getting a new house built...any suggestions?

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:25 pm

well my wife and i might buy a house that is in the begining stages of being built. the contractor said that if we decide to go with it, we can customize the layout...ect. that being said, i was planing on using the basement as my studio. i was looking for some advice as far as what i can have done to make this room best suited for recording/playing music.
discuss.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:08 pm

I know of a soul who did this. The first thing I noticed was the high ceilings - 10 feet, perhaps?

For the acoustic guys: what's an ideal height and what's a recommended height?

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:30 pm

Buy Rod's Book on building a home studio as soon as possible. Most of the sound isolation steps need to be done early.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:35 pm

If i was you, id put some hidden passageways and Trap doors. Like underground railroad style. Srry, But hey thats what id do. But studios are good too.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:07 am

Make sure the outlets are not grouped with any light circuits at the breaker panel, and that they have an isolated ground.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 12:14 pm

There is a lot more that will go into, budget pending, than everyone has mentioned. First, you need to sit down and think about what you want to accomplish with this room. Do you want to track live bands or just an acoustic guitar and a vocal? Or is it going to be a MIDI studio? Once you have answered these simple questions, you can start to see what you will have. It is always nice to have a control room and a live room, but not always in the cards. Also, ceilings should be more than 10 feet if at all possible. 14 and plus is what you want for a better sounding room. An asymmetrical layout of the rooms, especially the live room will do quite a bit for reducing standing waves. Just try to make is so as few walls as possible are parallel to each other and that 90 degree angles in corners have been minimized. Also what someone said about isolating the power, this is correct and important, most studios go as far as getting medical grade power in their facilities, meaning that it runs at a smooth 120v and 60hz almost all the time, no sags, no surges. But one of those monster power conditioner/stabilizer will do a pretty good job if you get one of the better ones. Lastly is building materials. This is something you should research, because its something that can drastically affect the sounds of your recordings, but could end up not costing you a penny more to get a neutral sounding room. I hope that this helps a bit. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me. Thanks!

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 1:34 pm

Bobbymacuen wrote:

...medical grade power...

Medical grade power accessories?

What in the wide world of sports is medical grade power?

Anywho, if I were building a new house I would request a separate power pole for my audio work environment. Break it completely off the house.

And then...a walk in cooler!

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:41 pm

Space wrote:

What in the wide world of sports is medical grade power?

http://www.interpower.com/ic/medical_info.asp

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:57 pm

Right...products, accessories.

There was a thread on another forum by another fella about Hospital grade wire.
Say what?

He was corrected by one of the experts in the field:)

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:33 pm

Bobbymacuen wrote:

And then...a walk in cooler!

to get high in?

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:54 pm

Get the quietest HVAC system you can afford, and make sure the ducts are flex, not rigid, with a few extra feet per run off the trunk line with some curves in it as it's running to the registers. This will greatly reduce blower noise. Might want to set the furnace/fan unit on some sort of vibration damping pad like they use in machine shops also, assuming this will be in the basement area also.

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 11:27 pm

Quote:

most studios go as far as getting medical grade power in their facilities,

Can some1 give a bit more info on the topic? I am currently remodling my garage for my studio, And just installed 4 new outlets, But when i plug in two space heaters my electrical box buzzes. My studio is gona be pulling alot more volts than those heaters are. Ive stoped all progrss for now till i can get an expert opion, It would be awsome to get good advise before i go off and spend an ass load more money before i know what i realy need to do.

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:22 pm

Isolate the grounds (separate ground for the studio space).

Consult an electrician.

Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:46 pm

Bucka wrote:

Quote:

most studios go as far as getting medical grade power in their facilities,

Can some1 give a bit more info on the topic? I am currently remodling my garage for my studio, And just installed 4 new outlets, But when i plug in two space heaters my electrical box buzzes. My studio is gona be pulling alot more volts than those heaters are. Ive stoped all progrss for now till i can get an expert opion, It would be awsome to get good advise before i go off and spend an ass load more money before i know what i realy need to do.

Lets begin with a basic electrical lesson.

Volts refers to the Voltage that your electrical supplier sends onto your property. A residence in mostly 120/240 volts ac. This means two 120 volt legs that share a common neutral or return wire for ac systems. It is also the greatest rms difference of potential between any two legs of a system.

Amps or amperes refers to the potential that a piece of equipment or utilization equipment can draw from the service provided. If you know the wattage you can figure this amount by dividing the wattage by the voltage. This is only simple in a single-phase system ie: 120/240 volt. Any three phase power must be figured with a relationship to the amount of degrees in each phase. I digress.

Wattage is the measure of the draw any piece of utilization equipment can extract from the electrical system.
A simplified version would be, the Voltage is the hose, the amperage is the water flow in it, and the wattage is the little holes in the sprinkler head at the end.

Now for you , Bucka. First. Your space heaters are drawing way more AMPERAGE than your studio can possibly draw, especially if its in your garage. UNLESS you happen to have an SSL console, a 24 track tape machine, a triamped monitor system.....well, you get the picture. The VOLTAGE is the same or they both (studio and heaters) would not operate in the same receptacles.

As an over thirty year electrical veteran, you folks that doityerself without even the most basic knowledge of the potential of disaster from poorly installed electrcal systems, scare the Holy Crap outta me. And your neighbors too!

Get a clue and call a professional and get it done right. Or risk everything you own in a potential fire.

Electrical fires are not pretty. They burn hot and ignite things that maybe would have stayed dormant in a simple wood fire.

You had better consider spending what it takes to get it right before you spend a REAL ASSLOAD of money rebuilding your home from the ashes and cinders.

I WILL NOT tell you how to correct this as I will not be responsible for your mistakes. Get a pro. Exclamation

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 12:44 am

Thanks davedog. I was planing on calling an electricain(i will for sure now), i just wanted a heads up on what to expect. I just plan on havin a computer and two stereo amps hookd up(and lights ect). But yea id rather be safe than sorry, cuz ima have alot of stuff out there, just not all hookd up at the same time.

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