Starting my studio, need advice

sdaf

Hi Jake, Where in Maine are you? I lived in Portland until about 3 weeks ago, now I live about a half hour outside of town.... Say more about how you will use this space.... MIDI production? Live recording of rock bands? What are your goals in terms of sound isolation? That's a pretty small space, I don't think you are going to want to have a separate control room that is so small. A one-room facility might work better for you.

dsfasdf

what's your budget? if you can photos and some details on existing construction etc. it will help. to have a live rock band playing 10' away from your neighbors (and not have them hear the band) will be very expensive. I'd leave it as a single room because you're only looking at 143 sqft which will be just enough space for the band and someone to record them... the double door would be nice to let people move equipment in and out but will be a problem for sound isolation.

I wouldn't bother making the entry door any larger than the largest point of entry to the basement itself. Dan Fitzpatrick originally planned for a single 36" door into his studio (a partial garage conversion), but then he realized that there was no point in having such a large door because the other two remaining doors leading into his garage (since he sacrificed his main garage door) were smaller than that... :roll: --Keith :mrgreen:

asdfads

first suggestion - you should get a RS sound level meter and have someone do a solid work out on the drum kit while you measure sound inside and out to find out how much isolation you need to meet with ordinances, neighbors, and people living in the house... if you have a bass amp handy, have the drummer and bassist play. those will be the hardest sounds to block. second - as shardward suggested, a smaller door will help, and isolation on the window (keeping in mind the permit process may require you to replace that window with an egress window since people will now be habitating the space - and they'll need air to breath - etc...) the $500 budget will be very tight as the sound meter and Rod's home studio construction book will cost you around $100 :-) and permits for construction will likely run another $100-200...

rods book is 40 bucks.

and the meter is about $50 + tax :-) so let's call it $92.65

WTF. As per the usual course, a kid comes in looking for some advice and the first thing he is told is "buy Rod's book". First let me say that I own "Rod's Book", and although useful, it IS NOT the bible people. It's Secondly, though it is obvious you can't do anything with a budget of $500, advising him to spend $100 on a book and a meter is just rediculous. "Rod's book" is going to be USELESS to a kid with a $500 ....oops......make that a $400 budget!

I think the best $100 one can spend in starting a project of virtually any budget is the sound meter and Rod's book. I suppose one could save the book money and spend a few months here, as I did (because Rod's book hadn't been published yet), to learn the fundamentals. The problem is, as usual, often people come into this forum and ask more questions than they attempt to answer on their own by searching and learning from the many threads full of valuable information here. One could argue that the cost of the education in time and money is less critical when budgets are small, but I disagree, because if the budget is small, then often, there's little margin of error in terms of being able to throw more money at the problem when it isn't solved. There will always be those who have small budgets, and there will always be those who don't follow through with the learning prescribed, and there will always be those who suffer both disadvantages... And I suppose there will always be those who think that preaching conservatism on these subjects is unreasonable and elitist. Oh, and it appears that Jake already has Rod's book, and it wasn't the "first thing" we told him. :roll: Whatever... --Keith :mrgreen: P.S.: There's more information about this project in this thread, which was moved to the Acoustics forum. I mention this to show that we're offering guidance to Jake on more fronts than just this one.

mickdoo22 - i recommend Rod's book primarily for the reason's Sharward noted and because it enables someone a better grasp of all the things to consider when defining what they can do with their budget. not many people want to overspend on a project, and certainly less if you have a limited budget. you could skip the $100 and put that into drywall and studs, and maybe you'll have constructed yourself a studio. otoh, if your expectations were a bit high, then you might consider doing the research and testing need to map out a plan for your studio. Armed with Rod's book and a meter, Jake will now be better able to measure his space and figure out how much isolation he needs, and understand what it might take to reach it. maybe the solution is to build a couple of decent isolation booths (equiped w/ the latest in tennis ball drum riser :-)) for the high volume stuff, and start saving money from the record sales and performance gigs to build the rest.

Yup... And I would think that if the required isolation as deduced by the meter was too much to achieve with the money that's left, then it's almost certain that adding the cost of the meter back into the budget would not solve the problem. And, I suppose, technically, one could consider returning the meter to the Radio Shack in its original packaging within howevermany days (30?) for a refund or store credit. Or, heck, the person could probably find a buyer right here on this forum. Mick, I appreciate that you have an eye out for the "little guy," and I readily acknowledge that such a point of view as expressed by you and others does balance the gold-plating that some of us sometimes gravitate towards and keeps us grounded in reality. However, we all need to practice sensitivity. :!: If I were to have a budget of around $500 and very little knowledge, then spending $100 of it on a good book and an instrument to measure sound levels would be the best $100 I could spend, because it would probably stop me from wasting the other $400. I would then be more educated and could put the $400 and my studio dream aside while I move on, perhaps saving my money over time so that one day I can build the studio of my dreams. --Keith :mrgreen: