New Menber New Studio

Hi everybody, I am new to this board. I am planning to build a new studio for myself and have been researching building, acoustic, and isolation concepts for a while now and it is really starting to seem like a minefield to me now. I have been working in my attic for the last few years which has been fine since the work has mostly been songwriting, but now my studio needs are changing and my families need for that space as well. I have a space in town (Dublin Ireland) which I can use and would like to make work. I wast something that will be high spec construction wise, the gear can come later. I would really prefer not to take on any new real estate debt at the moment. I will post up a few basic drawings and if anyone has any opinions I would like to hear them. Basically I want to know if I am crazy and should go back to the drawing board, or if people think this will fly. I have just started using sketch up in 2d and will need to rapidly need to my skills there. Cheers, Peter

I also need to add for the purpose of early stage discussion that the long wall (on the right side of this drawing) borders a rehearsal room, separated by a 6inch concrete wall, that has a door and 2 windows that were filled with stud partition filled with rockwool and double fire board. so I will need to be able to kill the noise from some pretty heavy full on rock coming out of this room. Also the ceilings are 3.15 meters high but have concrete supports coming out of them. I am going to do a sketch up drawing of the ceiling next. Peter

First update your profile to include you location. If you look around this site and the many studio design which it holds, you will see that the control rooms are Cemetrical :wink:

Thanks for the reply. I have just been doing tons of leg work on this. It's just a really tight space and I am having trouble finding the right design. I have really been soul searching about if this is the right move. Or If I should just drop the gear in there and go gorilla style for a bit. Will post when I have more details. Cheers

Hi Peter, Please also re-size your drawings to conform to forum rules. They are too big right now. Also, it would help if you were to explain what it is you want to do in there, what your goals are, what your budget is, etc. Folks here will gladly help you navigate that "minefield" that you speak of, but first it would help if we know where abouts you are right now in the minefield, and where you want to get to! :) It looks a bit overwhelming when you start out, but once you start getting your head around the basic principles, it all starts to make sense, and the piece start falling into place. For instance: is this going to be a commercial space, or just a hobby space? What kind of music are you going to record in there? (There's a big difference between recording a single harmonica, and recording the entire philharmonic!) How loud are you (in terms of decibels)? How loud are people around you? How quiet does their noise have to be inside your rooms (again, in terms of decibels)? How quiet does your noise have to be in their space? What other noises sources are around you (airports, roads, railway lines, people, machinery, etc.) All of that factors in to the amount of isolation that you are going to need around your room to control noise going in and out. Then, it matters what kind of work you do: If you plan to track, mix and master for major Top-Twenty groups, then that's a bit different than just making CD's for your garage band or your friends. Etc. The more info you can give people here, the more they can help you to design what you need in order to get there. - Stuart -

Hi Stuart, Thanks for the reply. I will resize the drawings and repost. I guess this calls for a bit of a long story then. I Got this space a good while ago and sub divided it into rehearsal studios. I took one of the rooms and opened a recording studio. It was non purpose built - really just 2 rooms with a multi-core punched through the wall. After a few years I was requested to try to figure out something else to do professionally. By that stage I had 2 small children and I don't have to tell you guys about the hours of a owner operated studio. So I moved a bit of gear into the attic of my house, and started focusing mainly on writing for television advertising. This was fine because I was using mostly synths and the pod and could hire out anything else. Not the kids are getting older and the attic needs to be turned into a bed room. Also it is getting harder and harder to get anything done in the house. So that is where I am now. Basically I need a place to work but want to maximize the profitability of the space. Ideally I would like to have the studio availability to do my work which would include song writing and recording as well as bring in bands. I have done mostly aggressive stuff so far so I expect more hardcore and metal. Also I have made some good contacts doing the advertising work and think I could get a few gigs doing voice over and mixing. This is pretty lucrative work so is a pretty important part of the plan. I would also want to have other producers and engineers come in to fill out the time when I am not using the space. That's a mouthful, but hopefully a good description. I have looked at several spaces but am really not comfortable taking on another mortgage or a long lease, especially in the current economy. Also rehearsal demand is down so it is best if I try to turn a profit in there and also puts a bit more of a premium on the rooms I have remaining. I will need to raise the money for this project for the most part. I think that 50K would not be too much of a stretch. I will be doing most of the construction myself. I have family in the building trade though not specific to studio building but should have tools and labor available. I will need to get a new computer out of that budget as well as a desk and a decent mic if the VO work comes through. so half on gear half on building. Also there are windows across the front of the building. I will need to build a diffusion box to get fresh air in and keep sound out. The rooms is bordered by (refering to the drawing) bottom - the street and sidewalk in front of the building. This can be noisy, skateboards, high heels, motorcycles. right - rehearsal room. pretty heavy rock and roll. top - boiler room for the building. Not too much comes through this wall though. left - stairwell down down the street. Not as noisy on this wall as well. Above - offices. Would like to be able to record during the day. The rehearsal studios are only open after business hours and vo work would only be during business hours so there shouldn't be too much of a conflict there. I hope that gives all necessary questions, but please ask if not. I think the main thing I am trying to figure out at the moment is if this project is even worth going for, if it is possible to achieve or should I go back to the drawing board. Thanks again for the comments.

OK drawings re-sized. And also uploaded to this site instead of linked to drawings hosted on my own site (rule breach that I was not called out on). This next drawing is of the ceiling. There are a few concrete supports and bits on the ceiling so I wanted to put this up. This is my first attempt at sketch up 3d so it is a bit ropey. also There are a few measurements that are estimated because I missed them last time I was measuring. All of the windows are estimated. I also wanted to say that this is an exploration at this stage. I wouldn't want anyone to put a serious amount of time into this yet. I am feeling out this design and if this is a viable option. With that said I am moving all of my gear in next week and setting up for a couple label projects I have due soon. Live punk recordings that are going to be released on a couple big labels. Anyway here are the semi-decent ceiling drawings and I'll try to get an actual accurate 3d drawing of the whole thing up soon. I included the sketch up file as well. Cheers

Ok have ordered the level meter. Will post that information up when I receive the unit and get the readings.