If you could build your studio again what would you do differently?

[Duffster]

If you could build your studio again what would you do differently?
I haven´t even finished my studio yet and I am already thinking what I will do differently if and when I build another or do a facelift on the whole thing.

[edham]

I'd own the real estate instead of rent it.

Ultimately its the only way to truly succeed in the long run.
And you can't buy it at bubble prices either.

The few healthy studios left all bought the property when it was cheap and never leveraged it or refinanced it while pulling money out of it to fund the studio.

If you never manage to make a ton of money and fund a nice retirement account its the real estate that will save you.

When all your friends are telling you to "buy real estate" DON'T.
When all your friends think your are crazy for buying real estate - buy as much as you possibly can.

[Piper1021]

I would have bought less gear at first. Not a very Gearslutty thing to say, but it is the truth. I loaded up on software, outboard pres and comps, softsynths, ect when I built my project studio. It was a wet dream, but it became a very unproductive when it came time to learn the ins and outs of all that new gear and software. I couldn't see straight for months and I wasted a ton of time having to learn so many new programs and pieces of gear. I still can't even touch the capabilities of what I have.

If I did it again...... I would still buy my BAE312 pres, 1176, PT, one plug-in bundle (probably the Sonys), and ONE software instrument. I would master those things before filling up the racks. Then I might actually finish a project in a reasonable amount of time instead.

Just my $0.02 from a guy that can afford more gear than his talent deserves.

[Kiwiburger]

Good question.

The next time I build a studio - I would want dedicated airconditioning rooms, a dedicated machine room (for noisy PC's) and an echochamber or two.

If you spend a lot of money on building perfect soundproofed rooms - you don't want to defeat the whole thing by connected them with air con ducts. What you need is a chamber for each inlet and out. That chambers needs to be lined with foam, so outside noise is killed, and inside noise doesn't get out. You want to be able to clean and inspect them - this the air you breath - so I would build a small room for each air inlet/outlet. And seperate ones for each room.

As it is - I ended up building some external chambers, but the time and money in solving this problem could have been better spend simply adding more rooms to the design.

An echochamber would be so cool - and also would have been easier to add when building. A toilet block would be good too - to stop people having to use the house. Maybe two birds, one stone?

And a machine room for noisy shit - like PC's and hard drives and power amps. Would have been so easier to do at build time - really needs a room.

[Rick Sutton]

Originally Posted by edham

I'd own the real estate instead of rent it.

True words.
I built my first on rented land. Built my second on land I bought and probably the only real money I'll take away from the business when I give it up will be from the real estate.
Now, if i were to build a third studio, the one thing I'd change is to build a much larger control room.

[Duffster]

My studio is is not functioning yet but I know one thing for sure, I wish I had studied and payed attention a little more in the process. I feel like so many details escaped me and I paid the price later. It is amazing how much you do wrong... to many things to pay attention to... and before you know it one little mistake turns into the lamest thing you have done. The other answer to this question I will discover in the next couple months as the studio starts finctioning.
To any interested, or for those who don´t want ot screw up as much as I did:
My studios construction has started!!!!!

[stevep]

More Bass traps..........

[stevep]

Just kidding.........




Kinda,..... 8" of 703 instead of 4" would have been nice !


Never too much Bass trapping..





And i should have probably have hired someone to help me.


Paying Customers would be nice ,.



Keep up the work !


Your room looks nice, you are close !!!





steve

[TornadoTed]

A bigger live room for sure. I'm looking at ways of extending ours but it's not looking like an easy or cheap project, could have been done reasonably simply at the time!

[stevep]

Duffster .It is amazing how much you do wrong... to many things to pay attention to... and before you know it one little mistake turns into the lamest thing you have done.

Don't worry to much,

Some of what I thought were my biggest mistakes turned out to be just what the room needed.

Also the second time around is a bit easer, I tried to fix what i did wrong in the first studio, Back then ( 20years) There was no Internet and maybe one or two books on studio construction, and the studio building was kinda,.... try and hope it works ......


Now someone can hire a studio designer and get it right without the hit and miss.
(this i would recommend)



Also , working in a studio everyday for many years will teach you what you would like different.


my new room was wired and setup for easy changes and expansion,


So far no problems, thank God !




Duffster, Don't worry to much, sometimes you just have to improvise



steve

[dale116dot7]

Mine isn't a 'real' studio but a basement project studio. First, I would research the gear first, and skip a lot of things that don't have a good reputation (eg. Alesis 3630 compressors). Next, I would try to find a place with as high of a ceiling as possible. Third, I would not put it anywhere near the electrical entrance of the building. And finally, I would be more cautious of the dimensions and ratios of dimensions of the rooms. The previous owner of my house built the studio down there, which was handy when I moved in, but it was not built quite right in terms of acoustics.

[WEAPON_X]

buying good gear right from the begining, and using more common sense, which particular implies not believing the pro-sumer hype and propagande (e.g. "originial u87 for a tenth of what a genuine u87 would cost... bla bla bla.") it is not only a waste of money, but a waste of time and confidence in owns own abilties . ..

[Jeff A. Roberts]

Higher ceilings.

Higher ceilings.

Higher ceilings.

Bigger control room.

[Sound Chaser]

Originally Posted by edham

I'd own the real estate instead of rent it.

I would avoid the full blown prestige facility that I was so proud of. There was a time when I would look down on the basement studio...UNPRO! Today, I relish the idea of a more restricted facility. Private comfort as opposed to a public place. No rookies practising stupidity on my gear, no travel, no equipment dissappearing in the middle of the night, no break ins, clients that show respect for an expensive facility, one set of bills on land that I own.
Smaller, without sacrificing the contol room. (10' minimum height) Fewer projects just to keep working. Quality work, that I am proud of = more of the same.

[Musiclab]

Originally Posted by Jeff A. Roberts

Higher ceilings.

Higher ceilings.

Higher ceilings.

Bigger control room.

yep me too , but without digging down since I have a basement place there was no way.
Also I wasn't planning on moving, suddenly had to, bought a place, from the time I did my last
session at the old room to the 1st at the new was 61/2 weeks, had a control room pretty much finished and the live room
sheet rocked

[David Brown]

More trough space. Estimate the rack and trough space you need and double it.

David Brown