studio design from scratch

Hello all, this is my first post but not my first visit. I thank you all, especially John, for all the info and design ideas you have shared. On to my question about design. I live in New York city where renting a small commercial room would run around $600 and up per month. Since I use my studio mostly for personal projects, renting is not an option I can afford. Lucky for me, I have a kind mother who gave me permission to build a shed in the backyard. The area available for use is roughly 16' x 14'. So that all my work would not be in vain, I took a trip down to the local Building and Housing Department to get the specs on backyard sheds. These are the basic restrictions I am working with: 1) shed cannot be more than 120 square ft. 2) shed must be located at least three feet from property line (the area I am working with is outside this restriction.) 3) shed can be no higher than 7 1/2 ft. in height. As far as neighbors, I don't expect any problems with noise as I don't monitor or mix at high volumes. The house is located on a dead end street so there won't be too much outside noise to worry about except the occasional kids running around. I don't record live drums or instruments since all my work is done thru midi. I don't think I will need to construct double walls since I will be using 3/4" plywood as the outside shell covered in siding. The ground is all cement and level so I don't think there will be an issue of unstable ground. Here are my basic questions about the layout: 1) What dimesions should I consider 12'x10', 15'x8, or something in-between? 2) I would like a vocal booth but will sacrifice it for the sake of having a better sounding room I can mix in. I don't mind turning down the monitors and having the artist record vocals in the control room. 3) What type of roof should I construct? I was leaning towards a lean-to style where the higher side is 7' 1/2" and slopes down to the lower end which will be 7'. Or should I use a regular style barn roof with a high point in the middle at 7' 1/2" and the two side walls being 7'? 4) I plan on using a portable air conditioner to keep it cool in the summer and hope that the insulation and heat from equipment will keep it warm in the winter. 5) I plan on running 2 heavy duty extension cords from the garage since my main equipment will consist of 3 PC's running in a network supported by a few midi and efx pieces. 6) Should I include any windows? The room will most likely be occupied by my brother and myself most of the time except when we have 1 or 2 artist recording vocals. I was planning on putting a small sofa in the back. And I plan to build a custom desk to fit the dimensions of the room. If anyone has any ideas, I would greatly appreciate it. If someone could provide a simple sketch-up layout that would be great but I'll take anything at this point. Thank you in advance.

Similar undertaking, size-wise - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1589 I'd go for a single room, this is already tiny especially by the time you get acoustics working for you... Steve

Thanks for the link. I'm reading it but since it's an old thread some of the pics aren't loading. Did john delete them or is it just my connection? It sounds like this project is just what I was planning on doing. The pics he posted would definately come in handy. Also, I was wondering if going the 8'X15' was a better dimension to go with instead of the 10'X12' for mixing purposes? I'm not sure what the dimensions of a 2 seater couch are, but would going the 8x15 affect my corner baffles sizes? Another question, I noticed you stated that the roof pitch should be at least 4ft. if he was going to go with the lean-to design. Is there a reason for this? I am no sure if NYC regulations state that the wall height can't be greater than 7 1/2 ft or if the walls can't be greater than 7 1/2 ft. But going on the safe side, making the tallest peak 7 1/2' and the lowest side 7' would give me a pitch of only 6". Is this not allowed? Unlike the poster of the thread you linked, who planned on recording drums and live bass, I only plan on using soft synths and midi gear for sound, so sound level is controllable. If I chose to eliminate the floating floor and go with just the one floor with 2 layers of plywood, will the sound affect the mixing environment?

IF you let me know which pix you can't see, I'll check into it - So that height requirement is the TOTAL height, not just the walls? Bummer... Roof pitch - usually depends on the type of roof; a "flat roof" material wouldn't require any pitch at all, because it's designed to be waterproof. A shingled roof typically requires a 4/12 pitch, meaning for every foot of sideways (run) distance it must rise 4" - this would put the height difference at 15" from wall to peak, if it's a center-peaked roof, and 30" rise if it's a shed roof. Your height limitations would likely call for a flat roof material such as GAF Tri-Ply, or a hot-mopped tar (messy and kind of out-dated) - under those conditions, a slight slope would work fine. The reason I recommended such a pitch for Dietcookie is that he needed room for air conditioning (Southern California) so I designed his space with an overhead "chiller room" - using a standard window AC unit mounted in the gable end of the roof, then a flat ceiling, super-insulating the attic part and gently pulling the warm air up out of the main room and replacing it with cold air from the attic. With your height restrictions, this wouldn't be feasible unless you're either VERY short or confined to a wheelchair :cry: If you MUST have AC (summers on the east coast are brutal IMO (humidity/temp both) you might be able to add a separate "dog house", super-insulate it, and feed the main shed through sound-proofed ducting - or, since you're primarily MIDI based maybe just a normal unit with a heavy PLUG/cover for cooler, nighttime mixing without disturbing neighbors - Floor; you do NOT want a single-leaf floor, unless your shed will be built right on the concrete; otherwise, most of your sound will get out/in with little to stop it. Shape - 10 x 12 is modally better (and not quite so claustrophobic) than 8 x 15, which is too close to a 2:1 ratio between length and width. Most couches are about 3 feet deep; a 2-seater would be about 4-1/2 feet wide. Using a cloth upholstered one will SLIGHTLY increase bass trapping. Key word here is "slightly". IF your shed will be built directly on a concrete slab, you should plan on pouring at least a 12" high "stem wall" so your wall structure isn't sitting on flat, un-drained concrete; otherwise you'll have rot/mildew problems. Not sure what your local city codes have to say about that; it might be considered too "permanent" to be just a "shed". For what you want, double sheathed outer 2x4 frame with resilient mounted double-layer gypsum on the inside (ceiling to match) should keep the complaints to a minimum; mixing at 85 dB SPL inside that (with good door seals, etc) may not even be audible outside if there is ANY ambient noise at all... Steve

All the pics from the thread that dietcookie posted from his project don't load up. I can see all the diagrams both of you posted but no photos. In NYC, not sure elsewhere, we can use rolls of tar paper on our roofs with tar laid across the seams to limit the amount of tarring one has to do. Not sure if the GAF Tri-Ply you mention is the same material. As for air-conditioning, does anyone have experience with newer free standing units that you add water to and place inside a room? I use to engineer for Jam Master Jay of Run DMC fame and he had one that didn’t work too well. That was a few years back and I’m not sure how far the technology has advanced. I was also contemplating running a sound proofed duct along the bottom of a wall where I could connect an external AC and run and outside duct on top to serve as a hot air exit. But this is only if the stand alone units won’t cool the room enough. One plus I have working for me is that after 2:00 pm the house casts a shadow on the part of the backyard I plan to erect the shed. I hope this will help in keeping the shed cooler compared to the shed being exposed to direct sunlight. But I do have a dog house in the backyard that’s not being used that might come in handy if the need arises. One question I had that maybe someone can answer. Let’s say I use 4x4 main joists sitting on concrete blocks like dietcookie used, is there anything against making a false floor in between the joist 2” high and filling with rock wool. Then place a layer of plywood on top of the joist to serve as my first layer. Then build a second layer of joist 2”x 4” on top of the plywood to act as my main floor frame? Or can I just forget the second joist frame and just add a second layer of OBS to act as my second layer?