Designing My New Studio

Hi all, I am relatively new to this site, and recently started a post under the Studio Construction section. Its titled "Please Help me - Building My Studio With Noise Isolation! ;)" Anyway, the post has got to the point where it was recommended that I start a post on here, under Studio Design, so that maybe John or others with experience can see my latest drawing (which there have been many of thus far) and then slap me with a reality check and say "No, this is how you want to design it". :lol: I am basically adding a 24ft by 30ft addition to my garage on my house. I wont repeat all the details as I tend to get long winded on here, but all the details are already posted on the other thread under Studio Construction if you would just maybe check it out there. http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6591 My question is,,,base on the factors I have to deal with (the neighbors being only 20ft away) what would be the best design for my studio? Am I on the right track?? Or what would be better? I will attach the latest drawing I have (and I am not an artist so the drawing might be lame) but you can get the idea of what I am looking at. Any input, suggestions or examples or advice would be a great help. Knock knock,,,,John,,,,you out there? :lol: :lol: This site has been such an asset. Thanks again Aj

Aj - how about this layout? cheers John

See, Aj? I told you! "Magic!" 8) "Look, ma' -- no parallels!" :D --Keith :mrgreen:

WOW,,, :D I am likin it,,,alot!! Thanks John!! :wink: Couple quick questions,,, Since I will be also using the room to reherse a 6 piece band twice a week, is there any way to make the "live/Tracking" room bigger?? And maybe the Iso Booth and/or CR smaller?? Do I really need a spacious Iso Booth? I'll probably just use it as a vocal ISO booth. Nothing more. (I was figuring like a 3 or 4 ft by 3 or 4 ft closet booth, or is this a mistake???) Can the drums be centered in the room facing the CR window as they would be set up on stage playing out? Its usually easier this way for the other musicians. Looking at your design, that is 6 sliding doors needed?? :shock: :D and the one for the back (side C) looks like it will be installed upon building the room?? (wont that mess up the whole Iso factor for the neighbors) In the CR room, I will only need enough room for the guys to be in there listening to their tracks, but as far as a couch, the Florida room which is attached on Side D can be the place for them to go and chill out if need be. I think a couple chairs might be all I need in the CR>?? I like the new bathroom location. ;) In the CR, I probably wont have the surround sound set up yet. Can the size of the CR be reduced so the Tracking room is larger? I like how you designed the walls. Definetly will be using that. Is a 24X30 building going to be big enough for all this??? :? Ok..I gotta go out and mow lawn, or the wife will have a fit. I am on here reading all the time now, and the grass is still out there growin! lol ;) Thanks again, I owe you guys! Aj

Aj, I was thinking about your iso with the neighbors -- and I think it might be possible (though a bit pricey, but hey, it's only money) to do inoperable windows (no sliders, but framed so that windows can be replaced with sliders later) -- basically, the same type of thing you plan to do for your control room window. If you do it correctly (twin windows, one in each leaf, using laminated single-pane glass about 1/3 the thickness of the overall thickness of each leaf), you'll have great looking windows that will let in a lot of natural light (which is a sticky code requirement, by the way). For the big slider facing the outside, you could a wide but short window that's up pretty high -- say 5 or 6 feet wide and maybe < 2 feet tall, with the bottom of the window about 4 feet off the ground. Then, later, if you need to convert the room into non-studio purposes, you could remove the windows and the wall below them and around them, and drop in slider on the outer leaf. Let me know if you'd like me to sketch that up a bit (it may take me some time though). As far as the sliders between live room and iso booth go, I'm sure you can get away with conventional solid core wooden doors there, swinging on hinges. John likes designing with sliders, probably because of their ability to join rooms visually and the lack of swing that makes the floor space more usable. Although, come to think of it -- the nice thing about having the iso booth in its current configuration is that you could slide the doors open and, in theory, still rehearse as a six-piece band in one large room, kind of. The currently layout does offer that flexibility if you can think of it that way. 8) --Keith :mrgreen:

