Installing the Studio

7/21/2019 Installing the Studio

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INSTALLINGTHE STUDIO

by Greg Hanks

After months of intensive labor, andmany thousands of dollars spent, itseems that someone is going to haveto hook up all of the equipment that issitting in the control room. Do youhave the wire? Where the heck are allof those parts bags that came with thisstuff? Steve?? Greg?? HELP! This not-so-pretty scenario actually happens.Nowadays, though, only the foolhardywould approach such an expensive

undertaking in this manner, or so itwould seem. There should be as muchpreparation given to the inter-connec-tion of the facility equipment as thereis to any other facet of the operation.The installation of a studio is not a littleproject to be taken lightly. Part andparcel to the placement and hook-upof the equipment is the care and plan-ning thereof. We approach such anendeavor with a little different view-point. A recording studio is a system,and not a collection of systems tiedtogether with wire. Therefore, the peo-ple responsible for the integration of

the various components that comprisethe recording studio are in effect re-sponsible for the design of a system.This approach implies involvementwith the overall planning of the room(s).The areas of interest to the designerare as follows:

Outline of Current NeedsThe equipment necessary and the

optimum layout thereof is mostly theresult of the type of business the stu-dio is to service. An example wouldbe the synchronizer that ties the VTRas a slave to the multi-track recorderin a video post-environment. It wouldhave little application in an 8-trackdemo studio. Therefore, put a lot ofthought and care into the equipmentselection and where it will live. Wewill explore this in more detail a littlelater.

Electrical Power Once the equipment choices have

been made, and the equipment loca-tions have been established, it is nec-essary to determine what type of de-mands will be made upon the power

40

lines. It is also necessary to knowwhether or not the equipment is sensi-tive to line fluctuations and spikes,whether this condition occurs on thepower available, and if so what sizeand type of power conditioning is nec-essary. Having made these determi-nations, it is necessary to specify thetype of electrical wiring and the loca-tion of the concurrent breaker boxes,power conditioners and all of the as-sociated outlets. Take care, for a pow-er line that has a high current demandgenerates a significant magnetic field,which translates directly to hum andelectrical noise. Any large power linesshould be located well away from theconsole summing buses and themulti-track.

LightingHave you ever had to walk through

a room full of obstacles in the dark inorder to turn on the light switch? Silly,isn’t it? Well, where are you going tolocate the control room lighting dim-mers/switches, how much light isthere going to be for maintenance,

and how do you adjust the lighting forthe studio area? These are some of thequestions that impact the installationdesign, because SCR type dimmerscan have a very nasty effect on thesound of the system, and all of the lowlevel wiring should be placed as faras possible from both lighting andpower wiring.

Air Conditioning:Control Room and Studio

The air conditioning sizing, duct lo-

cation and specification is not reallythe realm of the installer, but can im-pact the project in that it is “reallyswell” to be able to get an air condi-tioning drop to the multi-track record-er alcove (if there is one), the amplifierand console power supply racks, andthe computer closet (again, if one ex-ists). The location of the ducting canaffect where one decides to run wiresor locate wall panels. These pointsshould be addressed as the room de-sign is being put on paper.

Pragmatic Overview of

Available ResourcesWhenever the studio design consid-erations are contemplated, the realisticavailable resources must first be de-termined. These resources includeavailable real estate, floor space, time,money and manpower. These are in-ter-related contributions to the netavailable resource pool. The amountof individual contribution must bewisely allocated. Let’s look at howsome of the resources affect the in-stallation:

TimeThe time budget is probably the

toughest to estimate with any true de-gree of accuracy. The reasons for thisare fairly obvious, and some of thequestions that must be asked are:

1. Now that we have a full materialslist, how much is in stock, what has tobe ordered, and how long will it takefor it to come in?2. How long does it take to cut, num-ber and prep the wiring?3. Who is going to do the panel de-sign, and machining, anodizing and

MIX VOL. 10. NO.



engraving? By the way, how long willit take?4. Which tasks affect others, are workschedules in a proper chronologicalsequence, and can concurrent tasksbe handled so that they reach comple-tion at the correct times?

Obviously, there are many factorsto consider when allocating time, notthe least of which is money. All too

often the entire crew works a few ‘all-nighters’ in order to get the job donein time. Overtime is expensive, andthe work performed after surviving aprevious 36 hours of intense labor isless effective than it could be. Theinstallation planning should start withthe project plan, and the work should

start as soon as there is definite andreliable information available aboutwhat will be needed.

