John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum and have found the wealth of information here absolutely incredible! I have been reading as much as I can on the site in order to better equip myself for my first build.


Purpose

I just purchased my first home and my end goal is to build my first home studio. Right now I am in the research and planning stage. I'm currently trying to find a balance between what I want to achieve and what is possible to achieve.


Budget

For initial construction (framing, insulation, drywall, ventilation, etc.) I would like to keep things under $10k CAD if possible. Acoustic treatment and "finishing" the space will have a separate budget. If it can be done cheaper, great, but I feel like this budget is on the smaller side of things to begin with. I will be completing the majority of the labour myself and with the help of some skilled friends, so the budget is strictly for materials.


Sound Proofing Requirements

The loudest sounds I expect to be recording are drum sets (typically between 100 and 110 db). My hope would be that while someone is drumming in the house, the sound levels outside would not exceed 50 db if you were standing 6 feet from the house. I am aware this level of sound proofing may not be possible without extreme measures, if at all. If I can't achieve this level of sound proofing, I would like to get as close as possible.


Function of Space

In this studio I would like the ability to record a typical 4 to 5-piece band live. In a perfect world I would have a room for the drums, a vocal booth, two guitar amp isolation rooms, and a control room. I would love for the band members to all be able to stand in the same room (drum room) together while recording (except for the singer in the vocal booth). Given the size of space and budget I'm working with I am aware this is more than a bit of a pipe dream, but I'm curious to see how close to this I could get.


Space Information

The space I intend on converting into a studio is the unfinished portion of the basement of my house. One half of the basement is a finished rec room/living room; the other half will be renovated into a studio space. The floor is concrete and the outside walls are cinder blocks.

The room is 24' long, 11' 10" wide, and 7' 7" tall. There is currently an air duct (see pictures) that reduces the ceiling height towards one side of the room down to 6' 9". This duct is 5' wide.

The back of the room has a closet that is 4' 5" deep and is the same width as the room. I am perfectly content with taking out the closet and using it for more space, but there has been a sub floor (2.5" tall) added to the closet that I would prefer to leave in as it conceals some of the drainage system of the house. Also, one half of the width of this closet contains the main water shutoff for the house...so that portion of the closet would also need to be left intact.

The window is 3' 5" wide by 2' tall. In all honesty, I wouldn't be opposed to completely blocking off the window.

I could also add another 2' to 3' of length to the room if necessary by reducing the size of the adjacent furnace room, but I would prefer to avoid this unless it is necessary. If so, I can post updated measurements in about a week.

The measurements I have posted here are fairly accurate but I am aware they far from complete. I will be posting more detailed measurements in the next week or two. My hope in posting now is to start narrowing down what is and isn't possible in this space, not precise design at this time. I am also aware that due to the small size of this space, especially the low ceiling height, I will be faced with many limitations in the design of this space.


My Questions

With a space this size, is it possible to have a studio that can do this sort of "live off the floor" recording that I described? If so, what would be the most efficient use of space? If not, what would be the best alternative? Once I know what I can do with this space (and have my complete measurements) I can begin the design process.

How difficult will it be to achieve the level of soundproofing I'm aiming for? My plan is to use a two leaf design (two leaves separated by a 1" to 2" air gap, two 5/8" drywall layers with green glue, roxul safe n' sound insulation, putty pads for conduit boxes, acoustic caulking, custom ventilation, etc). Will this standard approach be adequate?

I'm certain I will have to replace the existing duct work in order to better contain sound as well as minimize the loss of ceiling height. The house already has both heating and central air running to this space. Since this room is going to be fairly air tight (if soundproofing goes as planned), should I be investigating an air exchange system or dedicated climate control solution for the studio?

All things considered, is there anything that I should be particularly mindful of when approaching this project?

For next time, did I properly adhere to the posting guidelines? I read everything I could find about posting and did my best to comply. I apologize if I missed anything.


Lastly...

THANKS! I appreciate the time and effort required of anyone to read this post and reply.

Hi there "zer0n9ne", and Welcome!

Great first post, by the way!

would like to keep things under $10k CAD if possible.

That's probably on the optimistic side of things! Studio building always costs more than you think it ever could, and far more than what you'd like it to cost.... You are looking at about 290 ft2, give or take. Call it 320, if you include the extra areas you mentioned. 10k spread around 320 ft2 works out to just $31 per square foot....

but I feel like this budget is on the smaller side of things to begin with.

Yep!

The loudest sounds I expect to be recording are drum sets (typically between 100 and 110 db).

Either your drummer plays quieter than most, or you aren't measuring correctly. Drums can easily hit 115 dBC played normally. But you also say that you want to record a full band, all at once, so I'd put your potential peak closer to 120 dB.

My hope would be that while someone is drumming in the house, the sound levels outside would not exceed 50 db if you were standing 6 feet from the house.

