John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi!
First time poster, so be gentle ☺
Thanks for a great forum! Its because of it I have started to feel an need for my own studio.
I´ve started to build a house on my property with the initially plan for one half to be a practice room/rehearsal space and the other a guest apartment.
Well, the house is up but the main-idea has changed, and now all of the building is going to be for music-purpose, and the idea is a large live room, and a CR. It will mostly be used as a production studio for me and my wife, recording grand piano, Hammond organ and vocals.
This is how the house looks at the moment:


Liveroom:


Looking in to the CR, in the back there will be a kitchen and a bathroom:


Standing in the Live room, looking in to the CR:


The studs doesnt need no be in the wall between the rooms, only the supporting beam in the middle is needed for the construction.

Here is a rough drawing:


Current Situation
My main issue right now is how to design the CR. The door and windows are there according to the first idea with the apartment (also the plumbing for the kitchen and bathroom)I´m thinking of removing the front door, and exchange it with windows instead (I could have the storage door as a entry door, or go trough the patio doors from the live-room). I like to have a lot of daylight in my rooms, more creative that way. At least during the dark winters in Sweden ☺
The house is isolated but no interior walls are built. The live room has a V-ceiling (ceiling with exposed ridge beam) with a height about 4,6meters. There is one beam supporting the ridgebeam (from the floor, in the middle of the house). The control room has a ceiling-height of 2,8 meters. The plumbing for the bathroom and kitchen, and the windows are there for the purpose of the apartment that was going to be built. I plan to keep the bathroom and kitchen, but I am open for the idea of moving some windows or doors for a better CR-layout.
I have been given two sliding glass doors (H:2,30m W: 2,18). They are heavy (250kg each) and has a lift-system (when you push down the handle, the door raises up and glides on a track, then when you close, it will sink down for a tight seal. The glass is two sheets of laminated glass of 7mm. I hope to incorporate them in the design (I always dreamt about a studio with a big sliding glass door between the rooms).

Maybe I can put them in the centre, and angle the walls from them? Like this:


Sound isolation
Closest neighbors are 150 meters away from me, and most of the recordings will be of a Grand piano and Hammond organ. I know that my week point is all of my windows.
I will get back with more information when I have measured my sound-output.
Ventilation
I am thinking of putting a HRV (heat recovery ventilator) system above the storage room, above the ceiling.
A floor heating system heats the house.

Budget/deadline
I have neither budget nor a deadline. At the moment I have roughly 40000$ for the interior walls and ceiling but I will save up for the next phase.

Grateful for all the input you may have.

Here is a link to the simple skp:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/miug8avac2mso ... 1.skp?dl=0

Best regards
Johan (MrHammond)


Sorry about hosting the pictures on dropbox, but I couldn´t upload. I got the message: It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image (tried different formats and sizes)

your studio is look like awesome.And all the very best for the good start.

Hi there Johan, and Welcome to the Forum!

It will mostly be used as a production studio for me and my wife, recording grand piano, Hammond organ and vocals.
This is how the house looks at the moment:

That's a very nice building for a studio, and in a beautiful setting too.

I have been given two sliding glass doors (H:2,30m W: 2,18). They are heavy (250kg each) and has a lift-system (when you push down the handle, the door raises up and glides on a track, then when you close, it will sink down for a tight seal. The glass is two sheets of laminated glass of 7mm. I hope to incorporate them in the design (I always dreamt about a studio with a big sliding glass door between the rooms).

Those will be excellent for the isolation door between the CR and LR. Not a problem to incorporate those.

Maybe I can put them in the centre, and angle the walls from them?

You could,but it might be uncomfortable to have the support pillar in the middle. There's no problem with that, acoustically, and it's actually a good solution, but I'm wondering if it would look strange...

I will get back with more information when I have measured my sound-output.

Also measure the ambient sound outside, and think about things like rain, hail, wind, thunder, aircraft flying overhead, vehicels on nearby roads, and other noises that you might not want to hear inside your studio, when you are recording. Try to measure or estimate how loud they are.

I am thinking of putting a HRV (heat recovery ventilator) system above the storage room, above the ceiling.
A floor heating system heats the house.

Both are good ideas, but you will probably also need either a central AHU or a mini-split unit in each room, to help with cooling, heating, dehumidifying, and just circulating air.

Budget/deadline
I have neither budget nor a deadline.

Your budget sounds reasonable, and having no deadline makes it a lot easier to take your time and do it right.

For your basic question: I would suggest that you design and build your control room as an RFZ-style room, with the sliding glass door centered in the front wall. RFZ gives you the best results for clean, clear sound from your speakers, with as little as possible room artifacts and room coloration, and it's fairly simple to get neutral sound in a room like that. You have the space and the budget to do it, and you could incorporate some of your windows into that, if it is designed carefully.

That would be my suggestion.



- Stuart -