Studio Build

7/27/2019 Studio Build

1/6

If youre looking to build a studio, theres massesof information out there but no substitutes forprofessional advice and experience.

Professional AdviceFor Home Studio Building

they are fundamentally the wrong shape

and/or because they are constructed from

inappropriate materials.

Building a studio always requiresa certain amount of work, and often

involves reducing the existing dimensions

as you put in double walls, floating

floors and extra ceilings in an attempt

to isolate the recording space from the

surrounding structure. If you are not on

the ground floor, all the issues are made

more difficult, as any weight you add will

need to be supported by the existingfloor: a real concern and potential major

expense. Many properties simply are not

suitable: rooms with flimsy stud walls

and beamed wooden floors are unlikely

ever to be made sufficiently solid to be

J o n B u r t o n

A

lthough Im not a professional

studio builder, I have worked as

a sound engineer for many years,

both live and in the studio. I am often

asked by bands I work with if I can help

sort out their rehearsal rooms, so they can

practice without disturbing the neighbours

and do demo recordings there. I inevitably

wish that they had come to me before

they signed the lease!

We all know studios that are nothing

more than a convenient collection of

cheap rooms with some carpet on the

walls, foam on the ceilings and, if you

are lucky, bass traps. Some of these

thrown-together rooms can sound OK,and be reasonably successful at producing

acceptable results but if they do, its

blind luck! I have been in many rooms that

will never be right no matter how much

time is spent on them, either because

The basic p lan for Jon Burtons Laundry Rooms studio complex, as devised by Recording Architecture. Exp erienced professional s can come up with solut ionsin minutes to problems that might otherwise plague you for years.

f e a t u r e

BuildRight

118 J 2013 / w w w . . c
http://www.soundonsound.com/http://www.soundonsound.com/


2/6

studio, touring less and working at home.

After much searching, I found a disused

laundry building in Sheffield and a new

dream was born. Obviously, by this point

the idea had grown out of all proportion to

my original concept. I now had a business

partner and a large building that needed to

pay its way. I was no longer building a single

studio, but fitting as many control rooms as

I could into the space and sub-letting them.

I had read countless books, visited

numerous forums and web sites. I had

Faced with all these potential problems,

the idea of paying for professional help

seems a lot more attractive!

Roger That

Several years ago, I decided that it was

about time I built my own studio. I had

found a house with a suitable basement,

and it looked like becoming my dream

home. Unfortunately, the market crashed,

as did our house sale but I had become

attached to the idea of owning my own

able to stop the sound of a full-on band

migrating to neighbouring rooms. I was

recently shown one ideal building that

was already equipped with studio-sized

rooms except that all the rooms

shared a common roof void, above the

suspended ceiling tiles, affording no

separation at all! Even if separation issues

can be solved, theres the question of how

suitable the space is: low ceilings, box

shapes and parallel walls rarely produce

good-sounding rooms.

If your studio is to be a money-makingventure, investing in professionaldesign and construction advice is veryworthwhile, as youll discover in themain text of this article. But whatabout those of us whose ambitions,and budgets, are more humble? Ifyou dont have the money to pay fortailored professional advice, you dontneed structural work, and you are justtrying to convert a bedroom or spareroom into a music-writing space, doyou turn to companies that providebalanced room kits, or search theInternet for do-it-yourself sites andadvice? And how do you know whichadvice will be sound, or relevant?

One of the great things aboutmusic is peoples willingness to

share ideas and experience, and thiscrosses over to studio design. Themany forums that are out there are testamentto this. A question can be asked and a dozenreplies arrive overnight one look at the SOSforum will provide you with many examples!At the beginning of my own build, I poredover countless sites and read numerous pages.I also encountered contradictory information,as well as some that was just plain wrong! Anonline calculator that appeared on several siteswas posted on another with a correction, as theequation used originally had been mistyped!There are some very good reference books outthere, aimed at different sections of the market,and some great self-build sites. I would, however,

cross-reference everything you do, read morethan one article and more than one book, andsee what the tried and trusted methods are.

