New Studio build

Hi we are moving into a new building and we want to build a control room and live room for a band, or at the most be able to track drums live. The total building space is about 1600 sq ft. this is going to be a multi-purpose building so realistically for the recording half id say we have about 800 sq ft to use between the control room and the live room. My main question is, is 800 sq ft. a good amount of space to build a control room and live room, thanks for your help!

Hi. Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things! :) But to answer your basic question:

is 800 sq ft. a good amount of space to build a control room and live room, ?

Yes, if designed well. In fact, you could conceivably get a vocal booth in there too, if you wanted to. ITU, EBU, AES and other specs call for a control room to have at least 250 ft2, 300 ft2, 350 ft2, or so in floor area, or more, depending on various factors. So assuming 300 for your CR, that leaves 500 for your LR. You can do a great LR in 500 ft2, assuming it has a decently high ceiling. Taking off 50 to 100 ft2 or so for a vocal booth, and you would still have enough space for a good LR. However, that assumes typical usage: you didn't say a whole lot about what else the studio might be used for, so the above might be applicable to you. If you want to track full symphony orchestras, then you are out of luck with such a small LR. If you wanted to do complete soundtracks for major movies, then ditto for the CR. But for recording and mixing a typical band with 5 to 10 members, then yes, that's a good sized space. - Stuart -

Thanks Soundman and I appreciate the help, and sorry for my bad forum etiquette by not reading the rules! We want to be up and running fast so I hope I can provide some good information to get some more help. Ok so here's the thing we're building this to be a sort of headquarters, so we have a total of 1600 sq ft. to work with. I don't have an actual layout plan of the building but I can do my best to explain it, when you enter the building its an open space and the bathroom is at the very end of it and it also has a room with a sink in the same area. The side facing the street with windows is where we want the open office space to be where clients can come in and schedule appointments and inquire about the other services we offer. Since the floor plan is an open space and we have 1600 sq ft. to work with we want to make the most out of the space that we have, so as far the studio setup I'd want to have enough room to track a 3 to 5 piece band at once and sound good, and a control room that's a suitable size to sound as best as possible (I know both of these have a lot to do with room acoustics, but i want to make sure the room dimensions are a good starting point) we're able to build whatever type of rooms we need, but basically the 800 sq ft. may not be a realistic size of the space we want to use. Also I'd like to mention that the ceiling is the standard office type ceiling with the separators. I'm going back to the building tomorrow to check it out so I will be able to update this with more information. What size would you recommend thats as small as possible but still totally able to get the job done as crazy as that may sound lol, thanks for your help

I'm going back to the building tomorrow to check it out so I will be able to update this with more information.

Great! Take several photos too, both inside and outside the building, and post them here so we can get a better idea of what you are facing. Also take measurements, and do a rough sketch of the building with accurate dimensions, noting all the important things, such as doors, windows, structural columns, limitations, protrusions, etc., and post that sketch here too. The more info you can give us, the better we can help you.

What size would you recommend thats as small as possible but still totally able to get the job done as crazy as that may sound

I'd really like to be able to answer the question, but to be very honest, there is no answer! It's sort of like asking: "How long does a piece of string have to be to do the job that string should do, but still not be too long?". That's the issue: we don't really know what "the job" is here, and there are many, many, MANY variables, none of which are known.... So there's no really way to answer the question. I have seen studios capable of recording a 5 piece band inside a shipping container, and I have seen studios capable of recording a 5 piece band in the size of a supermarket. Both will "do the job", but with VERY different "jobs" in mind in both cases. For example, what type of band are we talking about? Jazz? Rock? Violin quintet? Death metal? Hip-Hop? Country? A cappella Gregorian chant? All very different. And what level of band/budget are we talking about? Are we talking 5-piece bands like the Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, and Pink Floyd (at one stage in their history)? I wouldn't want to record them in a shipping container.... Or are we talking "Joe and Bill's garage band, with Frank and a couple of the girls from over in the next street"? They would be more than fine in a shipping container studio, and very much out of place in Abbey Road... OK, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but the point is: you really aren't giving us enough information to go on! I have designed a studio in Canada that meets your specs so far, in 450 square feet of floor space, and it works very successfully. I am also just completing another studio in Missouri that would be great for your specs too, running at about 1,600 square feet, and I'm just starting on another one in the UK where the facility is over 3,000 square feet, and it will also meet your specs. But they are all very different studios! The problem is that your specs are not well enough defined to give you an intelligent answer.

