Help With New Studio Layout

Hi guys. I'm fortunate enough to have a piece of land out the back of the garden which "the boss" has agreed that we should build a studio there. The plot is 28' x 21' (7.0 m x 6.4 m ) and, apart from wanting some feedback regarding the basic layout of studio, I would like to examine some basic concepts. I think I've read all the pertinent links and threads in this wonderful forum, but a couple of points need clarification. (4 actually!) 1. Is it correct that, when building separate floated rooms that they also need to be on their own piece of floated floor. 2. I have tried in the diagram to show the wall thicknesses to be 8" wide - as per John's layout under walls 3. Following on from 1. is it necessary to float individual ceilings above the three main rooms? 4. What do you do to hide the "gaps" between the floated rooms and the soundlocks Look forward to a reply Colin p.s. - this site rocks!!!!!!!!!!!

Out of curiosity, did you say you have 28'x21' of buildable space back there? Or that's the size of the plot of land? I sure hope it's the first one...

Well - here's the first spelling mistake! It should have read 23 feet (hence 7.0 m) - yeah to answer your question, the area 23' x 21' is the buildable area - the plot of land is slightly wider than this before I encroach on next doors garen(s). Hope this helps CJ[/b]

Ok, that makes me feel better... You had me worried there- around here, the setback req'mts would eat up 21' real fast... Anyway, in answer to your questions; 1)Is it correct that, when building separate floated rooms that they also need to be on their own piece of floated floor? Not always. You can get a structural separation between two rooms by floating only one floor. For example, you can have a 2-room studio where the tracking room is floated (to help isolate the really loud stuff from outside the building) but the control room is not. Since there's still a structural separation, you're all set right there. This will, however, mean that you'll have a step between the 2 rooms, unless you just build up the other room's floor without floating it. 2) I have tried in the diagram to show the wall thicknesses to be 8" wide - as per John's layout under walls Not quite a question, but you are correct. I personally would show them as 4-1/2" per leaf (3-1/2" stud depth + 2 layers of 5/8" drywall is actually closer to 4-3/4" but hey- whos counting?), but if you're showing 8" total thickness for a double-wall construction you're still a little thin. You'll want a space between the walls, probably of an inch at least. BTW if you're floating the floor of one or both rooms, then building a single wall will totally defeat the purpose, so I'm presuming you're building double walls. 3) Following on from 1. is it necessary to float individual ceilings above the three main rooms? Answer is similar to 1). If you float one, you separate the two. 4) What do you do to hide the "gaps" between the floated rooms and the soundlocks? I've seen guys use foam, some people use finish carpentry to just make the gap as small as they can. I personally am probably not going to worry about it much. ;) As far as the layout goes; That is a really, REALLY small tracking room. Like, almost unuseable. I look at tracking rooms meant to record at least a drum set, so this might be big enough for you, but IMHO you should eliminate that tracking room (it's just a corridor as it is) and just make 2 rooms- control and iso. If your iso booth happens to be big enough to track other stuff in, great. This way there's no corridor to waste space, only one door between the 2 (you could use sliding glass doors there, double duty as door and window) and you can reclaim some space for the control room. I personally would make that into a one-room-to-rule-them-all studio, but that's mainly because my studio is also my band's rehearsal space. All in one room would give you a superb amount of space, no worries about wiring between rooms or running next door to move a mic... on the other hand you'll be listening on headphones a lot more... Just another option. The less walls you build, the bigger your rooms will be. Another thing to think about is how you're going to heat/cool and power this place. Try to set aside at least some room for them to put a furnace and an electrical panel. A little building like this won't need a big unit, and they make all-in-one heating/cooling units for things like this... but you still need somewhere to put it. Doesn't even need to be accessible from inside... Anyway, hope that helps. Kase www.minemusic.net

Hi Kase, Thanks for your replies. Looking at the design again, you're absolutely right. Tracking room far too small so - have a look at the attached, if you wouldn't mind. Given the type of stuff that I record and the way I work, a separate tracking room and ISO booth is absolutely necessary. It's just amazing how your space starts to dissapear as soon as you figure in the area for double walls. Do you think the Control Room / Tracking Rooms are in the right sort of proportion to each other? At this early stage (I haven't even cleared the site yet - that's going to take at least another 3 months - you know the score day job, domestic duties etc), would it be an idea to swap them around with respect to each other. Just thinking out loud. Look forward to your response Anyone else want to chip in? Colin p.s. vocal booth dimensions are about 6' x 3' 6" - forgot to put them on diagram