The nature of sound means that preferencedoes come into play, but this doesnt mean thatgood studio acoustics are not quantifiable. Thesubject was broached many years ago by suchorganisations as the BBC, and guidelines laiddown, depending on the studios use, statingthe reverberation times best for different uses.Studio sizes were debated and ratios of roomdimensions detailed between small, medium andlarge rooms. Almost all this information is inthe public domain, although sifting through it istime-consuming and can be confusing.

One of many people who provide advice andhelp on the Internet is Bob Gallagher, whose

homestudioguy web site provides low-costbuild plans. As Bob says, Even if someone isjust beginning to record with a small setup intheir basement or spare room, major acousticchanges can be made just by incorporatingsome appropriately placed acoustic materialsand rearranging furniture as has been showncountless times in Sound On SoundmagazinesStudio SOS articles. In those cases, thesuggestions are made by professionals and aregenerally low-cost and easy to do. The hope isthat those who receive the help, and those whoread the SOSarticles, will take those lessonslearned and continue to utilise professionals as

their studio facilities change and grow.To get a larger manufacturers point of view,

I spoke to the ever-enthusiastic Peter Janis atRadial Engineering, who have been involvedwith studio acoustics for many years now, withtheir popular Primacoustic range. After seeingthe first Digidesign software in around 1987,I sketched out a plan for the folks I used towork with that basically put the computer inthe centre of the studio and analogue gear asa circle around it. Part of this vision includedroom acoustics. When I went out on my ownin 1992, I approached Sonex, who at thattime was the market leader, and became theCanadian distributor. Back then, they held

a number of acoustic courses that taught us thefundamentals, including a course by acousticians

Hoover & Keith. I soon realised theirfocus as a company was more on thearchitectural side of the business, notthe recording studio, which is moreof my passion. So I decided to launchPrimacoustic to better suit the need ofthe burgeoning home studio.

Primacoustic, along with companieslike Auralex and V icoustic, havebecome stalwarts of the small studio,offering out of the box solutions.Peter goes on: Over the years, wechanged our product offering to fillthe gap between entry-level foampanels and the high-end studiofinishes that can be very expensive.

By creating a modular system usinghigh-performance acoustic panels, we

enable the home-studio engineer to producerecordings that are a leap above the typicaldemo quality that is produced in a home, andthese are usually good enough to be confidentlytransferred to the larger recording facilities formixdown. As an acoustic panel manufacturer,we do not so much provide services, but providethe products, basic know-how, and guidance onwhat to use where for good results. We also offercomplete solutions in the form of London roomkits that will turn a spare room into a functionalfacility and get you 90 percent there.

Peter is quick to point out that it isimportant to quantify your expectation. If you

want a fully fledged recording studio, to achieve99 percent [of the performance of a professional

facility], you will need to hire a designer andinvest a lot of money to build it from theground up. But I can tell you that some of thetop artists in the industry have home-builtstudios that use our Broadway panels andMaxTrap bass traps, and they get 95 percent,which is very acceptable.

No matter how big the name, how goodthe design, you will always hear of folks beingeither satisfied or disappointed. Ultimately, youwill get used to the room you have and likelytweak it as you go forward. Go listen to variousrooms and walk around to hear how the bass and

lower-mids work. If the room is balanced, thenI think you have a good designer.

th DIY r

Peter Janis of Radial Engineering.

119w w w . . c / J 2013
http://www.soundonsound.com/http://www.soundonsound.com/http://www.soundonsound.com/


3/6

absorbed lots of information, but still felt

that I did not know enough to start work. If

it had just been me, I am sure I would have

forged on, but as I was now spending my

business partners money as well, I decided

to seek help. Having engineered for many

years, I knew many artists who had their

own studios. A quick call around some

of them still failed to get me anywhere

positive. Most had done it themselves, and

had not had a great time doing it.

However, a few names did crop up, and

I spoke in depth to several companies and

even visited a few. One company stood

out, and I arranged to travel to Greenwich

to meet with Recording Architecture for

a paid consultation. The cost was relatively

low, at around 100, but the idea of

paying for help with my studio design still

represented a leap of faith for me!

