John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Greetings!
First of all, this www site is fantastic. I found very much interesting stuff around.
I'm building very small studio, dimensions are 3 m x 5 m (10 feet x 16 feet). Now I'm in process of building and i have walls done. Current situation you can see on picture SUPA BEZ. Can someone please give me some advice how to arrange this small place? I need to have toilet and small ISO BOOTH. I'm planning to do only voice overs, radio commercials and that stuff, not recording musicians (it's too small for that). I would also apriciate some sound advice how to make it sound good, but in the moment I'm looking for sam plan. Sorry for my bad english, I hope you understand what I mean.
Thanks in advance!

Hi bs - welcome to the site - could you please update your profile stating where you come from as it's easier for us if we know.

You said the walls are already built? if so what are the measurements - i.e where are the doors etc. I must say with such a small space you still feel a shower is essential.

cheers
john

Hi,John, and thanks for your response!
I updated my profile.. I'm from Zagreb, capital of Croatia. If you don't know where it is, I can explain you.
I'm working as sound engineer and producer on radio station. Mainly my job is to record and produce jingles and commercials. So, I would like to have small studio at my home so I can take my work home and maybe get some extra money. I'm working tha job for almoust 10 years, so I'm not novice in that job, I know that my home studio is tiny, but I just can't make it bigger.
I send 2 pictures. One is picture of walls that are allready there, and I can put standard doors (width about 90 cm) in down left corner, somewhere between corner and 190 cm (6 feet) to the right. This space is now empty (no wall) and I can put doors where I want and then build wall around them (but only that 6 feet are without wall). So, this layout can be arranged in any way you feel right.
Picture 2 shows layout that in the moment I consider to build.
Shower must be there. Toilet (wc) and wash-basin are obligated.
So, can you or someone else think of something better layout, or it's best posible as I drawed it?
Dimensions are 3 m x 5 m (10 feet x 16 feet). Doors are on longer wall, as you can see on the picture.
I would gladly answer any following questions, and appriciate any thinking or advice.
Thanks!

P.S. I'm still browsing around this forum. Great resource

Any comments on my layout?

Yup - I know where you are :)

I'd seriously consider NOT having an Iso booth, just the bathroom which I'd make narrow and wide allowing the rest of the room for a control room.

Like this

cheers
john

If you HAVE to have a booth for the voiceovers, you could make the bathroom really dead and use that - also, I'd rotate the toilet to the end wall of John's drawing, more legroom

You'll get a lot better mixes the way John's shown it - Plus, if you leave the bathroom door cracked open just a bit while mixing, it's a free bass trap... Steve

Thank you, John and knightfly!
I like John's layout. but...hmmm. now I'm gonna look stupid, bu I'll say it. I know that your plan is MUCH better then one I suggested. Problem is... I know it will sound good and that my mixes would be easier if the layout is like John sugested (thanks again!).
But, sometimes I work in radio studio that is something about 3 mx3 m, plus small vocal booth about 1.8 m x 1.7 m. It's small studio. It's bad considering it have same dimensions of paralel walls which may result with standing waves. It have not some special gear (computer, mix desk, CD and MD player, vocal compressor). But, I can compensate that with my ears, and commercials I worked in that small studio sound ok. Costumers were satisfied. And that's were the problem is. COSTUMERS. When I record and produce commercials in that small studio, and costumer come in it, they want to hear speaker reading text. And that's why I want to have iso booth if possible. And cosutumer don't realise studio's bad acoustics (ok, it's not so bad, but it could be much better). All they see is walls coverd with studio foam (I'm not sure how it's called on english? Wavy foam that treat mids and highs) and glass between voice booth and studio. And when they see foam, they're happy. They saw that on TV and they think that's professional. Their comments are something like: oooh, it nice. Foam...mmm. It's real studio!
So, I want to build at home something like that, something that will look as costumers expect to look like. I want to "play" psychological and make them feel comfortable, pleasent for their eyes.
I'm not sure if you unerstud what I'm talking about. Maybe it's hole new theme for debate, relationship between costumer and studio engineers.
I'm working for paying my bills, so I would prefer that costumers feel happy and order commercials from me. Acoustics I can work out with acoustical treatment and compensate with my ears (I'm expirienced, I could mix commercials in my living room and it would be good enough-it's not music).
Please, don't get me wrong! Maybe I'm a little bit fuzzy I hope you can understand what I'm talking about. I'l try to place vocal booth somewhere in John's plan. It's good, I like it! Maybe to rotate something or I don't know, I'l try to figure it out. If I can't place vocal booth somewhere, then it'll be John's plan without booth.
Any comments are appriciated. Thank for your effort verry much!

so you want something like this?

cheers
john

Yeeess! Thank you very much, John! You're the man!

PLease, can you tell on what height should be soffit mounted monitors?

I prefer they are at four feet (1.2m) if vertical , 5ft (1.5m) if angled forward.

cheers
john

Thank you very much!
Do any of you have "problems" with clients similar to the ones I described? It's when they don't trust they ears or sound engineer, but their eyes and when they think it LOOKS good, it's good? I think, sometimes it's just better to give them what they want, even if it's worse then it could be.
Thanks again!!

Hey bs,
how are you? How's Zagreb these days and music business? I used to live in "Voltino naselje" for some time.

I'd disagree on that one. Eventhough I understand what you're saying, the quality will always win in the long run...And trust me , you can make a good sounding room look good and professional too, so that your clients can say "Wow this is a real studio"....maybe not with foam though

All the best with your studio bs..

Hey, Sen!
Here in Zagreb it's all nice..especially the girls ... in music business, there's some new kids in the hood, but I'm in marketing.
When did you live here? Were you student or what?
I know what are you saying about qualiti in the long run... but sometimes it's so hard to deal with people that don't have a clue about recording and producing, but they are clients and have money...

Bs,
I was born over there and lived til I was 16 (that was in '92)...that's when I moved here.
I still keep an eye (or ear?) on the music over there ocasionally. It all seems to have fallen in quality, but hey that's the case nearly in the whole world, isn't it...
Anyway, good luck with the studio..let us know how you're progressing.

Bok