The first chapter regarding building this studio is about the planning of construction, sound isolation and acoustic treatment.
- First of all start with the requirements and intended use of the room: this will be a typical mixing/mastering room, no live instrument/vocal recording intended so isolation requirements are to minimize transmission to the neighbours as much as possible
. This is explicitly not a complete airtight construction. - The room should be as neutral as possible, therefore a low reverberation time (RT60) is required. Acoustics will be measured & handled once all the furniture & gear is in place.
- Because the studio is a new floor on top of the current building I am able to design the construction from scratch, this is an advantage (at least it is to me).
For all of you who are planning a similar project, or are just interested I can recommend the following sources:
- John Sayers’ Recording Studio Design forum
- Homerecording.be forum
- Rod Gervais’ book Home Recording Studio (buy it online for instance @ amazon)
If these sources are talking rocket science from your point of view, hire an experienced professional!!!
Otherwise you might want to follow the DIY approach:
- Read all (and possibly other/more) of these sources carefully and get an impression of what you might need.
- Read them again, and again (yes it’s a lot) and decide on what you really need.
- Make your construction-, electrical- & acoustic plan.
- If possible, ask for 3rd party reviews (for instance Peek-A-Boo Music ) and adjust your plans accordingly.
- Start the construction phase
- Adjust your electrical- & acoustic plan according to the changes (yes, you will face changes) that were introduced during construction phase.
- Start the electrical phase
- Install all the furniture & gear
- Do an initial acoustic (frequency- & impulse response) measurement to determine your problem categories & area’s
- Add acoustic treatment to your room, (re)move furniture and gear.
- Do the extended acoustic (frequency-, impulse- & psychoacoustic response, RT60, etc) measurement to verify the effects of your acoustic treatment
- Adjust the acoustic treatment, move your stuff and repeat measurements until you’re satisfied
- Start making music