new home construction

Hello all- I just joined this forum and am really excited to see how much valuable info there is on here. I'm building a new home in Texas on a 1 acre lot (big). As you can see from the image, I have set aside around 500 square feet (25x20) for a studio space. The ceiling is either 10 or 12 feet, whichever I designate. The way it's drawn currently was the architect's idea, so throw out the 6x16 control room. I would greatly appreciate some ideas on how I can best design this area to fit my needs. I will be recording loud music, I would say upwards of 100dB+. I will be recording drums and most other instruments in the live room. I have been considering a vocal booth, but am unsure of the benefits of having a booth versus recording vocals in the live room. I would like at least one decent sized window to see from the control room mixing position. The studio and my wife's office next door will utilize the same HVAC. The outside walls will be brick and mortar while all interior walls will be 1/2" sheetrock/plasterboard. Currently, the double wall is drawn into the design, but I don't think the design is optimal. I like the idea of having the doors both come from the hallway, but am willing to listen to any idea. The room is obviously on a concrete foundation with wood flooring. I am going to outfit this room with a Control 24 console desk that is 72" wide. I currently have KRK Rokit 5's with the Rokit 10 sub but plan to also use something like the Mackie HR824 with the sub when the studio is built. As for budget, the cost will be included in the home construction, so I would like to make the best room(s) possible for the best possible dollar figure. As for timing, I have a meeting with my architect on Wednesay, the 3rd to discuss changes to the overall plan. Once again, any help or suggestions anyone can give is greatly appreciated!

Aloha and welcome to the forum, Kevin Happy New Year and congrats on your build!

I would greatly appreciate some ideas on how I can best design this area to fit my needs.

Here's an excerpt from the SAE website to help you get started. Some of the questions you asked are covered in it. http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

So what size should a control room be? These days people are building bigger and bigger control rooms because so much happens in the control room now. Often the bass player and keyboard player actually sit in the control room. I often have the vocalist singing in the control room while the bed tracks go down, so a good size control room is a good idea. So many people think that you need a big studio and end up putting a poky little room at the end and call it a control room. I suggest that a control room ideally should be at least 6m x 5m with a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m (19.68480’ x 16.40400’ x 7.87292’). This size room means a good sized working area with space for the musos, friends and hangers on. Also because you don't want rear reflections to interfere it is better to start with a longer front to back dimension than the side to side dimension. i.e. 6m x 5m. The studio, on the other hand, requires a different set of considerations. The first to consider is do you want just one room or more? The trend nowadays is for more than one studio so that you can get isolation between players and different acoustics for each room. The acoustics you want for a live drum sound is totally different than you want for a vocal for example. I recommend at least 2 rooms. You can put drums in one, guitars in the other, keys , vocals and bass (DI) in the control room or maybe the band in one and the vocalist in the other. Getting separation between guitars and drums is usually OK in a good sized room but keeping them out of the vocal track is hard if they are all in the same room.

The ceiling is either 10 or 12 feet, whichever I designate.

Most of us here would love to have 12 foot ceilings. It allows the option to hang a few cloud absorbers or bass hangers and have a nice open feel. A search on the m-a-m principle (mass-air-mass) will help to give you an idea of how you're going to deal with isolation of your 100+ dB's. You will need alot of it to contain those dB's. BTW, how far away are your neighbors? Living space? Live room size - How many people/instruments will you be recording at one time? Iso Booth? - What kind of music will you be recording? (besides loud, that is. :wink:) I would recommend picking up Rod's book - Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros (Paperback) by Rod Gervais Here's some useful links - Reference Area – Useful Links – Steve Knightfly http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2125 SAE Institute Reference Material Center – John Sayers http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html DIY Wall Units – John Sayers http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros (Paperback) by Rod Gervais http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670 Useful Links IRC Gypsum Wall Boards Transmission Loss Data Report http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/fulltext/ir761/ir761.pdf 5.1 Surround Sound Guidelines http://content.grammy.com/PDFs/Recordin ... _1_Rec.pdf Looking forward to your build. Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Thanks Kendale! That was excellent reading material! Do you have any thoughts on drawing up a two room concept for the 25x20 room (live room and control room)? Is anybody willing to sketch something for me? I haven't downloaded sketchup yet, but I have absolutely no experience in using design software. Thanks, Kevin

Aloha Kevin,

Do you have any thoughts on drawing up a two room concept for the 25x20 room (live room and control room)? Is anybody willing to sketch something for me?