That's a reasonable goal, and is achievable. It's at the high end of "reasonable" and "achievable", to be sure, but it is possible.

One question: Is your basement all below ground level? Partly below ground? All above ground?

The room is 24' long, 11' 10" wide, and 7' 7" tall.

Ouch. Low ceiling.... Not so good.

reduces the ceiling height towards one side of the room down to 6' 9". This duct is 5' wide.

Double ouch! So half of the room width has an even lower ceiling, before you even start!

The back of the room has a closet that is 4' 5" deep and is the same width as the room. I am perfectly content with taking out the closet and using it for more space,

Yes! Consider using that area for one (or both) of your amp isl booths. What is on the other side of that wall at the back of the closet?

I could also add another 2' to 3' of length to the room if necessary by reducing the size of the adjacent furnace room,

Might be useful. By adding in the closet and 2' from the furnace room, that would give you a total footprint of 30 x 11.8 = 354 ft2.

In a perfect world I would have a room for the drums, a vocal booth, two guitar amp isolation rooms, and a control room.

With 350 ft2, I can see you fitting in all of that. Very cramped, yes, but possible. I have done a four-roomed studio in Canada in a space not much larger than yours, with a control room, live room, drum booth, and vocal booth. That's in a little over 420 ft2, but you don't want a live room, so what you want is do-able, probably, albeit very tight. Acoustics won't be fantastic in any of the rooms, due to the very low ceiling, but can still be usable. You will have to close-mic the drums and add ambience artificially, but that's a small price to pay.

The window is 3' 5" wide by 2' tall. In all honesty, I wouldn't be opposed to completely blocking off the window.

You might ot be able to do that. AFAIK, Canadian building code requires an alternate egress path from basements, and usually that is implemented as a window. Check your code to find out if you can remove that window.

With a space this size, is it possible to have a studio that can do this sort of "live off the floor" recording that I described?

Borderline, but possible.

If so, what would be the most efficient use of space?

Do an accurate diagram of the room, in SketchUp, showing the location of all the stuff you mention, including doors, windows, the furnace, the duct, the closet, anything else that cannot be moved, possible other locations for access doors, etc. Make it as accurate as you can. Based on that, we can help you decide where to put what.

How difficult will it be to achieve the level of soundproofing I'm aiming for?

It is probably achievable, but we'd need to know more about the existing construction, and what's on the other side of each of the surfaces around your room.

My plan is to use a two leaf design (two leaves separated by a 1" to 2" air gap, two 5/8" drywall layers with green glue, roxul safe n' sound insulation, putty pads for conduit boxes, acoustic caulking, custom ventilation, etc). Will this standard approach be adequate?

Yes, but you blew all of your budget around the point where you got to "Green Glue" in that list...

Also, by specifying "putty pads", you are implying that you plan to chop huge holes in your carefully designed and meticulously built isolation walls to put electrical boxes in... which introduces a whole bunch of potential failure points! It is far better to have one single electrical feed into the room, and distribute that to where it is needed with surface-mount systems.

I'm certain I will have to replace the existing duct work in order to better contain sound as well as minimize the loss of ceiling height.

You could soffit that in, then build your new inner-leaf ceiling below that, but it would be very low. What do those ducts feed? Is it possible to re-route those ducts outside of this area? If not, would it be possible to "turn them on edge", and run them vertically along the wall, instead of horizontally under the joists? That would make your room narrower, but at least you could have the full height available across the entire ceiling.

Since this room is going to be fairly air tight (if soundproofing goes as planned),

Make that "absolutely air-tight"! That's a basic prerequisite for isolation. If it is not air-tight, then it is not isolated. If air can get through, then so can sound.

should I be investigating an air exchange system or dedicated climate control solution for the studio?

At the very least, you will need silencer boxes on the sir supply duct to each room, and the exhaust air duct ("return" duct) leaving each room. Those take up a lot of space, so try to locate them outside of the studio area. You need high levels of isolation, so you will need one box on each leaf on each duct.... You will need to check that your current system is capable of handling the extra static pressure that the ducts and studio will impose: if not, you might need to add "booster" fans at some point. You will need to do all the usual HVAC calculations to get the air flow velocity and air flow rate correct for each room as well as keeping the static pressure within reasonable bounds, while also getting the insertion loss to the level you need. Lots of calculations going on here!

What's the humidity situation like where you live? For a live room with acoustic instruments, you'll need to keep that at around 40% all the time, regardless of the time of day, day of the year, room occupancy, temperature, etc. Does your current system achieve that? If not, then you will, indeed, need either a couple of mini-split systems (one for each room) or a single AHU to handle all the rooms, and possibly an ERV.

