Learning from the Experts — time to hit the books!
Part 2 — Designing and building a DIY home recording studio
On the shoulders of giants
Years ago as a college student I worked as a studio engineer and mastering engineer making bin masters for cassette duplication. The corporation had a beautiful studio with a large live room and a medium sized isolation room and the control room was really nice. The company was expanding and was having a new mastering room built. I was elated when it was announced I would be the lucky individual who would work in that room. For weeks I had been set up with a temporary editing station (running Sound Designer II and DINR) in the lunch room using a set of headphones to help block out the sound of the refrigerator and vending machines.
The acoustician who had originally designed the studio was being brought back in to continue his handy work. Tim Leishman is his name and this guy is a true artist. He has such a nice approach to balancing quality of sound experience with aesthetics. I loved recording/mixing in those rooms because what I heard is what I got and the sound was very rich and warm and I was really excited to see how the new room would be put together.
I spent several weeks watching the entire process and asked more questions than I think it is probably legal for one person to ask an other person, but Tim was extremely patient and detailed with his answers. I really enjoyed going to work each day and looked forward to learning something new. Well, the room turned out great and now years later I am still in contact with Tim. Excited to see if I could solicit his help in putting my new room together a few weeks ago I called Tim only to find out he is literally booked MONTHS out and wouldn’t be able to help me on my room as I had hoped. However…he did make a recommendation to pick up a specific book titled “Master Handbook of Acoustics” F. Alton Everest and Ken C. Pohlmann. He said that really, the majority of what I would need to know is actually in that book and the additional references the book sites will let me get as deep into knowing what I need for my room as I’m interested in learning. I gulped and said thanks and immediately went online and purchased the book. I suggested to Tim that once I had ingested the book, I could perhaps take him to lunch and run some questions by him. I look forward to that.
Another book I’ve had for a while is “The Audio Expert” by Ethan Winer. I have learned from his posts on various pro audio forums over the years and have enjoyed his book. Like the Master Handbook of Acoustics, Ethan’s book is also very accessible. While the english seems easy to read and I understand the words being said, my brain is always stretched and always gets a workout.
Knowing I can only get so far with the printed word and with Tim being out of reach, I realized I had a very solid plan B — which could actually have been my solid plan A. I reached out to another friend Aaron Merrill back from college days who about 18 years ago or so discovered he had a pretty serious knack for understanding the voodoo of acoustics and designing some sweet studios. In fact, his personal room if I remember right was featured by Mix Magazine back in the day and he has designed for and/or aided in the design of several notable studios owned by some of my most favorite composers. I was lucky enough to reach Aaron and convince him to let me hire him for an hour to come and survey my space and let me put him through a rapid fire session of question/answer. Although any money spent on anything other than acoustic treatment and building supplies delays how fast I can complete the room, doing things right is absolutely imperative. I can’t over stress how important it is to consider the physics of a space when dealing with sound. Physics are not negotiable and either my room sounds “right” at the end of all this, or it just looks pretty. If I do it right, I can have it sound right and look nice!
Aaron’s visit was worth EVERY penny because he helped change the math into specific ideas and objects and materials that I will be using. I expect I will have to bring him in for possibly a few more sessions to make sure I’m on track and to help me avoid making those easy to make catastrophic mistakes. I’d rather put money into solid advice than on acoustic treatment trying to correct mode problems I could have avoided. Also, I can’t tell you how many “sound proof” rooms I’ve been in that aren’t sound proof because of very small unsealed gaps in just a few places. This is really tricky stuff and I am SO glad to have Aaron so close by to help out. He really knows his stuff!
So, now, having spoken to Aaron in our rapid fire session to confirm a few things and get some advice for next steps, I get to start looking at the best room dimensions. Let the fun begin.
