New Studio!! Design and Plan help!!

[WannaBStudioNut]

Hey Fellow Slutz, In advance i'd like to say thanks for any information that you share with me..

Early next year i got the go ahead to Build a new Studio. My Fiance and i brought a House, with a Bonus New Galvanized Shed on it. In side the Shed is exactly 59.95 Square meters, or 645.29643 Square Feet.

The Studio will be Commercially Run, Running Mostly Digital Setup Yamaha DM 2000 included with Some nice Analogue toys. For contemporary projects.

I will be on a budget around $50,000 However i'd like to use $30,000 for Materials, Designs, labour costs, HVAC etc. (If its Possible) Trust me i would use more if i could! However, i have friends that are Builders, and i will get some Materials (or Most) at trade Prices. I'm also a pretty handy as it comes to Tools.

The other $20,000 toward essentials, Studio wiring, Studio Furniture, and maybe another Pre or Two.

The room format is as follows, Control Room, Small Dead Room, Larger Live Room, Small Vocal Booth. I know there's not much room to work with, however i want the Live Room to be the largest room. Primarily for Drums.

Also if you could recommend a great Acoustic Designer that would be fantastic!

With the post i have also included some Sketches of the Building, and what i was thinking for a plan.

Again, thanks for your time, and having a look at my post. Cheers. WannaBe.

[jinksdingo]

Wow! I'm really glad for you. I like your design as well,very pro layout. Where abouts in Oz?

Being a gal shed, the first order of business is your surroundings. How sound proof does it have to be to the outside world?

The reason I ask is if there is no prob with some sound getting out you'll probably make it within budget and put the bulk of the proofing between rooms.

If bass frequencies can get out and are not totally contained; acoustically it is less of a prob too on the external walls.

If it has to be totally sound proof from the outside world you might go over budget but then again who knows what materials you can source before hand.

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by WannaBStudioNut

Hey Fellow Slutz, In advance i'd like to say thanks for any information that you share with me..

Early next year i got the go ahead to Build a new Studio. My Fiance and i brought a House, with a Bonus New Galvanized Shed on it. In side the Shed is exactly 59.95 Square meters, or 645.29643 Square Feet.

The Studio will be Commercially Run, Running Mostly Digital Setup Yamaha DM 2000 included with Some nice Analogue toys. For contemporary projects.

I will be on a budget around $50,000 However i'd like to use $30,000 for Materials, Designs, labour costs, HVAC etc. (If its Possible) Trust me i would use more if i could! However, i have friends that are Builders, and i will get some Materials (or Most) at trade Prices. I'm also a pretty handy as it comes to Tools.

The other $20,000 toward essentials, Studio wiring, Studio Furniture, and maybe another Pre or Two.

The room format is as follows, Control Room, Small Dead Room, Larger Live Room, Small Vocal Booth. I know there's not much room to work with, however i want the Live Room to be the largest room. Primarily for Drums.

Also if you could recommend a great Acoustic Designer that would be fantastic!

With the post i have also included some Sketches of the Building, and what i was thinking for a plan.

Again, thanks for your time, and having a look at my post. Cheers. WannaBe.

The working design you have there looks doable. I think the big problem will be isolation...you could blow all $50K on that alone. There's that much to do, especially if you're starting from scratch.

There are several designers that hang around right here on this forum.

Frank

[WannaBStudioNut]

Originally Posted by jinksdingo

Wow! I'm really glad for you. I like your design as well,very pro layout. Where abouts in Oz?

Being a gal shed, the first order of business is your surroundings. How sound proof does it have to be to the outside world?

The reason I ask is if there is no prob with some sound getting out you'll probably make it within budget and put the bulk of the proofing between rooms.

If bass frequencies can get out and are not totally contained; acoustically it is less of a prob too on the external walls.

If it has to be totally sound proof from the outside world you might go over budget but then again who knows what materials you can source before hand.

Hey there Jinks Dingo. Yeah these have been playing on my mind for awhile now.
Yeah i do have neighbors, and there great, and very supportive. I want to keep it that way. Hehe.

I'm in a small town called Dora Creek, Between Newcastle and Sydney. 5 mins off the F3. Its a fairly rural area, across the road from us is a egg packing plant, which you hardly hear, apart from the odd truck coming out of there.

