Small project studio - which room should be the CR?

Hey there, I want to build a small project studio in a bungalow. But before planning the design of the studio I've got a very basic question: Which room should I use as the controlroom? There are two rooms: 1: 3,65m x 2,95m x 2,40m (LxWxH) ( 12" x 9,7" x 7,8" feet ) 2: 5,50m x 4,50m x 2,40m (LxWxH) ( 18" x 14,8" x 7.8" feet ) In the sketch, i labeled the small one "controlroom" and the other "liveroom" but I have some doubts.. There are a few things you probably should know before answering: 1. Most neighbours are hundreds of meters away... but one: There is a house on the property which is currently rented. The couple will move out in about one year. "Their" (actually the house is my family's) house is about 6 meters away from the bungalow, so isolation would be pretty damn important. The small room, is at the far side of the house, so isolating it will be easier - plus the big room has one big and two small windows. 2. I read it is easier to optimate the acoustics in a room used for recording, rather than treating a mixingroom.. But is the small room big enough for a drummer? I want to record drums, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, vocals, etc. Will drums in a room that small sound bad? Will isolating the small room make it too small once and for all? 3. I also live in the bungalow. I planned to put my bed and a locker etc. in the recordingroom (the big one), but a bed and a locker in the controlroom is not a good idea, I suppose. If I choose to use the big room as the controlroom, would you divide the room with a drywall construction? 4. Budget is around 20.000€ maximum. Also, I could add (bigger) rooms later on (not in the near future, though). I cannot measure how loud I am right now, because we strip the house out of contents.. I will do it after it's done, though. Hope that's enough information to help me with this question - i'll include more information when it comes to the more detailled design questions. Thanks in advance! Max

Personally, I'd go with the blue room for the control room, and the red room for the live room. A live room needs lots of space, especially drums.

the big room has one big and two small windows.

If you want to track drums in there, then you are going to need a LOT of isolation to not disturb people six meters away form those windows!

2. I read it is easier to optimate the acoustics in a room used for recording, rather than treating a mixingroom..

I don't agree! It all depends on what you want. It might well be easier to treat a well-designed control room than it is to treat a badly designed live room! - Stuart -

Hi Stuart! First of all, thanks for your reply.

Soundman2020 wrote:

if you want to track drums in there, then you are going to need a LOT of isolation to not disturb people six meters away form those windows!

I made a 3D sketch of the liveroom, to show you why I think isolating it would be _very_ difficult. The grey boxes are actually heaters that can not be removed. The blue rectangles are windows. My first idea - building a drywall room inside the "liveroom" - would be possible (and a bit difficult) if I wanted to retain the windows, but seemed impossible to me because of the heaters. I don't have any experience building drywalls, though. Shutting the heaters out is obviously a bad idea, and building the wall around them is probably a Sysiphus-work. EDIT: Nevermind, the heaters can be removed. What do the others think? Big controlroom or big live-room?

My vote goes to the larger room for a control room. First the blue room is too small being only 25 cubic meters & falling short of my recommended minimum of 42 cubic meters. Secondly, the control room is used these days more and more as an over-dub room and for recording in-the-box sounds from processors and keyboards. You will need room for these. Besides, the Red room has a nice modal distribution down to 30Hz and plenty of room with 59 cubic meters of volume. The blue room, IMO, would make a good booth. Treat it with maximum absorption & heavy trapping - especially on the ceiling and it will make a good vocal, amp, and acoustic guitar booth. Cheers, John

Max, You can get a decent drum sound in the booth, if you can fit the drums... As long as you treat it as I described above. Note: the drummer will most likely play harder in a dead room - which might be good for Metal... I have seen some pretty small drum booths in my time, and they do work. Cheers, John