NEW STUDIO CONSTRUCTION IN BUENOS AIRES

Background: I've been working on recording and mixing for about eleven years. I 've had a small project studio, a small recording studio and now i'm working freelance in large facilities and mantaing my personal studio (which i built). Next year i'll be moving to the country side to a very nice neighbourhood. I already have the house design and i'm waiting for the budget for that. So, the next step will be to plan and design my new personal studio there!! The terrain has a lot of space so i quite a good space to work with. The area for the studio is a flexible 9 x 18 meter area. Contrusction height can go up to 4,50 m. This should include a Very Good Control Room (my main activity will be mixing), a small area for services (kitchen, bathroom, dining room/couch) and a Tracking room (maybe with 1 or 2 iso booths). This is also the priority order. My idea would be to finish the Control Room first so i can start working there and then finish the rest of the areas. I do a wide variety of styles going from solo and acoustic music to rock/pop. There will be at least 10-20 meter of separation from the next inmediate construction so there will be a couple of problems less than in city residential areas (maybe i wont need floating floors?). My normal mixing level is between 80-90 dB SPL. There is No actual construction of any kind. It is a leveled terrain with grass. I'll post images in my next post. I'm at the research stage so my budget is not defined. I think U$S 20.000 is the starting budget to do the outer walls and the control room but it would rise as needed. I can do most of the drywall, cabling, electrical and windows work to drop the costs down. Also I have a copy of Alton Everst's Master Handbook of Acoustics and Rod Gervais's book (i read it various times) and have studied basic acoustics at Sound School so i have a rough idea about the subjects. So my starting questions are about the general layout: I ve read various posts discussing shoebox (with correct ratios) vs splayed walls/ceilling and have no conlussions at all. So: ¿what to do in this domain? This is my first aproach to a design: Another question: In this Control Room case ¿Wich width should i take to stick to a proper room ratio? ¿Average,Listening position or Maximum width? Thanks in advance F

Time has passed and i have no replies yet. Am i missing something? PLease tell me if i'm asking the wrong questions or if i missed some info. thanks! F

Am i missing something?

No! I'm missing something! :oops: Sheesh! That's the second time today that someone had to "bump" a thread that I didn't even have lined up for a reply! I really need to check more often for unanswered threads.... :oops: Sorry about that!!! Anyway, welcome to the forum! :) Bienvenido vecino! Mejor tarde que nunca.... :)

The area for the studio is a flexible 9 x 18 meter area. Contrusction height can go up to 4,50 m

Excellent! Sounds like a good size, and with possibilities for good acoustics if you can get high ceilings.

There will be at least 10-20 meter of separation from the next inmediate construction so there will be a couple of problems less than in city residential areas

OK, but have you considered other sound sources? For example, wind, rain, hail, thunder, nearby roads, railway lines, or maybe farm machinery. Also aircraft flying overhead (if you are on the approach or departure paths for Ezeiza or Aeroparque, for example, or close to a hospital or military facility with lots of helicopter activity)... etc., etc. There are many external sounds that still might be a problem. It would be good to set up a sound level meter at the location where you plan to build, leave it there for a few hours on a "Leq" setting, or similar, and see what the results are.

(maybe i wont need floating floors?)

:) viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8173

There is No actual construction of any kind. It is a leveled terrain with grass.

Perfect! Greenfield project! From the ground up! :)

I think U$S 20.000 is the starting budget to do the outer walls and the control room

That works out to about US$ 120/m2, which is probably a bit on the low side for the entire build, but perhaps enough to get the shell and the control room done. I'm not sure about the prices of building materials around Bs.As., but I guess they aren't too different from where I live.

This is my first aproach to a design:

Looks reasonable, but you could save space by only splaying the front section of your side walls, just far enough back to create your RFZ. From there to the rear wall they can be parallel: That allows you to splay the front sections at a greater angle (good for RFZ) and at the same time keep the rear end of the room nice and wide. The sound lock is probably not needed, but there is an issue with that layout in general: Right now, to get to any of the rooms you have to go through Iso-2. So all the load-in, load-out between sessions of equipment and instruments has to go through several sets of doors, and anyone in the LR or CR who need to go to the bathroom during a session, or go out to answer the phone, or get something from his car, has to interrupt the guy in Iso-2... It would be better to have separate access paths for each room, if possible.