I dutifully arrived at the offices with

a reasonably accurate floor plan of my

building. The next two hours were what

can only be described as an epiphany!Roger DArcy, the architect, proceeded to

sketch out in pencil the rough shape of five

control rooms around a central live area.

He also managed to do something I had

failed to conceptualise in the previous

months: get all the rooms connected by

a single corridor, with doors entering into

the rooms at the correct place. I watched

in wonder as my studio took shape. Roger

admitted that after so many years of

drawing studios, he had a fair idea of what

he wanted to achieve and that it was just

a case of making it fit!

I signed up on the spot and agreed to

pay for his most basic service. For a few

thousand pounds, I received all the plans

for my studio, as well as instructions on

how to build almost every aspect of it

down to doors, floors, walls, acoustic

treatment and oft-neglected but vital

things such as lights, heating and air! Some

will say that 2000 is a considerable sum,

and indeed it is, but it is also the cost of

a good mastering EQ or top-end nearfield

monitors. What this money did pay for

was a solid design on which to start work.

I now knew what I was building, how, and

why it was being built that way! All through

the build, Roger and his drawing partner

Hugh Flynn were there with support,

helping us with extra drawings, explaining

further bits we didnt understand even

redrawing two rooms when we decided

to double the area of the live room. They

were also able to tell us which parts of the

plan we could change and which aspectswere crucial. This meant that we could

prioritise our expenditure on the most

important parts and scrimp and save on

things that werent.

The Professionals

I decided to talk to Roger as well as a few

other professionals in the field, to find

out what prospective self-builders could

learn from the professionals. Having left

university in 1981, Roger worked as an

architectural designer at Andy Munros

Turnkey Two until 1987, when he teamed

up with building technologist Hugh Flynn

to form RA.

One of the control rooms in the LaundryRooms. The acoustic treatment was built toRecording Architecture designs.

f e a t u r eP r o f e s s i o n a l H o m e s t u d i o d e s i g n

120 J 2013 / w w w . . c


4/6

fields, and pay for their time. Discuss

your project, establish the best strategy

and, most importantly, simply avoid big,

expensive mistakes.

Get The Rooms RightPeter Keeling from Studio People echoes

many of Rogers comments. What I always

say to people is: get the rooms right before

you spend all your budget on equipment.

Its very difficult to change a room, easy

to upgrade or change equipment. What

you hear is affected more by the room

than even the best speakers, and good

room design is more often about the

right techniques rather than specialist and

expensive materials. What I have learned

over the years, particularly from doing

projects in very compromised spaces, isthat sometimes you have to throw the

book away and work from experience

and practicalities. Many projects just dont

have the budgets to perform fancy and

complicated acoustic treatment designs,

but there is usually a simple and more

cost-effective solution! That said, dont

compromise on isolation. If you need it,

because of your location, type of work or

nature of the building, you must follow all

the rules and then some isolation doesnt

come cheap and is usually the most costly

part of any project, whether self-build

or contracted. Getting that part right is

the most useful part of advice that we

can provide.

Peter started in 1978, designing and

manufacturing audio equipment ranging

from 24-track recorders to desks. His

company started taking on studio design

is generally not able to visualise space or

understand how to make things, but again,

in conjunction with an architect or a good

builder, their input can be invaluable.

