How should I divide room?

Hello folks! I am in a first phase of building a studio, and already need some serious advice! :) That is, I'm having a dilemma about the ways to divide my place that is dedicated for my studio. I am desperately in a need of an advice, so here are the useful details (will also add pics). 1) The studio is located in Kraljevo, Serbia, on a moderately quiet location (not much noise coming in from outside), in the building on the ground floor. My apartment is on the first floor of that building, so I won't be bothering any neighbours :) 2) The shape of the space designated for my studio is pretty much, hmm. irregular! There are 5 walls total, four of which are concrete (one is drywall). Please refer to photos. 3) So, once again, I want to DIVIDE the space into a Control Room and a Small recording room (ideally I could fit drums in there, although I am aware that it might not be possible - I would be good with electronic drums elsewhere then). I've even visioned a small lounge room, so you don't walk into the control room straight from outside (see pics) 4) The floor of an entire place is made of ceramic tiles. I am not a 'technical person' but I think they're not very good for sound. Therefore I've bought I thin but firm itison carpet to cover the whole area. 5) Well as of now, all I'm really interested in is getting advice on how to divide the room solely, therefore I think I've provided enough details. I will intensely be involved in the discussion (naturally) so don't hesitate asking for further details if required. Images: This is the current space drawing (scaled properly) This is how I imagined it! Sorry about the CM's, so here are the conversions: 402cm = 13.189 ft 203cm = 6.66 ft 240cm = 7.87 ft 210cm = 6.88 ft 286cm = 9.38 ft 164cm = 5.38 ft 54cm = 1.77 ft 409cm = 13.41 ft What can I say... Thank you ever so much for helping me, in advance! I am really thankful to be able to find the forum like this at first place, and will surely stick with it until the studio is complete and ever after! :) Cheers!

Hi there Andy, and Welcome! :) That's a really awkward shape you have there! Not easy at all to fit things in. But before you try fitting things in, you need to decide something else: Namely: "How much isolation do you need, in decibels?". Unless you know that, you cannot know how your walls will need to be built. Right now, for example, you are showing single doors on the rooms, implying that you won't get more than about 25 to 35 dB of isolation, max, which is roughly what a typical house wall gets... way short for the majority of studios! Good isolation requires two doors, back to back, with an air gap between them, and the same applies to the walls: the wall is built as two "leaves" with a gap between them. That takes up space. How much space it takes up depends on how much isolation you need...

a moderately quiet location (not much noise coming in from outside

... It doesn't rain in Serbia? No wind, thunder, hail? No trucks / cars / motor bikes driving around on nearby roads? No aircraft flying over? No helicopters? No sirens (ambulance, police, fire)? No people talking / radios playing / TV? No toilets flushing in the house? Water running? No phones ringing? No vacuum cleaner? Washer? Dryer? No doors opening/closing? No footsteps? All you have is total silence, all day, every day? :)

The floor of an entire place is made of ceramic tiles. I am not a 'technical person' but I think they're not very good for sound.

That's perfect! That's an excellent floor, acoustically. Your floor is done: you don't need anything else.

Therefore I've bought I thin but firm itison carpet to cover the whole area

Take it back and get a refund! That would trash your acoustic response in the rooms. It does the exact opposite of what you need for that room.

5) Well as of now, all I'm really interested in is getting advice on how to divide the room solely, therefore I think I've provided enough details.

First, don't make a square room! Take a look at the concept of "room mode calculators" and "room ratios" to find out why, and to come up with a good set of dimensions for your control room.. Right now, your room is almost square, which is about the worst possible shape (except for a cylinder... that's the worst of all). I would suggest trying a "corner control room" layout. I think it might fit that space better than the one you are showing. - Stuart -

Hey ! Thank you Stuart for your swift reply! Awkward shape it is, but it's what I've got and what I will have to deal with heh . It would be way easier to decide how to divide the regular shaped box room, but I have to make the best of this rhomboid of mine :) I was thinking about making the best out of my not-so-large room, and am truly dedicated to making it sound the best it can. So, the isolation is something I would deal with in my next 'stage' or 'phase' of the studio build. Your input is the treasure for me though. For now I need the idea and expert's suggestion(s) for dividing the space and making the control room, drum room and a small lounge room. I googled the concept of corner control room, and it looked pretty interesting! How do you think it might work? By putting/making the control room in the down-left corner, right? :) Can't stress enough how this info is important for me! Thank you ever so much!

