My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

[silky smoove]

Be careful with the lighting. Some systems that originate in the far east use switching power supplies that illegally throw off high frequencies. Products with fake FCC approval are out there. Finding them is difficult as it often takes a complaint to be lodged, then the FCC has to get to it. Resources are not what they should be.

As you mentioned, dimmers are a problem. Lighting systems can pass emissions tests are full power but are not test when dimmed which is when they emit RFI.


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Absolutely. There are plenty of "good" lights and dimmers listed in Rod's book, on Gearslutz, and on the John Sayers forums. The information is all anecdotal, but I'm confident I'll be able to source lights and dimmers that work for my needs.

What type of flooring material, wood, carpet,... are you considering?

In an ideal setting your floors are highly reflective (which rules out carpet) and your ceiling is prescriptively absorptive.

The ceiling will be getting covered in cedar or other wood slatting with some strategic absorption. Bass trapping along the entire length of the vaulted ridge and at the edges where the ceiling meets the walls. Above the mix position there will be additional "clouds" placed to reduce reflections. Above the live position there will be less, or possibly none of the clouds. I know at the beginning of the thread I said I wanted to not go with a live-end/dead-end setup, but... Well... That's where I am with everything, haha.

The floor is something I'm still wrestling with. From the ground up the cross-section will look like this:
Crushed rock
Galvanized steel substructure (joist bays filled with Roxul)
3/4" LP Tongue and Groove Plywood
Green Glue
5/8" Densdecking (sort of like drywall, but more impact resistant)
Flooring underlayment
Flooring

The actual flooring is what's up for debate. I've considered many pros and cons of each of my three options.

Laminate Wood Flooring
Pros: Cheapest of the bunch. Relatively easy to install. Lots of aesthetic options.
Cons: Very brittle and "clacking" sound even when installed over underlayment.

Engineered Hard Wood Flooring
Pros: Most "natural" feeling and sounding of the bunch. Relatively easy to install.
Cons: Most expensive option. Less aesthetic options. Most prone to environmental changes (i.e. expansion and contraction).

Novilon Linoleum Flooring
Pros: Easiest installation of the bunch. Lots of aesthetic options. No brittle and "clacky" sounds when walking around. Virtually impervious to environmental changes. Cost to benefit ratio has a nice compromise compared to the others. Surprisingly natural look and feel. Lowest profile option.
Cons: Not possible to repair (it dents rather than gouges or scuffs). Hardest to remove if I ever need to do so.

The Novilon is a latecomer to the selection process. I haven't seen it in person, but have read many reports of it. It seems like a stellar product and is definitely a strong contender.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Nothing better than using a lighting product that has been tested and approved for studio use.

Cedar scent would be good in the studio.

There are many studios around here in older buildings. Many of the floors are wide plank pine. The floors are soft and spongy. They look great but can be creaky which adds character to the recordings. One advantage is that they are easier to stand on for long periods.

If there is a pattern such as a parquet, it has to match the scale of the room. Some patterns can drive you loopy.

A good hardwood such as oak or maple can take the abuse of equipment and chairs being moved around a lot. Having a floor that you can refinish will keep the studio looking nice over time. But cost is always an issue. If you started with an inexpensive option, it can be revisited down the road. With linoleum or tiles, no need to remove them, you can overlay a hardwood floor later.

You might find this floor interesting: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[ofajen]

In an ideal setting your floors are highly reflective (which rules out carpet) and your ceiling is prescriptively absorptive.

I'd agree that reflective floors work well for the most part, but rarely will I have bare floor directly under a mike or at some other critical first reflection point from a strong source to a mike. It's really a similar issue to why the ceiling should pretty much be dead, so as to avoid short time, hard reflections.

So much of my recording uses the Quick Sound Field, so it's mostly a matter of having carpet under the mike in the center of the circle of Studio Traps, though with so much other quick, diffuse reflected sound reaching the mike, reflections from the floor are less of an issue than they would otherwise be.

Otto

 

[silky smoove]

Some sources work well in a truly dead space, but others benefit from floor reflections. Snare drums and floor toms being the most obvious of benefiting from a reflective floor.

The trick with a single room space is that you have to account for tracking AND mixing. Dedicated spaces solve that problem by not homogenizing the room purposes. This comes into play with absorption. If you make the room dead, you will have a reduction of upper mids and highs that exceeds the reduction of low end and low mids. This results in a boxy sounding room when tracking. The reflective floor, among a host of other factors, is important in this regard.

