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JWL
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Post by JWL » Mon Apr 13, 2009 8:32 pm

I do like your design, with one larger and one smaller room.

However, I agree that I'd make the large room a "multipurpose" room with both your mixing station, and room for performers. Then, make the smaller room an "iso booth" as well as a place for storage, and maybe a workshop (tools/soldering, etc).

For treating the room, one simple treatment to consider is to stuff the ceiling joists with thick insulation, either something like R30 fluffy fiberglass, or Ultratouch cotton, then cover the bottom of hte ceiling with cloth. Instant absorption, and it will help isolation a bit too.

Definitely get Rod's book, too. THat will be by far the best $25 you spend on your studio, though it's mostly useful if you are trying to achieve good isolation.

RefD
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Post by RefD » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:22 pm

consider making the door into the utility room an airlock.

by that i mean two doors opening at opposing sides.

check into sealing the edges of the doors on all four sides, as well.

that should help keep HVAC leakage into mics down to something manageable.

is there any ductwork for returns or anything in the ceiling (IOW, under the ground floor)?
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

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Derrick
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Post by Derrick » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:36 am

MoreSpace Echo, do you mean something like this?


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Derrick

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RefD
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Post by RefD » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:53 am

rut roh, the control room is now the "Perfectly Square Box Of Crap Sound".

maybe angle the front wall and one side wall and do something funny to the slope of the ceiling?
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

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Derrick
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Post by Derrick » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:47 am

I really do need to have a separate controle and tracking room. Furnace noise isn't really an issue and I don't really need to use up valueble space for an iso room... I can always use the utilities room if tracking blaring guitar or bass at the same time as other instruments or vocals.

So the controle room is incorrect?! OK, I guess you don't want a perfect box for the controle room. This is the kind of thing that really helps me avoid building a space with a huge flaw. Just how small can you make a control room before it's size is an issue?

I'm also fine with the size of the control room being smallish in regards to feeling cramped... it won't bother me, but if it effects the sound that's different.

Alright, so ignoring the furnace and feeling cramped in the controle room, are there other flaws or changes that would make a world of difference to my first design? Is there a better design altogether? I will get Rod's book but will that really tell me much about layout DOs and don'ts?
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Derrick

We have a pool... and a pond. Pond's good for you though.

RefD
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Post by RefD » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:56 am

the control room size is okay if you make the walls non-parallel and do something with the ceiling. tho that last bit may be a real challenge with a 6'11" clearance.
?What need is there to weep over parts of life? The whole of it calls for tears.? -- Seneca

vorian
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Post by vorian » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:48 am

Lol, I wouldn't worry about how it sounds just yet. You have a more basic problem with the control room called getting in. :D

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Derrick
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Post by Derrick » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:52 am

No seriously... I had a 10 by 11 (or something like that) when I was renting and I was fine with the size. Now that I am building in my own space, I'm concerned about making a design mistake or not designing for optimized use of what I have. Luckly, I am very aware of my needs and intentions for the use of the studio.
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Derrick

We have a pool... and a pond. Pond's good for you though.

MoreSpaceEcho
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Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:58 am

derrick, that was sort of what i meant, but like reffie said you very definitely don't want a 12x12 square. forget the iso room to the left of the control room and use that space to make the CR wider.

my control room is like 12.5' wide and 17.5' long and i feel like it's JUST big enough. space disappears fast once you have all your gear in there and a whole band listening to playbacks. you're gonna spend most of your time in there, make it as big as you possibly can, for both acoustic and sanity reasons.

if your furnace is anything like mine it's gonna definitely be an issue...

vorian
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Post by vorian » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:05 am

If you did want to have a control room the bottom left corner might be a better spot for it. I've worked places where the iso room shared a wall with the control room and while it works ok it can be a little distracting when getting tones because when tracking something loud like guitar or bass so much low end bleeds through the walls.

And a door is an essential part of any control room you actually want to use ;)

MoreSpaceEcho
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Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:56 am

he's gonna go through the window.

Bro Shark
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Post by Bro Shark » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:09 pm

Put all your questions on hold until you buy and read the book. For real.

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Derrick
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Post by Derrick » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:38 pm

vorian wrote: And a door is an essential part of any control room you actually want to use ;)
Ha! I just snorted out loud and people are looking at me funny. :lol:

Where's the best place to get Rod's book? Barnes & Noble?
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Derrick

We have a pool... and a pond. Pond's good for you though.

Al_Huero
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Post by Al_Huero » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:56 pm

It's available online at Amazon.

Studio Steve
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Post by Studio Steve » Mon Apr 20, 2009 10:30 am

Speaking of doors- if you're going to have windows and doors, there may be good ways to combine the two so you have fewer weak points in your walls. The space I use has a solid door with a double-paned window in it that still does as much for isolation as the completely solid wood doors there-provided the area around it is sealed off tightly. Since the ideal mix position is usually back a ways from any wall, you could have your door and window to the live room be one and the same-even if it's right in front of your console/mixing station.

An idea I had for your room was to bring the wall between your iso booth and utilities south toward the stairs, and build a corresponding wall off the east exterior wall at the same distance from the northeast corner (I'm using your pic as if it's a map w/ north at top) which looks like about 15'. Bring each of those walls out an equal distance, til you can build a diagonal wall between them that misses the stairs but just barely. This will increase the size of your mix room, make it symmetrical but not parallel (except for the floor and ceiling) and would facilitate flush-mounting of your speakers, which provides the best direct signal for speaker monitoring and can reduce or prevent the bass buildup that happens behind nearfield monitors, provided it's done right and your speakers are decoupled from the room. Many rooms don't lend themselves to this type of speaker placement since they're already constructed when you move in, however you have the opportunity to do it this way if you want.

Phillip Newell has a book called Recording Studio Design which I've found extremely informative, and I haven't seen it mentioned on here before so just thought I'd mention it, I found it at the OSU library.
Best of luck!

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