Roger is insistent that taking advice from

an experienced professional is the best way

to ensure you get what you want. Taking

professional advice can be so important, if

only to point projects in the right direction

literally, establishing optimal orientation/

console and monitor positioning and

strategically, but perhaps more importantly,

to help avoid the many potential pitfalls

and serious mistakes. It is often more

costly to apply the wrong techniques than

the correct ones, and there seems to be

an overwhelming urge to apply too much

treatment, rather than just enough of the

right thing in the right place.Roger is also outspoken about the

deficiencies of off the shelf solutions to

acoustic problems, which he compares

unfavourably with specific advice tailored

to individual studios. The difference

of professional input can be enormous,

particularly with regard to low-frequency

control, which is usually inadequately

addressed. The shameful marketing

of relatively inexpensive, lightweight

material systems to be glued to walls

and placed across corners, as if they were

efficient, complete acoustic solutions, has

much to answer for. Perhaps the main

issue is how to select and evaluate the

particular professional required. There is

no substitute for appropriate experience,

and the greatest value is often simply to

talk to a couple of appropriate consultants

in the architectural/studio professional

Recording Architecture was

commercially set up to provide full

architectural, acoustic design and project

management services for larger commercial

and institutional facilities, frequently built

from the ground up. That said, maybe

some 30 to 50 percent of the 15 to 20

projects that we handled per year could

be considered small (some very successful

project studios for notable artists and

producers have been extremely small,

often no more than a single room within

a private residence, such as Neneh Cherrys

or Sades). Not everyone requires, or can

justify the cost of, a full architectural service,

along with structural engineers and piles of

construction details, and we were always

very mindful to make our time available

on a consultancy basis to anyone that

needed it. This worked best and was most

cost effective when clients would visit our

offices for a couple of hours or so, armed

with survey information and photographs.

A rough sketch with dimensions was

enough. We would then quickly redraw to

scale as the meeting got underway, before

discussing and sketching out appropriateconstruction details for acoustic treatments

and advising on material specifications.

But would you get this expertise from

any architect? Rogers love of music led

to his interest in studio design, but he

says that most architects do not have this

grounding. Architects are taught very little

about acoustics, and are highly unlikely

to have knowledge of studios, or the

recording process. However, in association

with an acoustician, they can help plan

and efficiently construct the host space to

be adequately sound-isolated. Likewise,

an acoustician and they should be

specifically experienced in recording studios

Roger DArcy of Recording Architecture.

Peter Keeling of Studio People.


122 J 2013 / w w w . . c


5/6

I recently talked to an architect about a loft

conversion, and he admitted that I probably

knew more about mechanically decoupling

the floor in the loft from the host building

than he did. It just wasnt something he

dealt with very often, although this is an

area where legislation is helping, thanks to

recent laws regarding transmission of noise

between adjacent flats beginning to have

an impact on builders and architects. New

materials are also becoming available at

your local builders merchants. An Internet

search can turn up several different types of

flooring system available at a builders yard

near you! Hopefully, builders and architects

alike will start to pay more attention to this

aspect of construction and, in turn, this

could help drive material costs down.

If theres one thing that unites amateurs

and professionals, its a common love

of music and the search for the perfect

space! Talking to Roger and Peter, I was

struck by their continued enthusiasm for

the subject. These are people who live

and breathe studio design and love theirsubject. Recording Architecture has now

closed its doors, but even in retirement

Roger is still enthusiastic about studios. He

has left a great reference book (reviewed in

SOSNovember 2011: www.soundonsound.

com/sos/nov11/articles/ra-the-book.htm)

detailing many of his projects, with plans of

how they were done, and if you buy a copy

he says he is willing to answer mail and

provide advice. My own recommendation is

always to seek out help where you can, and

dont be afraid to pay for it. Money spent

in planning is invariably saved in execution,

and the less you spend on the build, the

more you can spend on toys!

and many Further and Higher Education

establishments have spent millions getting

this all wrong, by using the wrong people

to specify and build the spaces. All the best

equipment in the world will not improve the

sound of a bad room, or stop Johnny the

drummer bleeding through two floors to

the offices below.

The Pros Of Pros

With big recording budgets now a thing

of the past, more bands are investing in

multiple-purpose spaces where they can

store equipment, rehearse and track/mix.

The majority of bands I work with these

days are in this situation, and have solved it

with varying success. The number of music

professionals working at home in their own

studios is also increasing, as can be seen

just by the increased amount of technology

that is being bought to equip these home

studios. For people in this position, it seems

clear to me that it makes absolute sense to

pay for the services of someone like Roger

or Peter. If you are looking at anything thatcould be described as structural, I would

definitely look at involving a specialist

architect; the modest outlay can easily be

recouped in money saved through doing

the job right first time.

