HOME STUDIO FOR BRASS RECORDINGS

Hello to all!!! I am a freelance trombonist here in Miami, FL. Finally, I have received approval from my wife to build my home studio. :shock: :twisted: :D I record a lot of Latin, pop, commercial, Spanish rock, and Caribbean music around town. My goal is to make a small room that I have into a home studio for recording primarily brass, keyboards, guitars, and voices. I guess at times I will record some Latin percussion too. The gear that I have chosen to buy is as follows: Apple power Mac G5 2.3 GHz Diggi 002 rack Korg Triton 61 LE Mackie 824 or Event 20/20 monitors (undecided) AKG 414 (1) SM 57 (2) Any constructive criticism in regards to my choice of equipment is very welcome. My engineer friends in town helped me make up my mind on the gear for me to start up. My main issue is to maximize the potential of my mediocre room. Gear placement, monitor angles, and wall/ceiling treatments...I have created a spreadsheet with dimensions for your viewing. This is the most important part for me to achieve my goal. After browsing thru the internet for endless hours. I think that I found a place where I might find my answers... Thank you for reading and I am looking forward to your feedback. Take care, Nestor Z.

Nestor Z. wrote:

Finally, I have received approval from my wife to build my home studio. :shock: :twisted: :D

Wow, congratulations, Nestor! I'll bet the application and review process is brutal! ;)

I record a lot of Latin, pop, commercial, Spanish rock, and Caribbean music around town. My goal is to make a small room that I have into a home studio for recording primarily brass, keyboards, guitars, and voices. I guess at times I will record some Latin percussion too.

Talk about your isolation needs... How loud are you going to be, and how quiet does it have to be outside the space? Is this room on a ground floor? Is it a basement? Are the cinder blocks filled or hollow? If they are filled, what is the filling (sand, concrete, custard)? You may want to get a "real" drawing program. SmartDraw has many fans here. Drawing with a spreadsheet program is going to be very limiting for you as the project gets going!

After browsing thru the internet for endless hours. I think that I found a place where I might find my answers...

...where you will spend endless hours! ;) You'll want to learn as much as you can from all of the other threads here. :)

Hi Nestor- welcome to the forum - could you please update your profile and tell us where you are from. It's important that we know as you may be from Iceland. ;) Is this the shape of your room?? cheers john

John Sayers wrote:

Is this the shape of your room??

My chips are on "flat wall, semicircular window." :roll:

yeah - you are probably right :D cheers john

John and Sharward, Thanks for the quick reply guys!!! My room is on ground floor in the front of my townhouse. I think that the cinder blocks are hollow. When I pound the wall it sounds bass-y??? Boom-Boom :lol: There is only one wall that I share with a neighbor and it is the 10' wall at the bottom of the spreadsheet. I practice the trombone (which is pretty loud) towards the back of my town house at normal hours and nobody has complained as of yet...For my studio I know that I will be very tempted to lay down tracks at very late hours so it is important to somewhat sound proof the room a bit. The window is a half moon vertical-type, "flat-wall" not protruding like the above diagram shows. Asides from the room being almost square I think this is one of my biggest problems. I am trying to download the free version of Smartdraw but my connection is very slow right now...Maybe later??? Your input is very much appreciated. Thanks again and take care, Nestor Z.

Nestor Z. wrote:

I practice the trombone (which is pretty loud) towards the back of my town house at normal hours and nobody has complained as of yet...For my studio I know that I will be very tempted to lay down tracks at very late hours so it is important to somewhat sound proof the room a bit.

You'll probably need to post a detailed drawing (doesn't have to be beautiful, but does need to present all the pertinent facts) that depicts not only the room, but all of the layers of materials from outside to inside, including your neighbor's space. I predict having that party wall is going to make things very challenging for you. :roll: Cinder blocks are "OK" but not "great" in isolation in and of themselves, and the precise advice you'll be getting will depend largely on what is already there and what can be removed. I realize you're more in "room layout mode" rather than "soundproof construction" mode right now, but these facts may prove critical in the decision to locate certain loud things... Otherwise, you might end up painting "yourself into a corner" so-to-speak. OK, I've stirred things up enough for one day I think! :evil:

Double-post...Sorry. NZ

OK, That Smart Draw program and me are not understanding each other too well...I sketched the room the best that I coould so that you guys could possibly help me with some ideas... First off I want to say that I do not want this project to be too complicated of a process. I simply would appreciate suggestions on the best possible room lay out scenarios, and sound treatment to the window primarily then walls ceiling etc...Maybe one of those RealTrap mondo standing acoustic barriers or really heavy curtains will work??? This studio is never going to be like the prestigious Emilio Estefan Sony studios that I have recorded in. I accepted that when I first took the first steps down this road. The window that looks out to my truck in the parking lot and the wall that I share with my neighbor (it's the botom wall on the attachment) are my main concerns. I don't think that I need such extensive sound reduction since most of my work will be done on synths being heard thru monitors. I dont like to hear them toooo loud either. Moderate volume is fine for me. My live brass tracks could be recorded at earlier times maybe 80% of the time. Please help!!!!!!!!!!! I am going nutzzz!!! Take care, Nestor Z.

Nestor Z. wrote:

I don't think that I need such extensive sound reduction since most of my work will be done on synths being heard thru monitors. I dont like to hear them toooo loud either. Moderate volume is fine for me.

Can you define this more clearly in scientific terms (i.e., decibels)? Your definition of "moderate" may not matter. Is it your intent to (1) keep your neighbor's happy, or (2) stay within legal limits, or (3) both? I ask because both standards vary greatly, and even interpretations of each vary depending on who's doing the suffering/measuring. Consider this: Suppose that whatever you decide to do is acceptable to your current neighbor. Then, your neighbor moves out, and someone else moves in. That new neighbor takes offense to the situation, even though you haven't changed anything. Was "old" neighbor simply more tolerant of noise that most reasonable people would have found objectionable? Or is "new" neighbor overly sensitive? In my own case, my city's noise ordinances have both a touchy-feely subjective standard and an science-based objective standard. Your city's noise ordinances may be quite similar, as my understanding is that this "double-edged sword" is a common model. Note that noise ordinaces for single-family residential (houses) often varies from multi-family residential (apartments, condominiums, townhouses -- basically anything with common walls or floors) -- typically the latter is more strict. You also may be prohibited from making any structural changes to the wall that you and your neighbor share without a lot of homeowners' associaton red tape. That may not be a concern to you right now, since it seems that you're averse to doing any major construction anyway... But just in case you end up exploring that path, know ahead of time that you're going to have those obstacles, in addition to any building permits your municipality will require. If you know the sound levels that you expect to generate, and you know the sound levels you aim to "allow" to escape, then the difference between those numbers (at all frequencies) is the target transmission loss (a.k.a. "TL") you're hoping to achieve. Then, and I believe only then, can you receive specific advice on what means will be necessary to achieve that. You will also need to be extremely detailed in the construction characteristics of your existing walls, even if you have no intention of changing them. That information will be necessary in order to estimate the current "soundproofworthiness" of the situation (which, I predict, will be quite insufficient).

My live brass tracks could be recorded at earlier times maybe 80% of the time.

In my case, my municipality's ordinances are only slightly more forgiving between 7 AM and 10 PM (just five decibels).

Please help!!!!!!!!!!! I am going nutzzz!!!

I empathize, Nestor. This is challenging stuff, and there's a lot of fiction to sort from fact. At the end of the day, the more specific you can be about your goals, requirements, and limits, the more useful information you'll be able to receive. :)