MIDI Studio

I am ready to build a MIDI/recording studio from scratch right now. It will be 24' x 28' (outside dimension) This will be a pretty plain 2x6 insulated/drywalled structure with another 2x4 insulated room(s) built within. 10' ceiling height with some kind of suspended ceiling (not sure how to do that). I will probably be the only one in it 90% of the time. I play all of the instruments and need to have a design that works for one person. If separate rooms, I will need to be able to control the computer/recording from there. Most of my work is on keys, so I have an 88 key controller in front of me with another 61 key synth to the right. 4 other synths to setup. Multiple guitars & basses to hang-up. I will be sitting at the keyboard & playing/sequencing and mixing 80% of the time. All mixing/recording is automated on the computers. My main focus is trying to make everything ergonomic and accessible. I need a decent (not perfect) recording space for vocals, acoustic/electric guitar, sax, and drums and a decent (not perfect) mixing environment. I'm thinking about an all-in-one recording area just in case I need to record a band & a separate vocal booth. Like I said this is totally from scratch construction and I don't want to spend months on this design, I need to get in there and start writing again ASAP!!!! Have any of you seen a design posted here that might be a good place to start for me? Also maybe somebody could answer these questions: Is a 50A breaker from the 200A main house panel enough juice? Is there a reasonably priced panel/main power filter? How many breakers on the sub panel? How many outlets should I expect to put in this size studio? Thanks for any help at all.

First of all, review the guidelines for posting - edit your post accordingly: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231 Who will be doing the work? What is your budget? Will you be building on an existing foundation, or are you truly starting, "from scratch". How do you plan to heat & cool the space? Plumbing?

Sorry, I'll elaborate. I was hesitant to write too much... This is new custom building, concrete slab on grade. Not much grading required. 24' x 28' outside dimension. This building will sit 6'-7' away from the attached garage of my 2 story house with a cement walkway in-between. Before anybody asks; I can't move it any further away from the house. The power meter is directly across this future walkway and I should only need to run the power to my studio across this 6'-7' distance. I got an estimate from a builder that specializes in garage/shop buildings in this area to build this for $67,000 (tax incl). I am not crazy about this figure. I'm going to get some other estimates. However I like this guy and he seems like a real straight-shooter. Initial conversation with this builder went well and he has made a (one) music studio building before. I discussed the basic concepts of sound isolation and building the room within a room and he seemed to understand the required construction. At least he wasn't like "Why do you want to do that?" Budget = $75,000 MAX. Any of you guys live in Seattle want to make some $ and help me work on this? Maybe I should have the shop/garage guy build/permit the shell and pay some specialists to come in and build the interior walls, wiring, etc? I am going to permit this as a shop instead of a "living space". I don't want this square footage added to my property taxes for my house unless absolutely necessary. I am going to live here for many years to come, and am not concerned about the future ramifications of heating/cooling and plumbing this under-the-radar of the state. While talking with this shop builder w/ 34 yrs experience he said that he could install the heat/cooling after the building had been inspected. It would be really nice to have a 1/2 bath in the studio, but I need to find out how much extra this will cost. This builder has roughed-in plumbing and hidden the pipes from the inspectors view w/ knockouts before... His bid did not include any heating/cooling or plumbing. I need to read more on how best to cool the space. If I can get away with a window AC unit or something more affordable, that's what I need to do. It doesn't get that hot here and I'm thinking that most of the time I could get away with somehow just bringing in fresh (filtered) air; not necessarily AC. Heating could be cheap baseboard electric heaters (and all my equipment). His estimate of $67,000 was for a 24' x 28', 2x6 exterior, R19, 5/8" unfinished drywall with another insulated 2x4 w/ 5/8" wall built 1"-2" inside the exterior wall. Four 2' x 2' windows in a row along the top front and four identical along the back of the studio. He mentioned the option of installing triple-pane windows. Does triple-pane add any STC? I was thinking about either putting identical windows on the exterior wall and interior wall, or putting "fake" windows in the front and putting some little lights around behind them to give the appearance of regular windows, but my wife didn't seem to like that idea. The windows are necessary in front to match my house & garage style. On the opposite/back wall is where the sun actually comes in. So I would like to have natural light coming from that direction. A dormer w/ windows or skylight would accomplish natural light. Actually, I think a dormer with windows would give the studio a nice open feel w/ light. I bet it will cost much more and require more treatment and design challenges, but maybe it's worth it. Light is a precious commodity here in Seattle. The structure will need Hardie plank siding and custom 3' rock under the windows along the 28' front to match my house. These two requirements add to the cost of the building. Now, what I'm really looking for is a MIDI studio for a one-man-band situation with the ability to record a live band on occasion. I have read some of knightfly's posts and he sounds like me. I haven't seen any studios on this forum that look like what I am looking for. I have multiple computers running all kinds of software and I will use four 19" monitors. Most of the studios here have dedicated control rooms with couches etc. I want one space where I can write on my 88key and mixdown, and another space (or two) to record drums, vocals, guitar. Looking at the golden ratios, one of the rooms with a suspended ceiling (need to read more on this) down to 8'6'' and then the width would be 14' depth 22.5'. I want to get more into surround-sound mixing and video in the future. Any keyboardists/songwriter/producers out there to give me some tips on this type of studio design? My main focus is ergonomics and dealing with the wiring to all of the computers in a organized/accessible manner. I don't want to be climbing behind & underneath stuff anymore. I'm trying to learn Sketchup. Here's the basic size/shape with some stuff in there just to get an idea of the size of the space.

Here's 10' outer frame w/ 8'6" interior wall height and 2" between the walls. View from the front shows how the windows and rock need to look.

if you're building this from scratch - #1 get Rod's book on constructing your studio. also, don't put sheetrock in between the interior wall and exterior walls. you'll have a third leaf and less isolation than applying that same sheetrock to the interior wall instead. maybe if you angle the wall you can increase the CR space a bit and still have enough left for the live work.