John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi
Long time lurker
Decided to join as I'm looking at building a facility.

I'm old skool
So have a large format console. (see photo)
I also have a Yamaha C7 - 7 foot grand piano and other large items (Organ & Leslie, guitar amps etc)

Things I need.
- Large control room (able to fit 10 people plus console and outboard etc)
- A room for my 7 foot grand piano and Organ / Leslie rig
- Drum / Band tracking space
- Amp room
- Vocal room
- Producer room - 2nd smaller control room (3 people)

Ideally the producer room and the main control room both need to access the amp room and the vocal room.
The main control room needs to have sight to the piano room and drum room.

Would be great if the producer room and main control room could have independent access,
which could be locked for privacy from each other.

I'm messing around with rough design ideas on paper but struggling to get a layout that does all I need
How would you lay the rooms out?

Angus, we really need to know what space you have to work with.

cheers
john

John Sayers wrote:Angus, we really need to know what space you have to work with.

cheers
john

Hi John
I will rent / lease / buy a suitable space once I know what size I need.
Probably fit out an industrial tilt panel shed.

anguswoodhead wrote:

John Sayers wrote:Angus, we really need to know what space you have to work with.

cheers
john

Hi John
I will rent / lease / buy a suitable space once I know what size I need.
Probably fit out an industrial tilt panel shed.

Hi Angus,

Can you show us some of your sketches so we have an idea of what you're hoping for and the sizes of each room you're thinking?

For example: Are you thinking 20m2 control room with 2.4m ceiling height or 50m2 with 4m ceiling? Or somewhere in between?

Some general tips. Start by drawing your control room near the center of the longest wall in the building. Now draw other rooms around the control room, with the main live space directly in front of the control room for easy sight lines.
Ideally you shouldn't have to pass through the control room to get to the other live/tracking spaces, but it can get expensive with two door ways in each room.
Also think about loading. Level access directly into the largest live room, from a loading bay would be very useful.

Try a few designs and post them here for more advice

Dan

these are rough layouts I did before I posted here
I'm struggling to have both control rooms access the vocal booth and amp room
whilst still having the main control room 'view' the drum / band room and piano room
I may have to install closed circuit TV's perhaps???
the main control room needs to be big enough to teach 8 students without feeling claustrophobic.

Hi Angus,

You seem to have very unique layout concerns. It's not possible to have access to the same 4 rooms from both control rooms as well as sight lines. You simply can't arrange that.

You have some options though. The most practical thing is to have the main live room in front of you between the speakers in both control rooms. And the others rooms off to the sides.

It seems that practically you will need either a second amp room for each studio, or accept you will need to walk through one room to reach the amp room.

The best layout I could think of is this one: The best way to get your sight lines and access for each room will be by using sliding glass doors. (But they are expensive! )
The window symbols are sliding doors on the sketch.
Maybe it will give you some ideas.

Dan

Waka wrote:Hi Angus,

You seem to have very unique layout concerns. It's not possible to have access to the same 4 rooms from both control rooms as well as sight lines. You simply can't arrange that.

You have some options though. The most practical thing is to have the main live room in front of you between the speakers in both control rooms. And the others rooms off to the sides.

It seems that practically you will need either a second amp room for each studio, or accept you will need to walk through one room to reach the amp room.

The best layout I could think of is this one:

20191108_231634-900x1200.jpg

The best way to get your sight lines and access for each room will be by using sliding glass doors. (But they are expensive! )
The window symbols are sliding doors on the sketch.
Maybe it will give you some ideas.

Dan

thanks Dan
Quite a good layout there
My concern is the acoustic treatment in the 2 control rooms
Bass traps, Soffit mounted mains etc - these things def need to be done right.

anguswoodhead wrote:My concern is the acoustic treatment in the 2 control rooms
Bass traps, Soffit mounted mains etc - these things def need to be done right

Yep and these things all need designing completely, along with isolation and HVAC.

So the first thing it would be worth doing is downloading Sketchup. Then start building the layout.

HVAC will be the biggest issue you need to attack first really,once your have your layout. You will need 4 silencer boxes for each room, so that will take some calculating.

It's extremely unlikely a HVAC contractor in your area will have any idea how to design studio HVAC for high isolation, so you will need to design it yourself / hire a studio designer to do the maths and draw up some plans for you (you can PM John Sayers who can quote you/put you through to a trusted designer, if you're interested in that).

You may want to jump into acoustic treatment designs now, but you really should hold off until you have the HVAC design done (or at least the sizes of your HVAC ducting and silencers) so then you know what you need to fit in!

Studio design is a balancing act, with you constantly adjusting pieces until it all fits together cohesively.

When you get stuck, post your questions and what you have already done on here.

Dan