SpaceThe proposed facility has an overall

floor plan. Is there a place for the main-tenance area in this plan? Where areyou going to put acoustically-sensitivemechanical reverb devices? Howabout spare parts, client tapes or the

mundane items such as stationery andoffice supplies? These are some of themany ways that space must be budg-eted for the new operation.

Money and theAvailable Budget

Construction, equipment and instal-

lation have a percentile relationshipto each other: the hook-up and instal-lation are often shortchanged, and thisarticle attempts to curtail that onerouspractice. When establishing a budgetfor the work, a good rule of thumbfigure is about ten percent of the cap-ital equipment budget. This is not castin concrete, and should not be usedwhen an initial modest equipmentcomplement is to be superseded with

a more sophisticated setup. The basisof any good control room and studiowiring scheme is planning. The directcosts can be established using a rela-tively simple formula: $15 per signalcable, which includes termination ateach end and the cost of the wireitself. In order to use this calculationmethod, it must be understood that asignal cable has two ends, and thisexpense must be doubled whenevera connector is inserted between thesource and destination of the signalrun. When multi-pair cable is utilized,each pair is calculated separately.Add to this amount the expenses in-

curred by custom interface circuitry,panel work, and miscellaneous costssuch as relay racks, power suppliesand the like, and you have a prettygood idea of what it will cost to imple-ment your studio design.

Something else to keep in mind isthe question of future expansion whencalculating the budget. Whenever anear future increase in equipmentsophistication is a possibility, it makeseconomic sense to allow for new re-quirements in the wiring.

It is far less expensive to put thecables required in place, than to re-wire the facility. Let’s look at this inmore detail.

Projections of Future Expansion

When your business starts to growand your clientele demands increasein terms of equipment and facilityversatility, your future planning doneduring the installation pays off. Thiscan be as simple as having the linesin place to upgrade from 16. to 24-track, or as complex as having thecontrol lines and audio facility in placeto accommodate a new digital 32-trackwith synchronization and disk-based

automation. There are basically twodifferent avenues of preparation to ex-plore. They are as follows:

Change of BusinessService Area

If the proposed new studio is a start-up business, then it is difficult to deter-mine which of your potential clientbases will prove to be the most suc-cessful or profitable. Therefore it is agood idea to be prepared for whateveryour clients may throw at you. This

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could mean tying together a VTR tothe multi-track via a synchronizer, orinstalling a multitude of synthesizersin the control room and running themvia a MIDI sequencer. It is obviousthat you won’t be purchasing every-thing you would need for any con-tingency, but will rent the items need-ed, and install them on a temporarybasis until they have proven them-selves as viable financial investments.However, if the prime business targetis the advertising or video field, then itmakes perfect sense to anticipate therequirements that are concurrent withthat field when planning the “install.”Placing a couple of runs of RG-58Ufor video between the front wall andthe rack that the synchronizer andVTR may live, and bringing in someextra control wiring between the multiand the same rack is far less painful inthe initial construction stage of the stu-dio than it is later on. If the rock androll market is your main target, thenthose lines are not absolutely neces-sary, but headphone feeds and direct

inputs in the control room absolutelyare! Similarly, if the studio is a largeone, and you anticipate that you willbe doing a large number of stringdates, then a conductor’s podium, withsome control wiring for communica-tions is essential.

The previous paragraph is intendedto illustrate what may happen, andwhat some of the wiring requirementsmay be. It is an easier task as a man-ager to see what all of the possibleoptions are and then eliminate thosethat are the least likely to occur. Futurebusiness direction or change in direc-

tion should be accounted for in yourplans, both financial and technical.

Expansion of CurrentService Area

It is a much simpler task to lookahead at what your current client baseis, and make arrangements in the in-stallation to accommodate the future.This is most obvious in a smaller studiowhere you are most likely going from 6 to 24-track, or from one 24-trackto two. It is also easier to see what therequirements of the equipment youanticipate using are. Avail yourself ofthis insight and plan as much as

possible.

Guidelines for Successful Wiring

We have been engaging in somerather abstract intercourse about thenecessity of planning, budget and timeallocations. For those of you whomhave braved the above, we herein of-fer a few morsels of hands-on info. In asequential manner, we will attempt tooutline the method we use. After all ofthe preliminary planning is through,

you should have two very importantitems: (1) a floor plan, indicating thepositions of all the equipment that willbe used. This includes the rack lay-outs and locations. (2) a completeequipment list, also including the ter-minations of all of the equipment onthe list. With these two items in hand,you are prepared to start designing.The first thing to attend to is getting ahandle on how wires are going to runin the studio.

