Mobile Studio in a Box Truck

Hi all! I've been off this forum for a few years now (had a stint in corporate America) but now I'm back and have a crazy project in mind. I've been inspired by the many studios constructed in shipping containers, and I wanted to make a studio based on those designs, but make it even more mobile. AKA, put it on wheels. So, I've started taking design elements from the container studios I've researched, and started retrofitting them into the back of a box truck/UHaul. The grand concept is to create a mobile studio that is powered by batteries charged with solar and trickle-charger from the engine. I'll be able to drive anywhere, setup shop, record, collaborate, see new places, meet new musicians/bands, make music inspired by ever changing scenery, etc. Here's a quick, mostly to scale, mockup of the idea in SketchUp... The white racks are designed to be wall mount racks to hold guitar pedals and synths. I'm currently working with an electrical engineer from IBM to design the power system. He also custom builds mobile stages and can therefore help with all the wiring, grounding, etc for all the gear. I do have lots of questions, and I'm the 'idea guy', not so much the 'technical guy', so I'm sure I've overlooked lots of potential hurdles with this project. -Is this a good idea? Is this even possible? Are permits needed? Will this be street legal? -I plan to line the entire interior with 6 or 8lb 2" Rockboard, plus bass traps in the front corners, and slot resonators on the side walls. Will this be enough to achieve acceptable acoustics in a big metal box? -Has anyone done anything like this before? -What makes this project different from a container studio? What do I need to factor in during designing construction? -Construction budget is only $5k for materials (lumber, hardware, rockboard, burlap, custom desk), is these realistic? I truly appreciate all the info and inspiration on this forum.

I don't think it's possible especially with a 5k budget even if you already have the truck. You didn't give the dimensions of the inside of the truck but, Most box trucks I have seen are at the most 7.5' wide on the OUTER DIMENSIONS (unless they have a oversize tag which adds problems to your street legal question) with an inner of around 6' 6'-7' at the very most. Take away 6" or more on either side and you have a room I'm not sure anyone would want to play in. I wouldn't want to play in a 5' 6" room.

Hey Mac, thanks for the reply. Interior Demensions: 14' 3" long, 7' 8" high, and 7' 2" wide. The 3D mockups are to scale, including the box truck. It's almost exactly the same interior dimensions as the shipping containers people use for studios all the time, so I'm positive the space will be big enough. It'll be cozy, but functional. I know it's impossible to get the professional quality of most of the studios on this board, but this is a project studio, taking some ideas from this forum to help control the sound. It'll sound better than most bedroom studios, even with just lining the entire thing with 2" 8lb rockboard, adding 24" bass traps in the corners, and additional absorption at the first reflection points. This is meant to be an inspiration wagon. Being able to travel with a project studio. And by the way, most of the recording will be direct, electronic production, voice over, and singer/songwriter/acoustic type stuff. No need for a crazy budget for isolation, cranking amps, drums, etc. It's basically a control room/production studio on wheels. Anyone familiar with container studios want to chime in?

Hi Erik. Welcome! What you propose can be done, and has been done. Here's a thread that might interest you: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4025&p=30206 Here's the actual Clicktrack web-site, showing the final result: http://www.clicktrackaudio.ca/

-I plan to line the entire interior with 6 or 8lb 2" Rockboard, plus bass traps in the front corners, and slot resonators on the side walls. Will this be enough to achieve acceptable acoustics in a big metal box?

Probably not, but it will take you part of the way. I'd suggest that you give serious consideration to soffit-mounting your speakers. Based on personal experience with OB vans for TV, I'd also suggest the following: - Give SERIOUS consideration to your HVAC system: Trucks get very hot inside, very quickly when parked in the sun. They also get very stuffy pretty quick with a couple of people inside. - The above includes cooling, ventilation and insulation for your gear: Your equipment won't last long if it is fried in the sun all day every day in summer, and deep-frozen in winter when the truck is not in use... - Think out your storage requirements very carefully, and use every last nook and cranny on the truck to store something: cables, mics, stands, instruments, gear that you don't need access to while mixing but still needs to be on, etc. - Power: Do yourself a favor, and add a small (and very quiet!) generator some place. Trying to power a truck full of audio gear from solar panels alone is going to cost you a small fortune, and you'll need a large surface area to do it. Just the roof area alone is not going to cut it, and you probably don't want to leave the truck engine running all the time you are tracking/mixing. - Bolt everything down. It's a truck: it moves! Might seem like superfluous advice, but worth saying anyway. You cannot have anything lying around loose in there: The chair, for example, needs to have some means of locking it down when the truck is moving. This also applies to all the isolation/treatment: It has to be built to a different standard than for an ordinary studio, since it will be subject to stresses and strains that normal studios never see (except maybe in an earthquake...). So, for example, you cannot just hang treatment panels on the walls with French cleats like you commonly would: they have to be very firmly attached.

-Has anyone done anything like this before?

Yup! see above... :)

-What makes this project different from a container studio? What do I need to factor in during designing construction?

See above comment on structural issues: The Spark One container studios are in a fixed location, and don't move around all the time. Your case is different, since the whole point of the truck is to MOVE! So everything in it needs to be designed to take the stress, tension, flexing, warping etc. of the interior of a that truck when it is bouncing over some dirt road back entrance to a remote venue...

-Construction budget is only $5k for materials (lumber, hardware, rockboard, burlap, custom desk), is these realistic?

To be brutally honest: No, that's not realistic. Your HVAC is going to eat up about half of that. The generator and electrical system are going to eat up the other half. And if you try to power it with solar panels alone, then your entire budget went to that alone (panels, batteries, inverters, control system... ). I would "guesstimate" about two to three times what you are thinking of, at the very least, if you want to build a place that you can actually use successfully. In other words, a studio that customers would be willing to pay for. One final thing: Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things! :) - Stuart -