New House, going to build out a small studio

Overview Hey all. Sean (Gizmo) here from Tampa, FL in the USofA. Recently purchased a house, and the wifey has given me the go ahead to build out a studio how I see fit in the front area. I’m basically a tech head turned gearslut and have gone back to school for audio (actually in studio design 1 at the moment). Basically rebooting my life slowly. Been a minor DJ a while, as well had the opportunities to record in some cool acts in local studios helping them get some songs tracked out. My MAIN goal is to have a mixing space with the option to record Vocals. My budget for this project is capped at about $5,000 (a lil flexible here). This will have to include all the framing, drywall, insulation, and mounting materials. Gear will be a entirely different budget (later down the road) I’ve got my father in law (who is surprisingly very supported of my endeavors) who will be the main contractor lined up (he's been a builder for the past 30+ years). What I don’t have is a high level of confidence in a design that can be used to get rolling on construction. My Goals A nice home studio at my residence that is great for recording and mixing for music as well for film (post). I MAY get into surround mixing at a later date. Loudness – Probably not very loud. This is a single family home which is detached for other houses. My goal is to keep the sound/music in the room where it belongs if at all possible. When I measured dB in my current room, I averaged about 75 to 85dB in the room. Speaking of neighbors – I live in Tampa, FL where all the neighborhoods are crammed for the most part. My nearest neighbor to the closest to my house is about 15 feet away from my outside wall, however I believe it’s the side where their garage is. My Limitations I tried to use Sketchup, (attached my attempts) but I it's a high learning curve to bust out a lot of things. Very slow process for me. I’m attaching the drawings of what I have to start with. Current Dimensions Height - 9 feet 2 inches from carpet to ceiling. Length - 21 feet 5 inches from end to end. Width - Max Allowable (due to walkway areas) is 10 feet 6 inches. I may want to use wood floor laminate for cosmetic reasons, otherwise I can stick with carpet if needed for acoustical purposes. My father-in-law will also be my electrician for the most part as well. He'll be running all the sockets in the room/area into a separate breaker in the fuse box, that way if I suck too much juice (heaven forbid) I won't have the wifey coming in cussing a storm because the bedroom lights went out. I'd like to PREVENT the standard ground loop hum is possible as well (so any suggestions on that would be greatly appreciated) I believe the area already has A/C piped so I don't THINK I'll need/want much modification in this area. The A/C compressor is on the other side of the house and the Air mover is in the garage (away from the room) Finally, I hope I’ve followed most of the guidelines for posting. I read them several times. There is some amazing resources here that have helped me immensely thus far. Thanks for doing what you do. Thanks again, Gizmo Tampa, FL USA

I'm sorry if I'm missing something. If I need to place more info, please let me know or even post a link to something that will put me in the right direction.

Hai djgizmo, nice to have you on board. You have any specific questions you want answers for? My suggestion, as always, don't rush your build. Plan and design before actually spending any money on materials. Take the time to read this forum and check the other builds. There's sooo much good info here (also bad... doh) Seems like a nice project. $5000 might work. The room is big enough for a mixing spot AND a vocal booth. HVAC (read: ventilation) is important, check your current system and see if it'll do for your studio. Did you get a copy of Rod's excellent book yet?

Ro wrote:

Hai djgizmo, nice to have you on board. You have any specific questions you want answers for? My suggestion, as always, don't rush your build. Plan and design before actually spending any money on materials. Take the time to read this forum and check the other builds. There's sooo much good info here (also bad... doh) Seems like a nice project. $5000 might work. The room is big enough for a mixing spot AND a vocal booth. HVAC (read: ventilation) is important, check your current system and see if it'll do for your studio. Did you get a copy of Rod's excellent book yet?

Thanks Ro :) Specific questions..... well since my sketchup skills are lacking... does any one here help out with design templates? I'm not looking to be original... just a very functional mixing room (with a possibility of small iso booth) Literally I really liked the idea of John's sketch of the "Small studio in 3D" as that's about the size I have available. It just seems more like a tracking environment than mixing. Also, I have questions on how to make the walls no parallel? What angles does one use? Do these angles negate the 'perfect ratio's of a rectangle room? (I use combination of ethan winers mode calc, and Uncle Bobs, and a personal excel spreadsheet one to determine if I have any problem modes) Yea, I don't wanna rush it. I wanna do it right the first time and not have to tear anything down once its up. I'll search for HVAC/Ventilation on the forum per your suggestion. I'm PRETTY sure it should be fine as its plenty big for the house we're moving into. No, I don't have Rod's book. I've searched the term, but 1001 results pop up. Any link to it? (if its something I need to purchase, I have no problem doing so, just wanna go down the right road)

In one of them stickies here, there's a link to Rod's book. Check amazon or anyother book supplier ;) Also check for the forum user "gulffo" (glen), he did some amazing sketch-up models. Invest more time in Sketch-Up. It's worth it. Check the online tutorials on sketchup.google.com. They will help you a great deal getting started. You can do a room-split: ControlRoom (CR) and vocalbooth. Or a big room with a little vocal booth inside. I'd go for option 1 tho.. it'll make you flexible in recording more than just vocals. Keep on designing and you'll get there

Aloha, Try here - viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5670 Aloha 8)

Ordered the book. Wish I could purchase an Ebook version so I don't have to wait 7 days for it. I've attached a sketchup and 2d pic of what I've designed so for. It's sized for a garage space now since the wifey keeps changing her mind.

BTW, for IN WALL INSULATION, what is recommended? Mineral wool or standard R-13?

I was able to get a hold of a friend today and I was able to borrow rod's book from him. I've read most of the book, however it doesn't specify how one builds rooms with the correct angles in order to have the appropriate modes / RT60. Anyone have any recommendations?

Gizmo - here's the model from the "Small Studio in 3D" thread inserted into your shape.

wow, thanks John for taking the time to do that. Did you scale the "Small Studio in 3D"? If so, would I need to stick those specific dimensions in order to avoid standing waves? Also, you wouldn't know of any designs that you'd be willing to point in my direction in regards to ditching the sliding glass door, and just using a solid oak door the the same side as control room door. (East wall if looking from the top)

BTW, how does one run the numbers on a room with splayed walls?

djgizmo wrote:

BTW, how does one run the numbers on a room with splayed walls?

good question - I have no idea. There is a computer program developed by a mob in Melbourne that could possibly do it but you can't access it. No I didn't rescale it - it sat in there perfectly. Just replace the sliders with a door and window setup.

Hey John, I've been kicking the design you gave me around. Have you set one up of this design/size before? If so, what kind of sonic/tonal expectancy should I have?

check this page http://johnlsayers.com/Studio/Pages/Scott_1.htm

ahh, thanks. Hmm, I need to somehow remove those sliding doors and make that wall symmetrical with the other wall.

why?

John Sayers wrote:

why?

Since my control room will be a dedicated mix room (some music, post, and surround) , I'd like to have as much symmetry as possible. Plus quality sliding doors for studios costs a mint. If I need to see an artist in the iso/live room I'll install a mini cam and route it through my computer for monitoring.

Ok - cool :) just move the model to fit.