Gotta run, but I'll see what I can do tonight after work. Aloha 8)

I would do one large single room studio. This will do two things for you. It will lessen the phasing that you will have, recording with microphones in close proximity to your walls, and will allow you to have better bass response in your control room while mixing. Mixing in a small room is going to make your life and product crappy.

you could try one of John's designs on the SAE site which is probably more correct for your purposes than this one...

Aloha, Man, you work fast, Glenn! :D Kevin, regarding the space for your control room; does your plan read 16' x 6', and were you planning to setup facing the control room window? If so, that might be a little (alot, really) short - front to back. Any chance you could confirm that reading, as its a bit hard to tell from the pix, please? Aloha 8)

kendale wrote:

Aloha, Man, you work fast, Glenn! :D ... regarding the space for your control room; does your plan read 16' x 6', and were you planning to setup facing the control room window? If so, that might be a little (alot, really) short - front to back. Aloha 8)

I know the pic is really poor, but I haven't technically set the size of the control room yet. I am open for recommendations. In Rod's book on page 29, it talks about room modes and my ceiling is going to be 10 ft, not 12. So that means I could go with 14x19, 13x19 or 12.8x15.4 (all measurements in feet). I'm pretty sure I understand that correctly anyways. If you have another idea, let me know. Rod's book is great so far. Almost half way through. Thanks for the recommendations!

Aloha Kevin, Perhaps something like this? Aloha 8)

Aloha, A couple more... Aloha 8)

kendale wrote:

Aloha Kevin, Perhaps something like this? Aloha 8)

The Kevin Simmons 1.jpg is actually almost identical to what I had in mind. I do have two concerns that I'm sure you can address. 1) Would it be better to put a large-ish window in the wall b/w the control room and live room? 2) Is there a way to put a door in the control room to the right of the mixing position? The hallway is on that side and I was thinking (before I read Rod's book or joined this forum) it might eliminate some possibility of leakage. And how much do the sliding glass doors cost (ballpark figure is fine)? Thanks again for your work Kendale!!!!!

Aloha Kevin,

The Kevin Simmons 1.jpg is actually almost identical to what I had in mind.

Glad to hear it's on the right track. BTW, jpgs #2, 3 & 4 are the same layout as #1, but from a different angle.)

1) Would it be better to put a large-ish window in the wall b/w the control room and live room?

Better? Well, that's up to you. :wink: It is possible, though. :) How would you prefer to address the access to the live room?

2) Is there a way to put a door in the control room to the right of the mixing position?

Yes. See new attachments.

And how much do the sliding glass doors cost (ballpark figure is fine)?

Doors & Windows - Courtesy of Steve (Knightfly) http://www.overly.com/doorCo/Education/Acoustical.cfm http://www.doors-ambico.com/s_acoustic.html http://www.overly.com/doorCo/Products/index.cfm http://www.silentsource.com/adoors-overly.htm http://www.soundcontrolroom.com/door_details.htm http://www.acousticalsolutions.com/prod ... l_kits.asp Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Kendale, What are the dimensions of the control room? And live room? I wasn't expecting to see the cost of a door to be between $2500 and $3500. That would consume a large part of my budget. Is there a way to put a window in the left wall and door in the right wall of the control room? Maybe I've been naive all along thinking I could build it with more cost efficiency than that...?? You've been very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to help me. Kevin

Aloha Kevin,

What are the dimensions of the control room? And live room?

Control room - 14' 8" x 12' Live room - 19' x 11' 9"

I wasn't expecting to see the cost of a door to be between $2500 and $3500.

Heh, heh, heh...crazy isn't it? :wink:

Is there a way to put a window in the left wall and door in the right wall of the control room?

Something like this?

Maybe I've been naive all along thinking I could build it with more cost efficiency than that...??

Now that you've got an idea of the "best case scenario" it's just a matter of finding a way to make it work with what resources you have available.

You've been very helpful! Thanks for taking the time to help me.

No worries! Just be sure to post a lot of pics as you go. :wink: Aloha 8)