New Studio - Sky's the Limit...

Hey guys, I find myself in a fortunate position to be able to take advantage of a home loan where I can get a good chunk of change towards a new studio. The house I'm purchasing is located 300-400 yards off the main road out in the country, and my nearest neighbor is at least 300 yards away. The studio would be located about 100-150 ft. from the house I'm purchasing. It's a great spot for privacy, with the only worries of external sounds coming from a possible low-flying plane overhead (not likely - major airports are at least 2 hours away, and military routes rarely fly this area.) Here's the sweetness of the deal... Our family business, glass and windows, just partnered with a pre-fab metal building company, so being the family business, I can get materials for the glass windows, sliding doors, and pre-fab building at cost. This will help tremendously with materials costs (control room window, sliding doors, etc.) I'm seeking input from John and the group as to the basics of the initial design of the studio. I'm not a sound designer or acoustic engineer, and I don't need a million dollar studio to accomplish my goals. I simply need help with a basic design, and am open to a functional stock design if anyone has those available. The beauty is that I can design the interior layout any way I want. Once the exterior shell is finished, I would be doing most of the work myself. My main goal is control room / studio room(s) and function. The outer shell can be built to suit. Let me first explain what my studio needs are, and then you guys can chime in with recommendations. I'm located in a rural area of southern Georgia, USA, and I'm not in a big city where I'll be doing this full-time, although that would be my long-term goal to run the studio full-time, so functionality and expandability is desirable. I mostly record solo artists, along with 4 and 5 piece groups, and I would like the ability to track 4-5 piece bands at once (drums, guitars, bass, vocals). Thus, I presume I'd need 1 or 2 main studios, with at least one iso booth and / or vocal closet. So I presume I'd need the following... Control Room Studio 1 (large room) Studio 2 (medium room) Iso / Vocal Booth (small room) Iso / Vocal Booth (small room) I'm thinking my budget would allow for me to utilize about 1200 - 1500 sq. ft for the whole studio, and I'd like to include a small bathroom with a shower stall, and perhaps a small kitchenette. The building itself will be built to suit the studio - a square or rectangle building shell. I know John's designs are usually designed around pre-built structures, but this one is the other way around. I would like to keep costs to a bare minimum. Looks aren't important as much as functionality. It can be as ugly and scary as Hilary Clinton at this point... I can always change decor and perform cosmetic additions later. I also have access to smoothed cypress boards at a great price, and for bulk cloth / fabric materials (my brother-in-law runs an upholstry shop.) I know that cypress is a softer wood, so what recommendations do you guys have concerning the walls of the main studio room and control room? Is cypress a good selection? I presume that cypress might be a good choice, since most prefer a harder floor surface, with softer textures for walls (which the walls would be cypress.) Cypress is a beautiful wood! I'm open to all suggestions. I have no large instruments that I have to consider regarding room space (no grand piano, B3 organ, etc.), but I do have one of Yamaha's 5-piece electric drum kits, which is the only consideration. I have a few keyboards, but I would be utilizing one keyboard as my main controller and my studio desk, which is an Omnirax F2 keyboard type desk (maple finish.) I don't even require that my main monitors be built into the walls, though that option would be nice further down the road as the studio grows. Regarding instruments and needs, specifically I plan on recording: Vocals, all styles Vocal Groups - Small Choirs, Vocal Sections Horns - Mostly Trumpet and Saxophones, Sections, Combo Sections, Brass Quartet / Quintet, T.O.P. type horn sections Guitar Cabs Acoustic Guitars Bass Guitars - Direct and Cab'd Strings - Solo, Quartests / Quintests / Combos Bluegrass Groups - banjo, acoustic guitars, upright bass, misc. instruments Possible small groups - brass quintets, string quartets, bluegrass groups (live in studio), small choirs Harmonica / Harp Players Acoustic Drums and Percussion I've got a pretty good virtual instrument library going on, with a lot of my work as a local composer / producer. I would like a comfortable control room setup since I spend a lot of extra time in the control room mixing and composing, and I would like a couch in the rear for clients to sit & listen. The view window between the control room and main studio can be any size, as I can get glass pretty much any size. I'm thinking my ceiling would be limited to 12', although I haven't seen the proposed building structure proposal yet. So, what do you guys think? If you had the freedom to design a studio based on my needs, how would you lay out a control room, main studio room, and iso booths / alternate studio rooms based on what little info I've presented? I want my control room to be functional for tracking, mixing, and basic mastering, and comfortable! I'm all ears, and will greatly appreciate all feedback! Hey, one of you guys may end up being my studio designer...

