? >> If I go that way, I suppose I'll have to (bit of a pain though). I am >> probably going to lay a 3/4" subfloor and then the hardwood on top >> and then figure out a diiferent approach to cabling. As far as enclosing a computer to isolate the noise it makes, for me, I constructed a small machine room/storage area and got it[computer] out of the recording area. >> Any trouble with the that long monitor cable run? Were keyboard and mouse wireless? I like your idea of getting the CPU out of the control room, thank you. I was wondering about your electrician statement. Here @Xit 4 in Alabama, the only one that can pull the permit for electrical will be the licensed electrician. So we just let 'em do the work too! >> A viable approach. I can save about $600 by doing it myself...that's a good motivator :) Cheers, Shaun

Shaun - I'd try something like this - the single door makes it an isolated soundproof area with easy access from control room to studio. cheers john

John - thanks very much for working this up for me. Let me kick it around for a bit - I'm weighing out increasing the control room size, switching it to the other side of the space (west wall), and turning it 90deg. Appreciate any thoughts on this arrangement. There is a large room running parallel to the west side that I could access if I move the control room to the other side. Cheers, Shaun

John Sayers wrote:

Shaun - I'd try something like this - the single door makes it an isolated soundproof area with easy access from control room to studio. cheers john

After iterating a few times, I've arrived at this design with the CR slightly larger and no iso booth. As it turns out, I have about 150 sq ft behind the CR that I can use for a booth. John - Do I use the dimensions etc of the resonators as depicted? Also - I'm just finishing off Everest's book and a couple of Rettinger's papers from the AES library and am wondering what you think of using a diffusion strategy for the back wall and absorbtion for the front in such a small (12x11) space? I can understand what I read, but have no pratical experience :) Thanks, Shaun