Keith, I like that windows idea. I am just afraid that having the glass there (under normal non-acoustical educated thinking like mine) that it would be a place for the sound to transmit straight through. (again, I dont know acoustics too well, so the normal thought would be it would pass through easier then the walls>?>?) Yes - No? If you have the time, and would be so kind as to draw up a sketch, that would absolutely be appreciated. ;) Anyway, I just had my first Bomb Drop a little while ago. :oops: The actual deed shows an angle on the lot between mine and my neighbors. I can still build, but I would have to go with the building as 18ft wide by 30ft (or 31ft) deep. (instead of 24ft wide) :evil: Is this going to ruin the whole above plan idea??? Or is that still enough room to do all this?? :shock: :oops: Man,,,when am I going to get to Version 3?? :lol: :lol: Thanks again, Aj

I believe glass can "keep up" with walls if the glass is one pane (not two -- very important) and is about 1/3 as thick as the wall leaf. So, in other words, if you're doing 3 layers of 5/8 drywall inside, then your window glass would need to be about 5/8" thick. :shock: What about moving the entire addition a few feet woards the Florida Room, eliminating that corridor altogether? Or extending it past 30 or 31 feet? (Or both?) --Keith :mrgreen:

I was planning on using the acid staind concrete floor for the floor in my studio. But I keep hearing "floating floor" for better Sound Isolation. Is the diagram below what you mean by a floating floor? Would it work better for sound isolation then just the concrete floor idea?? or wouldnt there be much difference?? Also in the diagram (if that IS the way to go) What do you suggest for the "hockey Puck type isolators between the concrete and the floor joists??? Is using the 2x4'.s lift going to be good enough?? (3 1/2" air space) Is 2 layers of OSB the way I want to go?? (and do I want to use OSB?) What floor covering would you recommend?? (thats affordable, and justified for a "home studio") Or....do I just stick with the acid staind concrete floor (which I really like) :wink: Here is my diagram as to what I think your explaning as to a floating floor>? :oops: Am I Close??? (and dont laugh too hard, remember I am new at this!!) :oops: :lol: Thanks again Aj

Isolated Foundation(s): If I were to isolate the foundation in the tracking room from the rest of the foundation, (the blue line below on the diagram) would that make any difference in stopping the sound from going outside as well?? Also, if so, I would assume I would use 2X8's to form up the gaps between the foundations for when the floor is being poured,,,then what?? Do I remove the 2x8's and leave an air gap there, OR, do they have something out there that I could make the forms out of, and then just keep in the floors without removing? (Like some isolation type material) I know the people hired to do the concrete work will also advise me, but I am just curious, and know you guys could lead me to the answers as well. Plus the concrete people dont know anythign reference the specialty of acoustics and studio engineering. And I have been reading and reading on here for answers. Some are just unclear to me, thats why I am asking so many maybe redundant questions. Thanks as always, Aj

Hey Aj, The "to float or not to float" question has been discussed here many times. Do some searches and you'll find some great stuff. In short, floating a floor can be effective if done correctly -- but doing it incorrectly (which is very common) can make matters worse. Rod's book discusses isolated slabs vs. floating concrete slabs (that's right -- floating a concrete slab on top of a concrete slab). In fact, it was Rod who pretty much convinced me to do an isolated slab in my project. Regarding the forms -- that is something I probably would have done differently if I had the benefit of Rod's book before I prepped for my pour. Rather than go into a lot of detail, I'll let you wait for the book and read about it yourself -- he's far more qualified to discuss it than I am anyway. ;-) As far as the "blue line" plan goes, you're close. you need to isolate your outer leaf from your inner leaf too... So you're actually looking at probably three pours -- one for the outer foundation (and perhaps the booth, foyer/sound lock, and bathroom at the same time), then the control room, then the live room. --Keith :mrgreen: