Studio Layout Feedback, Akron, Ohio.

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum and definitely not my last. Currently I've acquired an empty 750 sq. ft. room [30 ft. long, 23.5 wide, with 10.5 ft. ceilings] in the Akron, Ohio area. The ceiling is finished with lighting already installed. Being that this room has been built in a corner of a large warehouse facility thats no longer in use, 2 of the walls [23.5 X 30 ft.] are block while the other two are constructed out of drywall. We're currently on a budget of between $500-$1000 for construction. Sound is not a problem being that there are no businesses in this building. I'm no architect by any means nor an acoustical engineer. This is all new to me as far as the construction end goes. Ive sketched out a layout of the studio as close to scale as possible: http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k73/j ... yout-1.jpg Being that most or if not all of you know more about studio construction than I do, could you offer any feedback [positive or negative please] about this layout. Also, I didn't include windows in the drawing, just doors. Hopefully this can give a rough idea of what we're looking to accomplish. Thanks!

if you can read the stickies about what to post, it will help. knowing your budget, location, etc is important. thanks!

i've edited my first post to make it more specific. hopefully the added info can produce feedback. with a $500-$1000 budget, im guessing we cant get TOO elaborate with the construction. please correct me if im wrong.

Aloha and welcome to the forum! :D Congrats on your studio build! Any chance you could please:

Edit your profile to include your location. This is very important, because this is a worldwide resource, and as such, material costs and availability vary widely. For example, masonry is cheaper than gypsum in some parts of the globe, whereas it's the exact opposite in other regions.

You'll probably get more of a response by doing so and this will really come in handy two or three posts down the road. It's also part of the forum guidelines. Thanks! :wink: What would also be helpful info for us is: Start your post with an overview of your goals and where you are in the process... Research? Planning? Construction already underway? Finished, and wanna know why it doesn't work? HOW LOUD are you, and how picky/loud are your neighbors? How close? This is subjective, so you will need to buy something like the Radio Shack Sound Level Meter Trust me, if you're recording/mixing music you should be using this ALWAYS, so it's not a waste of money. For music at typical mix levels, you want to use "C" weighting, slow. Include as much detail as possible about the existing construction. Having details about anatomy of your existing floor, walls, and ceiling is critical. In your searches of the forum, you'll likely find examples of the kinds of details that are needed, and you'll see that the quality and timeliness of the advice given are affected by the level of detail provided. Remember that acoustics is THREE DIMENSIONAL, not two - when you give dimensions, we need Length, Width, Height, plus any NON-parallel features of the room. Please resize as necessary to keep graphics UNDER 800 pixels, preferably under 700, wide; otherwise it forces people to scroll sideways to read every line of text. For more info, check out both of these links - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7572 http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231 While it may seem like a lot, it really does matter and helps us to better understand your needs and situation. Okay, now that we've got that information...in Rod Gervais’ book “Build it Like the Pros,” http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670 he points out both L.W.Sepmeyer’s & M.M. Louden’s formulas most widely used in professional studios worldwide. He also notes that the orders listed are (top to bottom) the first to third best ratios in both cases. L.W. Sepmeyer Height Width Length 1.00 1.14 1.39 10.5 x 11.10 x 14.6 1.00 1.28 1.54 1.00 1.60 2.33 M.M. Louden Height Width Length 1.00 1.40 1.90 10.5 x 14.7 x 19.9 1.00 1.30 1.90 1.00 1.50 2.10 Here's a quick Skp of what you've drawn so far with a few ideas. Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

with even a $1000 you probably cannot create much in such a large space so you may have to build in increments - start with the CR and a booth. caulk up gaps in the existing room, add some DIY acoustic treatments. if you had a larger budget you could potentially divide up the room like so.

Aloha, Very nice! Aloha 8)

Thanks so much gollfo for all of your help. Myself and a few of my friends are working hard to create this space. We agreed upon the idea of a corner control room with the booth in the top left corner [exactly like the one you drew up in sketchup] while leaving the rest of the area as a live room for now. Eventually we will build off of the control room and incorporate another booth. Hopefully with a budget of $1,000 we can get a good start on the control room and booth. Thanks again for your response.

thanks Kendale - glad you're back!. it will be tight on that budget so maybe a single wall with each drywall side isolated with rc-1 (or use steel framing), and using double-paned exterior (self-sealing) storm doors and windows. keep a bit left for acoustic treatments like the back of the CR and something in the live room.