John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hello; I'm building a new house and trying to figure out the best way to do the studio. I've considered the garage and the basement options - I know the garage studio offers more flexibility but in this plan I need to keep the garage a garage.

I wanted some suggestions on the attached rough basement sketch from the architect. (Don't blame him for the crude dimension lines, those are mine!) It's currently about 14'6" x 21', 8' ceilings, and you can see the staircase running down one side of the wall.

As for my needs, I'm mostly going to be a project studio person -- I'm rarely recording bands although there will also be the occasional vocalist, guitarist, drummer, etc. that will show up. I just want the room to sound as good as possible. I like it live (I'm more hardwood than carpet oriented), I most likely won't need tremendous isolation within the studio, but I also don't want to hear toilets flushing, etc.

So it will generally be me, a bunch of keyboards, probably an Argosy console workstation housing my main keyboard, computer rig, mixer, etc.

What should I be thinking about?

Well I didn't get any replies so I assume that's a hint that I needed to do more homework. After reading the SAE material I think I want to arrange it somewhat like the picture below, except I'm really confused on how I should treat the stairs. Any ideas for how to position things?

I just drew in John's corner absorbers and a wall absorber in the front, but should I draw them in the back too?

And let's say I want to put some other things in the room, like bookcases that have books in them. What kind of absorber does a bookcase become?

Why not try to do something like this:

I recognize that as one of John's reference plans. Are you suggesting all that construction fit into a 14.6'x21' space? I would think those reference plans would have to be scaled appropriately -- otherwise I might end up with the inadvertently miniaturized Stonehenge Set from Spinal Tap!

My question about the stairs is really more about how they fit in acoustically -- they're part open space, part wall...

glennsc wrote:Are you suggesting all that construction fit into a 14.6'x21' space? ...

No.
But it gives you something to think about and work towards.
You probably have room for a control room, like the one pictured, and 1 iso booth, but not both iso's as shown.
Porportionally, I think you could make those 2 rooms work.

The stairs could be part of your entrance foyer, which would further aid in isolating the 2 rooms.

How far into the room do your stairs come? If it's only an 8' ceiling, most risers are 7" - 7 1/2" with treads of 11". That would give you 12 or 13 risers, with only 11 or 12 feet of stair well into your space.
Your drawing makes it look like much more.

Use the stairwell as a sort of "air-lock" into the studio, and it wont be an issue.

Hi glennsc - sorry I missed your post yesterday.

Michael has replied with what I would have suggested. The iso booth and a control room would fit in your space with the rear of the control room under the stairs as traps.

Like this

cheers
john

I would think about isolation from the upstairs living space. Having a spouse listening to drum tracking can be painful, especially when sessions run late. HVAC ducts are going to transmit the sound. You mentioned not hearing the toilet flush..make sure they use cast iron drain pipe. PVC is loud..you will hear rushing water! Another thing to think about is traffic thru the house. You will have musicians lugging amps and drum kits thru your new house..trashing your new walls and doors. You might want to consider having the slab for the garage poured larger for an extra bay and a half. That would give you a space that is 14' by 22' or so. It might provide for outside entry. In the long run it may prove to be a better investment..when you sell the house that space could be an additional bay or a woodshop.
Peace, Ron
www.mysterytrain.org

Ah, I can see it now. Thanks all.

The comments about the HVAC and isolation are understood and I'll take those into account. In general I don't worry too much about amps and drum kits lugged around the house because it's almost entirely a project studio with an occasional soloist coming in.

Be back later with revised plan...