Floorplans and Run SchedulesStarting with the floorplan that has

all of the equipment situated upon it,begin a list of cables that run to andfrom each piece. Organize this list byphysical end location. This means thateach “group” of wires that starts atone place and ends at another is anorganizational entity. When there arecables going to many different placesfrom the same piece of gear, then eachseparate run is documented individu-ally. We organize these bundles as“schedules.” A schedule is composed

of whatever wires are going from pointA to point B. We like to maintain twoseparate run schedules, one for lowand line level audio, the other for highlevel audio (speaker level), video, con-trol wiring and MIDI cables. Reason-ing that computer information whiz-zing by at any reasonable baud ratesounds bad, we try to isolate audiofrom things that sound bad. Thereforewe organize audio separately from ev-erything thing else. Anyway, weshould now be accumulating a list ofschedules. These we can identify byplacing circles on the floorplan at the

approximate location of the wire(s)end(s). To differentiate circles, put anumber in the circles that identify thatgroup of cables (schedule). Sounds alot more difficult than it is. Now, in thedocumentation on the individual sched-ules, we should include the followinginformation:

Schedule #Number of wiresWire #‘s in groupingType of wireWire colorCircuit description

We would call this documentationthe “Wire Run Schedule.” We also

need a “Wire Run List.” This is a list ofall of the wire numbers used. By theway, wire numbers are a good thing,and should be used whenever thereis more than one wire in an assemblyof equipment!

Wire NumbersIt is good practice to identify each

separate wire in any design by those inthe know. Firstly, it is much easier tokeep track of what is what when theharnesses are being constructed. Sec-

MIX VOL. 10, NO.



ondly, it is much easier to fix a systemthat is understandable. Many differentidentification methods are available,but one of the least expensive whilebeing very expeditious is the use ofwire numbers. Each wire is given adiscrete number in our design scheme,but this is not necessary. What is im-portant is that each wire is identifiedin some manner. Our preference is toassign a group of numbers to a func-tion, and then to conform the sequenceto the appropriate track numbers. Asan example, the sends to the multi-track are numbers 200-299. It wouldfollow that the numbers assigned tomulti-track #1 line inputs 1-24 wouldbe 201-224, with the second machinebeing 225-248.

Along with the wire run schedule, awire run list must be generated. Thisis a sequential listing of all of the wirenumbers used. Included on this docu-ment should be:

Wire #sSourceSource termination type and

diagramDestinationDestination termination typeand diagramCircuit descriptionNotes

When doing an installation, it be-hooves us all to avail ourselves of the

services of the “wire-person.” It is adouble edged sword to enlist the aidof “outside” personnel; the advantageof being able to accomplish more isoffset to some degree by the require-ment of supervision. But the supervi-sion requirement may be minimizedby proper documentation, and the pa-perwork that results is a more thor-ough reference work than would oth-erwise be required if only the servicedepartment were doing the work.Some of the documents requiredwhen using less technical helpersinclude:

Wire # summaryConnector summaryWire # allocation tableStandard connector pin-outguideColor code standard

Only when the job is done are theseplanning tasks appreciated. We havefound a little respite from the tediuminvolved in the above through the useof the computer. Surprisingly, thereare common business programs on

the market that simplify this task. Theeveryday spreadsheet with operatingmacros will accomplish most of theabove by entering the primary dataonly once. The actual programmingnecessary in the construction of mac-ros, and the entering of data will takea bit longer than doing it all on paper

with a pencil, but making changesand corrections is much, much faster.

Wire Run LocationConsiderations

As mentioned earlier, MIDI andcomputer information can sound bad.We should never hear the types ofsignals that originate in these devices.Meant to control musical devices,these signals are anything but musi-cal! Electrostatic and electro-magneticfields have a nasty habit of intrudingthemselves upon signals that shouldremain separate and isolated. In orderto minimize these difficulties, we mustkeep the physical isolation betweenthese two different signal types. Thiscan be realized through separate con-duit runs, or a shielding division with-in a common trough.

Troughs and ConduitThroughout this discourse, I have

been referring to cables going fromone place to another, without mentionof the manner in which this is accom-

plished. We wish to route cables in amanner that will allow future wires tobe installed or current wires to be re-moved. This cable routing should beaccessible with a minimum of fuss andbother. We also wish to penetrate allsound barriers a minimum number oftimes and in as few places as possible.

