Need suggestions for building new studio.

[FullFreq]

I am putting together a studio inside an existing lockout that we are renting out. Basically I was looking for suggestions on the cheapest possible way to put this together. Extremely low budget. What kind of materials would be best for the price? Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated. I have put a sample of the layout I want to use.

[knightfly]

Hi, and welcome - first, could you edit your profile to include a location? Makes it easier to answer questions based on availability and naming customs for specific areas - for example, here on the West coast USA I believe your space would be called a rented storage space.

Next, we'd need more detail on the construction of the space as is before we could suggest ideas; also, what level of sound isolation do you have, if any; how much quieter do you need it to be;

finally, "extremely low budget" means "less than $25 million" to Bill Gates, and "less than one sack of redeemable soda cans" to someone pushing a shopping cart and holding a "will work for food" sign - we need to know what it means to YOU, specifically an amount you HOPE to do it for, and the absolute most you CAN spend if you HAVE to...

Don't be shy about long posts here - the devil is in the details, and without them you can't do much at all... Steve

[FullFreq]

Basically we're initially looking to spend $500-1,000 to somehow achieve what I have in the picture layout that I put up. Not sure what kind of materials we would need though.

Essentially we're looking to track drums in this space. So if that means soundproofing the drum room mostly or the opposite of soundproofing the control room mostly. Or if it's within our inital budget then to possibly do both.

We are currently inside a 24 hour lockout in Fullerton, and we're looking to build out that room to accomodate a recording setting. The room itself is not soundproofed at all from the adjacent studio spaces used by other bands. Although we're lucky in the the rooms next to us are rarely used as they are usually too big for most bands to afford.

So I'm not sure if it's even remotely possible given that layout of the current space we have right now.

[knightfly]

OK, budget is going to be a serious limitation but still may be doable depending on what is ALREADY there - the details are still not there, and that's what will make or break it. We need info like what are the walls made of, what do you see when you look up (specifically, as in you are going to build this, what do you put where, how big and how far apart are the materials, etc - if we can't "see" this place in our minds, there's no way we can help figure out what to change or add.

If your walls are already concrete block, it's a start (quite a few of these places are built that way) - if the walls are SOLID concrete, even better -

These kinds of details are necessary before anyone can tell you what you'll need to do and roughly what it will cost - also, all three dimensions of the space, what's the floor made of, EVERYTHING is significant when building sound proof construction... Steve

[FullFreq]

Ok. Well unfortunately the walls are pretty much just drywall from what I can tell. Except for the far end, which in the picture would be at the very top.

That wall is concrete brick all the way across. Like I said, it's not very soundproof from room to room. But, there are rarely other bands or people in the surrounding rooms which is a good thing considering.

As far as the ceiling, it's pretty high up. about 15 feet or so. There's no real ceiling, just the top of the building. There is forced air in this room so you can see the air vent at the top corner of the room.

The floor is concrete with carpet basicially.

From what I'm gathering, and our budget limitations we are probably looking to best build an iso booth that can accomodate drums, vocals, guitars and bass if needed. And actually building a control room.

My basic needs are to be able to track drums the best we can. It's not going to be a great place in the beginning, but that's ok. I just want to be able to hear the drums out of the monitors without hearing the actual kit too much.

[knightfly]

Sounds like you have a pretty good understanding of what you need so far - the drum room could also be used for a vocal booth, etc, in a pinch - so that would be a good isolated room to do. If you've not already done it, check out Aaron's floating floor thread and Carl's "complete section" thread, both located in the Reference Area page - also check out Dietcookie's "shed to studio" thread, with some minor mods this could work for you... Steve

[FullFreq]

Excellent. Thanks for the feedback.

[Joey-T]

I am extremely new to studio construction, so maybe I just don't understand, but... wouldn't it be desireable to be able to see the performers from the control room? Like a window between them? This may not be important to alot of people, but it is with my group of people. Visual clues that someone messed up in the control room is helpful when I'm behind the kit. I tend to tune out someone verbally communicating with me when I am thinking of the song. Just a thought.

[FullFreq]

What kind of material would be best for the walls as far as keeping sound inside that room? Cheapest yet effective mind you. lol

And if I could only build one full room, which one should I build. The isolation room where we would record drums, vocals, etc. Or the control room?

[knightfly]

Joey - You're right of course - but good isolation using glass gets real expensive real fast. For a low budget, temporary deal you're better off getting a couple of inexpensive surveilance cameras and monitors - the only holes through the walls would be for wires (caulk them) and the cost of one pane of heavy glass would buy 3 or 4 cameras and a couple of monitors. Not as sexy, but affordable...

FF, your questions are pretty well covered in the Reference Section under "complete section", started by Carl - I'm on the way to 12-hour night shifts so please check those threads out and I'll catch up tomorrow nite... Steve