Studio Plan for NYC Harlem High School After School Program

Greetings! I work for an after school program in Harlem NYC. We have a basic recording set up in the basement of the building of our site. I have been working with high school students teaching them how to engineer and produce music. My director has asked me to build a "professional studio" and we have a budget which is about $10,000 - $15,000. I am in the process of trying to secure additional funding. The vision of this project is to create a professional, "state of the art" studio to train high school students in our after school program. Here are some files and photos that should help you get a feel for the space. Based on some research ive been doing in books and forums like this one I've come up with the following starting point. The sketchup drawing is very close to scale. The floor plan drawings are also to scale (1 box = 4") There are also some photos to give u an idea of the existing space. I'm hoping my drawings, photos, and sketchup images will make things relatively clear but here is a blurb about some important specs of the space: 1. The existing ceilings are 11' 6" high with some exposed pipes and hanging florescent lights. (see photos) 2. The space is in a basement which is a concrete foundation (this is good in terms of sound proofing). The dark lines on the "studio floor plan" file represent those concrete walls. The existing floor is concrete covered with linoleum tiles 3. The double wall down the center will divide the space into a recording studio (control room + isolation booth) and become a theater classroom on the other side. would like to set up wall plates with mic inputs to so theater class room can be used as a live room. 4. My general plan for wall scheme is a "decoupled" double wall with a 4" air gap in between. The walls nsulated with R13 fiberglass insulation and covered with 2 layers of 5/8 gypsum board (2 leaf). The windows will be a "decoupled" design consisting of 2 layers of 1/2" and 3/8" glass, angled to prevent parallel surfaces to minimize vibrations. A few unsolved questions where I am pretty much at a loss. --rewiring the electrical circuits in the room for lighting, power, and audio lines. Something tells me I will need to hire out for help on this. --HVAC system (See photo for existing ducts) It has A/C, and seems very quiet, but how to extend it and create new vents. -- FLOORS: would like to put in a wood floor -- Floating floors? My feeling is that the isolation booth should have a floating floor, set on top of soudproof neoprene pads, and a couple layers of plywood ( this is not shown in the drawing) Any thoughts on if this is the right decision? --we need to create a ceiling over the isolation booth and probably the control room to optimize the sound of the room for accurate mixing, but I really need advice on how to best to this. * I have never built anything of this magnitude before, and while I will have the assistance of some novice carpenters with DIY construction experience, they have no experience with studio design and construction. I am generally very comfortable with DIY projects and am a fast learner, however clearly the magnitude of this project for the low size of our budget is a concern. Therefore, any advice or feedback on this current plan you have would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need anything else. Otherwise I am look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you! Sincerely, John Keefe

Hi John, and welcome to the forum! :)

The vision of this project is to create a professional, "state of the art" studio to train high school students in our after school program.

That's a highly laudable goal! I wish my school would have had something like that and a teacher like you, all those years (decades!) ago. I wish you great success.

1. The existing ceilings are 11' 6" high with some exposed pipes and hanging florescent lights. (see photos)

Nice! High ceilings bode well for a good studio.

2. The space is in a basement which is a concrete foundation (this is good in terms of sound proofing).

Yes it is. Lucky you!

The existing floor is concrete covered with linoleum tiles

Also good, both for isolation and acoustically.

3. The double wall down the center will divide the space into a recording studio (control room + isolation booth) and become a theater classroom on the other side. would like to set up wall plates with mic inputs to so theater class room can be used as a live room.

How much isolation do you need between those? That plan might not be good enough...

4. My general plan for wall scheme is a "decoupled" double wall with a 4" air gap in between. The walls nsulated with R13 fiberglass insulation and covered with 2 layers of 5/8 gypsum board (2 leaf). The windows will be a "decoupled" design consisting of 2 layers of 1/2" and 3/8" glass, angled to prevent parallel surfaces to minimize vibrations.

You were doing fine until you go to the "angled" part: angling your glass is a unnecessary, and in fact it it counter-productive. It is a much-repeated myth that glass has to be angled. IT does not. And angling it in fact REDUCES the total isolation, for a very simply reason. You get maximum isolation when you have maximum air gap between the two panes of glass. If you angle one of them, then you no longer have the maximum possible air gap, so therefore you have reduced isolation. Also, you have re-tuned the MSM resonance to a higher frequency, and therefore you have reduced isolation in the low frequency end of the spectrum even more. So if you need good isolation, especially in low frequencies, then do NOT angle the glass. And of course, the glass must be laminated glass, not ordinary window glass.

