New Community Studio

[DaddyG]

Hello folks,

Boy, do I wish I'd found this place a few months earlier!

I'm in the process of building a new studio, through the community music group I chair, in rural Scotland. The building is detached, made from sandstone, and right next to quite a busy road. We've been working away at it for a few months now so thought I might as well tell you where we've got to. Here's a basic (very basic, I've only just started using sketchup) plan of the building



And an exterior view-



The main studio is approx 5300mm x 5200mm and the control room is 3400mm x 3800mm and is separated from the studio by a toilet. Our plan is to run some multicore under the floor from one room to the other using some 4" pipe. Here's a couple of shots of the studio room from a while back-





We're sound proofing the windows just now. We put sealant in all gaps in the frames, then there's a layer of rock wool, a frame of acoustic slabs, and finally a layer of Gyproc Sounbloc plasterboard to go up. There will also be cement particle board going up outside the windows.



We've bought some solid core door blanks that we're going to fit between the studio, control room and the inner exit door. We've been told that the best stuff to use on the door is Sealmaster Thunder acoustic seals. Is this the really best option?

Also any advice on how to acoustically treat the studio would be much appreciated. It will be getting used as both a rehearsal and recording space by local kids (currently the nearest recording studios and rehearsal rooms are a 40 mile round trip). The floors are wooden and we've a couple of large thick rugs we were planning on putting down on top.

We're all volunteers and have kind of been stumbling our way through the build as none of us has had experience doing this kind of thing before, so any help and advice you guys can offer would be greatly received!

[DaddyG]

Little bit more information for you. We're just leasing the building, that's why we've been unable to knock down any walls and are stuck with the lay out as is.

We've been donated a 42" flatscreen by a local business, so the plan is to hang that above the mixing desk, fix a camera on the studio wall, and have it as a virtual window. We'll also obviously also be able to use it as a 3rd monitor for mixing.

[soulfield]

Excellent to see this being done for kids. Since the building is leased, establish the minimum isolation/transmission loss provisions:

Doors (your already on that)
Door Seals + Sweeps
Sealing wall penetrations (electrical-pllumbing-HVAC)

Maybe run your mic lines (or a stage snake for value engineering)
get your camera and monitor in place.

Basically what you need to function on whatever level you desire, and then focus the remainder of your budget on acoustical treatments in the space you have.

I'm no expert but you are in the right place. Ask and I'm sure you shall receive.

[NWAudio]

Shame you're so far from e, i'd happlily offer my services cabling up, but so far the compromise you seem to have reached looks like it'll produce a half decent result.

Camera for the TV, cheapest and simplest option is to use a low priced CCTV camera, but don't go for one of the wireless ones the image quality is gash, most run off a small DC power supply, and make sure it comes with it, they vary wildly in voltage! Some plain simple video coaxial terminated onto a phono and you're laughing.
I'm guessing talkback will be handled by the desk, sou you should be able to see and hear your artists

Budget stagesnakes can be had pretty reasonably, right up to 50m. Ok they are mass produced in China, and are not of the highest quality, but if they are left as installed wiring you'll not have to big a problem with them.
Failing that it is possible to make very high quality snakes and wall boxes if you know the right people

[DaddyG]

Thanks for the support guys.

We were planning on buying a snake as we do have a bit of funding in place, but any help would be greatly appreciated NW
We've already got a pretty decent spec computer for recording and mastering and are planning on getting this desk-

GS-R24 | ALLEN & HEATH // WORLD CLASS MIXING

The one thing we haven't probably spent enough time thinking about is acoustics (other than soundproofing, because of the busy road outside).

I've been looking at the various tutorials on here about building bass traps, is this our best bet?

The other thing that is slightly concerning me is the control room. It has a sash and case window on the side and a large window opposite the wall where the mixing desk will be. Here's a picture of the big window-



We made a decision as a group to keep these windows open and uncovered, as we want people in the community to be able to see what's going on and for the space to be welcoming. However I'm now worried that the room is going to sound like crap. Any thoughts?!

[NWAudio]

Could you not use some moveable boards/damping screens to stop any reflections when it's critical? When they're not needed just move them out the way.

I like A&H gear, i'm slightly biased as i've been repairing/servicing that stuff for years, not that it's unreliable! Far from it!

As for the snakes, let me know PM/email what you need, length sends/returns and connector types, all XLR, combo XLR jacks, whatever, and if its a floor or wall mount box, and i shall see what can be concocted.

[DaddyG]

Thanks a lot. I'll get back to you on that one

[DaddyG]

I don't know if this is the right place to be putting questions like this, but here goes anyway.

What do you think the best option for sealing our 3 new doors would be? We've been recommended these - Sealmaster Thunder

But I was thinking of possibly buying a few of these kits - Acoustic Door Sealing Kits - Sound Service (Oxford) Ltd

Any ideas on the best option?