Studio in a Container

Here's a link to a page I'm working on to post in the constuction site - I'm still waiting to get finished pics with all the gear in it etc. but as some of you are asking about the container studio I've put together a page for you. :D HERE cheers john

John, thanks for posting that! Came out fantastic, very interesting! I got a few questions if you don't mind: 1) How good is the isolation of the container? 2) What are the inner dimensions now? 3) How ist it sounding in there? 4) In your opinion, what are the "real" compromises and drawbacks when forced to build a studio in such a small space? 5) What is it used for...especially the booth! Would be great if you could adress these...great project to learn from. Thanks Florian

Well now Mark can work anytime of the day. The container is parked in his yard next to the house. If you stand outside it you can just hear some low end when the monitors are flat out (KRKs) but no problem for the neighbours etc. You can't hear the Aircon unit and the aircon worked a treat. It sounds very good response wise - the low end is clean and tight and the imaging very accurate - there's the proverbial low end lift at the rear where the couch is - the rooms too small and rectangular to stop that effect. Inside it doesn't feel at all claustraphobic. I was in there with Mark and Graham (the carpenter) and three was comfortable - any more would be pushing it IMO. Mark played me some acoustic guitar and vocals he recorded flat from the booth - sounded nice. no low end problems and not dead sounding. His wfe Bec has a great voice. He has a typical PC based setup , dual monitors and cubase SX and some nice mic pres. All in all - for someone who wants a movable unit - especially someone who rents - it has turned out to be good value, plus it fits on the back of a truck and can go anywhere. We are now considering adding a second unit with a live room :) cheers john

Thanks John! :D

really good trip ! I really love that can king of experience ! big up to you ! :D

did you fill the flooring with a spray-foam insulator, or cut out sheets of it?

They used cut strips of rigid fibreglass. cheers john

how much does a container cost? and how much cost everything togather?

Great idea! I saw a TV show on the BBC a while back, about unorthodox homes, here's the homepage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/guerri ... omes.shtml Some real useful links in there including contact info for container companies (UK only I'm afraid) Cheers Del

Here are some new finished pics. cheers john

Nice, I don't know what else to wtite about a studio in a container! :D Impressed; Andre

hey - with drums :) cheers john

I wonder how much it cost to build that... hmmm... Like 5- 10 g's probably?

Hey John, did you build those doors? If no, where did you get them? If yes, how did you build them? They look really cool and having the door with glass between the CR and the tracking room was a great idea. I always see big glass sliding doors in studio plans and wonder where people are getting those as well...

Hey John Are we able to purchase a copy of the plans for this? Regards Simon

Who here would jump at the chance to buy a copy of the container itself? (That's a serious question!)

I have just discovered this forum from recording.org and have been hunting around for info on building in a container for a while... and what do i find the top post here is? Fantastic! I have a 40ft container (yeah its big) that im building a studio and a speaker test chamber into. The container itsself is being extended width ways by 4ft (the standard width is far to small). I have a few questions.... a) The Aircon system... how did you run the ducts into the container? and how well does this perform with the doors closed and the sun beating down outside? b) Are your walls standard 2x4 frame with mineral fibre installed to provide the good insulation? I was planning to use 100mm mineral fibre, resiliant bars, and two layers of drywall sandwiching sheet block, or is that overkill? c) would you be intrested in pictures during construction and after? Thanks in advance Oli

I'm also interested in this, what was the total cost, and approximate amount of man-hours required?

This one was built in the smaller 20ft refrigerated version. It's lined inside with polyfoam and then a stainless steel inner lining. In the back end are two ports (for the original refridgeration units) through which we fed send and return ducts with a split system mounted on the rear. because it's the fridge version the aircon works very well. When you walk into it and it's been closed up the aircon has the rooms stable and full of fresh air within minutes. cheers john

http://www.sevenasset.co.uk/ http://www.boxtainer.co.uk/ two UK refrigerated container companies. A similar 20ft refrigerated unit would cost around 3 to 4.5k I've been looking at a possible portastudio for use in youthwork. I'm torn between using this or a converted bus unit. It's for moving around to 'troubled areas' to do work with the youth in those areas... The YMCA used non refrigerated units as POD's which were highly successful youth clubs that were basically dumped in a priority neighbourhood and used as a base to do youth work out of.. interesting concept.. nice results on the container btw. Paul

I was just curious how the drum sounds are in the container. This container is about the size of my garage and would be perfect. Take care, Doug

I'd like to know about how the drums sound in there as well. I have a couple containers that I could use, so hopefully I can save a bunch of money using one of them for a live room.

Hi John, Thanks for this forum. Was their any treatment or cloud on the ceiling? Was it 90 degree angles from the wall to the ceiling? I'm currently building this design (roughly) in a space in my loft. I'll be posting pics soon. What I'm building is slightly shorter, slightly taller, and no center wall/door as I'm recording myself most of the time.

The ceiling is made up of inside/out panels - the drywall is on the outside (top) of a 3" x 1" frame like this attached pic. cheers john

What a cool idea & if you ever move you can take your studio with you! Dave H :D