HVAC is a huge part of studio design. Far more than most people ever consider when they start. I often spend more time designing the VAC system than I do on all of the rest of a studio! This is an area where you need to pay lots of attention, plan very carefully. Any mistakes here, and not only is your isolation trashed, but you also have a studio that is uncomfortable to work in.

All things considered, is there anything that I should be particularly mindful of when approaching this project?

Yes: Everything! But particularly budget. 10k is very much on the low side for what you want to do. High levels of isolation, multiple rooms, re-routing existing HVAC, new HVAC, low ceilings.... I would seriously think about increasing your budget.

For next time, did I properly adhere to the posting guidelines?

- Stuart -

Thanks Stuart! I appreciate the quick and detailed response! I will definitely reevaluate my budget to see if I can increase it. I'm in the process of learning SketchUp now and hope to have something put together soon. As soon as I get my SketchUp model of the room done, I will be sure to post it.


Next week I will be able to get all of the exact measurements for the space. At that time I will work on completing my SketchUp model, then I will post. That should provide much more usable information. Thanks again for all the answers so far. It is already helping me plan my next moves. I really want to get the construction of the space right the first time if I can. Below are some answers to a couple of questions you had asked. Once completed, the SketchUp model should be able to answer the rest. Let me know if I missed anything.

One question: Is your basement all below ground level? Partly below ground? All above ground?

It is partially below ground level. I will measure to be sure, but I believe it is 6 feet underground with only just over a foot above ground level.

Yes! Consider using that area for one (or both) of your amp isl booths. What is on the other side of that wall at the back of the closet?

That was my original thought actually, just wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. Now I know! The back of the closet wall is cinder block. It is an outside wall. All of the walls in this space are outside walls with the exception of one wall, which is shared with a rec room/living room.

You could soffit that in, then build your new inner-leaf ceiling below that, but it would be very low. What do those ducts feed? Is it possible to re-route those ducts outside of this area? If not, would it be possible to "turn them on edge", and run them vertically along the wall, instead of horizontally under the joists?

Those ducts feed the entire house. I'm going to call in an HVAC guy to see about relocation options. It may be possible to run them through a wall...but I'm sure an HVAC specialist can give me a more definitive answer.

What's the humidity situation like where you live? For a live room with acoustic instruments, you'll need to keep that at around 40% all the time, regardless of the time of day, day of the year, room occupancy, temperature, etc. Does your current system achieve that?

The climate here can get pretty dry, especially in the winter. Fortunately, the current system in the house seems to be able to keep humidity around 40% fairly consistently (from what we saw in the home inspection and from the information I was able to get from the previous owners). I'm planning on setting up a hygrometer I have in that area of the house so I can see for sure. Definitely something I need to keep in mind when designing the HVAC.

Those ducts feed the entire house.

Bingo!

That implies that the furnace is on the other side of the house from where the air needs to go. So here's a curve ball for ya: Get the HVAC guy to quote for re-locating the furnace to the point where those ducts actually need to go, and eliminate the ducts through your room entirely!

Not sure if that is feasible, but it's worth looking into...


- Stuart -

This took a lot longer than I thought, sorry about that, but I finally finished my first Sketchup model ever! It's a great program and really easy to use, but apparently when it comes to 3D modelling I am a slow learner. lol. But in all seriousness, the measurements in this diagram are accurate.

The ceiling height represented in this model is where the bottom of the ceiling joists are located (with the exception of the ventilation which is also shown with the correct height). I didn't put any of the lighting in the model because I plan on replacing what's there and I have the ability to move it wherever needed. I did put the one good electrical outlet in the model for reference though. I could move this too.

The "stone" wall in the model is cinder block, all other walls are framed and have either drywall or wood panelling on them (which will need to be removed - the drywall/panelling, not the framing/studs). The floor is poured concrete with the exception of the small room at the back with the water main - this space has a wooden sub-floor.

Hopefully I didn't miss anything but if I did please let me know and I will make any adjustments necessary. If you have any questions or require additional information please let me know! Thanks again for taking the time to look this over!

So....last night I had my HVAC guy come over and create a plan for dealing with the duct work in this space. We decided that it was best to move all the duct work out of this space and into the next room. I have attached an updated SketchUp file reflecting the space after the move is complete. After we figure out how everything is going to be laid out, I'll be working with my HVAC guy to install a split system for heating and cooling as well as some sort of air exchange system.

This leads me to a couple of questions...

First, if I want to have a control room/critical listening space, a drum room, two guitar cab isolation booths and a vocal booth, what would be the most effective utilization of the space as far as layout is concerned? Keeping in mind my previously mentioned soundproofing requirements.

Secondly, would it be a better use of space to simply have a control room/critical listening space, a live room, and a vocal booth? For my own personal workflow, both this format and the previously mentioned one would work, but this approach (without the guitar isolation booths) would be my second choice.

Thoughts?