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Wiring within the control room itself ismuch easier to accommodate, and thisis what we will address, as your studiodesigner knows best how to get fromthe control room to the outside world.Within the control room there shouldbe cable troughs accessing each andevery equipment location. Thesetroughs should remain accessiblethrough either floor panels that canbe raised, or wall panels that may beunscrewed. Your particular locationand application will determine the di-mensions and physical structure ofthe troughs, but keep in mind that it isgood to pick up a little extra shieldingin the troughs to reduce both EM1 andRFI. The construction should be ofmetal, however wood troughs linedwith a thin lead sheeting work verywell. When lining a trough in lead, orconstructing it out of steel, rememberthat in order for this shielding to beeffective, it must be brought to ground.The trough locations for the controlwiring have a little different route re-

quirement than the audio lines. Someproblems come with the fact that thereare also audio lines associated withVTRs and MIDI devices, and it is mucheasier (though more costly) in sonicpurity to place these lines in the samelocation. At any rate, the control andMIDI lines should somehow be phys-ically isolated from the audio lines.There is another group of cables thatshould also be isolated from the lowlevel wiring, and those are the speakerand cue lines, (at speaker level). It isnot uncommon for the headphonewiring to be run in the same trough asthe studio mic lines. It is also not unus-ual to find unnecessarily high levelsof high frequency cross-talk and cuepower amplifier instability in these in-stallations! If it is really necessary torun these lines together, then shieldthe high level lines, and face the insta-bility problems with build out resistorsor other applicable means.

Floorplan ErgonomicsWe went over it before, but really,

we should talk a wee bit more aboutthe location of the multi-track. If themulti-track(s) is going to be put in asoffit (which is a good idea because of

the improvement available in acousticnoise from the fans as well as the airconditioning drop availability), thencan the inputs and outputs be ac-cessed without having to remove themachines from the soffits? Can thenoise reduction system by installed/bypassed easily and are the recordfiring lines accessible to find any er-rant signals?

Outboard Rack(s)There are basically four different

types of outboard racks in commonuse, and these are:1. Roll-around racks-

A roll-around rack is usually be-tween three and five feet in heightand houses most of the equipmentthat the mixer will be requiring at hisfingertips most of the time. This designoffers a great deal of operation flexibil-ity: when the units are not in use, theymay be easily moved out of the way toafford greater use of the floor space.There are also some difficulties associ-ated with interconnecting these dev-ils with the rest of the system so theycan withstand abuse. The methodsreadily available are hard-wired um-bilical cables and floor mounted mul-ti-pin connectors, or some mix of thetwo. Consider this when laying outthe outboard racks.2. Built-ins in the producer’s desk-

This is a method that provides aspace for a few pieces of equipmentthe engineers believe will always beneeded within “arms reach.” The hook-

up advantages are obvious, but takecare with the grounding and the possi-bility of the hum fields that can devel-op from the location of the variouspower supply transformers in relationto the console summing buses andpreamplifiers. Remember, a transformer is nothing but a misclassified humpick-up or generator!3. Half height racks placed behindthe mixing position-

When you pick up one of those glos-sy, thick industry magazines and seethe multi mega-buck control roomswith consoles that seem to go on toeternity, you’ll usually spy a “behindthe mix position” complement of out-board equipment. One of the reasonsfor the apparent proliferation of thisdesign is most of these click new in-stalls are designed for audio-for-videopost-production work! In this type ofwork, a producer, director, sound edi-tor and a couple of other people are inthe control room, all offering direction,doing paperwork, and sitting aboveand behind the mixer. This peopleplacement is functional in that envi-ronment and the “behind the mix posi-tion” layout of outboard equipmentoffers a large desk space, while at the

same time provides needed isolationbetween the aforementioned person-nel and the mixer. Not heeding therequirement of listening while an ad-

justment is being performed, a stiffneck is not uncommon among theengineering staff. The choice of equip-ment allocated to these racks is a verysensitive issue.4. Stationary racks, (wall-mounted,monitor and console power supply,six-foot relay rack stuck in the cor-ner, etc.)-

MIX VOL 10, NO 8



While economy favors this layout,as well as being blessed with a simplerwiring task, this choice of outboard

quipment mounting for anything oth-er than room equalizers, noise reduc-ion, and the like is a very tasteless

choice. This becomes an ungainly andunmoving rock of electronics you haveo retreat to in order to modify theounds. After working a room that em-

ploys this form of ergonomic consider-ation for a few short hours, most peopleare looking for a new environment inwhich to create. Ease of use is of para-mount importance in all designs.