--rewiring the electrical circuits in the room for lighting, power, and audio lines. Something tells me I will need to hire out for help on this.

The electrical system and signal cabling system are critical, since they both provide potential flanking paths for sound. The two systems also need to be kept very far apart, to avoid induction causing noise in the sound system: the general rule is to run all your electrical conduit up high, a the tops of the walls, and run all the signal conduit down low, at the bottom. If they ever do need to cross over each other, then always do so at a 90° angle. They can NEVER run parallel close together.

--HVAC system (See photo for existing ducts) It has A/C, and seems very quiet, but how to extend it and create new vents.

HVAC is the single most overlooked part of studio builds in general. It's a lot more complex than most people realize, and needs careful planning. Especially if you will have many people in the rooms at some times, and just one or two at other times. This is probably the part of the design that is going to take up most of your time. It is not easy to get it right, especially if you need high levels of isolation.

-- FLOORS: would like to put in a wood floor --

Laminate flooring is great: excellent acoustically, easy to install, relatively low cost, wars well, etc. Probably your best bet.

Floating floors?

No. Not necessary, and beyond what your budget can handle. You might want to read this thread, to get a better idea of what is involved in floating a floor PROPERLY: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8173

My feeling is that the isolation booth should have a floating floor, set on top of soudproof neoprene pads, and a couple layers of plywood ( this is not shown in the drawing) Any thoughts on if this is the right decision?

Not the right direction, for the reasons outlined in that thread. Here's another one that might interest you: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8134

--we need to create a ceiling over the isolation booth and probably the control room to optimize the sound of the room for accurate mixing, but I really need advice on how to best to this.

Actually, you need far more than just a ceiling. The entire room has to be designed as a single unit, such that all parts work together for the same goal, rather than just add bits and pieces, hoping that tings might work out: they wont. A room put together haphazardly, without due attention to how all the parts interact, will end up with all the parts fighting each other, instead of cooperating, and the room will not be successful.

* I have never built anything of this magnitude before, and while I will have the assistance of some novice carpenters with DIY construction experience, they have no experience with studio design and construction. I am generally very comfortable with DIY projects and am a fast learner, however clearly the magnitude of this project for the low size of our budget is a concern. Therefore, any advice or feedback on this current plan you have would be greatly appreciated.

The actual construction is not really the issue that you should be concerned about: it is the design that matters most. If I were allowed to give you only one single recommendation for your room, it would be to spend about 80 to 90% of your available time on the design, and only 10% to 20% on the actual build. So if you figure the build will take you one month, then plan 6 to 8 months for the design. That might sound like a really stupid recommendation, way out there in left field, nutty, over-the-top, or whatever, but honestly, it is the absolute best piece of advice I can give you, and I mean that in all seriousness. Realistically, it takes about 3 to 4 months to learn the basics of acoustics and studio design, then another two or three months to actually do the design, and one more month to check it all over, fix the problems, review the calculations, etc. When newcomers to the forum first hear that, they often think we are nuts, but if you check over the successful build threads here, you'll see that this is pretty much the average, for any type of studio. And if you check the unsuccessful build threads, you'll find all the folks who though they could do it faster, skimp on design, cut corners.... and never get a usable studio. So very seriously and frankly, I would suggest that you start out by buying two books: "Master Handbook of Acoustics" by F. Alton Everest (that's sort of the Bible for acoustics), and "Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros", by Rod Gervais. And also read John Sayers own work @ http://johnlsayers.com/Recmanual/index.htm Those will give you the basics that you need to know, then you can start the actual design process. You have a great space to work with, and a very admirable goal, so I really, really hope that it works out for you, and that you decide to use this forum to the max, for all it's worth, in getting you there. The forum is a veritable gold-mine of sound, solid, scientific information on acoustics and studio building: it's huge, and you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg right now. There's a massive wealth of information here, and a good bunch of people who can help you reach your goal, so I really hope you put it to the best use! - Stuart -