So, the isolation is something I would deal with in my next 'stage' or 'phase' of the studio build.

Then you are going about the whole thing backwards! That's like deciding to buy a car, but first concentrating on the color of the floor mats and the type of transmission fluid it uses as your first priority , then saying "I'll deal with the number of people it can seat and the engine size at a later stage. First and most important is floor mats!"... :) There's a process to studio design, and it starts with isolation, purpose, occupancy, and equipment. If you do no know how much isolation you need, then you do not have one quarter of the basis for designing the studio. You should start by defining those things: How much isolation do you need? What is the purpose of the studio (full commercial, private hobby use only, a mix of the two? Tracking only? Tracking and mixing? Tracking mixing and mastering? For music release only, or also for cine work?) What occupancy do you expect in each room during a typical session (how many people in the live room, in the control room, in the vocal booth, in the lounge, etc.)? (That defines, for example, the capacity and size of the HVAC system that you will need) What equipment and instruments will you typically have in each room? For example, if you have certain speakers you might need to shape the room in certain ways and avoid others. If you have certain console type then you might need to have certain dimensions for the room to accommodate it. Etc.

I googled the concept of corner control room, and it looked pretty interesting! How do you think it might work? By putting/making the control room in the down-left corner,

Probably, yes. There are several examples of successful corner control rooms right here on the forum. Some completed, some under construction. But that's just one concept that might work for you. There are others too... Look around.... - Stuart -

I am probably misusing the terminology at certain points - so thank you for your corrections, although it'd be way easier for me if things went just the way I imagine it :) Well I assume that providing some extra details might help! *I will spending most of the time in the control room, mixing, mastering & creating using virtual instruments, so I would like to focus on that. **My current monitor speakers are Yamaha's HS80s, and as of monitoring, mixing & mastering, I am using fairly low values (sometimes overpowered by the typing sound on the keyboard). By the way, Yammys also have this useful 'Room control' feature, which enables you to cut out some of the lowest lows, depending on what room needs. *** Occupancy - definitely a great point I've failed to consider before as such. Thanks for pointing that out! Since I want to gain three rooms at such space, I don't think many people will be able to fit comfortably. I am thinking probably two per room max? That is two in the tracking (drum) room, two for lounge and eventually three in the control room, top. Realistic? **** HVAC? I definitely want to breathe so this is definitely an important point, that I won't allow to be neglected Still would like to fit in a drum room somehow, that could also be used for some basic single-to-two-men tracking (vocals, guitar amps...). 5* As of instruments I plan to have in, well, I am definitely going to have a lot of Guitars hanging around (basses as well). I am not looking to make a chaotic mess in such small place though; definitely a hybrid mixer so I could have the best of both worlds; moderately large MIDI keyboard (control room). As for the tracking room, I would LOVE to place a standard drumset in it! Besides that, vocals could probably be recorded in it, or guitar amps, for instance. Not more than two people at the same time, as stated above. Finally, all I want is to divide the given space into three rooms. I hope these new details might help in suggesting the solution? Thank you for your replies Soundman2020! Feels really good to be able to share the dilemmas and gain help from someone like you who is way more knowledgeable on the topic! I am just at the beginning of the process, so I hope I will learn something, and be able to help others too! :shot:

Well I assume that providing some extra details might help!

You still didn't provide the most important one! "How much isolation do you need, in decibels?" Without that, there's no basic initial point to start from. It's all guess work.

*I will spending most of the time in the control room, mixing, mastering & creating using virtual instruments, so I would like to focus on that.

Fine, but how much noise do you make in there, and how quiet does it have to be outside? And also: how noisy is the area outside, and how quite do you need that to be inside?

By the way, Yammys also have this useful 'Room control' feature, which enables you to cut out some of the lowest lows, depending on what room needs.

Pretty much all studio monitors have bass roll off and other controls on the rear panel, that provide some limited control. But they are not mean for "what the room needs". They are meant for "where you place the speakers in the room".

Still would like to fit in a drum room somehow, that could also be used for some basic single-to-two-men tracking (vocals, guitar amps...).

So at least we know that you are going to be "loud". Now all we need is a number! :) How loud will you be? And how quite does that have to be outside?

Finally, all I want is to divide the given space into three rooms. I hope these new details might help in suggesting the solution?

They help a bit, but still don't provide a starting point, which is "How much isolation do you need?". - Stuart -