John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey all. I know, I'm probably posting too early in the process (for example, I bought Rod Gervais book, but haven't actually read it yet. Just arrived today actually). But, here is the project I'm planning:

I'm converting a two car garage into a recording studio. Currently, the garage is 24'x26.6' (interior of framing dimensions), with 2x4 framing and a hip roof (which is 8'8" from concrete slab to the bottom of the roof rafters. So far, I could just use the search function to design the studio, which I have extensively. The question that I have is kind of specific: I have read, on other forums, people raving about the benefits of a one-room studio. Such as: Workflow, being connected/face to face with the artists, avoiding the disconnect of a talk-back system, and general comfort for both musicians and engineer. This is very appealing to me.

I've also read the acoustic design experts saying that this is a terrible idea, acoustically. Live rooms and control rooms need very different acoustics and treatment, and it is impossible to have both in one room.

I want both. I want to have my cake and eat it too. I'm picturing two separate rooms, both treated and designed for their purposes, with two giant sliding barn doors between them. These doors can be heavy, have acoustic treatment attached to them etc. When tracking, they will be open. So the live room dimensions will need to take into consideration the control room. When mixing, they will be closed, to allow for flat, even, predictable response from control room.

I'll be building a "room within a room." Inner and outer leaf. I'll read Rod's book, I promise.

So my question is, can you give me advice on the size of each of these rooms? I could get away with 9' ceilings, if I used 23x23 as my dimensions, or had a small angled section (only 4" or so, from 8'8 to 9'). Probably a little more when taking into consideration layers of drywall.

I'll be using this for recording my own music (folk, soul, jazz), and some hiring out to others. Will not be recording anything too crazy loud. Drum kit for soul stuff. Will mostly be recording acoustic music. Any advice would be much appreciated! I have thick skin, so I can handle the condescending "poor newbie" jokes as much as that interests you! Ha. But I'd also LOVE some real help to go along with it.

It will also be used for an after school music/recording program for at-risk youth. I'll have to lock up the expensive stuff.

Thanks in advance!

Roy Goodale

Ola Roy,
Welcome aboard the roller coaster! What part of the world are you building your studio and do you have any drawings you can share? The more detail you can give, the easier it is to advise.

I bought Rod Gervais book, but haven't actually read it yet.

I think you already know the first step. And I would also recommend ‘Master Handbook of Acoustics, Sixth Edition’ by F. Alton Everest, updated by Ken C. Pohlmann.

the garage is 24'x26.6'

That's a good size for a project studio.

Live rooms and control rooms need very different acoustics and treatment,

That's true, although it is possible to build a single room with variable acoustics which are adequate for both uses.

I want to have my cake and eat it too.

All things are possible given time/money/planning and effort, but if this is your first studio build, I would keep it as simple as possible in order to achieve your aims.

I'll be building a "room within a room."

Do you know how much isolation you actually need? Everything else stems from this - buy a good sound level meter and measure exactly how loud your band, practise and recording sessions are and then you'll know how many dBs of isolation you need to design for. Also measure the ambient sound level outside the garage in all likely conditions so you know what level of noise you need to keep out - this will be especially important as you'll be recording mainly acoustic music.

I can handle the condescending "poor newbie" jokes

Everybody has to learn sometime and the truth is that you actually never stop, the detail of your knowledge just becomes greater over time. Nobody here will mock genuine thoughts or questions and if they do - well, that says a lot about them, not you. I look forward to seeing and hearing more of your plans soon. Best wishes, John.

Thanks John! Appreciate the reply and the help. I will get the sound level meter, and check those two levels. The garage is probably 30' off a busy-ish suburban road, so this is why I was assuming I'd need an interior shell. But I will measure. I will also read the book(s), and get to work on learning Sketch Up, so I can post some pictures once I have a plan.

Thanks!

Oh and my part of the world is Auburn, Maine, USA!

Just getting used to Sketch Up, but here is what I came up with so far:



Am I on the right track so far? I used this room ratio calculator:https://www.psaudio.com/room-calculator/

Hello again Roy,
The image you posted is not available (to me at least). I suspect it might be too large to upload to the forum (image uploads are limited to 1200 pixels in width). There is some useful info about this and other site rules here: https://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/view ... =17&t=7572

I used this room ratio calculator:https://www.psaudio.com/room-calculator/

I know that there is a great deal of discussion about room ratios here and elsewhere but I would try not to become too obsessed with them if your space is limited. It's far more important to utilise the space you have (and treat that as necessary) than to build to a given ratio. ATB John.

Whoops! I tried to link it. Now I understand how to do it.

Try this:

roygoodale wrote:Whoops! I tried to link it. Now I understand how to do it.

Try this:

The internal ceiling height will reduce the existing height considerably, depending on how much isolation you need. If you are building a room within a room with decoupled inner and outer leaves then you can expect to lose over 1' of inner ceiling height.

What is the height measured from the floor to the underside face of the roof deck?

Paul

Thanks Paul!

It is 8'8" from the concrete slab to the bottom of the rafters. It is a hip roof, so as you move a few inches in, you can get probably around 9'. However, thinking through what you just said, I'm either going to have to live with 8' ceilings, or decrease the foot print of the inner leaf, in order to maintain 9' ceilings (because I would need 10' clearance according to your estimation).

Any recommendations on which of those two solutions I should lean toward?

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I hadn't thought of that.