Step four in the recording studio design process

Step four has arrived: you’ve worked out what you want, you budget and timeline, and given some thought to how you will use the studio, and how you will get it built. in this post, we’ll look at how to capture the relevant space in both a simple hand sketch, and then using a tool (like Google SketchUp – a free version is available @ http://sketchup.google.com/download/) to model your existing space. this sets the stage for then laying out your space and ideally having some folks comment on it (John Sayers’ Studio Building Forum (http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php) is hands down the best resource for this).

For our discussion we’ll assume you have a spare room in your house which you want to convert into a control room where you could also record some acoustic instruments but most of your work is done electronically into a digital audio workstation via some analog-to-digital converter boxes/mixers etc.  we’ll assume that you do not plan on very loud mixing sessions (since you like your ears and only turn it up to do final tweaks), and your room is on the first floor over an unfinished basement (which for some reason you cannot use…) and is bounded by the outside wall, living room, and another room. your neighbors are about 30ft (10m) away and your ambient noise levels outdoors consist of some car traffic and little or no air traffic can be heard. since it is a project studio and not a commercial studio, and you cannot re-structure the house, you’ll make best efforts to add some isolation and keep your loud work for daytime hours when it is acceptable. otherwise you are really looking for good acoustics for mixing and the infrequent acoustic guitar or horn instrument.

You set up your monitoring equipment and a recording which you played at 100db (based on your sound meter) (which is what you think is as loud as you intend to get) and went outside to measure how much isolation you need. except for the near (1m) window where you were reading about 85db, the overall sound level by the neighbor’s house is about 50db so you know the window needs to get some attention but overall not too bad. inside the house, the living room and other room by the closet were reading about 70db so you know you need some work. in the basement is was around 70db but it is all storage and the leakage out the basement windows is lower than the room window but you might consider some isolation under the floor since once you fix the room window the basement will be the main source of leakage.

the following figure is what you drew on some graph paper.

you are not too concerned with getting it scaled to match the grid lines on the paper as much as keep it neat and making sure all the measurements are accurate and all the important room retails are included. in looking at the drawing we see a few things might be missing (some measurements and a light switch for the closet) but in general it has most of the information we need to start modeling the room. one thing is immediately apparent: the HVAC uses a supply into the room and the return is located in the hallway and the airflow is under the door. to seal the door and reduce the sound into the hallway, you may consider adding a return into the room or possible venting outside.

the next step is to create a model in SketchUp (SU) or other tool (AutoCAD, etc) so you can readily visualize the design and it makes working with people online much easier. in general, start with the biggest details and work down. this means draw a box which are the main room dimensions. then add the smaller closet box and remember to factor in the partition wall when creating its depth. now you have two boxes. using the offset tool (in SU) you can expand the room to factor in the drywall, framing depth, etc. once you trim and adjust the lines to reflect a good 2D view of the room from the top, you should save that as your first template. this way if you need to re-start from that point, you can simply open up a new file based on it and re-work it.

then you can add the framing, drywall, electric components, doors, etc. until your room looks like, er, your room! if this is too much detail for you, consider just working off the 2D floor plan. the following figure shows a good 3D view of the room including the relevant bits like outlets, light fixtures, and HVAC  registers are so you can do your design around them or know what you need to move.

next post we’ll start to put in some design ideas for isolation and ventilation so we can prepare for the acoustic treatments. meanwhile, get measuring! start playing with SketchUp, and start visiting and learning on the recording studio design forums!

