look at this mess....can you help make it a cool studio?

Hi people been in the music thing all my life and still i have not been able to creat my own home studio! This is partly due to cost and time but in realaty i think i just don't understand construction or things like this at all!! worlds worst DIY...for real! i had a friend do me a plan but i never got all the info i needed so in the spirit of internet open scorcing would any one care to input on my studio adventure. i need to know all the detail so i can give it to a man that understands it and can build it on a realistic budget. Here are two rough plans 1)before (as it is now and for the past 7 yeasr) and 2) idea of how it migh be set up (but with no detail on how to build it i really need constructive input and hopefully some uk builders that have worked on either your projects or that you might know of for this sort of thing so that once i have a construction plan i can actually get it done. its all very daunting reading all this stuff about ply wood and rubber floors as for gypsum i though that was some discusting slimy stuff you see in porn movies :wink: i make music i can program computers and have a nack for what i do but i dont do construction or buildings my hands are fairy liquid soft (for hands that do dishes ) :? Its been 7 years living in my house and looking at this horrible room and trying to mix in it so years of substandard (in my opinion) mixes that could have been so much better have been due to my lack of knowledge and contacts in this area! so any ones help is an improvement on my situation please add your ideas or comments to my diagrams or create your owne from mine but dont get to technical on building stuff remember i make music and i cant even make a house of cards.. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<THE Important info>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The room is at the side of my house (attached to the house) but separated by a small L shaped corridor The room its self is on the ground floor (concrete) 169 W x 136 D and H 95 (all inches), two walls are external to the garden (single layer brick not cavity) and the other two wall are also single brick layer (I need to keep the patio doors but could lose the window if it improved the results) between this room and my house there is a corridor that gos round the room(L shape) between the room and the house which are 62 inches across the length of the room and 79 inches across the W of the room (see diagram) I could use some of the corridor for sound trapping if it made for better results (holes in the walls?) but I would need some corridor access to separate the room from my house [my wife keeps the freezer in the corridor :( ] I do not need to worry about neighbours regarding noise escaping through walls externally as my nearest neighbours is too far and I back onto fields (ceiling is just plasterboards onto the top floor joists though (so sound proofing would be needed there as I don't want to keep the kids awake if I am working late) I just really need to get the best sound clarity in the room for mixing dance/club music I must have bass clarity when mixing I have been trying for many years to get just one mix right and so far I have always failed (my own opinion) I have not selected any monitoring equipment yet but I do have all other studio equipment / Mac Mackie 32/8/2 mixing desk outboard equipment ect...

Here is a rough a friend sent me of how it might be layed out but how would insulation and stuff work where does it go, what sort of floor and what materials and how would i stop bass boom DOH! yeah but no but year but .... This is where i get totally vex'd and need help to create a real plan with all the detail inc materials how they are installed ect....

So i have spent many days going through this very good site and have learned a gret deal and actually feel quite confident with my progress and abilitys. for all those like me that are overwelmed by all this i must recomend this brilliant and very indepth explaination about sound and understanding how to tame it in a studio build it been posted already but so you dont need to spend days reading everything on this web board (i have still not finished yet) here it is www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html thanks to eathen for such a great and easy to understand explaination on so much that is needed to understand and how to acheve it when building a studio!! well done.. anyway i might never get a reply to my postings so i continue to plan on my own here is the sum of my knowledge so far and my new updated studio. I am stilkl hoping for some sound advice :wink: from some of you in the know but i am learing so much reading what has been offered to others in the build! any amendments or advice is welcome heres how my plan is progressing

So what's you're goal here, to have a nice sounding room? or to have a well isolated room that sounds good? I'm not an expert, but I see a couple of things odd here in this design. Firstly, you don't have a door to your vocal booth. Secondly, the gear in the wall hole doesn't seem deep enough. I think if you're looking for isolation, you should really reconsider some design issues though. You need a room-within-a-room design to isolate this structure from your house. What's your ceiling height?

Thanks for taking the time to input on this :) The ceiling height is 57 inches top to floor (this will get smaller if I am told to insulate the floor (to absorb sound). Floor I was going to make a raised floor with insulation to help absorb the bass but I am thinking that I need a wood floor to reflect some sounds and keep some life in the room? I need advice here what to do? as I am sure these two are contradictory Vocal room yes I should have added the door sorry :cry: it would not have been missed in the build though. What am I trying to achieve All I need to achieve is a clean mix room I am not bothered too much by sound pollution into the external corridor or garden I just want a flat room that works at high volume as well as low volume (I don't have neighbours) Bass traps I though by adding deeper bass traps using current door and knocking another into the opposite corner I could achieve a good area to trap bass. the rack depth could be made deeper if needed I won't have the really deep stuff like my Sony PCM 7010 DAT in there as those things will go around or under the mixer in shelves I was thinking about putting things like my nord rack and thin stuff in that area but I can adjust those things in the build. Its the sound clarity I am trying to achieve. Ceiling The ceiling will be insulated between the joists and then I will put some sort of sound isolation board on that and then a mix of reflective and absorbing curvy stricture hanging from it (any design or material advice there would be nice) I know I don't have much head room What I really need to know is will I be able to create a clean enough room that will be clear at the low ends and will my design for the bass traps stop the bass reflections using these corners (or is this idea all wrong?) and also if its a good way is there is any technical stuff that I should be doing when I build it to get the best out of what I am doing? size of box or size of hangers or materials best to use? Things are moving at a pace as I have already spoke to a builder today about the walls and doors but I really need some expert advice before I start :roll: all advice kindly welcome i mean to persue this project and get back in before the summer so i just need my design work cleaned up ! (Story of my life also in the mix!!)