In this Control Room case ¿Wich width should i take to stick to a proper room ratio? ¿Average,Listening position or Maximum width?

I wrote a long explanation on that for another member just a couple of days ago: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18121&start=22 Hope that helps! - Stuart -

Wow! Well... first of all thank you. Second, you have nothing to be sorry, you take your time to help someone you don't know and you do it on your free time so that's the coolest thing ever in a planet that usually doesn't move a finger without a sellfish reason. It is nice to have help from a neighbour, strange to talk about this in english... Now, let's go back to the design (the sellfish guy speaking).

OK, but have you considered other sound sources? For example, wind, rain, hail, thunder, nearby roads, railway lines, or maybe farm machinery. Also aircraft flying overhead (if you are on the approach or departure paths for Ezeiza or Aeroparque, for example, or close to a hospital or military facility with lots of helicopter activity)... etc., etc. There are many external sounds that still might be a problem. It would be good to set up a sound level meter at the location where you plan to build, leave it there for a few hours on a "Leq" setting, or similar, and see what the results are.

That sounds like a great idea. Actually i've notice some air trafic, actually there is a base near the place so ill take the SPL meter and do some measurings. A curve always isnt't it? No floating then. Great!!!

That works out to about US$ 120/m2, which is probably a bit on the low side for the entire build, but perhaps enough to get the shell and the control room done. I'm not sure about the prices of building materials around Bs.As., but I guess they aren't too different from where I live.

Yeah, yeah i know. The idea is to build the shell of all the studio except for the live room. I'm not sure if i will be needing such a room. It will really depend on the work flow. If i start doing lots of recordings in my new place i'll end up building it. That is why my ISO 1 is big. I plan to use it as a main room for a long time. As i see it, once i get the external shell i can do a lot of work inside it in my spare time.

Looks reasonable, but you could save space by only splaying the front section of your side walls, just far enough back to create your RFZ. From there to the rear wall they can be parallel: That allows you to splay the front sections at a greater angle (good for RFZ) and at the same time keep the rear end of the room nice and wide.

Is this CR layout better (img 1) ? I'm not sure how to draw it. Im also taking the 38 % rule for the listening position. Does it apply? About the ISO s and circulation: I put no doors in my first drawing but that is not the way i was planning it. I'll place a new image in my next post to show you my idea. Thanks again!!

so ill take the SPL meter and do some measurings. A curve always isnt't it?

I would use "C" curve, as it is much more sensitive to low frequencies. "A" is what is normally specified for legal purposes, in noise regulations, but "C" is what makes more sense for studios, since it is closer to the way humans perceive loud sounds.

Is this CR layout better (img 1) ? I'm not sure how to draw it. Im also taking the 38 % rule for the listening position. Does it apply?

Much better! You have the concept correct, but the actual angles depend on many things, such as the speakers themselves, the size of the room, the size of the soffits, etc. The bet way to determine the angles you need, is by "ray-tracing". But you have the right idea now. - Stuart -

Do i draw the rays 1 by 1 or is there any formula or program/plugin that could help me? Thanks again. F

There probably is software to do it for you automatically, but I just shoot out lines ever ten degrees or so and see what they hit, then bounce a second line off that. And since your room is symmetrical, you only need to do that on one speaker to confirm that both are correct, so it's just a dozen lines or so, unless you have a very complex shaped room. - Stuart -

I thik this looks ok. Tell me what you think.

Looks good to me! Don't forget that you need to do the same in the vertical plane too, to make sure you aren't getting reflections from the ceiling, desk, console, etc. - Stuart -

Yes i almost forgot!! :roll: I haven't figured out the splaying of the ceilling yet. I ll start with 1 angled wall at the front and see what happens. Any tips? Thanks

I did a Tracing for ceiling/floor reflections. I know the monitors will be nearer but i think it serves the practical purpose. Tell me if i did it wrong.

Right, but don't forget the surface of the desk / console: That's often a major source of reflections. And to do that, you need to have the speakers and your head correctly positioned, since you are dealing with much finer angles. Even small changes in speaker location relative to the desk can cause problems, or fix them. - Stuart -