some advice on dimensions please!!!

hi there, about to start building a new studio, so far i have an empty space of 10.5m x 9.2m x 5m high, anyone got any advice on the best possible way to divide this space?? i require, 1, control room that will be acousticly the best possible ratio (priority should go to this) 2, as big a live room as possible...like the idea of being able to do live recordings for full band 3, vocal booth good for v/o etc.. 4, room for video editing that can double as a computer room...just enough for 1 person to work in...(least priority being given to this room!!)... i would like some opinions on this as i must start the build immidiatly and would like to get the initial walls up... acoustic treatment will follow in about a month..... thanks in advance..... tris..

sounds like a nice space. could you post detailed measurements of the room dimensions including doors, windows, plumbing, structure, etc..? as well as a few words on type of music etc that may be relevant to isolation, acoustics, etc...

hey gullfo, thanks for the speedy response... basically it is a 10.5m x 9.2m corner in a very big warehouse so 2 brick walls (with 2 evenly spaced supporting pillars approx 3m apart built into the wall on each face...jutting out approx 1/2 foot) a 4ft thick concrete floor a very slight angled concrete roof... neighbors not a problem but there will be rehearsal rooms going into the remaining space so ill be wanting some isolation, and definatly an isolated c/r and vocal booth.. i have a builder friend who works installing office style acoustic walls..he has advised using the gypsum t.h.x system (which is used for dividing mutiplex cinemas over here) with the highest absorption rating filler...he can get quite a discount on it and has a 15% discount in most of the main hardware dealers here... so 2 of the walls will be made from this....somewhere (anyware) on the new 9.2m gypsum wall will be the entrance to my whole studio...the facility itself has toilets,kitchen and chill room so i don't need to include this in my studio space. the genres of music will vary from jazz to harcore punk to everything else, i would also like to cater for quartets etc... type of work,demos/albums/voice overs/solo artists/programming i need the live room to double as a rehearsal room/preproduction room, a vocal booth for v/o work and a small video editing room/computer room... i think priority should go to the control room as i want it to be a really nice mix room for other mix engineers to work in and to comfortably fit 6 people... i dont mind the idea of smaller iso booths in the live room for guitars etc but i like having space so maybe its better just keeping the live space as one big room???? hope that makes sense!!!! thanks again, tris...

sounds like the Quiet Solution THX certified wall paneling...

The patent-pending CPG composite technology in QuietRock QR-545 uses advanced viscoelastic polymers, ceramics and gypsum in a constrained 11-layer fabrication. The standard size 4' x 8' panels are manufactured by Quiet Solution at its Silicon Valley factory

the thing is THX "certified" is for a certain type of usage and construction and might not be as [cost] effective for a recording studio...

In addition to being tested by technicians at THX, the 1-3/8” panels were tested by globally recognized labs at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), which showed the industry’s highest ratings, approaching STC 80, for QuietRock QR-545. This level of acoustic isolation performance is unprecedented, exceeding other techniques by 20 decibels or more. Low frequency performance exceeds 50dB in the highest-rated assemblies. This performance is achieved in a drywall-like panel that hangs and finishes just like standard drywall.

that said, it sounds impressive and it would be great to actually see the report they are talking about... given nothing shows up when you search the www.nrc.org site... one concern is that once you reach a certain level in wall isolation, then structure borne sound transmission (flanking) becomes the prevalent source. so its good to consider expensive panels but also consider the structure, doors, windows, lighting, wires, etc that will penetrate the walls and how much it would cost to have proper isolation there... it may be less expensive to use several layers of 5/8" (16mm) drywall over metal or wood framing and use the saving to buy better quality doors and windows... i believe the QR is about $110 (in the US) per sheet whereas 5/8" drywall (in the US) is about $9 per sheet. you could easily get STC-63 walls using 5/8 drywall and its still less than 50% of the QR... just some thoughts...

thanks for the thoughts gullfo, my mate gets an extremely good price on this stuff, but i will show him your info. any ideas on best sizes for the c/r and live room...??? thanks, tris...

i would find a room ratio based on the 5m high ceiling that gives you a decent eigenmode distribution and sized w/ 6 people in mind. same for the live room. it will likely take a number of tries to find a good compromise.

thanks gullfo, again, hope i dont sound unappreciative but maybe the question should have been... have some cash, need basic studio designs, anyone interested???? empty room 10.5m x 9.2m x 5m high need 4 rooms 1 control room (enough to hold 6 people) 2 live room (big enough for 6 piece rock bands etc) 3 vocal booth (for v/o work) 4 video edit/computer room (enough for 1 person to work) anyone interested can contact me [removed] cheers, tris...

ok.. had a crack off sketch up,cool prog. so heres my initial drawing of a possible layout.....(pretty pleased,didn't realize it would be so spacious..) am i better off trying to keep everything symmetrical, or as irregular as possible..... ??? thinking of having a staggered ceiling which ill setup trying to use the golden ratios...(still have to work them out for the c/r and live/room!!) :lol: the main entrance door will be on the left side wall of the c/r. not sure if ill sacrifice the v/booth and vid/edit booth as i like the layout of the live room....hmmmm, maybe ill grab a bit of room off the lengths of the live room...(went a bit mad with all the 3d models!!!!!) any ideas or thoughts anyone???? cheers, tris...

i would put doors on the side walls to allow entry and visibility into the live space from the CR...