Hey guys, just thought I'd try to include a bit more info and compartmentalize ... NOISE CONSIDERATIONS: The studio will be located out in the country. The closest neighbor is at least 200 yards away on the downside of a slight hill with a thick hard-wood tree line and planted pines between the studio house and the neighbor's house. My house will be approx. 100-200 ft. from the studio building. There will at times be loud heavy metal bands, along with hip-hop artists coming in to track, so noise is a slight consideration, although I do hope to have a rather sound-entrapping building. MATERIALS CONSIDERATIONS: The outer shell of the building will be metal pre-fab, with exterior-walled roll-out fiberglass insulation sheets. Interior walls will structurally be comprised of pine studs, with the interior wall materials undecided (and open to suggestions, although I have mentioned I can get finished cypress boards, upholstry materials and styro-foam panel inserts at a great bargain.) The floor will be concrete slab, and I am considering laminate flooring as it is rather cheap in this area - I can get laminate "hardwood" for $ .89 (U.S.) per sq. ft. I can build / design my own wood floor structures as required (stages, sofa riser, etc.) which would be pine studs (2x4, 2x6, 2x8, etc.) I can build / design all wood structured walls as required, also pine 2x4, 2x6, etc., treated if necessary. Regarding baffles, I am open to those, as well. I'm pretty handy, along with all the guys in the family business, so actually building the studio would be an easy task. ELECTRICAL CONSIDERATIONS: There are no special considerations that I know of. However, it does get rather hot in southern Georgia during the middle of the summer, so I will require kickin' central A/C cooling system, and would need to build duct boxes to dampen any central A/C unit sounds or vibrations. I would need basic advice on breaker separations and routing. COSTS: I would prefer to keep costs to a minimum, doing as much work and design build myself, but considering the nature of the "ground up" / "new project" build, I would like input from all the guys here since this is my first true studio venture. Once I get suggestions and prices, then I'll try to figure ways to trim costs. It's very difficult for me to say at this time exactly how much money I can put into the studio, as I've yet to secure the house loan. However, the family business has prospered greatly over these past two years, so money may not be as much of an issue as I think it may. STUDIO SETUP: My system is a Pro Tools LE (modified to HD) setup using a Mac G5. I use Event SP8 monitors with a Tannoy 8" sub, Rokit KRK 5's as my backup monitors, running through a Presonus Central Station, along with two 22" video monitors attached to my Omnirax F2 desk via swing-arms. My monitoring system is the Hear Technologies "Hearback" personal monitoring system. I currently have 4 Hearback controllers, but can utilize up to 8 controllers. Practically all of my outboard gear is racked in the F2 desk, which has wheels and is "mobile". I do not utilize a DAW mixer, although I would consider a C/24 or something similar compatible with Pro Tools in the future. I hope to purchase a pair of new Event Opal monitors by the time I get the studio built. Would the Event Opal monitors be a good selection for in-wall applications? I have no preference for in-wall applications, as most of my tracking and mixing is done via near-field / mid-fields. Sound quality and functionality is the goal. I'm only concerned with sound quality in the control room, not volume. Well, hope this enlightens a bit more. I didn't read the "Read This Before..." postings, so I hope I've given enough info for you guys to point me in the right direction. By the way, I dig some of the designs on the main site, especially the 'container' designs! My dad actually has a container that he uses for tool and equipment storage at his home. Thanks guys!

