Design a Studio, sky's the limit, no financial boundaries.

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 4:47 am

Hello there, don't know whether I'm out of order asking this, but, I have a college assignment to do, and the asignment is to draw a scematic, and talk about what you're using. The design of the room, ie: shape, is not something I have to worry about, but what's in it, is the most important part. I have to go into a minor amount of detail about the fucntions of the equipment, etc, and I can manage that, I think.

It is going to be rather difficult though, since I've only had 3 full lessons, which are only 2 and a 1/2 hours long. All I've learned so far, is how to mic up a drum kit, how to get sound from the patch bay to the mixing desk, and a tiny bit about monitors, and the different types of mic. By right, I should have had about 10-12 lessons or more, but lessons have been split in half, due to college issues, and the tutor has been sick a bunch of times. So, I really am not prepared for this asignment, and am wondering if somebody has time to give me some tips.

Basically, as long as I know what's essential, and other extras, I can google lets say "Mixing Desk" and find something suitable, I have to supply names of the equipment I'm using you see, and other than a mixing desk and patch bay, I've no idea what else I would need in a studio, a track laying, pro studio, that is. I should try and keep it simple, since I'm really not prepared, and only have a week to do it, but the more detail I go into, the better a mark I will get. I'm certainly not asking you to do the asignment for me, but I simply don't know where to start, so if you could give me some ideas, I'd be grateful.
Thanks

[edit] I've been googling for ages here, and I thought originally google would have all the answers, but all I can find is "How to set up a studio in your home for less than £1000" etc, and all I get is stuff on budget equipment for a home studio set up. So, could anyone provide links to something that doesn't focus on home studio and budget equipment? I'm sorry.

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:06 am

Scan the forum there are a ton of Large Budget studio Designs. the rest is figuring out what gear you'd like

I suggest googling and finding a major studio (Egan Sound for instance) and looking at his equipment list to get an idea of what type of gear might reside in one. ) I also recommend googling the various pcs of gear and learning about them and finding pricing so you have a concept of what it costs. example SSL C200 w/32 faders and basic config est around $490,000 USD.....

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:41 am

Shit, there's absolutely no way I can do this, I don't have a clue about anything I'm looking at, or reading about, and it's even worse now since I've read the task list:

1. Identify the supplementary equipment used in a professional recording studio and any relevant specifications.

2. Name the manufacturer and model of the console, its ratio and any other relevant specifications.

3. Identify the outboards, the manufacturers and any other relevant specifications.

4. Identify all cable types, screenings and plugs, or interfaces used with all the relevant specifications'. Signal Path and Signal Flow must also be shown.

5. Include live room equipment such as wallboxes, microphone stands, and D/I boxes.

6. Leave out of the plan - acoustic treatments, general furniture and instruments.

7. Submit by the stated deadline a completed, neat and detailed schematic with all components correctly placed, named, identified, clearly labelled and complete with signal flow to and from the console clearly and fully shown.

That's what I need to do just to acheive the lowest mark, and I know absolutely nothing, do you think this going to be possible for me to complete it? I don't know where to start, and google really isn't being helpful today, it's just complicating things more.

malfunction · Post by **malfunction** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:55 am

Hey studiocat!

Man, your up to your neck in it.

I feel for you...

There's no easy way to explain what goes on in a recording studio if you don't have a clue.

The cables and connectors are pretty much all the same(balanced with XLR or TRS connectors) but you would have to understand a lot more to
actually start constructing a studio even if just on a paper.

Sounds to me that your tutor either really trusts you guys or is just plain f***ing with you.

I'm sorry but you've got some heavy reading to do.

One good starting place is: www.homerecording.com

GOOD LUCK!

-Tomi-

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:36 am

Yeah, setting us up to fail basically. I guess I will have to spend the next few days reading. Thanks.

Post by **sharward** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 10:45 am

Yeah, this isn't the first time I've seen posts like this: student has project to design a in a virtual world and is expected to cover a tremendously wide range of aspects with very little guidance from the instructor.

Maybe it is a ploy to get the student to appreciate all of what's really involved "the hard way"... Or, perhaps, it's an out-of-touch instructor...

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:35 am

studio cat i read your list of requirments. My suggestions to check out studios that have a web presence to get some ides. and GO BUY a book on Studios. They have a ton of em at the Book Store that walk you through the basics and give high end examples.

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:04 pm

It's not like I don't want to find out all of these things, it's just that I am a little pissed off that we've been given such an assignment so soon, with so little tuition, and so far, the lessons seemed to be focused on everything which has nothing to do with this assignment. Tomorrow I would have had my last lesson in the studio before I have to hand this back next week, but unfortunetly there's a teachers strike tomorrow, and the college is closed. Anyway, I thought about buying a book, but I was just a little worried that it would confuse me further, because it really does get complicated. I have some handouts from college, and it's incredibly hard to take in. I'll take a journey to the bookstore tomorrow. Thanks again.

Post by **John Sayers** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:22 pm

Studiocat - I sympathize with your problem mate - sounds like a pretty slack course you are doing.

have you checked out the manual HERE

cheers
john

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:39 pm

Some helpful stuff there, thanks.

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:42 am

Hi, in our control room at college, there is a patch bay close to the wall, on the other side of the wall, in the live room, there is a another thing with sockets to plug mics into, it is numbered 1 to 36 I think. What is that called? Also, if say you have a huge live room, in a pro studio, would you only have one of these? Would it be located in the same place as ours? Also, in our task list, it says something about the ratio of a mixing console, I've bought a book today, but I'm having trouble finding out what this is exactly, also, what is an outboard? Is that like rack effects etc? I hope it's not too much trouble for anyone to answer these questions, sorry. About the SSL C200 that giles mentioned, if I put one of those in my fantasy studio, 32 channels? Would I need a multitrack recorder? These are in diagrams in my new book, it shows a mixing console, going into a multitrack recorder, or a 2 track recorder. One more thing - In college, we have a Radar system? This is apparently something to do with editing, is that right? Is it necessary to have one of those in a pro track laying studio? I thought that editing was normally done in "editing" studios. Mine has to be a pro track-laying.

Shaz · Post by **Shaz** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:31 am

StudioCat - I think the best place to start would be to get a hold of owner's/reference manuals for different mixing desks. These manuals have detailed schematics of how and what equipments are connected to the desk in different configurations. Most of the companies have these manuals on-line.

Once you know how all the equipment is connected then it should be just a matter of googling different brands of equipment and looking up the specs.

Here are manuals for Sony DMXR100:

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBu ... 18&d=10001

Check out page 37 thru 39 of Yamaha 01V96 manual. You can take this block diagram and apply it to any other digital mixer.

http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/pa/ ... 1V96E1.pdf

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:51 am

Oh god, that is perfect!! Thanks!! You saved me, big time. That picture on Page 37/38 is pretty much exactly what I need to do, except I have to lay it out like a real studio. Those connections would have had me banging my head against a wall, and I'm ecstatic that they're already done for me! Thank you.

StudioCat · Post by **StudioCat** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:52 am

Shaz · Post by **Shaz** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:29 pm

Hey, I am glad I could help. I remember my school days, and guess what, we didn't even have Internet to help us out.