1 room or 2?

[Bristol_Jonesey]

Hi all.

I'm thinking about buliding a studio in my garden, total space available is 24' x 24'

It's certainly appealing to be thinking about having a separate control room & live area, but with such a small space, I'm thinking a one room solution would be better.
It would certainly be cheaper

What's the general opinion of people on the forum?

[Bristol_Jonesey]

Hi there. Thanks for replying.

The intention is to record elect guitars & bass, acoustic instruments, & vocals.
Not sure about drums yet - this might be possible further down the line but not straight away.

This is a private venture with a maximum of 2/3 people recording at once. No bands.

[bukarin]

I've got a small one room studio which has served me well for overdubs and mixing but it has lots of limitations!! My place is about 13x11.5 internally, it's mainly for writing and mixing but I do lots of vocals and some electric guitars.

Is your total space 24x24 the external dimensions for a building??
You will lose significant space once everything is build and soundproof...with two rooms they'll end up pretty small.

If I was mainly recording I'd definitely go for multiple rooms though, just worth thinking about the actual sizes and purposes. I have an isolation box for amps (lined with rockwool) which works surprisingly well but it is far from ideal in my space, you could incorporate one into the design and a booth and small machine room. This would allow you to keep the control room relatively large and quiet for recording purposes (computer and noisy gear in machine room/cupboard) isolate a gtr amp and record a vocal all at the same time. You'd want to recording most acoustic instruments in the main room for the space, it really depends on how you want to record. If drums are essential though that setup won't really be ideal.

I'd really think about how and what you want to record and your workflow and if you mind working on headphones. They'll definitely be compromises but it can work!! Check out Miloco's Pool Studio the mother of one room places.....not for everyone but musicians generally love it!!!

[Kris Bang Boom]

I built 2 rooms 5 years ago,
real well angled walls,
closets the whole shhbang !,
then one night this spring after a terrible session.
I "tore down the wall"
5 hours later sun rising there was my new studio open and larger
gear at one end simply curtains and a ceiling cloud on its way.
15 8x8 curved sound baffles that were made for a theater ( like office dividers but curved with wool and wood)
and the mics and the kit on the other end.
I am cheating a bit there is a smaller room on that end holds a record collection , organ extra gtrs, storage and the washroom.
But besides organ have never used is as a separate room to record,
always tracking now all together
and the point is do not waste money time and effort
set the room open and fresh feeling and
larger rooms give tons of options.
I could bring any size board into my room now.

KBB

[Torea]

Originally Posted by bukarin

...
Is your total space 24x24 the external dimensions for a building??
You will lose significant space once everything is build and soundproof...with two rooms they'll end up pretty small.

If I was mainly recording I'd definitely go for multiple rooms though, just worth thinking about the actual sizes and purposes. I have an isolation box for amps (lined with rockwool) which works surprisingly well but it is far from ideal in my space, you could incorporate one into the design and a booth and small machine room. This would allow you to keep the control room relatively large and quiet for recording purposes (computer and noisy gear in machine room/cupboard) isolate a gtr amp and record a vocal all at the same time. You'd want to recording most acoustic instruments in the main room for the space, it really depends on how you want to record. If drums are essential though that setup won't really be ideal...

Like bukarin said, if you make two in that space, they'll be small. That means they'll be harder to treat. Not impossible, but you may find it less frustrating to go with a bigger room. Also, a bigger room gives you more options should you want to put drums in there, or have a big jam session.

If you think up a floor plan idea, post it here. We like pictures =D

[ritelec]

Originally Posted by Bristol_Jonesey

I'm thinking a one room solution would be better.

+1

[bukarin]

Just wanted to add, make sure you have some storage of some description, I'd do anything for a small cupboard!!!!!

[ritelec]

Originally Posted by bukarin

I'd do anything for a small cupboard!!!!!

Anything???

[Bristol_Jonesey]

Great responses lads - this is exactly the sort of feedback I was hoping for.

I'm certainly thinking along the lines of a one room solution. With such a limited spcae, any space saving is going to be good news.

I'll try and knock up a couple of sketches and post them up.

Thanks one and all (apart from you know who )

[boggy]

Originally Posted by Bristol_Jonesey

Hi all.

I'm thinking about buliding a studio in my garden, total space available is 24' x 24'

It's certainly appealing to be thinking about having a separate control room & live area, but with such a small space, I'm thinking a one room solution would be better.
It would certainly be cheaper

What's the general opinion of people on the forum?

I agree with you, two that small rooms can't be better than one bigger.

And try to get best room ratios that is practical for you.

Also higher ceiling may be better (same as, or higher than 10-12', be careful with room ratios)

Good luck

Bogic

[Ron Vogel]

I recently moved....just finished setting up my desk last night.

My old room was smallish, but well made. It was 8 x 8.5 x 9, with a second room of 5 x 8 x 9. Floating floors, well-treated, offset studded walls with tons of mass. The new place is a rental...basement has a 7.5' ceiling, open rafters, tiled floor, cinder block walls. Measures 16 x 18. I put the desk up on the long wall, rockwool in the joists, and minor sound proofing.

New room sounds 100% better...can't explain it...

In my little 2 room studio I found myself tracking A LOT more than expected in the control room.

I am a big fan of the one room set-up...just get gobo's if you need isolation.