FIXED! My Studio Plans with Physical 3D Model

Hola, gang--been a lurker for many months before and during the design, so thanks for all the good tips I've picked up here. I wanted to post the layout of my new studio to get your comments. It was designed by Ken Goerres, based on the way that I like to work. I thought you'd find it interesting, and I also thought I could benefit from your questions and feedback. The studio is not for public use, although I will bring in artists I am producing and record them. I am a multi-instrumentalist and engineer, and many of my projects feature me playing the lion's share of the instruments, but I am also a jazz pianist who wants to be able to record an acoustic trio, and I think all of this can be accomplished by the plans below. The studio will be adjacent to a new house we're building in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There is very little wood used in construction here. In addition, we will be in the middle of absolutely nothing--our lot is 5 acres, we own the lot next to us, and the nearest neighbor is 10 acres away. We're on a hillside a mile from any roads save our little access road which would get no traffic other than our own. Soundproofing from the outside world is not a major consideration and barely a minor one--if a goat wanders by and bleats during a take, being a jazz musician I'll either use it as inspiration or just start over. :) Ok, first the overview: http://img.skitch.com/20080901-kbnu9ffpqih3br66e2qpbd65j8.preview.jpgClick for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch Total square footage: 700sf. The materials: most of the walls, including the outer ones, will be brick. I might plaster over them, or I might leave some of them exposed for a little guerilla-style diffusion. An exploded view with the ceiling design: http://img.skitch.com/20080901-1ijjh4i2ud5717w6ccphtweag8.preview.jpg Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch The tall, thin items in corners are bass traps. The array of clouds on the ceiling was designed by Ken. They are inside the bass and drum booths as well. The drum and bass booths will have sliding glass doors--Ken has a brand in mind that has the highest rating in terms of keeping sound on either side, but I don't have the name right now. There will be a double-paned window between the two booths as well. The idea is that I can slide over from the mixing area to the acoustic piano (in the middle of the room, what I'm calling the 'live area'), and have sight lines to the drummer and the acoustic bassist, and they can all see each other--for me, that's crucial for recording jazz. I'm coming from a one-room studio--I've recorded a trio with only gobos and baffles, and while the results were good it was too much of a challenge during mixdown for me, especially if we wanted to punch some parts in on the bass or piano. This new layout should give me a better head start. The walls at the bottom of the picture will likely be framed in wood and the areas behind them will be stuffed with absorbent material. Here is a view into the drum booth: http://img.skitch.com/20080901-r46prt21denws6kxg9sfy6tpmd.preview.jpgClick for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch The windows are those horizontal slits. These are probably going to get a little bigger, but not big enough that someone could squeeze through. I will probably leave most of them open for ventilation all the time (with screens). A/C and heat don't get used in this region--most of our house is designed to be open-air most of the time. Finally, here are the plans themselves--not totally complete, and maddeningly Ken doesn't use a computer in his design work so all I have now is a photo of the plans which I gave to the architect/GC. http://img.skitch.com/20080901-e5nmg3mx4h1m9a1sndm1jqnhdq.preview.jpg Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch I am curious to hear your thoughts and questions. Things do get done differently here, and my needs aren't the same as a commercial studio (such as needing a separate control booth). Many thanks, Doug

Dang--I thought I understood how to embed the photos, as I've done it on other boards. I'm using a new program though (Skitch). Let me see if I can figure this out--sorry for the inconvenience. For now, I'll just post the links.

Sorry--technical difficulties...

you mean like this? btw, GREAT modeling. Tho you could use Sketch-Up for that, I really like this handcrafted approach.

Ro, I'd be your friend for life (or at least the next few days!) if you can explain how you did that. And thanks for the kind words--the designer doesn't use a computer for his work, but he does build cool models! This one is pretty huge, about 25" x 28".

Pasting images in this forum is easy, it's done using BBcode. Using tags will show images. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode <- here's an wiki about BBC. When you upload images using SKITCH you'll get a few "links" which you can copy and paste. Look for the FORUM links (using that BBcode [tags])

and we keep our images to 700px wide don't we Ro ;);) :D

Ok, let's see if this works... <> Hmmm. How embarrassing. And John, I hope I didn't commit some kind of sin here and that you were teasing Ro and not me! I just don't know what to say--if I copy the 'embed' links from both flickr and Skitch and paste them into my recording forum, the picture shows up. Here, I just see the code. I wish I saw smarter about this stuff--couldn't figure out Sketchup either! Ro, if you have a moment, can you please perform the same magic on my other photo links, only smaller I guess? I really have tried to figure it out as you can see from the above thing, but I'm failing and I'd like to start discussing the layout instead of my boneheadedness. :) Thanks, Doug

Success! http://img.skitch.com/20080901-kbnu9ffpqih3br66e2qpbd65j8.preview.jpgClick for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

very nice

John Sayers wrote:

and we keep our images to 700px wide don't we Ro ;);) :D

yes we do, I noticed the large pix but it was not mine... . . :oops:

Does this design has any diffusers at all ? or just absorption elements ?

"Does this design has any diffusers at all ? or just absorption elements ?" Hi, Andre--sorry for the sluggish response, I've been a little under the weather. At this point, the only genuine diffusion we've built in is that some of the surfaces will be the raw brick and mortar, which is very different from the clean, perfectly flat brick construction in the states. I want them as bumpy as possible. Once we get into tuning the room, we'll probably add some strategically-placed diffusers as well. Why? What would you recommend for this situation?

Why? What would you recommend for this situation?

the diffusors he sells obviously :):)

I have photos of the studio construction! Unfortunately, I'm back in the same boat of not know how to post them here and it's been so long I can't remember the ju-jitsu I pulled off to do it right the last time! So...I'll post the links to flickr for anyone who is interested. Nothing has changed significantly since the photos of the model, by the way. Here is an overview of me standing in the 'mix' area, with the drum and bass booths off to your right (shot from the roof of the house we are building next door): <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/85132913@N00/2953255665/" title="IMG_2009 by Jazzooo, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2953255665_037543efe5.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_2009" /></a> If that doesn't work, here is the url: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/295 ... 43efe5.jpg Me standing in the bass booth: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/85132913@N00/2953255075/" title="IMG_2008 by Jazzooo, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2953255075_124c8aeff7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_2008" /></a> Again, the url for the shot is http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/295 ... 8aeff7.jpg The two booths by themselves: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/85132913@N00/2954102232/" title="IMG_1997 by Jazzooo, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2954102232_9ac9ba5b8a.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1997" /></a> or http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/295 ... ba5b8a.jpg And the house itself--the rebar structures to the left is the studio build: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/85132913@N00/2953244257/" title="IMG_1977 by Jazzooo, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/2953244257_7a5b548984.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_1977" /></a> or http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/295 ... 548984.jpg We are having big fun.