John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi, I am designing a recording studio for my uni graduation project in
Interior Architecture. My site for the studio is the MLC Centre, Martin Place. The area i would be using is underground, but sits above a railway tunnel. Do you think the vibrations would interfere with recording? It is also situated next to a cinema - would this also cause problems?

thanks!

......

Hi Alanya,
I ain't an expert, but I'll throw my 0.02 in.
It depends on how much separation there is between the tunnel's top and the studio's floor (very strange location... )..I guess it would be worse if the studio was under the tracks (even more strange), but you will probably get some vibrations coming through, again depending on how far from the tunnel you are. The floating "everything" is a good start.
The cinema should have an outter shell with good STC, so that shouldn';t cause big headaches (but who knows, maybe it's a dodgy one)
As I said, others will probably have much more to add...good luck with the project!

sorry about the double post....couldn't figure out how to delete one, so I just left a few dots in there....sowie

Alanya - I answered your other post at HR on this one.

cheers
john

Hi Sen, thanks for the tips, that's really helpful the railway tunnel was a bit of a hiccup i found after choosing the site (knew it was close but didn't realise it was directly underneath...), so i guess i will use floating everything, just to be safe , so thanks. am really only just starting to find out about the recording process, so am reading through other people's questions, which has been helpful...

just had one more question - what are the main differences between a band recording in a closed studio and recording in front of a live audience? am sure that is a very broad question, but any info or tips where i could find info would be great (am wanting to design a public entertainment space next to the recording area so that people can watch /maybe be part of the process)... thanks

John, sorry but i was a bit confused by 'hr'? did i post something somewhere else? haven't used a forum before so not entirely sure how this all works... thanks though

HI Alanya,
I think I haven't mentioned the SAE site with a lot of John Sayer's tips about studio design....I'm sure John would have directed you there anyway if he answered some of your posts, but here it is anyway:

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

You'll find all the info about floating your rooms in there too, in case you need some more.
As far as the band recordings are concerned, there are a few simple differences between live show recording and studio recording.
I guess they would be:
Live - you have only one take of each song to work with (unless the band hasn't got a big enough repertoir and they repeat some of them ), whereas in the studio you can record multiple takes till you're happy with one. + overdubs etc...
In the studio you would (ideally...*or maybe not..) have instruments well separated (in different rooms/booths) so there's no "leakage" from one instrument to another instrument's mic...
*some bands are recorded in the studios with the whole band in one big room too....
In the studio you can't get that live vibe with the crowd in the background and...you know what I mean...

So yeah there's a few...I'm sure there'll be more comments that you could find helpful...

Good luck...let us know how the project goes...

Sen, thanks for the info. will definitely have a look at that web site of john's, sounds great. am eager to learn as much as possible...i know there is a lot to take in about the ins and outs of recording. you have been very helpful, so thanks, will let you know how the project is going...

ta,
alanya