 

[ofajen]

Some sources work well in a truly dead space, but others benefit from floor reflections. Snare drums and floor toms being the most obvious of benefiting from a reflective floor.

The trick with a single room space is that you have to account for tracking AND mixing. Dedicated spaces solve that problem by not homogenizing the room purposes. This comes into play with absorption. If you make the room dead, you will have a reduction of upper mids and highs that exceeds the reduction of low end and low mids. This results in a boxy sounding room when tracking. The reflective floor, among a host of other factors, is important in this regard.

I'm sure you know that the thing to watch for is comb filtering. It will be negligible for a vocal mike five feet above the floor and a singer one foot away, due to the distance attenuation over the 10 foot path down and up. If you are miking four feet out from a source with a mike a similar height above the floor, then comb filtering effects could be significant.

In my case, it's probably unnecessary for me to keep a small carpet pad under the mike, though I usually do. As I noted, mostly I track using the Quick Sound Field, so the room is largely irrelevant, and there is a ton of quick, diffuse, reflected sound at the mike.

Your main point is well taken; I definitely get better results by leaving the preponderance of the floor bare.

Otto

 

[silky smoove]

Comb filtering can be a big deal, both good and bad. If you want a tight, focused, full frequency response sound then it's critical to eliminate it however you can (asymmetric placement within the room, gobos, QSF type devices like you're using). That said, if you want a really big, roomy, ambient sound then you're going to have to accept comb filtering. Many would argue that comb filtering is a major part of that sound. If you want a Bonham style drum sound for instance, you'd better get those overheads up as high as possible and just deal with the weird comb filtering and phasing effects. They'll thin things out, but that's a definite part of that sound.

 

[DirtDog]

The actual flooring is what's up for debate. I've considered many pros and cons of each of my three options.

Have you considered cork? Price is midway between laminate and hardwood; easy to install like laminate; will wear and weather better than laminate, will look and sound nicer to walk on, too. Maybe not as reflective as wood/laminate. Lots of colour/pattern choices.

I did my kitchen in cork in 2003, it's held up very well for a high traffic area that sees lots of water!

 

[silky smoove]

I really dislike the look of cork flooring. When we were shopping for new houses back in 2015 I realized after seeing a few houses with cork floors that they just aren't for me. They seem to be a quality, durable, affordable product that has some ecological benefits, but ultimately I can't get over the aesthetic. It's just not for me.

 

[markjazzbassist]

I really dislike the look of cork flooring. When we were shopping for new houses back in 2015 I realized after seeing a few houses with cork floors that they just aren't for me. They seem to be a quality, durable, affordable product that has some ecological benefits, but ultimately I can't get over the aesthetic. It's just not for me.

you in the studio to stare at the floor or to record? just messing with ya

 

[DirtDog]

I really dislike the look of cork flooring. When we were shopping for new houses back in 2015 I realized after seeing a few houses with cork floors that they just aren't for me. They seem to be a quality, durable, affordable product that has some ecological benefits, but ultimately I can't get over the aesthetic. It's just not for me.

I hear ya. There's some cork patterns/varieties that I just don't care for. Some I love - and a lot of cool things you can do with cork (patterns/designs).

Bamboo?

 

[beans-on-toast]

Bamboo, lile cork, is another inexpensive ecco option but I've seen it not stand up well over time.

Don't know about the cost of polished concrete but it works well in a studio. Scatter rugs where volcals are recorded can be used.

 

[silky smoove]

Bamboo?

I've considered bamboo, and am not ruling it out. I had it in my last house and have it in my current house as well.

Previous house with the "traditional" looking bamboo flooring:

Current house with the "tiger stripe" bamboo flooring.

Neither option matches my aesthetic vision for the space. The old house's flooring has too much red in it, and the new house's flooring is simultaneously too dark and too busy for what I want. I want something that's a lighter color to help keep the space from looking too small, but I want some interesting detail in the wood grain pattern.

Something in this vein (antique hickory), but maybe even a bit lighter color overall:

Bamboo, lile cork, is another inexpensive ecco option but I've seen it not stand up well over time.

