One-room studio advice

[bchamorro]

What are some ideal dimensions for a BIG one room studio/one live room?

Is there some kind of ratio that I should follow when deciding the length, width and height?

Rectangular room? Cube?

I record and play everything myself so I don't find a control room or individual tracking rooms necessary.

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by bchamorro

What are some ideal dimensions for a BIG one room studio/one live room?

Is there some kind of ratio that I should follow when deciding the length, width and height?

Rectangular room? Cube?

I record and play everything myself so I don't find a control room or individual tracking rooms necessary.

NO CUBES. That's bad. In a cube all of your room modes would be tripled...acoustically, a nightmare. A very general rule of thumb is that you want all odd dimensions (prime numbers if possible), none of which is a multiple of any other. For example a 17'Wx29'Lx11'H would be fantastic for a rectangle. It's a good size, they're all prime numbers, and none of them are even close to being multiples of any other.

From there you can get into changing the geometry of the room to suit the acoustics better...i.e., non-parallel walls, ceiling with elevation changes, etc.

Frank

[bchamorro]

Thanks Frank,
Anything else I should know about room modes? I'll be working with an architect who has never designed a studio and I need to give him some info on what I want.

(I have no other option)

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by bchamorro

Thanks Frank,
Anything else I should know about room modes? I'll be working with an architect who has never designed a studio and I need to give him some info on what I want.

(I have no other option)

Ah...in that case, you'll need much more information that you'll get in a Gearslutz thread. There's a **whole lot** more to this than is immediately obvious. You'd probably be very well served by spending a few thousand on the services of a design firm (like John Sayers) to help you get every detail right. If you're just looking for another room on your house that will double as a studio, then maybe not...but if you're looking to get this right and not deal with acoustic and infrastructural issues later, hire someone else to come up with a design that you can hand to an architect.

Alternately, you could buy Rod Gervais' book, "Build it like the Pros" and read that cover to cover. Cheaper, but much, much more time consuming. You can pick up more superficial information by reading threads here and by going to John Sayers' forum...more depth in terms of room design there.

Frank

[avare]

Total agreement with what Frank wrote.

If you decide to go the DIY route, the second book to get is Everest's Master Handbook of Acoustics. Despite it title, it is primarily intended as a beginner's text, all though every professional has it and references it regularly.

In the price is right category (free) there is the SAE Reference Center written by John Sayers. Showing how the pros do it is Rose's BBC Guide to Acoustic Practice. Some concepts have evolved since it was published, but if you read Gervais first, it will be clear that 90% of what is written in it is still valid. It is an often referenced text today. As someone famous in acoustics once remarked, the BBC R&D budget is the size of small countries' budgets.

The third reference I recommend, after all of the above, is Newell's Recording Studio Design. It is expensive for a non professional text buyer (~$100 US) and worth it.

If you are not interested in spending months learning about studio design and want to get it right hire a consultant. John Sayers has been mentioned, and I'll add Glenn Stanton to the recommended. Both have web presences (actively involved in helping people).

Good studio building is 90% design and 10% construction.

Andre

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by avare

Total agreement with what Frank wrote.

If you decide to go the DIY route, the second book to get is Everest's Master Handbook of Acoustics. Despite it title, it is primarily intended as a beginner's text, all though every professional has it and references it regularly.

In the price is right category (free) there is the SAE Reference Center written by John Sayers. Showing how the pros do it is Rose's BBC Guide to Acoustic Practice. Some concepts have evolved since it was published, but if you read Gervais first, it will be clear that 90% of what is written in it is still valid. It is an often referenced text today. As someone famous in acoustics once remarked, the BBC R&D budget is the size of small countries' budgets.

The third reference I recommend, after all of the above, is Newell's Recording Studio Design. It is expensive for a non professional text buyer (~$100 US) and worth it.

If you are not interested in spending months learning about studio design and want to get it right hire a consultant. John Sayers has been mentioned, and I'll add Glenn Stanton to the recommended. Both have web presences (actively involved in helping people).

Good studio building is 90% design and 10% construction.

Andre

Really, really good advice...especially that last sentence. Once you build the place, you're stuck with the problems you create. You want to do it right the first time in terms of both geometry and infrastructure.

Frank

[avare]

Jumping to the other extreme of just answering your question of room ratios. The best ranges for modal distribution of studio size facilities are centered around:

1:1:37:1.88; and
1:1.52:2.13.

The short explanation is the yellow areas in the graph in this post. If you want a more complete answer, read the thread the post is in. Seven pages, multiple high level discussion involved in the thread.

Andre

[bchamorro]

Thank you so much for the info. I'm pretty sure I am going to contact Sayer or Stanton to design the room. I don't wait the inexperienced architect to screw up, then I will have him take a look at the design and work it out from there.

Would you happen to know how much a studio designer/architect would charge for this simple task?

[avare]

Originally Posted by bchamorro

Would you happen to know how much a studio designer/architect would charge for this simple task?

Your question is too vague. If you really think it is simple, that is the first indication that it is not. John charges $150/hr for phone consultation, if that helps you any.

Andre

[bchamorro]

Would any of you know of any really good isolation headphones for monitoring while playing?

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by bchamorro

Would any of you know of any really good isolation headphones for monitoring while playing?

Post that in the "So much gear so little time" forums.

Frank