Planning Home Studio/Theater Hybrid

[Alastico]

Hi Guys,

I'm starting to build my new house, we are on removing the trees and working on terrain phase yet but all the house project is done and I reserved a big space for this studio...

As a home studio, I'm pretending to have one smaller mixing room and one bigger room that will serve as Recording room with "stage disposal" AND a home theater together (with projector and everything else).

Said that, HT and Live will be separated by a curtain, so when the curtain is open, we can see both "rooms" and change the seats location to get more space, and when the curtain is closed, only the home theater is visible (the idea is better on the images/plan below)...

This house/studio is on a very quiet area but with neighbours around that I dont want to disturb, so i'm pretending to reduce as maximun as i can the Live Room... last time i checked on a reheasing was near 110-115db on a 35m2... For mixing room, i usually mix at 85-90dbs... not too loud...

I Attached an image with the floor plan as it is on house plan, and my first idea of design (all with measures)... i'm working in some 3d rendering to get better perspectives too...

About the budget, i'm thinking about $ 30,000 USD equivalent (i'm in Brazil, so different currency here, everything waaay more expensive)

So, i'll be very grateful if you guys could give me some suggestions, ideas and help me with this project studio...

If i missed some information, please let me know... aand, sorry for my english mistakes...

*Forgot to mention, the gray walls on second image is Structured walls that cannot be moved. It will be large bricks filled with sand or concrete...

[Soundman2020]

Hi there "Alastico", and Welcome!

I Attached an image with the floor plan as it is on house plan, and my first idea of design

I would suggest that you rotate the oriantation of your Home Theater section 90°, and also move it down to where the drums are right now, for a very simple reason: symmetry. Just like for a control room, it is very important to have symmetry in your HT. Right now, you have the left side of the room up against a wall, and the right side of the room adjacent to a large empty cavity.... the two sides of the room will sound very different, acoustically.

So I would put the HT screen at the bottom of your diagram, on the wall labeled "6800mm", with the speakers and chairs arranged symmetrically there, and move the drums up to where the HT is right now. That would also give you much better visibility between teh control room and the live room, without all the theater seats in the way. In addition, it allows to do the acoustic treatment that is necessary for a Home Theater, without that affecting the live room or visibility into the CR.

Next: Is there a reason why the rear end of the control room suddenly narrows down? That's usually a bad idea for a control room, and should be avoided if possible. Normally, the control room is wider at the back than at the front, not narrower. Or at least it should be the same width. So if you can fix that, then I would certainly do it.

i'm in Brazil, so different currency here, everything waaay more expensive

Yup! Especially São Paulo! In Rio some things seem to be a bit cheaper, but still expensive.... It's been a while since I was last in São Paulo, and I love the food! But not the prices.... There's nothing better than going to a good rodizio or churrascaria, with plenty of nice succulent picanha, and a delicious cool caipirinha... or two! Probably the best meal in the world... But certainly not cheap!

Anyway, back to your studio:

*Forgot to mention, the gray walls on second image is Structured walls that cannot be moved.

But are those walls already built? If not, it might be a good idea to change some of them....


- Stuart -

[Alastico]

Hey Stuart!!

Thank you for your reply!! Really nice point of view!!

Here are some considerations:

Right now, you have the left side of the room up against a wall, and the right side of the room adjacent to a large empty cavity....

Even with a heavy curtain "separating" both rooms?? I did a fast render of HT room for you to see better the idea...

ht render resized.jpg

That would also give you much better visibility between teh control room and the live room, without all the theater seats in the way

At first, I positioned the Drum near the Control Room window (right where is the back seats right now), but i though that i might lost a lot of visibility from the other musicians... from the control room appeared that i will only see the drum and the screen on the other side of the room... That's why i design all this way

Also, the front row seat can be moved away when not using HT or when recording/playing...

Cr live view resized.jpg

But I liked your idea, I'll do some more drawings in this way to think better and post here after!

Is there a reason why the rear end of the control room suddenly narrows down?

