Construction questions on new design
Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2003 3:07 pm
John was nice enough to help me out with a layout:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0
BACKGROUND:
This is a basement studio. The ceilings are unfinished 2" x 10" and are 8 ft high, but in areas they are only 7 ft because of ductwork. There are also two beams running horizontally over where the two permanent post are shown on the layout. From the bottom of the beams to the floor is about 7.5 ft. So, there are varying ceiling heights. Three walls and the floor are poured concrete. The floor has water radiant heating imbedded.
The studio is mostly for personal use recording modern rock. In addition the live room will be a band practice room. There will not be a big console in the control room as I do computer based, hard disk recording. I will rarely have clients that are strangers.
To the left of my design (but not shown) is a game room with an HDTV system, couches, bar, etc. So, I want to keep the sound into that area down. But at the same time, I could also make use of this room as a client reception area or a "real world" listening area.
I've formed my own design using the suggestions from John and dbluefield, which I've posted below. I expect some people will be scratching their head. But this is well thought out and I'm going to explain it, but I do have some questions first. Here's my version of John's design:

QUESTIONS:
1. I know the brown areas behind the speakers are bass traps, but what are the brown areas at the top of John's layout? They aren't traps also are they? I would think not since there are no traps on the opposite wall which would really throw things out of balance. Shouldn't the top brown area just be an air gap? Like this:

2. I have a single sliding glass door in my design. So far I haven't found any illustrations on how to make John's sliding glass doors. Does anybody know if these are posted anywhere? Yes, the single sliding door is on purpose. I'll explain later.
3. I have a window in the Vocal Booth. Does this window need to be two panes even though one side of it is in the air gap between rooms?
4. Is it okay not to float the floor? I don't think I have the height to spare and it is already on concrete.
5. Where do I find info on the suggested angle of the control room ceiling, or should it just be flat?
6. Where can I find info on how to build the speaker enclosure corners?
I'll stop there with the questions. Now I'll start to explain my version of the design. Hopefully some of you are interested.
1. Why only one sliding glass door? The sliding glass door does not have a swing like a normal door. On the control room side I need all the space I can get. On the main room side I've got a post and other doors all swinging into the same general area. This is dead space. It can't be used anyway because of the post. So, instead of wasting the effort and money on a second sliding glass door, I'm going with a regular glass door into the main room and a window into the vocal booth. John basically would not comment on this. I don't know if it is because he really didn't like it or what? I'm just not sure. I think it is a good use of space.
2. What is going on at the rear of the control room? I want to be able to get into the control room without going through the main room. So, I put a door in. I also wanted to incorporate the triangular rear wall for diffusion. So, I've attached a triangular shape "wall" to the inside door. So, when it is closed it becomes a rear wall diffuser. Is this a good idea? I think so, but maybe I'm wrong. John thinks having a couch in the middle is more important as a listening position. I personally don't agree. The two chairs in each corner could be replaced with traditional bass traps. I'm looking for guidance on this one.
3. Why are all the doors swinging outward and into the same general area? I'm doing this in the main room because the area is unusable anyway. There is a post there and also it is the throughway into the control room. So, it is dead space. Why not swing the doors into this area instead of swinging them into the small booths? Swinging them outward saves space in the booths. Also, if all the doors are full open (including those between the control and main room) there is a clear path from the control room to both booths. This is one of my "must haves."
I'm going to stop there. Really interested in hearing from you folks coming from a construction perspective.
Thanks!
jt
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... sc&start=0
BACKGROUND:
This is a basement studio. The ceilings are unfinished 2" x 10" and are 8 ft high, but in areas they are only 7 ft because of ductwork. There are also two beams running horizontally over where the two permanent post are shown on the layout. From the bottom of the beams to the floor is about 7.5 ft. So, there are varying ceiling heights. Three walls and the floor are poured concrete. The floor has water radiant heating imbedded.
The studio is mostly for personal use recording modern rock. In addition the live room will be a band practice room. There will not be a big console in the control room as I do computer based, hard disk recording. I will rarely have clients that are strangers.
To the left of my design (but not shown) is a game room with an HDTV system, couches, bar, etc. So, I want to keep the sound into that area down. But at the same time, I could also make use of this room as a client reception area or a "real world" listening area.
I've formed my own design using the suggestions from John and dbluefield, which I've posted below. I expect some people will be scratching their head. But this is well thought out and I'm going to explain it, but I do have some questions first. Here's my version of John's design:

QUESTIONS:
1. I know the brown areas behind the speakers are bass traps, but what are the brown areas at the top of John's layout? They aren't traps also are they? I would think not since there are no traps on the opposite wall which would really throw things out of balance. Shouldn't the top brown area just be an air gap? Like this:

2. I have a single sliding glass door in my design. So far I haven't found any illustrations on how to make John's sliding glass doors. Does anybody know if these are posted anywhere? Yes, the single sliding door is on purpose. I'll explain later.
3. I have a window in the Vocal Booth. Does this window need to be two panes even though one side of it is in the air gap between rooms?
4. Is it okay not to float the floor? I don't think I have the height to spare and it is already on concrete.
5. Where do I find info on the suggested angle of the control room ceiling, or should it just be flat?
6. Where can I find info on how to build the speaker enclosure corners?
I'll stop there with the questions. Now I'll start to explain my version of the design. Hopefully some of you are interested.

1. Why only one sliding glass door? The sliding glass door does not have a swing like a normal door. On the control room side I need all the space I can get. On the main room side I've got a post and other doors all swinging into the same general area. This is dead space. It can't be used anyway because of the post. So, instead of wasting the effort and money on a second sliding glass door, I'm going with a regular glass door into the main room and a window into the vocal booth. John basically would not comment on this. I don't know if it is because he really didn't like it or what? I'm just not sure. I think it is a good use of space.
2. What is going on at the rear of the control room? I want to be able to get into the control room without going through the main room. So, I put a door in. I also wanted to incorporate the triangular rear wall for diffusion. So, I've attached a triangular shape "wall" to the inside door. So, when it is closed it becomes a rear wall diffuser. Is this a good idea? I think so, but maybe I'm wrong. John thinks having a couch in the middle is more important as a listening position. I personally don't agree. The two chairs in each corner could be replaced with traditional bass traps. I'm looking for guidance on this one.
3. Why are all the doors swinging outward and into the same general area? I'm doing this in the main room because the area is unusable anyway. There is a post there and also it is the throughway into the control room. So, it is dead space. Why not swing the doors into this area instead of swinging them into the small booths? Swinging them outward saves space in the booths. Also, if all the doors are full open (including those between the control and main room) there is a clear path from the control room to both booths. This is one of my "must haves."
I'm going to stop there. Really interested in hearing from you folks coming from a construction perspective.
Thanks!
jt