RE: New Studio Advice

[wrathy]

Hey All,

With so many experts here, I thought I would inquire about my move to a new studio (we are moving).

(Some of) My questions are:
1) Acoustically treating the space: where do you start? Cost of hiring someone? What do they actually do? What do treatments run?
I have some bass traps in my current room (advice from an engineer that I trust) but unsure what this new room would need.
2) Building a new desk/workspace.
Is it better to just build something or buy a pre-configured desk? I need lost of space for pen and paper writing, as I usually start there before going to DP. Large score paper used frequently. Also, my controller hides under my current desk, and I like that alot....
3) Computers: do most people keep them in the same "space" or house them in those iso units. How do those work and keep things cool? Recommendations?
4) Ventilation: This space is in a finished basement; there are no windows, and I imagine I will need some A/C (we are in a crazy heat wave in NYC right now...) to keep me and the gear cool....anyone have any great ideas about AC units? I think the only option I have is to cut a hole in the wall at the back of the room for some kind of venting tube from an AC unit (I was thinking about on of those portable AC's) The room is about 14 X 8.

If you have ANY ideas at all, please let me know. If you have recently gone thru something similar, let me know about your experiences.

THANKS.

best.

[HCMarkus]

1) Acoustically treating the space.
2) Building a new desk/workspace.
3) Computers.
4) Ventilation.
The room is about 14 X 8.

See this thread for some thoughts, photos and conversation about my studio construction:
http://www.motunation.com/forum/viewtop ... =9&t=31762

1) Definitely add as much bass trapping as possible unless the walls are flexible enough to handle the low end for you. You will undoubtedly want to control your mid- and high-frequency reflections as well, as the room size is not adequate to get useful reverb/ambience. And don't forget the ceiling!

Low volume near-field monitoring is definitely the way to go.

2) I built my own desk and enjoyed the project. If you have the time, tools, and (wood)"chops", rolling your own can result in a great, completely custom workspace. The above-referenced thread has a few desk pics included within it.

3) A machine room or iso cabinet is especially nice if you have a G5 (loud) and/or lots of noisy hard drives. I built a machine closet in another room and fed A/C to it for cooling. Iso cabs with cooling systems built in are available. With the newer Macs, noise is less of an issue, but it is hard to beat a dead-quiet control room for mixing and recording.

4) A quiet and effective A/C system is the mark of a quality studio. I spent a lot of time and money getting mine right, and that was in a ground-up situation. A skilled A/C contractor can be a real help here.

Consider lighting and decor as you develop your project... you will be spending a lot of time in your space, and are pleasant ambience will repay you many time over. Building your space will probably take more hours/days/weeks and money than you expect. But the little details add up in the end and, especially if you own the space, are well worth the investment of time and energy. Good Luck!

[BradLyons]

What is the purpose of this room? Being that it is 14x8, you don't have a lot of space to work with on the 8ft wall so you have to take that into consideration with room treatment. That's easy to overlook, but if you have 6" in diffusors and 4" in foam, all of a sudden you lost close to a foot. ARe you going to be recording and mixing? Does it need to be soundproofed? HOW good of acoustics do you REALLY need, because just putting foam in the room isn't exactly solving the problem of acoustics, it only puts a band-aid on it. What is your budget to build this space AND put whatever gear in there you need? Since you're asking about computers, what gear ARE you using now and what are you thinking---again to better solve the puzzle of what is needed and the budget to get you there?

[wrathy]

Dear HC & Brad,

Thanks for your thoughtful replies.
HC: That thread is gold. I am going on the road for a minute so I am going to print the entire thing out and go thru it in depth.

You both have bonna fide recording studio grade setups. My situation is much different; most of what I do is in the box with the occasional addition of a few live musicians here and there. There is another room beside the one I will start in, about the same size, which could eventually create a control room/recording space situation, but for now its all going to live in the same space.

Brad, my setup is in my sig, so that can give you an idea of what I am using.

Mostly I do scoring work; doc's industrials, TV spots, etc.

I have a great carpenter who is going to build me a desk. Just trying to figure out how to configure everything.

AC is probably the biggest issue. I have to do more research, but its difficult since I am on a tight budget, and AC/duct work/installation can get very expensive very quickly.

All the best,
andrew

[HCMarkus]

For now, you might want to use your second room as a machine room and bass trap. By leaving the door between the rooms open (assuming the rooms are adjacent), you can effectively expand the size of your control room, which may well help smooth out your low-end response. Just add a lot of absorbing material in the second room so it does not add reverb or echos. This will also damp any noise from your computer and hard drives.

Good luck, and have fun with the project!