Step three in the recording studio design process

Going green. It’s much more than money (assuming your currency of choice is green…). And in today’s constrained financial times, getting a budget and staying within the budget is more important than before. Once you are operational, you need to consider the day-to-day costs for the studio – electricity is the life blood of electronics and there are several aspects to consider.
Electricity is not free (unless you are one of the few people who are either producing it in a sustainable manner already or you have subsidies). The price you pay per unit of electricity is not the only cost to consider either. if you are not aware of the news regarding climate change and sustainability and carbon footprint etc. then you might want to look into these topics to better understand how your consumption of electricity flows in a cycle which impacts many places – from obtaining the fuels to run the power plant, power distribution, construction of the infrastructure that delivers it to you, and the radiation from your electronics which flows through you and your neighbors.
The construction of your studio needs to consider the sustainability angle as well as local requirements for use of building materials which may require permits or fees or additional inspections plus licensed or skilled installers. disposal of the construction waste should be performed in accordance with your local regulations as well as a clear conscience.
All of these details can impact your costs, timelines, and overall construction and working budgets.
Fortunately the Internet enables people to communicate more effectively than ever before and therefore finding the information you need about the rules for your studio and people with experience to do the work is easier than ever – but it is still work so don’t expect magic. that said, you are building something which many people will find desirable and unless you have the monetary backing, consider bartering the materials and work in exchange for time and output from your new studio. consider it “sweat equity”.
Using recycled materials can save much on costs especially if your new studio has a lot of finishing materials like flooring, slats, wood trim, etc. be aware that older materials could contain toxic or volatile materials or are not structurally up to specification, which you want to avoid for safety, health, and regulatory reasons. make sure you inspect (or have someone you trust inspect) the materials and verify their suitability for purpose.
Sometimes new is better as well. new insulation from recycled cotton products has both good acoustical properties as well as fire and insect / mold retardant – check your distributor. using paperless gypsum wall board saves paper and is generally better for environments where moisture could be an issue because it is less likely to promote mold growth. paperless GWB is more expensive in many markets so go with the type best suited for your budget and needs.
Lightweight steel framing is generally better for isolation walls than wood given similar construction and can lower the amount of lumber needed for framing (still best to frame out the doors and windows with wood or heavier grade steel). Using the steel framing can also cut the overall parts needed to obtain good isolation and the process of assembling it is generally understood by many carpenters.

Step two in the recording studio design process

so you’ve convinced yourself (and maybe your investors) that you want to build your professional recording studio. the next step is to work through the design details. these include documenting your environment, your space, and how you want to use it. i have a simple checklist on my site to use as a guide for capturing things of interest:

- noise levels

- neighbors

- details of existing construction (if any)

- dimensions

- key requirements

get yourself a sound level meter (Radio Shack™ has a nice digital one that’s inexpensive) and a notepad. make measurements over the course of several days and mark it down in your notepad. does the AM/PM rush hour, or trucks, trains, planes create high levels of noise and vibration? when? does that impact hammer test center next to the automotive crash lab make too much noise for your acoustic violin recordings? (see my blob on site selection) all the noise and neighbor factors will weigh in later when determining what you need to do for isolation.

next, take photos of the site showing any existing construction and important features. a good starting point is at least one photo per wall, plus some of the floor and ceiling. not only is this good for your scrap-book, but later if you need help from a designer or on the forums, people will need to see how things are built in order to provide good answers.

now its time to get out your measuring tape and a large grid-lined paper (easily obtained in many art supply or office supply stores) and start drawing out your space. make the dimensions (as notes, or if inclined to the grid) as accurate as possible (1/4″ is good for imperial, 5mm is close enough for metric). make sure you include all dimensions so you can fully calculate the length of a given wall based on all the individual measurements (i find many people include 2 or 3 dimensions when they needed 3 or 4…). include water pipes, ducts, windows, doors, beams, fire pipes, utility equipment, stairs, odd protrusions, etc. remember to include the height of the room and when it varies from a single height.

you might need a couple of pieces of paper – one per room if needed but remember to create a single drawing with the overall floor plan so its possible to recreate the layout later…

finally, document your key requirements – need control room, need live room, need 2 isolation booths, need to move in and out 11′ grand pianos, need a lounge, restroom, etc… these bits of information all play into the design because you don’t want to build something that results in a crew of people trying to carry large equipment through your control room… then again, if your space is mostly control room with a booth, you probably want access to the control room without having to go through the booth so you don’t disturb the artist at work in the event someone has to come in or out…

if this is a commercial facility (be honest) then you need to follow accessibility regulations – this means access for people with various handicaps – and yes – it will likely cost you more to build – but it will cost you way more to get sued or censured with fines. you also need to make sure proper safety, security, licensing, etc all in compliance with commercial facility regulations.

OK.

so now you have the noise, neighbors, site, dimensions, and requirements all in hand. armed with this information it becomes possible to begin formulating the first design – either with a designer or as part of your own efforts.

next week we’ll start to work through some methods of bringing this information into play with a series of design attempts.