Band recording studio/rehearsal space build diary

Naigewron

Platinum Member
After having been kicked out of our old recording studio because the building was going to be refurbished, and then losing our rehearsal room a few months later, we have moved into a space where we can build a brand new combined rehearsal space and recording studio. This is the story of that space :)

The whole space is about 60 square metres (about 650 square feet for you Americans), and will be split right about down the centre to create the wall between the live room and control room. We will build a floating room inside the room for maximum soundproofing, since there are people occupying the rooms adjacent to ours, and the floors above and below. It's located below ground, but there's another level below us.

So, last night we got started with tearing down the stuff that was there from previous inhabitants, including a small kitchen (well, a countertop with a fridge next to it), and we also tore down some of the walls so that we could rebuild them with proper sound insulation.

I hereby present:
How to build a studio in X easy steps.

Today's entry: March 19, 2012

Destroy a perfectly good room by tearing down a wall
2.jpg


Have someone pose on top of the rubbish heap like a boss
3.jpg


Tear down more walls and watch the rubble heap grow
4.jpg


Stay tuned for further updates.
 
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No work got done yesterday, but today we're clearing away the rubble to make room for building materials. We hope to have the materials on friday, but it's more likely we won't have them before monday.

Watch this space for steps 6 through... well, who knows.
 
Today's entry: March 25, 2012

Get rid of the rubble and trash.
8.jpg


Next step:
Building materials will arrive on Tuesday, so it's finally time to start putting this room back together! :D
 
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Bass player just called me: We have taken delivery of 2.5 tonnes of plaster boards and a couple of hundred metres of planks to construct the frame from. This has to be carried (by us five guys) down a narrow staircase and through a winding hallway.

This is going to be an exhausting evening, but it has to be done. More pics coming as soon as I can lift my arms again.
 
Bass player just called me: We have taken delivery of 2.5 tonnes of plaster boards and a couple of hundred metres of planks to construct the frame from. This has to be carried (by us five guys) down a narrow staircase and through a winding hallway.

This is going to be an exhausting evening, but it has to be done. More pics coming as soon as I can lift my arms again.

Before you go at it... Go to your local Home improvement store and pick one of these up for the sheetrock... It will make that carry session a ton easier

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004UDN8/ref=asc_df_B00004UDN81952878?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B00004UDN8&hvpos=none&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=531464814484930797&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

Last time I unloaded sheetrock it was 5/8" sheetrock, and we had 3 tons of it on the trailer... me an one other guy I was helping got it unloaded in about 3 hours, one sheet at a time. thank god we had those panel carrying handles.
 
Bass player just called me: We have taken delivery of 2.5 tonnes of plaster boards and a couple of hundred metres of planks to construct the frame from. This has to be carried (by us five guys) down a narrow staircase and through a winding hallway.

This is going to be an exhausting evening, but it has to be done. More pics coming as soon as I can lift my arms again.

Ouch. Been there. I hate that feeling. heh.
 
Today's entry: March 27, 2012

Move a crapload of plaster from street level down to our basement room. Through narrow staircases and a winding hallway. Fun.
Then start building some walls.
11.jpg
 
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Today's entry: March 28, 2012

Step 10:
Carry 2.5 tonnes of plasterboards from street level...

Step 11:
...to our basement room. Through narrow staircases and a winding hallway. Fun.
Then start building walls.


Well shoot... That looked easy as pie! I did'nt even break a sweat! What the heck are you talking about?
 
Well shoot... That looked easy as pie! I did'nt even break a sweat! What the heck are you talking about?

Hah, man, am I sore today!

Very glad that we are taking a break from the build process for a couple of days due to other stuff that also needs doing, that should give my aching body some time to recover :)
 
Can't believe I've only just seen this thread Naige. What a great project.....although carting plaster board up the stairs definitely ain't my idea of a good day out.

Look forward to more pics once your battered body has had time to heal.

Err...didn't you have a female singer? Or is this a different band? Or did her 9 months of being occupied force a change?

Haha....I'm glad someone asked, because lord knows I was going to!! I take it I wasn't the only one sitting back slyly waiting for pics then? :)
 
We're still a bit up in the air about the specifics of how to solve the ventilation issue. There's a central air system in the building which we will hook on to, but we're still debating where to place the fans and how to best construct a sound trap to avoid noise leaking into the air system. If anyone has any tips on this (especially what NOT to do), we'd appreciate it. At the moment, we're just researching like mad to come up with the best solution we can :)

Here's a rough drawing of the final product. The ratio between the control room and live room is a bit off here; the control room is not going to be that big compared to the live room.

For reference, look at the picture for step 9, which is taken from the control room area. The hole in the wall on the right of the pic will be closed up, and the door on the far left is the entry to the outer hallway, which we will close later.
layout.jpg
 
Just finished helping my uncle do the exact same thing in his spare bedroom last week (used sound proofing insulation and everything). Although it won't be used for a studio, I too know the feeling of hauling dozens of sheets of drywall through shitty narrow spaces, hope you don't plan on playing a show anytime soon haha.
 
no posts in a while here, just wondered how you were getting on? I did a similar thing a few months ago, it's all worth it in the end, despite the aching muscles and constant zombie-state-of-mind ;) Looking good so far though!
 
Bumping this since I am very interested in the end result! It's been a month man, let's go! haha
 
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