new studio

Hi John, I have a 16' by 28" space i would like to build a studio with drum and vocal booth. could you give me some ideas as you have the experiance Thanks

You may want to take some time to read through the forum rules If you would like for someone to take the time and help you out sooner http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7572 Good luck

You might try having a look at some of John's designs, start here: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4206 In particular, his "garage 1" design could work within what you have: As well as possibly the corner design: Also, look around at some of the other designs in this sub-forum....

Hi all, Thanks for the reply. i think i will go for this design, http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/files ... ts_188.jpg but will have to reduce the length any sugesion thanks Ewell

Aloha and welcome to the forum, Hmmm, looks familiar somehow :wink: How tall are you ceilings? Aloha 8)

hi Kendale, the building has not been build yet I`am planing to start work in 3 weeks, i have this piece of land,i will try to make the best out of it i`am learning everyday on this forum,can you give me some guide thank god bless Ewell

Aloha, Perhaps something like this? (Based on the Ratty 7 design) Version 2 squeezes a little more room out for the live room. Here are a few helpful 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 The Very Efficient Carpenter: Basic Framing for Residential Construction by Larry Haun http://www.amazon.com/Very-Efficient-Ca ... 156158326X Be sure to check out the "Stickies" in each forum topic for more great info. Hope this helps, Aloha 8)

Philosophical question. I've seen many requests like this one, and the proposed design is almost always the same: carve a number of small rooms out of the available space, even if it results in tiny rooms. Not that the BBC is the final authority, but I think their 1500 cubic foot minimum is a reasonable rule. Very small rooms have serious modal problems, don't they? Sure, we can throw up a lot of absorption to attenuate the modal problems, but then we run the risk of creating a dead, unpleasant room. Why not start with a bigger space that will almost certainly have a better distribution of modal waves? I recently read the Gervais book, and it's interesting to me that he himself uses a larger single-room space, but he provides construction details for--the smaller multiple room plan! It just seems to me there are obvious acoustic advantages to constructing one 3600 cubic foot space as opposed to three 1200 cubic foot spaces. Am I missing something? Miles

That's a really good question, Miles. In general I agree, small rooms are to be avoided, though a "vocal booth" type of room that is small and dead and isolated can be useful in certain recording situations. After much thought I decided to go with one room in my 12x20x8 garage. Though I do think about adding a vocal booth a lot. I mostly record rock bands, and I pretty much always prefer to record the band in the same room. You usually get a better performance. With gobos and good mic placement you can get the best of both worlds: good isolation on close mics, and well-balanced room mics. Vocals are another story. I generally prefer to overdub vocals, which does require some isolation.

What about something like this (I suck at sketchup, so this is a quick 2D line drawing)....

Thanks now i`am starting to see things clearly.i have been working in very bad condition those eight years,with the minimum isolation and poor acoustic that`s why i don`t want to hurry,so i`am having all my time on the forum in order not to miss anything,may be most important thing is to give an idea what type of music we will be making. i will be recording some gospel songs ,like pop music we will also record our folk song we use hand drum 3 at least, shaker our own style,triangle and some acoustic guitars, at times last as i`am a jazz lover why not at times some jazz recording between my musician friends,why not. normally i use drum pad but i will try to get into acoustic drum.or have both i will not be able to take more land as i have to think about my family the second phase will be our home, thanks god my wife support me a lot on this project. may god bless you all guys on this forum,if you have not been there my future studio would not have had the standard it taking now. Ewell if any one would like to come on holiday here,no problem it`s not expensive ,i will treat you like a king.Mauritian are known for their hospitality etc

Aloha,

Philosophical question. I've seen many requests like this one, and the proposed design is almost always the same: carve a number of small rooms out of the available space, even if it results in tiny rooms. Not that the BBC is the final authority, but I think their 1500 cubic foot minimum is a reasonable rule. Very small rooms have serious modal problems, don't they? Sure, we can throw up a lot of absorption to attenuate the modal problems, but then we run the risk of creating a dead, unpleasant room. Why not start with a bigger space that will almost certainly have a better distribution of modal waves? I recently read the Gervais book, and it's interesting to me that he himself uses a larger single-room space, but he provides construction details for--the smaller multiple room plan! It just seems to me there are obvious acoustic advantages to constructing one 3600 cubic foot space as opposed to three 1200 cubic foot spaces. Am I missing something?

You know, that's a very good question, Miles. While I most certainly don't have the answer as to "why" or presume to speak for John and the others that are contributing to this forum, what I do know is that Ewell's request was for a design based on Ratty 7's, and so that is what I tried to do. Personally, I am happy for (and envy) those with larger studio environments. My reality however, is that I only have a rather small space, as do many of us here on this forum; as home studios often are. And having had to record bands in "one room" settings, my preference is to have a bit more isolation from the instruments being recorded - especially acoustic guitars, acoustic drums, and acoustic pianos - in order to hear the subtleties in mic choice and placement, and dynamic processing as necessary. If one were recording primarily MIDI or sampled instruments, a larger one room approach might be just fine. Ultimately, what we try to do here is take the design and construction principles that John, Knightfly, Rod, Glenn and others have shared, and incorporate them as much as is possible and within our means into our oftentimes modest settings in order to make the best of what we have available at the time. Wishing the best of success to all, regardless of your studio size. :wink: Aloha 8)

sorry.i will be using brick wall for separation, i have not decided what will be the height of the building;any idea from past experience?

I agree with Kendale - carving up a small space into multiple rooms is something to be done because of requirements not just because we can... 8) I think you'll find many folks here who use a single room because its easier, is open, and we don't need isolation... I have a single 18x26 bedroom/studio with peaked 14' ceilings and lots of angles - about 5000cf... if i were able to construct from scratch, I'd build something with 5000+ cubic feet. with 15' ceilings etc...

Very nicely put Gentlemen. Back soon, Regareds, Lou. 8)