Better, I think. The control room is a little bit of a squat shape, but the walls being at those angles will make up for that. I'm not sure whether you'd be better off facing the tracking room or that top-left corner... probably the tracking room, as long as you don't put TOO big of a window there... That top left corner will lend itself to making a nice, big bass trap behind the listening position- you could probably build a little space for hangers if you wanted. I'm not sure you'll be able to get thru the HVAC room like that... you may need to a) make that room bigger, and b) not make that the path of travel to the tracking room. I personally would make the vocal booth double as the walkway, and then make the HVAC room totally isolated from the rest of the studio, accessed from a door outside. How often do you really need to get in there to change the furnace filters, right? No doors into the HVAC room means you won't have to worry about those doors leaking sound when the machine turns on. Your tracking room is big enough, I think, where you can cheat on the vocal booth and HVAC room sizes. Is it your intention to only have one entrance to this building, at the tracking room? I think you should add a door to the control room, personally, even if for no other reason than having a second exit. You don't want to be trapped when someone mis-handles the incense burner. But yeah, you're on the right track. Kase www.minemusic.net

Hi Kase, Once again, thanks for your reply. I've taken all your points on board and hopefully, will post a revised plan within the next couple of days or so. I really need to squeeze as much space out of this plot as I possibly can, so I'll go and re-measure the plot - probably this weekend (it's dark when I get home from work). The only absolute restriction is that access to the building can only be from the front. Both sides will butt right up to neighbouring properties, as will the back but 23' will be the max width. Depth I'll re-measure. Just to give you some background, instruments I've recorded over the last 8 years or so have been electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, acoustic guitar, assortment of percussion, plus lead/backing vocals. There are also a few local bands who have expressed interest in doing their own recordings. Colin

Hey Kase. Have a look at this if you wouldn't mind

Both sides will butt right up to neighbouring properties, as will the back but 23' will be the max width.

They go right up to the property line? Does your building inspector know this? If you haven't mentioned this to him, you should. Depending on what your zoning code is like, he may have some guidelines for you. For example, where I'm at, we have a 20' setback for the backyard, and 8' sideyard. If your zoning code says you have even a 5' setback, it's going to torpedo your whole design. One of your earlier threads talked about buildable area vs lot size, and in there you sounded like you'd talked to your local people about it. Saying that your building will be right up to the property line gives me just a little doubt... Anyway, looking at the design- you're dicing it up with corridors again. Try to not do that. If you have a concrete block exterior, and you build a separate wall inside it (spaced an inch or 2 from the block) you can put a door in each wall and have plenty of isolation. With that little space, and wanting to record full bands, I'd design it to just walk right into the control room. Are you certain you'll be needing a bathroom? My advice there would be to not put one in there unless you absolutely must- it's going to eat up a LOT more space than you think. The one you have laid out there will never pass fair housing code. It's a pain in the ass to have rock starts trapsing thru your house to use the toilet, but the bathroom could eat up 20% of your building there, even if it's just the toilet and lavatory. I can send you a squashed-down bathroom if you want... there's a lot of little regulations on bathroom sizes. Just pray that your building inspector doesn't make you put in a commercial-code bathroom. The 2002 International Building Code requires a 60"x54" clear floor space for the toilet alone- and that's for a single-fixture bathroom. If there's multiple toilets, and partitions around them, there has to be one with a 5'x8' space inside it. The control room shape looks ok, but your mix position is dead-center in it, so all the room modes are going to stack up right on your head. If you can move closer to the front wall, it'll work ok. Another thing you might want to try, as far as shape, would be with the back wall- try to make it point into the room just a little bit. If the back wall has an inside corner in the center, it'll focus sound on you. If it angles forward, even just a little, it'll spread sound outward toward the walls. Hrm, perhaps I could explain that last part better... Overall, I guess I'd go back to what I mentioned above. Divide your building roughly in half, build rooms-within-rooms for both tracking and control, float the tracking room for isolation (both from CR and outside) and double up the doors in the walls. IMO use up as much of the space for what you'll be using it for. Keep trying, tho! Kase www.minemusic.net

Hi Kase / John / Steve etc. Revision no. 7 attached. Awaiting further comments/criticism.

Just for us Lazy folk :)