800 sq ft studio layout inside garage - need critiques!

Hi all, Just joined the forum. I'm Tim Wasson, I live in the Houston, Texas, USA area. I'm 39 and a software engineer by trade. I'm in the research and design phase to build a recording studio in part of my 2300 sq ft garage. (yeah, everything's big in texas...) This studio will be a serious hobby, but not expected to be a full-blown commercial enterprise. The garage wall construction from outside in is: Tounge and groove wood siding 2x4 studs 1/2 inch drywall Garage ceiling construction from outside in is: One layer asphalt shingles 2x4 and 2x6 rafters and ceiling joists 1/2 inch drywall The studio will be constructed in the rear half of the garage. I live in a subdivision on a 3/4 acre lot, but garage is near the property line, so nearest neighbor is about 50 feet away. No trains, but 8 lane interstate freeway about 1/4 mile away (mostly white noise and truck exhaust) What I anticipate recording: Rock/jazz/country/folk bands Choirs up to about 30 people Radio commercials and jingles, announcement recordings Construction Budget: $2000 - $3000 Basic desires: I wanted a relatively large tracking room, symetrically shaped so that i can do true stereo recordings of small to medium size choirs and vocal groups with good results. I wanted a separate drum room to make it simpler to track an entire rock band at once, without too much drum bleed to other channels. Vocal room for commercials and announcements. Garage description: The garage area to be used for the studio rooms is 38 feet by 16 feet, with ceiling at 12.5 feet. There is an existing room in the garage which I want to use for the control room. Floor is 4 inch poured concrete. The back door of the garage is a flimsy multi-panel wooden door with glass in it. The big garage door is 22'x14', steel, uninsulated, gap at bottom. The attic area is vented. Studio Room Construction (basic double stud wall & ceiling: 2 layers 5/8" drywall (possibly green glue) 2x4 studs with R-13 unfaced fiberglass 3" air gap 2x4 studs with R-13 craft faced fiberglass (paper against drywall) 2 layers 5/8" drywall (possibly green glue) Ceilings similar but 2x6 instead of 2x4. Main tracking room & drum room to have 10 foot ceilings, 8ft in vocal booth. Studio Room treatments: To be determined. Electrical & lighting: To be determined. HVAC: Temporarily use some window units with some flexduct. Longer term, small ductless split units. Winter heating isn't an issue. I'm a DIY kinda guy, don't plan to contract out any work. Questions: Does the main tracking room seem big enough and shaped OK for acoustic vocal recordings? Does the double stud wall construction make sense in my garage? It looks to me like a 2-leaf inside a 2-leaf, or is the fact that the envelope of the garage is leaky make it not so relevant? General comments are welcome!

maybe something along these lines?

Hmm, that's an interesting idea. I had been thinking along the lines of building independent rooms in the garage space, and your idea really takes the entire space and uses all of it. What I really like about the plan: Much less wasted space because the hallway is gone. Additional isolation booth gives more flexibility. All the musicians can see each other more easily when using the iso rooms. The main live room is much larger! About 475 sq ft, and 5700 cubic feet! The buildout will probably take longer because there will be more demo and work involved in refitting the existing structure, although the result would be much nicer. In the meantime, I can probably add some simple treatments to the home theater room and use it as a tracking room temporarily for not-so-loud stuff... This will let me get something going quickly without having to blow a big wad of $$ immediately, and put me on a path to a *really* nice studio.

you could put in a window between the CR and theater room, glass doors on the theater room into the live room, and if you treat the theater correctly it becomes another space you can use...

Yes, that's a really good idea! Our oldest son will be off to college after this school year, so we can move the projector into his old room, and give the theater room over to the studio full-time at that point. In the meantime I can do some buildout on the larger area. I'm going to try to get sketchup working this weekend, and do up a little plan. Thanks! Tim