John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

I've been lurking here for a while - and have finally got around to the early stages of planning my home studio.

FYI - this studio will be primarily for ME. I won't likely ever take on customers (I used to do that.. those days are over). At most, it'll be me and a couple of friends..

Acoustics are a major concern - I want the room to sound good. Isolation is more from the rest of the house than neighbors - neigbors wouldn't hear me now if I cranked it up. Doesn't need to be 100% silent, but I'd like my family to be able to watch TV upstairs while I record without drowning them out. I do plan to use all the normal isolation methods, lots of insulation, resilient channel, multi-layered walls, etc.

I currently have an unfinished area in the lower level of my house. The house is built into a hill, so half the basement is below ground, half is at ground level - this unfinished part is 'below' ground (also called a walk-out basement).

The area that I have to work with is approximately 22ft by 19ft, with an extra 4ft by 12ft alcove on one end (that spot is studded out for a closet, but can be knocked out and reused). I will have 10ft of clearance to build the room - there is ductwork running along one wall, so the ceiling of the control room will likely slant from 8ft up to 10ft to make room for the ductwork (and for acoustics). In the drawings below - the ductwork runs along the wall with the 2 doors on it - the 'bottom' of the drawing.

Two walls of this area and the floor are concrete foundation (8" walls, likely 12" thick floor) - the other walls will be built as needed. Ceiling is normal joists (I'll take pictures and post shortly).

I am attaching two pictures below from the model I did in sketchup to show the shape of the room, placement of existing doors, etc.

What I am trying to work out is the best use of this space. I originally planned to make one big room - and to record in the control room.. now I'm thinking I may want a small performance room - big enough for a drumkit, or a few loud guitar amps. I have some rough ideas (will post them when I draw them up) and have looked at other designs.. but wanted to get some input on what you all thought.

Thanks in advance - so much great info here!
-mb

Here's one of the possibilities - it gives me a control room roughly 17ft long, average width of 12.6W (11.6 at the narrow end - 13.6 at the wide end) and average height of 9ft (8ft up to 10ft) - which is pretty close to the 'ideal' ratio for room modes.

Then it gives me a small drum/instrument room - which I could probably make a bit bigger by angling the wall with the door on it. This room will have a 10' ceiling (less RC and sheetrock).
-mb

Hmm,
I take it your not gonna have Soffit mounted speakers, or bass traps in the front corners, as the door is there?

This is a rough sketch of an idea i had.
As i dont have sketchup or smart draw, its good ol paint, so you might wanna redraw it and check dimentions, but IMO its a better layout, as ppl wont be knocking your speakers everytime they walk in!
Anyway, just an idea.
Hope it helps.
oz

thanks for the idea.. I like your layout.. BUT, there's a problem.
I need the front of the control room to be facing 'down' in the drawing - as that will be the lower end of the ceiling.

The back of the control room in my drawing (the 'top') has 10ft of clearance.. there are AC ducts that run along the bottom wall, giving me only about 8ft of clearance..

Or I can make the control room smaller.

Hmmm.
See what you mean.
What about something like this?
(as mentioned before, i only have paint so please put my ideas into sketchup to double check they're feasable.)

Hope that helps
oZ

I'm thinking I could also move the door over to the side by the live room.. then I could soffit mount speakers, etc.

mp - can you post the .skp file??

ask and ye shall receive!

oh - and please let me know if I've given enough information... I think I was pretty thorough in my original post..
"-)

something like this??

cheers
john

wow - thanks!! I can't seem to make Sketchup look that good!

A few questions..

Would you still go with the slanted/rising ceiling?

Does having the multi-angled wall (like you drew) make a huge difference over a straight, splayed wall?

Is it better to have the rear of the room wider or narrower than the front - or does it really matter at all?

This design seems to widen the room quite a bit - how will this affect room modes?

What is the driving factor in widening the control room? If it can be kept with a simila shape, but narrower - it gives me back the larger drum/amp room.

Sorry for all the questions! And thanks again for the help.
"-)

Would you still go with the slanted/rising ceiling?

Yes I would, just couldn't be bothered drawing it.

Does having the multi-angled wall (like you drew) make a huge difference over a straight, splayed wall?

It's a standard splayed wall - you could rotate the whole control room 12 degrees left but you then have door/access problems. As is gives you a nice slot cavity.

Is it better to have the rear of the room wider or narrower than the front - or does it really matter at all?

Yes it is and it's very important IMHO.

cheers
john

That was fast - I was actually editing my questions as you were answering them... !!

Appreciate the quick answers.
"-)

another quick question - in your drawing, the control room isn't quite symmetrical.. is this by design, or just because it's a quick sketch to give me a good starting point?

Thanks!

well it's symetrical up to the point past your listening position. that's what counts.

cheers
john