At My Wit's End!

Hello everyone, Ugh! I\'ve been trying to get some ideas together. I searched the internet and wound up overwhelming myself to the point of not knowing what I want . So hear I Am in need of some outside input. Here is what I've come up with, The only thing I'm not sure of is EVERYTHING! Ha HA. One thing that has to be considered is an "I" Beam that runs right down the center that is at 6' 7'' tall. The hardest part of the layout is the huge concrete pillar next to the stairs and the control room location. I've read posts here, at other web sites and in recording books that an entrance to the control room should not be in the midst of the recording enviroment (so I can Exit stage right, Right?) so not interfere with the musicians being recorded if anyone were to stop in. I have read through tons of the posts here and am in need of just some direction. Thanks, Tom

Al right, Since the last post I've read about angles, Can you tell? How am I doing? Tom

My first reaction is that the control room is in an strange place - you have to walk thru all studios to get to it. Why not have the rear wall of the control room backed onto the Large concrete wall at the base of the stairs. The studio would then be the existing drum room and the old control room area. The iso booths still exist and you enter the control room from the side rear. I'd draw it for you but I haven't the time as I've got a session to attend. cheers john

All right, I have a problem. The width of the control room with the correct angled walls pushes my monitors too close together. I would have to push my mix desk (6'x3') all the way to the front of the room against the wall. I read in posts that the splayed walls have to run behind the "sweet spot" of the engineer seat. I cannot expand past the 11' width of the room because of an I beam. I'm a little stuck :?: Any Ideas :) Tom

Hi John, I tried that in one of my first layouts and the issue was entering the studio area. With the control room moved to that wall it only left me with a minimal opening to enter the studio. I think it was something like 2 feet wide, hardly enough for musicians to get their gear in. Thanks for the input. Tom

Sure - but you could also have a large control room with glass doors across the front and you access the studio through the control room - better than the other way around. Also - what do you need in the bathroom - i see a toilet, shower and some other object - could you perhaps cut down there and offer studio access through the top section of the bathroom by cutting it down to the basics. cheers john

The other object in the bathroom is the sink. The bathroom is the last standing piece in the basement with some crazy plumbing contraption. I'm not adept with plumbing especially since the house in 50 years old. Regarding the larger control room: How safe is it to have musicians carry their gear around the mixer and other sensitive gear in the control room? I can hear it now "uh, I poked your soffit mounted monitors with a drum stick." If I made the room with parallel sides rotated the room to face up and used side wall absorbers instead of the splayed walls will the sound still be as good?

Mate - I'm over 50 years old and I don't mind anyone fixing my plumbing - bite the bullet - get a good plumber and you could build this. cheers john

Quite an intuition you have :mrgreen: . I love the design When I first thought about building the studio I thought about having a hallway where you put it but couldn't figure it out. So a few questions about a few things. In my first drawings I had the 2 isolation booths and an amp room due to the odd shape of my basement. I know I would need at least 1 Isolation booth for vocals. The music my ears are tuned to recording is acoustic, light rock, and world music (really loud :shock: drumming). So is there anything else I should consider with design except for the studio treatment? The only other thing I have a question about is an I beam in the control room will run across the control room where the mix desk and the chair meet 6' 6'' off the floor. I was going to wrap the beams in plaster board and install a drop celing 5 inches higher to keep some head room because I'm afraid of short celings, just kidding. ciao Tom

For your style of music (which I've engineered a lot of :) ) I'd have the drummer in the live room, singer in Iso 2 (with his amp in the amp room - no one ever wants to hear that :) ) The guitarist's amp in Iso 1 and standing in the live room with cans and the bass player DI either standing in the live room or in the control room (Their favourite place to be ) For the ceiling I'd try something like this cheers john

OK, I feel pretty good with the layout now :P . In the celing picture what is the light brown material above the blue cloth? ciao Tom

Timber rafters :0 cheers john

That's what I thought they were :D ! What threw me off was there were not any knots or grain. :)

I guess now I'm off to study :shock: the studio treatment for the various rooms. As I learn about designing the wall elevation and which walls should be wood slat and which just cloth covered should I still post designs in this thread or move to another Forum? ciao TOm

Well I've been off reading and I was thinking what a help this forum has been in designing. I want to thank John, Knightfly, and Barefoot for all your time spent teaching me and others the craft of studio building. I am grateful to be in company of so many soundfaring souls. Thank-you for donating your time. ciao Tom ZArtler

Yikes! I switched gears too early! I have overlooked a post in the basement and it is in the middle of the control room. Should I consult someone to try to relocate it, or is there a way around it?

Oh wow :shock: Tom - get in a structural engineer and see if you can put a steel beam across the whole span. I remember you mentioned that there was already a steel beam there - see if you can increase it's size and span across to the left wall. It's not hard to do and will save you having to compromise - that will be a really nice control room - wide and spacious - worth trying to save :):) cheers john

:? Well, I made the call to get the post taken care of. I guess we'll see what happens. In the mean time I've been reading and I'm not sure where to start with wall treatment. I suppose in the front end of the control room it will be slat wall and the rear of the control room would be insulated walls, cloth covered. On the right track? :P Ok, where I am not sure is the live room (where to place specific treatments dut to the shape of the room and the 2 parallel walls), isolation rooms, and amp room. I searched for posts regarding the iso and amp rooms but had no luck. :? Anyone have links to threads? Last thing which I have not researched yet, so you don't have to answer... The floors are concrete. The celing will be suspended. what to do with the floors.... ciao, Tom Pardon the boat load of questions, I have not written here in a while and I've been reading entirely too much :P .

:idea: Bright Ideas! :idea: I've decided to float a floor on magnets! :shock: "Ahhh..... No!" I hear coming from first star I saw tonight. Floor: I am going to ultra insulate above the drop celing to balance the hardness of the concrete and use some area throw rugs to tune the live room, I'm still not sure about wall treatment in this room. Amp room: Deader than my first hampster! :twisted: Cloth over insulated walls and carpeted floor. Isolation rooms: Scared like when I landed my first kiss :wink: Still not sure what to do. More to come laddys. ciao Tom

All right, How is this for a treatment design? :?: :P The 703 sections will be just 703 between studs, cloth covered. A OK or Nae ciao, Tom

Man, I'm hanging here. Should the rear of the control room also have diffusion as well as absorption? I've read a few posts that suggest it in a larger control room. ciao, Tom