OK, Let's GO.. GARAGE STUDIO BUILD

[valthesoundman]

Hi all,
First of all, I've been reading here for a long time without posting, and would like to say thanks to everyone for giving me a lot of ideas and inspiration...

I've finally found a suitable place to live with adequate space for my build.
Moved in 2 weeks ago, and now I'm settled and Xmas and new year is sorted,it is time to begin.
To be honest, I'm REALLY SCARED!!
I haven't got much sleep over the past few weeks. I'm trying to get my mind around everything to make sure I'm not forgetting anything, but I've pretty much decided I'll just have to go for it, and work around any unforseen details once I get there.
So, tomorrow morning, orders will be going out for the wood, rockwool, drywall, as well as the rest of the "structural" necessities ( electricity etc...)
I'm on a tight budget for the build, as I'm 25, and I'm building this from my own earnings, which as a full time live engineer in the South of France, is not much, but I'm going for it, and will improve over time when I can afford to.

So I'll post some pics of the empty space tomorrow, and just wanted to say thanks to all for any future advice I might need..

Cheers!!

Val

[plexisys]

work around any unforseen details once I get there

There will be plenty of them and that's normal even for multi million dollar studios. Pay attention to details and you will be fine. Good luck.

[Factory101]

Good luck valthesoundman

Every journey begins with the first step...enjoy the trip!

[Andraes]

I did not isolate the concrete walls and the stone floor.
Sound is not a problem but though I have a radiator in there, there too much cold.
Make sure that basic is allright.

[valthesoundman]

Here are a couple of pictures of the studio to be.
Phone camera pics because the damn camera is out of batterys.
I'm trying to find the best deal for the framing wood at the mo', not an easy task.

Live room:



Control room:




This is a sketch of the basic framing, just to help visualise it:

[gainstages]

hey, cool looking space. I just wanted to give you some advice, as I'm in the final phases of constructing my new studio and have been going through what you will be going through.

first - have a clear vision for your room. is the primary purpose mastering? mixing? tracking? a little of everything? make sure you know what you need so that as you begin to work out the construction details you can properly design for your primary use(s).

second - take your time on the planning phase. I can't emphasize this enough. visit GIK, Realtraps, Auralex, John Sayers, and any other site you can find that will help provide some basic education about the construction, room treatment, and of course all the principals behind it all. read read read and don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. If you make a major change (sometimes even a minor change) partway into the project it could cost you a great deal of time and money.

Third - before you committ to anything on your framing, take some time to do some basic room mode calculations. there are lots of free calculators you can find online. I was amazed at what an impact can occur from even small changes in dimension. You may find that you want to make something slightly larger or smaller in order to have the best "raw" sound possible in your room before adding acoustic treatments.

thats it for now. take your time and make sure you have these 3 steps in order before you dive in too quick and you'll be off to a good start.

fyi - i just did some baseline testing in my studio. prior to painting, moving in furniture, and putting up acoustic treatments, my main room is very flat from 300hz down, other than a small bump centered at about 34hz. What a fantastic feeling it is to know that I'm not going to have to take drastic measures with acoustic treatment to try to control the bass in my room, because i took a little extra time and planning up front.

good luck, and keep us posted. let us know how we can help!

[Ibvee]

Subscribed

I love those threads, hope your studio turns out as cool as most of the other build threads!

[valthesoundman]

Originally Posted by Ibvee

Subscribed

I love those threads, hope your studio turns out as cool as most of the other build threads!

ME TOO!!

Thanks for all the advice already coming in!!!!

[inlinenl]

nice high space ..... succes !!!! bon chance et beaucoup de plaisir ...

[hanuman]

I Recently helped some friends out with a recording room, bigger but much like yours.
They screwed the frame in the wall (hammer screws that is) and we filled every part up with rockwool. If the separate wooden parts are just as wide as the rockwool, they just stick in between. (Make sure the depth of the wood matches the thickness of the rockwool.)Then we closed the construction of wood and rockwool bystapling a roll of cloth, unrolling it from a temporary construction as they use for wrapping paper. (To prevent wrinkling.) The room is dead, but not in an unpleasant way like prefabricated vocal booths. O yes, we covered the staples by painted wood pieces. (Make sure you route & test the lamps & sockets before you start.)

[valthesoundman]

Ok,

Lumber has turned up...
Took a long time, but it was worth waiting, I saved some serious €€€...

And have started yesterday on the work.


Rockwool and 20mm MDF going on tomorrow, and then starting the walls.

I've been faced with a problem, which is that I can't fit my 36ch desk through the door that will be used to access the studio once finished, so I have to build the entire control room, finished painted and ready, so I can bring the desk in through the garage door which is going to be sealed off when I build the control room.

I'm just glad I thought of that now, rather than after having sealed it off...

[Ibvee]

Oh dear, what sort of desk is that?

Don't they usually take those things apart when they have to go through a door?

Have you got a drawing of what the end result should be? Don't know the English word right now, but I hope you know what I mean.

[valthesoundman]

eum, I'm just thinking about cable runs...

Apart from 24 channels of audio (18 in 6 return) between Tracking and Control room, what am I forgetting??? Is it worth running a couple of speaker cables in there, like for wiring up a guitar cab, with the amp in CR??

Anything else I haven't thought of??

Thanks,

[hanuman]

Fresh air?
You might want to create a solution for that.
Now there are also of the shelve audio insulating ventilators.
As you are relatively South in france it might get hot inside.

Also I would find a solution to be able to service/replace/transport your mixing desk.

PS Machineroom/closet

[Ibvee]

I always like a pair of speakers in the live room, for talking to the people when they don't use headphones, letting them listen to the last take, just some nice music etc. So perhaps another pair of speaker cables.

If I would be building it, perhaps I would just run an extra multicore, maybe a cheap one, just in case something breaks, or I really need more lines. It's much better than breaking things open again.

[gullfo]

midi, firewire, usb, coax (video), network, etc are some additional cable types to consider running between rooms. most time the computer type wires can be run together (but separate from audio or power) and the video coax is also separate. depends on your needs. some folks just provide wireless network and then a couple of midi and usb cable in case something needs to be linked between rooms.

[hanuman]

Gullfo, great ideas!

[Akoppenheffer]

Really great tips and ideas!

[valthesoundman]

Hi..
So, I sort of forgot about keeping things updated here..
Well I didn't really forget, I just haven't had time.

I had planned to have got a lot further on the build by now, as I had a lot of free time, but a lot of last minute live engineering work came in, so I'm a little bit over schedule.

Floor is finished with 1 layer of 20mm MDF, and 1 layer of 10 mm pine sheets.

All four wall frames of the CR are up, except I can't take pictures, it's dark.


Tomorrow ceiling joists go up, and then I'll start prewiring electricity.
By the end of next week I should have finished the rockwool in the wall framing, to start drywalling... hopefully.

Up till now I've done this all by myself, so it's going slowly, but surely...