John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

i'm starting to construct a studio in an apartment, 44 sqare meters big. It's my fisrt one, so i don't know much about building one. Can you tell me if there's a standard method, or if there are some things to look up for when i'm soundproofing the vocal booth? I want to know how to place the bass traps, how to obtain a good quality vocal booth. Thank you!

Aloha and welcome to the forum, Adrian

Congrats on your studio build!

Say, any chance you could please:

Edit your profile to include your location. This is very important, because this is a worldwide resource, and as such, material costs and availability vary widely. For example, masonry is cheaper than gypsum in some parts of the globe, whereas it's the exact opposite in other regions.

This will really come in handy two or three posts down the road. It's also part of the forum guidelines. Thanks!

You may want to post this on the design forum.

Looking forward to your build!

Aloha

The studio will be in an apartment in the center of Bucharest, Romania. This is the plan of the place, as it is now. Now, the space is empty. All the furniture i drew is absent and i wanted just to give you an example of how i plan it to look. Please tell me where do you thing i should mount the bass traps, the difussion areas... The place hasn't a verry good acoustic isolation. The studio will be based on advertising production, commercials, but if i will have to record music, i want to be able to do this in good conditions. Please help me. I'm a real newbie when comes to construction.

The entire space is 44 square meters, so i can't get much help from dimensions. I don't want to get a completely dead room. What should i do?

Many thanks !!!

Aloha,

What are the measurements for each room? (L x W x H)

Aloha

Vocal Booth - L 4m ; W 4m
Mixing Room - L 4m ; W 3m
The Height is the same for all the rooms, and it's 3m

Aloha,

Thanks for posting the measurements so quickly!

For clarity's sake,

Can you tell me if there's a standard method, or if there are some things to look up for when i'm soundproofing the vocal booth?

"Soundproofing" is a term used when describing "isolation" - keeping sounds outside your studio, outside (preventing them from ruining your recordings) - and sounds you make inside your studio, inside (disturbing your neighbors.)

I want to know how to place the bass traps, how to obtain a good quality vocal booth.

This is describing the acoustic treatments placed in your rooms to help minimize/eliminate flutter echo, resonances, etc.

That said:
- how much isolation do you require?
- the placement of acoustic treatments are here -
DIY Wall Units – John Sayers http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm

While we work this out, here are a few more links that may be helpful, as well as a couple of book references. I'm not sure of the construction practices in your area, but these books come highly recommended out here.

Reference Area – Useful Links – Steve Knightfly
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2125

SAE Institute Reference Material Center – John Sayers
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

Home Recording Studio: Build it Like the Pros (Paperback) by Rod Gervais
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5670

The Very Efficient Carpenter: Basic Framing for Residential Construction by Larry Haun
http://www.amazon.com/Very-Efficient-Ca ... 156158326X

Hope this helps,

Aloha

Thank you very very much! The links that you sent me seam to be very helpful. I'm gonna read all of these materials and then I'll come back with some other questions. Thank you again!

Aloha Adrian,

After looking over your layout, is it possible to flip your control room 90 degrees? Because you don't want rear reflections to interfere, it is better to start with a longer front to back dimension than the side to side dimension. i.e. 4m x 3m.

Aloha

I might also add to Kendale great comments that your "vocal booth" has a 4mX4m dimension, you should avoid identical ratio like the plague. Do a search for ideal room ratio. You may need to re-dimension your CR vs vocal booth, and splay your walls... just some thoughs