Yet Another New Studio | John Sayers’ Recording Studio Design Forum archive

Hello everyone, Name's Glenn, and I've been lurking here for over a year now. I've recently moved to a new property and will be building a new studio here. I had a very basic "basement studio" at my previous location I operated for several years and now I'm ready to do it right. I've read some Alton Everest, "Do it like the pros", and the famous Jeff Cooper "blue book". I figure I'll get John to make up final detailed plans for me, but thought 100 heads are better than 1 so I thought I'd ask you all for opinions. Please excuse any questions that may seem stupid. I've attached drawings of my new property. There's a main house, a garage, and a third "mother-in-law" type building (I'll call it the "cottage"). If you refer to the drawing, you'll see that the "cottage" is walled with 8" concrete block, and has had a 2x4 framed walk in closet that was added on at some point. There's also a small kitchen and bath. My intial idea is to use the main room as a lounge/tv/eating area and use the walk in closet as the studio office. So, the question is: how to build the studio around it. The second drawing is my first idea, so I'd love to hear what you all think. Obviously I've just added exterior walls. I shaded the walls I added in green. Let me point out a few things. Notice the ground slope. The entry to the garage and to the "cottage" are at the same level, which is the parking area level. The ground on the opposite side of the garage from the parking area is about 3 or 4 feet lower. The ground on the opposite side of the "cottage" from the parking area is about 2 or 3 feet lower. Both both have 8 foot ceilings. By the time you get to the lower left corner of the studio in the drawing the ground is about 7 feet below the parking area. If I end up with something like my drawing, I'm thinking I'll want all the studio rooms at a lower floor level than the "cottage" and garage or else I'll have to build up the lower left corner of the studio. Wouldn't it be better to "go into the ground" and use the lower left corner as the studio floor baseline? I also figure if I do it that way, I can have higher ceilings in the studio, but yet the roof lines will be generally even with the "cottage" and garage. So, if I do that, I will need some steps or a ramp from the "cottage" into the studio. I want my studio to sound "world class" for its size, and will consider anything to be "world class" for any size. I'd also like to be versatile. I'd like to be able to record a choir or small orchestral ensemble really well, yet I'll also be recording rock/pop/country. I've worked in lots of studios, and some just seem to "have it". And what makes a great, accurate control room? I especially like it when I mix at a studio, and it sounds great everywhere else I play it (cars, homes, etc.). Is there a little luck involved, or can one count on certain design/constuction techniques? I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Use the famous "ratios", add all the proper absorption/diffusion, everything. For completeness, I'll add that I'm on my own 5 acres in an urban area. There's a main road about 500 feet away. When inside my home, sometimes I can faintly hear a vehicle if it's really loud. My nearest neighbor is 150 feet away. The driveway in the drawing is only for me and him. I have a Sony MXP3036 console (about 8' x 4'), a Studer 2" 24 track, a Tascam MSR24, a Studer 2 track, a Pro Tools HD setup, and of course, a bunch of outboard stuff. I may consider an SSL/Neve console or the like at some point that might be longer than the Sony. Again, some of my questions might seem stupid. The great news is that I can do whatever I want! I have studied the material I mentioned above, but I just never read anything like "If you want a great studio, HERE'S WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST DO". And that's the main thing I want to know. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Many, many thanks in advance to all of you.... Glenn

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