We want to be up and running fast

That's a little scary, actually. "Fast" and "quality studio design" are not terms that go together well. Realistically, it takes at least a couple of months to design a studio of the size you are talking about, then several more months to build it, treat it, and fine tune it. My personal best from first customer contact to finished studio is 3 months and 4 days, but that was intensive, with a very good budget and a great build team that worked fast and accurately, and followed instructions perfectly. Most places take 4 to 6 months at least to get "up and running". Some take a coupe of years. So it would help if you could define "fast" a bit better! When do you actually need to have this place operating as a studio? I have a suspicion that your timing might not be realistic. Also, what type of budget are you planning for this build? If this is a "money is no object" thing, then you might well be able to get it designed and built fast, but if this is a shoe-string budget, scrimping and scraping every penny, then it's going to take a lot longer. There's also the issue of who is going to design this place: If you plan to do it yourself, then realistically you'll need at least 4 or 5 months to get up to speed on acoustics, construction, HVAC, structural, etc. (there's a huge amount to learn!) before you can even start designing anything, so that would considerably lengthen the time to "up and running". It would save you money on the design fee, but take a lot longer. Of course, here on the forum you'd get all the help you need with that, no problem (and free!), because that's what the forum is all about. But that process goes slowly.... On the other hand, if you hire a studio designer to do the design for you, then things can go a lot faster... but will cost you more, so it comes down to budget and deadline again. So there's a lot of factors up in the air here, and it would be good if you could clarify them for us, so we can come up with more helpful suggestions for you! I'd love to help, for sure, but you aren't giving me enough to go on... :) - Stuart -

ahhh sorry again, our budget is pretty open right now, we have another business able to fund this build, we want to be up and running in at least 30 days. We have a month of free rent so during that 2nd month we want to be working. We're ready to pay for 3 or 4 crews to be all working at the same time on this place, we're also able to get materials at a very low rate. As far as the type of music, we will mainly be doing hip hop, but I plan on marketing to other genres as well...as far as the type of bands we want to record I'm thinking they'll be local bands, it's kind of a "college town" so probably a lot of indie/folk stuff and of course gospel quartets and things like that. I understand that it's going to take some time to get things all the way perfect but I want to at least be operational in 30 days. We're the only "real" studio in town (no disrespect to the bedroom guys or anything like that I came from there too) so we're in pretty high demand.

I hear what you are saying, but trying to do a high quality 1,600 ft facility in 30 days isn't realistic. I wish I could tell you something different, but that's just reality. The design process for a high quality studio the size you are talking about, would take at least that long (probably longer), even with a dedicated team of designers, and even assuming you could find a top quality designer who is able to start first thing tomorrow morning. There are so many factors that have to be considered in a studio design, and they they are all inter-related. Even a simple decision such as changing the model of console or main speakers to be used in the control room has a long series of ripple-on effects that flow down to hit multiple other things. Such as the size and position of the desk, location of the mix position, room geometry and therefore room acoustics, size and placement of windows, structural issues, HVAC, electrical, doors, decoration, and those in turn ripple on further down the line to affect the other rooms too. All of that takes time. Unless you know exactly what you want, in perfect detail, and are absolutely certain that nothing will change before the construction crew arrives, then there's little hope of even getting a place like yours designed in 30 days, and certainly not built. Building permits can take that long alone. You might or might not pass inspection at each stage. There might be delays in supplying materials that you need (suitable laminated acoustic glass for high isolation windows isn't usually available off the shelf, for example). Etc. You might well be able to get someone to hack together something basic in a couple of weeks, and perhaps build it in a couple of months, but from what you say, that's not what you want. You seem to be implying that your studio is a high quality operation, well financed, well known, your services are in demand, and therefore presumably you are looking to build a world-class studio. World-class studios are not designed and built in 30 days. Galaxy cost 13 million dollars and took nearly four years to design and build, for example. Good studios aren't built in a month. Even cheap low-quality back-street studios aren't designed and built in a month. If you really do want your design done fast, then I'd suggest that you contact John Sayers himself by PM immediately, and tell him about the great urgency of the project, to see if he might be able to do something for you. To get that kind of turn around, you'll probably have to fly him from Australia to North Carolina immediately and keep him there for as long as it takes, which won't be cheap, but you'd be guaranteed of the best possible design in the shortest possible time. John's studios really are world-class (which you already know, since you are here on the forum! :) ). But overall, I'd suggest that you might want to rethink your plan and put it on a more realistic basis. I'm not saying you can't have something jury-rigged within the empty shell inside 30 days, but it won't be a world-class studio, or even a high quality studio. Perhaps one option would be to throw together any old thing in one corner of the place, while you take the time needed to get the real studio designed and built properly. That way, you could at least be making some money off the temporary setup while the process goes on, (but by doing that you run the risk of damaging your reputation by having the low quality place initially). Anyway, that's a thought. - Stuart -