Monitor RackThere are a few different pieces of

equipment that fit well together in thesame rack area. Console power sup-plies, monitor power amplifiers, alter-nate speaker selector system, alternateunction power supplies, room equal-zers and sometimes the noise reduc-ion rack all fit well within the same

enclosure. While not necessarily func-

ionally linked, these items all sharehe attribute that they do not needrequent attention. When you do not

need to get to something, there is noneed to keep it within that valuableloor space within easy reach. Care

must be taken when installing itemsof this type in the rack in terms ofgrounding. Power amplifiers mountedn a rack require care that the signal

output minus of the power amplifier isnot tied (through the rack chassismounting) to other devices. Whencontemplating a location for the moni-tor rack, keep in mind the desirability

of putting the rack in a closet, close tothe control room speaker location.There are usually a few fans associ-ated with the console power supply orthe monitor power amplifiers, and theacoustic isolation that a closet providess nice. It is also easier to put an air

conditioning drop in a closet than put-ting this same drop within the controlroom proper. Two items we are de-ighted to find associated with a moni-

tor rack are lighting behind the rackand enough room to move aroundbehind the system.

Rack Wiring ConsiderationsWith the assembly of all of the above,a number of factors must be kept inmind. The proper assembly of a rackcan make this humble carrier of equip-ment a thing of beauty. The commonshortcomings of rack wiring are thelack of harness strain relief and thelack of available 110 VAC. It is ourcontention that all rack equipmentshould be interfaced with a “standard”connector. Any local equipment re-quirement deviations from this stand-

-CONTINUED ON PAGE 95

AUGUST 1986

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-CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47, INSTALLING

ard can easily be accommodated with“pig tails.” This enables equipment tobe moved in patch position andchanged as requirements demandwith a minimum of fuss and bother.Most of the better relay rack manufac-turers provide the ability to dress theaudio up one side of the rack withstrain relief, and the power on theother.

Synthesizer LocationWith the proliferation of synthesiz-

ers, MIDI devices, drum machines andsuch, control room floor space (al-ready at a premium) is reduced evenfurther. Some of the functional con-siderations are:1. Monitor-

It is always nice, when performinga complex musical part, to be able tohear what you are doing. If it is notconvenient to be located within themixer’s monitor field, then contem-plate a set of small speakers for thesynthesist. Headphone feeds to thesynthesizer location are a functionalalternative.2. Direct Ins-

The number of mic inputs in thecontrol room often exceeds the studiomic input count. Synthesizers oftenhave an output level of -10 to -20. Theoutput impedance is low and unbal-

98 M i x

anced. Direct inputs are traditionallycomprised of a transformer input of47-100 k ohm with a 150 ohm outputimpedance. This provides for an out-put level of -35 to -45. With older,conventional transformer-coupledmic pre-amplifiers, this is a satisfac-tory arrangement. With newer trans-formerless instrumentation type pre-amps, this arrangement provides lessthan available performance. The rea-son for this disparity has a lot to dowith the available headroom of olderpre-amp design, and the sound of thepads used on the front end. A tradi-tional “direct” transformer is designedfor electric guitar use. For most syn-thesizer applications, the use of a ca-ble that ties signal “+” to the tip of a1/4-inch phone and the signal “-” tothe sleeve, in conjunction with a sep-arate ground run between consolechassis and synthesizer chassis willprovide superior performance. Thedifficulties encountered with this ap-proach involve the buzzes and humsthat arise from complex MIDI setupswith multiple instruments. MIDI car-ries its own shields through, and setup ground loops!

MIDI ConnectionsThere is an increased need for MIDI

tie lines between the synthesizer loca-tion and the console. This is especially

P u b l i c a t i o n s , i n c .

true when the install&ion is for themusician’s home studio, and both theperforming and engineering tasks arethe responsibility of the same individ-ual. MIDI control of outboard is alsoproliferating and a MIDI patch bay isbecoming a necessity. Remember tokeep these lines physically isolatedfrom the audio lines! Also, keep thechassis grounding integrity of thesynth system consistent with the restof the audio system.

Power ConnectionsIt seems foolish, but the one thing

that most every instrument area lacksis a sufficient number of electrical out-lets. The computer system alone willrequire d full outlet strip on its own.Don’t shortchange this important con-sideration.

GroundingThe proper “earthing” of any com-

plex electronic system is not the ar-cane black art that many people be-lieve it to be. The confusion that sur-rounds grounding stems in part fromthe concept that “ground is ground isground.” This is true in all aspects ex-

cept real life This issue is one thdtdeserves a far more thorough treat-ment than is possible in this article.We will delve into this science in theNovember (AES) issue of Mix! H

AUGUST 1966 R e p r i n t e d with p e r m i s s i o n o t h e p u b l i s h e r s .

Documents

Installing the Studio