New Studio Build Journal

[gjm]

It looks like you are not building a floor/base structure. Is there a reason why you opted not to do this (other than cost) ?

[paradiddle]

Looks pretty cool except for the train that might leak in your mics if you ever do any acoustics recordings. I'm a bit stuck like you and I got 2-3 train tracks about 50 feet away. I can hear the big sub when they pass by.

The good things is that, they demolished the train yard a few ago so the trains don't pass by that often.

And you are right about the best places being the noisiest places. I'm surrounded by bands where I stay but I can make noise like I want

Pat

[micah frank]

It looks like you are not building a floor/base structure. Is there a reason why you opted not to do this (other than cost) ?

There were many factors involved in our decision to not make a floor - none of them really budget related. The room is on a very sturdy wood floor - not concrete, so we were concerned about the resonance a relatively light weight wood deck might introduce when placed on top of that. While there is a significant amount of flanking noise from the outside areas, we are anticipating this to be minimized somewhat by the weight of the room (picture pressing hard on a drum head to dampen the sound). On top of that, we are likely going to build an additional isolation booth (with a floating floor) once the rest of the room is complete. I rarely record more than one instrumentalist at a time so this could work out very nice.

[Poster]

I'm no expert in this but logical thinking says that room has to be lifted from the building' floor..

is it still possible to lift the frame and put it on feet to have as little as possible contact with the floor?

[micah frank]

I'm no expert in this but logical thinking says that room has to be lifted from the building' floor..

is it still possible to lift the frame and put it on feet to have as little as possible contact with the floor?

Sure. For maximum decoupling, that would be the logical solution. Some designers might cringe at this build. Others would agree that a floor will only add problems. We have carefully considered many build options based on the purpose of the room and this one seems the most logical, efficient and cost-effective. The room will mainly be used for programming and sound design. An iso booth can be added for drums, vocals, clarinet, etc...

[micah frank]

Well.. the studio is finished.
http://kamoni.net/category/studio-build/

It took us 2 weeks for heavy construction and then another week for the finer details. My wife (who happens to be a professional photographer) will be taking some photos of it before the end of the month.

End result:

It is an amazing space and roomy! The isolation is pretty good and the train (as suspected) has been reduced to a low rumble - nothing that a HPF won't fix!

I did some acoustics testing using Fuzzmeaser and a calibration mic. The overall frequency balance is very flat, however the decay times are not very good yet at a uniform distribution of ~500ms. There's some comb filtering and flutter echoes happening so I need to get a few more absorbers.

[Rave]

congrats fella. I hope u can sort out the 'issues'

[gjm]

Wow !! All the best.