I've been thinking of Besser Block core filling the Live (Drum) Room as this will be the biggest issue.. I want to keep tracking between 9 to 5pm if i can. All the neighbors work during this time, however, i would like to go later if i feel confident with the soundproofing.

I also want to be able to mix anytime am & pm, so the control room will have to be fairly sound proof also..

I'm going to try and source alot of my materials through eBay, Wholesale Outlets etc. I also have a friend at who owns a insulation shop, so i can get materials from there for a cheaper price.

Another COSTLY idea i have it replacing the Gal Steel with all around besser blocks. If i can i'd rather no do this.. If i need to i will tho..

Thanks for replying, really appreciate it. Cheers WannaB

[WannaBStudioNut]

Originally Posted by Weasel9992

The working design you have there looks doable. I think the big problem will be isolation...you could blow all $50K on that alone. There's that much to do, especially if you're starting from scratch.

There are several designers that hang around right here on this forum.

Frank

Thanks Weasel, It looks like i will be spending a stack on isolation.

Another major issue i'm having is, being a steel garage, i got to get out all the Rattles from Vibration, i put a 15 inch speaker in there the other day, and man talk about rattle.

I was thinking of pulling off all the Galvanized pannels, and isolating them with rubber strips.. It's a huge job, but may be worth it.

I put up more info in the last post too. If you want to read more about it.

I'll need to start talking to acoustic designers like yourself, to work out the logistics, and plans..

Thanks again, for your reply.. I appreciate it. Cheers WannaB.

[WannaBStudioNut]

Can anyone sudgest a acoustic designer for me?
As I would like to get the studio underway. Cheers!

[Radioking]

Looks great.

My only comment is that access to the control room appears to be through the recording spaces. You don't want your clients to have to wait for a take to finish so that they can get in and out. I think you should try and flip the design 180 deg as this could solve that problem. Also I would consider adding a small recreational space otherwise your going to be stuck with the bands chatting away while you are trying to work.

Good luck.

Andy

Press PLay Studio

[WannaBStudioNut]

Originally Posted by Radioking

Looks great.

My only comment is that access to the control room appears to be through the recording spaces. You don't want your clients to have to wait for a take to finish so that they can get in and out. I think you should try and flip the design 180 deg as this could solve that problem. Also I would consider adding a small recreational space otherwise your going to be stuck with the bands chatting away while you are trying to work.

Good luck.

Andy

Press PLay Studio

Thanks for the reply Andy. This was my initial thought also. The reason why i planed it this way is because of where the Garage Entrance is.. I wanted to be able to load a Drum Kit straight into the Drum Room, with out going thru any other rooms. Easy access.

After taking your comment into consideration, I'm going to put a Double Door Entrance into the Control Room, for easy Access. Also outside from this will be a Small Covered Recreation area and Car Parking.

Trust me! The first thing on my mind was this because hate people in the Studio chatting while mixing etc.. One of my biggest pet hates!!!

I'll have the Roller Door to go into the Live and Dead Rooms. Then the Double Door for Vocal Booth and Control room access. Also i want to keep the Outside of Studio looking like a Garage, for security reasons. We have an amazing Neighborhood, however for me it's "Out of sight, Out of Mind"

Also i was thinking of Bricking and Core filling all the walls to soundproof the Studio, including between the Drum Room and Control Room... As it's just a metal Frame and metal Walls. Is this the best way to go?? Will it also help with Garage Vibrations?? Or just a huge waste of $$$?

[WannaBStudioNut]

I Still need to find an Acoustic Designer. If anyones interested, PM me. Cheers WannaBe!

[Radioking]

Looking at your initial design I would say that you are trying to squeeze too much into too smaller space. My studio is around 700 sq feet and I just have a Control room and a live room and I still find things a bit of a squeeze at times. The problem is that spaces always look bigger on paper but when you factor in the walls, a few amps and keyboards things can get a touch tight. I would opt for a small booth just big enough for a drum kit (say 7x9) and give all the rest of the space to the control room and llve room. You can always build some gobo's to increase isolation.

have a look at the pictures on my myspace page and you will get an idea of what 700 sq ft actually looks like when it's built out.

Good luck

Andy

Press Play Studio