new studio space = blank slate

just ideas... i think for the small space, the v3 drawing is probably about as close as you can get. use the live room for tracking drums and put the bassist in the CR. I'd use a sliding door arrangement between rooms for maximum visibility. keep in mind the desk goes in the narrow end if the CR...

gullfo wrote:

just ideas... i think for the small space, the v3 drawing is probably about as close as you can get. use the live room for tracking drums and put the bassist in the CR. I'd use a sliding door arrangement between rooms for maximum visibility. keep in mind the desk goes in the narrow end if the CR...

Yes... I'm thinking so. Your help was quite valuable there. Your v3 is what my v5 is based on, of course, just with the whole thing flipped so as to allow the window in the control room instead of the tracking room. I also discovered that with a bit of creativity, I don't need the second leg of the L-shaped desk, giving me a bit more room at that narrower end of the room. As far as the sliding doors go, I was thinking exactly that. Not sure if a single double-paned thermal patio slider would work well enough, or if I would be better (given, too, that my wall is going to be about 9" thick), if I might be better to try to put two layers of sliding doors. Do you think that tracking room will be sufficient to mic up a drum kit properly, without making it sound like a shoebox? I'm hoping it will be fine, and will just require some simple room treatments to make it work. Chris

i'd go with double doors if its in your budget. if you lay a hardwood floor on the garage floor, you may also be able to get them flush with the floor as well. the live room will be about the right volume for a drum kit, and using slats and minimal absorption (you could consider reversible absorbers) will keep it lively. overhead a few clouds to break up floor-ceiling echos.

Thanks, Gullfo. I think I can pick up a couple patio sliders from a used place for pretty well on the cheap.... so long as they're in decent condition, I don't mind if they're used. Flooring is something I've been thinking a lot about. I expect "the book" will tell me quite a bit about it, but I'm contemplating framing in a sub-floor with 2x2's and running radiant heat - just a small electric hot water heater and a simple pump kind of thing. I've no thoughts at the moment for sure, but I was thinking hardwood in the live room and a carpet in the control room (minimizing reflections off the floor). Dunno if that is a good idea or not. Of course, framing in a subfloor adds extra challenges in terms of sound transference/containment. I'm of the impression that you can separate and insulate the walls all you want, but unless you do the same to the ceiling and floor, you're sort of working against yourself. I've found out about the ceiling clips and will investigate those further. Don't know if you can do the same on the floor or not. **edit - of course, you can't. Sound will travel along your joists unless you frame in a second floor above using the clips... [/edit] ** Or framing in each room's floor separately within each room..... ?? Thanks again! Chris

i think you want to avoid a floating floor effect but the radiant heating may work, although you're going to need air exchange and AC so maybe combine the heat and AC. the flooring: vapor shield (R-3?) on the concrete then 29/32" T&G subfloor and then the hardwood. you could split that floor between rooms. I'd do hardwood (or similar) all around and put in small carpets only if you need them - for example - such as under the console or one in the live room under the drummer...

Thanks, Gullfo! Just doing more reading around - especially in this forum, and you take the time to respond to everybody with patient advice, drawings, etc. That is really awesome. You're a very giving person. :D HVAC is something I really need to start thinking more about. I'm assuming that if I do a tongue and groove subfloor that radiant heating would be out of the question? I'd just use shims and what-not to get it level, right? It would certainly make for an easy floor, I'm thinking. Would it be expensive? Splitting the subfloor between rooms would prevent (well... minimize) sound transference along the floor to the outside of the room. Good idea. I often see laminate flooring on sale around here for pretty cheap. We did a room in my house here that we got it for 77 cents/sq ft. No problem with that kind of product, no? And then the issue of getting air circulation and maybe some A/C.... maybe there is an all-in-one unit that can be vented through the attic of the garage tying it together? (using flexible insulated ducting, etc.) Might be easier and cheaper than the radiant heat? This is an area that, as yet, I really know precious little about. Thanks! Chris

Okay... finally figuring out sketchup.... Here is roughly what it looks like, then, accounting for wall thickness. It has resulted in making the tracking room less than 7ft at its widest spot. Grrr... Does that still seem to be okay? Maybe it's just psychological, but 6'9" just sounds like a lot less than 7'3"... even if it is only 6". Chris

Aloha, Resized your pic to eliminate scrolling. You're getting closer. :D One thing to consider though, is keeping the symmetry in your control room as the side walls are two different angles. This will result in distorting your stereo imaging. Perhaps something like this? Aloha 8)

Aloha, Kendale! Sweet! That solves a bunch of problems! -gives me more space in tracking room -better symmetry in control room.... (having a tough time moving wall corners around in sketchup.... like after a while it's like I've committed myself and can't go back and change it. - yet can create a new rectangle in 3D, draw a line and stretch it, or move a corner, but can't go back and do the same thing to my studio drawing... grrr....) -somehow seems easier to build... straighter somehow. I have a feeling that soon, I'll be migrating my plan and questions over to the construction forum. I'm really a bit of a technical know-nothing, so this is kind of an ambitious DIY project for me, so I want to make sure I research it thoroughly before I actually start buying materials and swinging hammers, and cutting my hands off with saws.... :lol: Thanks! Chris

when using sketchup - build the basic space settings and create as group, save as a "template" file. this eliminates having to redo it later :-) then for each version, just open the template file, save it as Vxxx and you're ready to go. draw everything in 2D to get the floor plan. then extrude the walls and so on. sometimes, I group the 2D layout, put it on a new layer, duplicate it, then explode it. this way I can edit the layout copy or go back to a original 2D layout. plus if you start to add framing/construction details, you still have one of the 2D layouts for your construction permits later. I think the layout you have is workable. you should now start thinking about HVAC as air will be the next important aspect... ;-)

Hey Gullfo. Thanks a lot for your guidance in this process. The design has come a long way since my initial idea on pg. 1. Thanks also for the sketchup tips. I expect I'll be a pretty accomplished sketchup artist by the time this is done. :lol: I'm hoping "the book" will arrive today, and hoping it will give me plenty of reading material on HVAC in home studios. At the moment, I'm still contemplating the radiant heat idea with a simple framed subfloor. My brother-in-law suggested that straight tongue-and-groove - even with vapour barrier, might not allow for sufficient airflow under the floor to control moisture. (also, the garage being about 15-20 ft from the house would mean a pretty involved process of running gas out there for a small gas furnace, I expect) What would your thoughts on that be? If I do go the radiant heat route, I'm thinking of having an air intake in the fascia above the garage door, and blowing it in with a fan from there through ducting (flexible insulated type) in the attic to the two rooms for air circulation. For A/C - maybe just a portable room-type air conditioner that can be turned on/off at will. Really sketchy on those details at the moment. In fact, seems like the area that I have the least idea about at the moment. Ironically, one of the most important considerations of the whole design. It would really suck for my wife to find me dead in my new studio from suffocation. :lol: CT

i think the questions on the flooring/hvac/etc should be posted to the construction forum so Rod and Knightfly and others can look it over. be sure to give enough specifics on the moisture concerns.