Simple Guide to Designing Acoustic Space

What if I get to design my first studio, what it look like?

The concept of this recording studio is to function as a recording and mixing facility, with an open-air lounge vibe. Large, airy lounge entrance. Open co-working space concept.

No meeting “room”. 3.5m ceiling 1 control room, set for lively tone 1 large live room (+2 iso booths) to accommodate full band + piano recording 1 storage room 1 machine room 1 washroom

The open-air concept is to facilitate the creative process as well as to create a cozy vibe for the people to get together, rather than using workstation cubicle design. Each room can easily accommodate 5+ people without feeling crowded. The atmosphere will be one of the main features of this studio, where it can be used as a get-together hub for bands and crews.

Studio Tour

The Lounge

Upon entrance, there is a large open-air common area with no division walls. From the lounge, you can enter the control room, iso booth #2, and the washroom. The iso booth also functions as a soundlock between the live room and the lounge. This area is designed for songwriting, discussion, hangout, coffee break, etc.

Equipment list:

• 3 acoustic guitars & 1 cajon

• Blank sheet music & blank papers for lyrics and music writing

• Speakers for casual music listening and quick idea sharing

• Coffee maker & fridge

• “Live Session” sign to signal an on-going session

Construction-wise, it will be soundproofed from the live room similar to the wall separating the live room and the outside. There can be slight sound leaking from the live room when a band is playing so people will know that a recording session is taking place, plus it will add to the vibe.

Control Room

The Control Room can be entered from the common area, and can lead to the storage, machine, and Live Room. The shape of the room follows the Early Sound Scattering (ESS - Andrew Parry) design, where the reflections from equipment have less impact on acoustic performance, and is relatively live at the listening sweetspot.

If you are in the Control Room and you want to go to the Live Room, you can either go back to the lounge area, or go through the storage area, which acts as another soundlock between the control room and the live room.

The floor of the control room is lifted 10cm to store wiring and cables. Carpet will be used to absorb some of the bass. The front part facing the live room will be a 2-layer glass panel, separated by an air gap, and mounted at an angle to prevent standing waves.

Acoustic treatment includes absorber in front and ceiling. The back wall will be treated with diffusers and bass traps with a wooden surface for a lively tone.The flooring will also be wood with carpet. The bass traps are built with a reflective slotted wood scatter on the outside. This design is chosen for its ability to “scatter” the mid and high frequencies while absorbing the low frequencies.

Room mode is oblique, as we can expect sound wave to reach all 6 sides of the wall. RT60 will be maintained at 0.21 sec.

Equipment list:

• Monitors tilting down towards the listener

• Mixing board, audio interface, outboard gears (compressors, mic pre, etc.)

• Patchbay

• Table with outboard gear racks and wiring storage

• 2 sofas

Live Room

The Live Room can be entered from the common area via iso booth #2 or the storage room. With a large space, it can easily fit a drum kit and a grand piano. The 2 iso booths on the side can accommodate isolated guitars, vocal, or even voice over sessions. The space can function as a full band rehearsal space or a live take recording session, although it is not designed to hold an orchestral band session.

Construction: Soundproofing and Isolation

The outside wall layer will be the standard 2-layer brick, split with decoupling. Building inward into the interior, the inner brick layer is followed by a layer of fiberglass insulation, drywall, and wood.

For the Control Room and Live Room, absorbers and diffusers will be positioned for the necessary acoustic treatment. For the lounge area, the wood layer is substituted for bricks for design.

The Control Room also has a floating floor with 10cm elevation, but this serves the purpose of cable and wiring storage rather than soundproofing, because the studio will be built on the ground floor.

In my opinion, the standard level of soundproofing used in this design is enough because 1. it will not be in a complex building, and 2. there will be no other separate sessions or work going on while the recording is taking place (i.e. no one will be mastering a wildlife documentary while a live rock band is recording). Hence to compromise the overall costs and the level of soundproofing, this design is good enough.