My own experience chimes with Roger

DArcys, in that Ive found that builders

are very able to advise on construction

costs, but tend to have little knowledge

of how buildings perform acoustically.

in the 90s, and his background experience

in electronics, construction and acoustics

have helped him build a turnkey company

able to provide all aspects of studio design.

A typical project can include consultancy,

so well help you out with design ideas and

specs; design drawings, either detailed or

just sketches, depending on the clients

needs; construction on-site; mechanical

services such as air conditioning;

electrical services; audio/video cabling

and equipment; custom joinery, technical

furniture and so on; and, most usefully for

self-build projects on a really tight budget,an offering of standard acoustic-related

products such as absorbers, resonant traps,

doors, windows and any custom joinery

required. Well even supply skirting, dado

and architrave if it meets with the overall

studio theme requirement.

Like Roger DArcy, Peter Keeling is very

much aware of the traps that self-builders

can fall into. Architects and local builders

just dont generally understand whats

important and will generally have little

or no experience of proper studios. You

have to employ the right people, and

I have witnessed many many projects

that have fallen foul of the builders

bodge syndrome. Youve seen it before:

suspended ceiling, fluorescent lighting, nice

parallel walls plastered and painted (so lots

of standing waves), noisy air-con, windows

too high, doors not sealing... its a long list

One of the great benefits of working withprofessionals is that they can communicate ina way your builders will be able to understand

whatnotto do!

Although Roger DArcy has retired and Recording

Architecture no longer practice, much of hisexperience and knowledge has been set down inRecording Architecture: The Book.


124 J 2013 / w w w . . c
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov11/articles/ra-the-book.htmhttp://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov11/articles/ra-the-book.htmhttp://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov11/articles/ra-the-book.htmhttp://www.soundonsound.com/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov11/articles/ra-the-book.htmhttp://www.soundonsound.com/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov11/articles/ra-the-book.htm


6/6

Mix with the best!As a professional I admire Sound On Soundas one of the most trusted and crediblesources of inspiration and information.

Jack Joseph Puig, mixer, producer, GrammyAward winner (Rolling Stones, U2, Mary J

Blige, Black Eyed Peas)

Besides the excellent interviews and fascinating,indepth recording and mixing articles, I canalways depend on Sound On Sound forcomplete, unbiased reviews of the latestproaudio gear.

Bob Clearmountain, engineer, producer andmixer, Grammy Award winner (Bruce Springsteen,The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, INXS)

This article was originally publishedin Sound On Sound magazine,

June 2013 edition

Subscribe and Save Money!Visit our subscriptions page at www.soundonsound.com/subscribe

for more information on the Sound On Sound App go to: www.soundonsound.com/app

Sound On Sound, Media House, Trafalgar Way, Bar Hill, Cambridge, CB23 8SQ, United KingdomEmail:[email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1954 789888 Fax: +44 (0) 1954 789895

fnd us onFacebook

ollow uson Twitter

visit theSOS orum

go to the SOSYouTube channel

The Worlds Best Recording Technology Magazine

All contents copyright SOS Publications Group and/or its licensors, 1985-2013. All rights reserved.The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, whether mechanical or electronic, is expressly forbidden

without the prior written consent of the Publishers. Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limitednor the publishers can be held responsible for its contents. The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers.
http://www.soundonsound.com/subscribehttp://www.soundonsound.com/appmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.facebook.com/sospublicationshttp://www.facebook.com/sospublicationshttp://www.twitter.com/sospublicationshttp://www.twitter.com/sospublicationshttp://www.soundonsound.com/forumhttp://www.soundonsound.com/forumhttp://www.youtube.com/soundonsoundvideohttp://www.youtube.com/soundonsoundvideohttp://www.soundonsound.com/forumhttp://www.youtube.com/soundonsoundvideohttp://www.facebook.com/sospublicationshttp://www.twitter.com/sospublicationsmailto:[email protected]://www.soundonsound.com/apphttp://www.soundonsound.com/subscribe

Documents

Studio Build