It held up very well in my last house and is doing well in my current one. I wouldn't have any concerns over its durability, but regardless I don't think there's an aesthetic compromise that I can make where I actually consider it.

Don't know about the cost of polished concrete but it works well in a studio. Scatter rugs where volcals are recorded can be used.

I had this idea at one point, but it becomes a problem for a couple of reasons, mostly related to the existing rough opening of the exterior door, the required thickness of concrete (3") as opposed to a wood product (2mm underlayment and 7mm flooring), and as you mentioned, the cost. It could be a very cool, very modern touch in the space that would add to isolation through the floor due to the mass, but ultimately I don't think it's feasible.

 

[Fat Freddy]

We used Hickory for the floor of a new extension that we built a few years back....It's stood up really well, still looks like new!....

Finished it with satin Tung oil......The towels were there so that we could slide the very heavy speakers that had just been delivered, into their final position without damaging the floor....

 

[silky smoove]

It's a nice looking product. There's a little too much orange in it for my taste, but if I'm using cedar elsewhere in the space, having a slightly orange hue to the floor might help to keep things looking cohesive.

 

[beans-on-toast]

Like any wood product, there are different levels of quality. The one that I saw that didn't age well could very well have been low in quality or abused.

Choosing a floor color isn't easy and it's a very personal choice. You want it to blend in with the walls, at the same time, studios don't usually have natural light that brighten the room. The light colored flooring in your old house (I don't see the red) in a studio setting, only in a light honey color wouldn't be bad.

I had bowling alley style hard maple in my old place. The boards were glued together, like a wood butcher's block. Similar to this "sugar maple" in color.

 

[Fat Freddy]

It's a nice looking product. There's a little too much orange in it for my taste, but if I'm using cedar elsewhere in the space, having a slightly orange hue to the floor might help to keep things looking cohesive.

This stained glass window in the upper roof area is probably contributing to the orangey look.....

Doesn't look particularly orange in "real life"

 

[silky smoove]

The light colored flooring in your old house (I don't see the red) in a studio setting, only in a light honey color wouldn't be bad.

There's a lot of natural light in that photo which washes the red out quite a bit. In person it was quite a bit more orange/red.

The boards were glued together, like a wood butcher's block.

Wow. I've never heard of that approach. I've only ever seen the toe nailing method with a planned gap around the edges of the floor to account for expansion and contraction. That could be a good way to go in terms of isolation. Less air gaps means less sound leakage.

This stained glass window in the upper roof area is probably contributing to the orangey look.....

Doesn't look particularly orange in "real life"

Good to know.

Some friends of mine just put in an antique hickory laminate (not actual hardwood) in their place, and it looks considerably more rustic than other version of it that I've seen. It's very cool, but maybe a little too rustic/barn-like for my purposes:

 

[silky smoove]

I'm going to be wrapping up the framing efforts this week. I need to finish off the interior wall, loft cleat and all of the loft joists. Those should all be relatively easy. Once that's done I can move on to building insulation, which is also the last item I need to get wrapped up before I can finalize my STFI permit with the City of Seattle. As it turns out there are a lot of varying opinions on the best way to insulate vaulted ceilings. The International Building Code, which is what Seattle references, is what I'll likely go with, but there are a lot of builders' recommendations and well-vetted papers written on the subject that are contrary to the IBC. This is one of those things that I definitely want to get right, because once I seal up the walls and ceiling I don't ever want to see my work again

 

[Eric_Allard]

My contractor screwed me: he disappeared and has been incommunicado for a few months. I tried finding another contractor, but everyone reputable is booked into November or have increased their prices significantly as they don't need the work at the moment. I guess my project will have to wait until next spring. Frustrating!
At least I found out how unreliable he is before I gave him a cent.
Sorry for the off topic vent: your progress is reminding me of my lack thereof.

 

[Fat Freddy]

My contractor screwed me: he disappeared and has been incommunicado for a few months. I tried finding another contractor, but everyone reputable is booked into November or have increased their prices significantly as they don't need the work at the moment. I guess my project will have to wait until next spring. Frustrating!
At least I found out how unreliable he is before I gave him a cent.
Sorry for the off topic vent: your progress is reminding me of my lack thereof.

You have my sympathy....I could, quite literally, write a book on bad contractors....concrete guys.....mechanics....etc...etc.....Having problems with a never here painter at the moment....sigh....

Hang in there....It's only for life!