I narrowed it because of the gray wall on the right side of the image (the one with 3000mm) that can't be moved, so i made a locker/storage on the other side to compensate the difference and try to make it more symetric... An option would be closing where those red absorbers are, and make a third room/both there, but the mixing room will be smaller and in a square format (4.6m x 4.4m).

cr back resized.jpg

But are those walls already built? If not, it might be a good idea to change some of them...

Not built yet, but the engineer told me that those walls are critical.
The studio will be on -1 floor and house will be upon those wall, so moving it is a little complicate but i can try! I just don't see what it can be made with the walls to get better...

** Disconsider the colors and the equipment on 3Ds, it was just to have an idea...

It's been a while since I was last in São Paulo

Really??
Nice to know that you have been here and liked!!
Caipirinha is our specialty drink, everyone loves it and food is really amazing as well (don't tell me, i'm on a Diet..hahahaha)
You came here for Work or Vacation? Planning to come back again on future?


Again, thanks a lot for all! I Really enjoyed!!

- Leo Alastico -

[Soundman2020]

Even with a heavy curtain "separating" both rooms??

Yes. Even with a curtain. Curtains have very little mass and density compared to drywall, brick, concrete, or whatever it is that you plan to use for the inner-leaf wall. A typical velour curtain weighs maybe 2 or 3 kg/m2. A typical studio wall is about 10 to 100 times as heavy. Even a single layer of 16mm drywall is around 6 times that much (roughly 12 kg/m2). There's just no mass there, and mass is what you need to deal with low frequencies (long wavelengths).

Also, curtains do not seal the room air-tight like studio walls always do, curtains are soft and porous, not hard, rigid, massive, like studio walls are. Etc.

At first, I positioned the Drum near the Control Room window (right where is the back seats right now), but i though that i might lost a lot of visibility from the other musicians...

Getting good sight lines is often hard to do, but with good design of the mix position, windows, soffits and general room geometry, it should not be a problem.

By the way, I noticed from your render that you are making the mistake of angling the glass in your window: That is not necessary, and can make things worse, not better. It's a myth that you need to do that for acoustic reasons. Here's why:

angled-glass-myth-doesnt-work--rbdg-com--.jpg

Not built yet, but the engineer told me that those walls are critical.

If that wall is structural (load bearing) then it should be possible to replace it with steal beam, suitably supported. If that is too expensive, then consider a different layout, where that "alcove" would be part of the live room, not part of the control room.

You came here for Work or Vacation?

Work, mostly. My company used to sell and install high-end video post-production systems, and we had some customers in SP. We also sometimes took prospective customers from Chile to SP, to see the systems in operation.

Planning to come back again on future?

I'd love to! But I have no plans for that right now, unfortunately.


- Stuart -

[Alastico]

Yes. Even with a curtain

Amazing explanation!!

Ok!! Curtains down!

...you are making the mistake of angling the glass in your window...

Didn´t know that!!!

Angled glasses down too.. haha

If that wall is structural (load bearing) then it should be possible to replace it with steal beam

I´ll get more information from the Engineer... but from what i understand is that some foundation columns are hidden inside those gray walls... so even i can move those walls, the columns cannot be moved and then they will be visible anyway...

I would suggest that you rotate the oriantation of your Home Theater section 90°

I followed your suggestion...
Rotated even the control room (now is smaller) and made a third room...

The sight line seems a little weird, no?

This is what you said or i misunderstood something?

Studio Plan - Stuart Alt.JPG

Alt 01 - Resized.jpg

Alt 02 - Resized.jpg

Sorry that i´m taking all that time from you!!
I´m really glad with your help!

[Alastico]

(continuation...)

Or drum in this position?

And the acces to the upper room (smallest one) with two sliding glass door?

[Alastico]

The construction is going on very well..

Now, we are getting ready for the Walls and thinking about Concrete Blocks... This is a good choice thinking on Mass for "Soundproofing" or there is something better??

Should I really invest in fill the blocks with concrete/sand? Or this isn´t a good idea?

precision-product-natural.jpg