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Remodel and Also Have a Turnkey Recording Studio

Los Angeles and the Southern California region is a thriving hub for recording artists and musicians from all over the world.Having a recording studio in the home is a must for the singer/musician.No wonder some of the top remodeling companies in this area also deal in the design and construction of recording studios.And with today’s busy lifestyles, getting experts to both remodel the home and install a turnkey studio (one with everything set up ready to go, even equipment) saves a huge amount of time and hassle.

Recording Studio Design

A lot goes into the design of a recording studio. It is vital that you get the rooms right before you think about spending your budget on equipment. It is easier to upgrade or change equipment than changing a room.

A typical recording studio consists of two main components:

• The control room. This is the technical hub of the recording process. It is separated from the studio by a large window to facilitate visual control and communication during the recording.
• The studio. This is the performance area which can be divided into booths if necessary for individual artists. This is done to prevent sound “bleeding” from one artist’s microphone to another. The feeds from the individual artists can then be mixed in the control room. Studios can have varying shapes and do not need to be symmetrical. A well designed studio will provide opportunities and flexibility to work in different areas of the room.

Design principles for control room and studio differ substantially and you will find that they have varying depths and acoustic treatments.

Acoustics in Your Home Studio

The main aims of acoustic treatment are to:

• keep sound from leaking into or out of the room
• prevent standing waves and interference from affecting the frequency response of recording studios and control rooms
• reduce modal ringing in small rooms and reverberation time in larger studios
• absorb or diffuse sound to avoid ringing and flutter echoes and improve stereo imaging.

The two basic types of acoustic treatment are diffusion and absorption. Diffusers are used to reduce or eliminate repetitive echoes. Absorbers help to minimize echoes and ringing as well as reduce the reverb time. This makes the sound clearer and allows the recording to be more authentic by minimizing the room’s contribution.

Lighting Your Home Studio

Lighting is very important. In control rooms you need to minimize shadow by having lamps directly over the engineer(s) and mixing desk.

The rest of the room needs wall wash and indirect lighting.

In the performance area you need the flexibility to switch between: full lighting for set up and cleaning purposes; work lighting, which must be variable to suit either pure recording or video production; and mood lighting to create ambiance.

Build a Turnkey Studio Safely

Designing and building a home recording studio is not a do-it-yourself project. You need it to be an effective studio but also one that emphasizes safety. From lighting to electrical circuits to flooring to the ceilings, you need assurance that all has been installed properly and safely.

One option is to appoint different companies for various phases of the project. However, you would be far better off calling on a professional company with a proven track record in studio construction to provide a turnkey solution. This means that you have only one contractor to deal with who will be totally responsible for the project. By doing this, you ensure that the remodeling project will run smoothly and be up to your standards.

The best part about a turnkey recording studio remodel is that once you’re satisfied with it, the contractor hands you the key and you’re ready to go. Everything from the equipment to the lighting is set up and ready to be used as soon as you walk in the door.

“Romney Tripp started construction in 1977 and formed RWT Design & Construction in 1992, eventually setting up the shop in Burbank. From the mid 1980’s Romney has been working on building recording studios as well as…” Read more.

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to RWT Design & Construction.