Mark your problem is that you are working out of scale here's what your areas look like IN scale cheers john

Thanks John for this brilliant layout as always my problem is I don't have the expertise in the little things that make so much difference and your expert help making this room workable to the builder has helped greatly more than I can express. if you get a chance do you think you could check my (hopefully) final amended version (done in photoshop) I have re-measured the room and made changes to your design due to the reasons explained on the document Also if you or anyone else could just let me know that my idea to create the two bass traps in to the corridor area is a good idea as everything I have read so far tells me I should do it due to my main objective in the design is to dampen reflective bass sound in the room so I want to get as much bass absorbed into the traps as possible thus stopping as much reflection of bass back into the small room. bad (meaning good) Bass is what I always try to create in my tunez but it is the hardest thing to mix when you are hearing so many reflections and standing waves ect... So this is my main mission to hear clear bass from the speakers and not from the walls I recon I can sort the mids and highs with /reflective materials & insulation but bass I want to absorbed into corner traps and dampen as much as possible stopping much of it bouncing back into the room. After looking at your cad layout I relised I could open a main entrance door (currently blocked) so as to make the studio totally self contained from the house this way when my mates are around we don't have to go into the main house to get in to the studio and this will please the misses from bashing my ear about the place being a local hangout for me and me mates ;) (i can create my own lads den!!) John i would be so gratefull if you could give this one more amendment to make sure my additions are to scale on your cad program as I am confident I can give what you have done on cad to a builder and it can be sorted. I will post the project work as stages are progressed for others in my situation to gain from it! Also all UK people i will let you know where i scorce the materials from and the cost! Thanks again John your a diamond geezer! :D :P

I wouldn't bother with the tiny booth - just use the chillout area if you need a booth. cheers john

Thanks for all your help John If you could check my measurement in red as that was most recient onces although i doubt it will make a differenct to the builder i would rather i gave him a perfect to scale example but if you busy no worries as i am already more than pleased with your cad. also if anyone has any input on my bass traps idea or anything else they can offer as i will start this very soon. Just looking now for materials ect in the uk I live in essex inside the M25 london boarder so anyone that has good supliers please let me know. will start to post photos soon of build but i think i need to start a new post in the construction section i will provide link when i start ;) thanks all

Adding that extra 12" at the rear of the room would be a good idea - whynot just remove the lining and make the frame your rear wall with 12" of trapping space behind. cheers john

The problem which is not shown in this plan is that on my original bad drawing at the very top of this message board there was a door into the room (on the right bottom or drawing ). what I am in fact doing is not blocking that door but instead also creating another doorway on opposide side of the back wall and keeping the middle and top parts of the wall intact as its a main wall. The extra bass trap access will only be a door size either side going back into the corridor by 1 foot deep but with the extra studding wall being made into the control room as well this will create quite a deep recess. I intend to use hanging wood wrapped in insulation and hung from the ceiling beams to absorb as much vibration as possible I will keep each bass trap sealed from each other with the rack space in the middle (also inset into the wall at a tilted angle) . the whole studio rear wall will be re studded to create a new rear studio wall inside the room that will also be insulated. the photo shows clearly (i hope) what I am trying to do...hopefully :) I need help and advice on a dilema now on the floor and/or ceiling any advice would be nice. I need to know if its worth studing and insulating the floor as I am going to put thick wood flooring down either way but I am not worried about sound travelling out of the room (I am not trying to make a room inside a room) I just need advice on sound dampening inside the mix room. The problem is i have a bad heigh restriction so raising the floor will stop me treating the ciling...heres my dilema 1) should I make a floating floor frame and insulate it then put wood floor down or b) should I just put the wood floor down on the current concrete floor thus save height and make the ceiling more insulated with some sort of curve design to create good reflections and absorbstions? i dont think i have the height to do both and o am not sure i need to insulate the floor ? I think the ceiling will need as much treatment as i can give it it seems a more important factor I can not get over the fact that insulating the floor will create an absorber/dampner of sound but then putting wood over it will create a reflective material for sound (and remember I don't need to control noise pollution out of the room) I can not see the need to do the floor (at the expence of the ciling) but i want some support advice before i make a decision ? but the ceiling seems to me to need a real treatment and I don't have much head room for this especially if I raise the floor. any advice or even design ideas how the ceiling or floor should be would really help me here thanks Mark

I realose what you are doing with that rear wall- I'm suggesting you remove all the drywall and gain the extra 12" length across the whole back wall - you can still do your hangers but the room will be 12" deeper. cheers john

Hi John The dry wall i dont have or i am confused with the tearmonogy? that back wall is a main wall its holding up the upstairs? i can not remove it but i can creat a deeper area as described is it that wall you are sujesting i take out? i could propbally look into the possibility but i was hoping not to get involved in major structual work...i will as the builder what he thinks please any help on the floor and ciling would be apreciated also thanks again for taking the time to help

Mark - as I understand it you are building a new wall 1 foot further back (whih will narrow the hallway) which will have drywall on it. The existing wall doesn't need the drywall to stay up - the frame is what holds up the upper floor not the drywall. So I'm suggesting you take the drywall off the existing wall (leaving the bare framing) and put your hangers in the 1 foot cavity and cover with cloth. cheers john

Hi john sorry for delay in replying . The current back wall is brick and a support wall it can not come down i know the new 1 foot space behind will be a stud wall and that will be insulated and closed off with hanging bass traps inside it ( i asumed that to make the bass trap work i would have to box it in so i dont think you mean keep that stud wall open do you? see my very bad photo shop of what i am planning and let me know if you understand my thinking and if you have a better way. the angles are just rough and the closed back (1 foot) room will actually be deeper but i show it as closing the doors it will actually not be square let me know what you think thanks

The current back wall is brick

ah - that makes a difference. cheers john