Maybe you should read the "read this before you post" or at least not tell every-one that you haven't! Sometimes it's easier to help out when there are limitations, as we have something to work with. Edit your profile to show your location, add an avatar (I find it makes it more personal :) ) Download sketch-up and have a go! "If you build it they will come"

Well, I thought I provided enough info to at least get started. There are practically no limitations to my studio except extreme costs, and I am seeking any and all input. This is a build from the ground up, so it could be anything going in any direction. I'm seeking imaginative input and suggestions from everybody, so based on what I have provided, your suggestions are appreciated... I'll try to post more info on my profile since I haven't been to the site in awhile. Thanks for your personal interest in my non-avatar... :yahoo:

Well lets start from the ground up. My 10m x 7m slab cost $4000 aus. By the way your talking you could double that?

Well, I'm more familiar with non-metric conversion, but a 1500 square foot building is probably going to be my limit in regards to size and cost effectiveness. This should be PLENTY of space for a control room, two good sized studio rooms, and a couple of smaller iso booths (plus a small bathroom). The metal pre-fab building will probably cost me around $20,000 - $30,000 U.S., which would include slab, steel beams, and exterior finishing. Everything internal to the building would be my points of interest. As noted, my family business can provide all glass, windows, sliding glass doors, and my brother-in-law can get my fabric at dealer's cost, so I'm not very concerned at this point with these materials or the metal shell and structure of the outer building, as the building itself may be paid for, depending upon my sales and commission this upcoming year. Really what I'm looking for is ideas for a layout. I can figure costs once I get input from some of the other specialists here on the board. The material costs is not one of my main worries now, although I would like to keep the costs as low as possible since most of the finances will be through a local bank loan. Here are some measurements & room sizes I would prefer: Control Room - minimum 15' x 22' x recommended height Studio 1 Room - minimum 20' x 25' x recommended height Studio 2 Room - minimum 12' x 8' x recommended height Iso / Vocal Room - minimum 5' x 5' x recommended height Iso / Vocal Room - minimum 5' x 5' x recommended height I can build and design any angle with the wall corners and where the walls meet the ceilings. I've considered configurations where the layout might look somewhat like this, with the control room looking into Studio 1, with Studio 2 being in the rear with a larger viewing window between Studios 1 & 2, since I can cover the costs of the glass and installation myself. ---------------------------------------------------- Studio 2 ---------------------------------------------------- Studio 1 ---------------------------------------------------- Iso / Vocal Room - - Iso / Vocal Room - - - - - Control Room - - - ---------------------------------------------------- But I've also considered having a similar setup with Studio 1 and Studio 2 being on each side of the control room, with the Iso / Vocal Rooms both in front of the control room --------------------------------------------------- - Iso / Vocal 1 - Iso / Vocal 2 - - -------------------------------------------------- - - - - Studio 1 - - Studio 2 - Control Room - - - - - -------------------------------------------------- My apologies for the crude drawing. I haven't had time to download the 'sketch' program, much less learn it as of late. I hope these basic layouts help. Keep in mind... I'm asking what YOU guys would do if you were in a situation such as mine with the freedom to design the layout of a studio. I'm looking for design ideas with no physical constraints for a 1200-1500 sq. ft. building. Based on my recommended minimum size requirements, the layouts I just presented are simply ideas, and nothing is in stone. If any of you had 1500 sq. ft. to work with, I'd like to hear your suggestions for a layout. If you're concerned about costs, then throw me the cheaper ideas. If I haven't given enough info, then please ask me more detailed questions. Although, here in the states I'll be retiring soon. If any of you guys have AutoCAD, I can do 2-D drawings of floor layouts that I've been considering. Thanks!

Well crap, that "illustration" didn't come out like I thought it would. Anyway, I'll try to get the board some ideas for what I'm thinking. I really appreciate all the input. Chuck

Auto cad is turbo cad is fine, Design to come