Hiya! I'm a guy with ADHD and way too many hobbies. But my #1 interest since I've been a kid has been laptop music production. I decided in the last year to start taking it more seriously. I've also been working remotely as a web engineer for years, and need a dedicated space to work from home. Thus, I decided to design and build a studio.

Project Goals:

• Good environment for working from home.
• Good environment for writing music.
• Good environment for experimenting with technology.
• Reasonably soundproofed. Prioritize keeping sound "out" vs keeping sound "in" (but mostly just sealed off as much as possible.) I have teenagers and pets at home, I have to be able to get work done during the day without interruption.
• Decent acoustic treatment. Doesn't have to be perfectly neutral, but I love listening to music, and I want to hear my own music better. At least good enough to product and mix, before sending off to someone with an even better studio to master if I decide to start shipping.
• Maker-potential. Lots of outlets, space for a movable workbench, room for tools.
• Looks good on video. Not only do I like looking very good on camera when working remotely, but some of my other side projects have involved video in some way. I've debated getting into YouTube or Twitch to start capturing the creation process of whatever it is I'm building/producing at the time.

I'm about halfway through the process, researching acoustic treatment and buying equipment. I realized I wanted to start keeping a record of the build progress, especially since it would help fill out the backstory when asking for help on specific issues. So far, here's the wishlist.

Wishlist:

• x Soundproofed Construction (STC rating of 50-60 would be AWESOME)
• x Star Grounding for powered mains speakers
• x Extra outlets on separate breakers for power-hungry lighting (including outlets near ceiling, one outlet on ceiling)
• x Server closet outside of space to reduce noise
• x Lots of cat6 ethernet wiring, plus conduit to server closet for future expansion
• Soundproof door (huge oversight on my part here, looking to modify a solid-core door now)
• Acoustic Treatment
• Grid of individually addressable RGB "can" lighting, for simpler video streaming setups
• "ON AIR" light outside the studio door
• Subwoofer. I have a pair of Yamaha HS80m's, I'm super familiar with them, but they only go down to ~40hz. I'd like to know what the bass is doing. Probably a matching HS8S.
• Eventually, a full modular eurorack setup. I want the studio to look like a spaceship.

Other Interesting Links:

• Equipboard
• Soundcloud

COMING SOON: Pictures of the build progress here.

I'm relying heavily on the Home Recording Studio book by Rod Gervais. If you're familiar with that book, then hopefully you can expect what's coming.

I'm in a corner of a basement. The outer walls' layers are 8" CMU, 1" air gap, 2x6 studs 16" OC w/ R20 insulation. 5/8" gypsum, green glue, 5/8" gypsum. The inner walls' layers (again from outside to inside) are 1/2" gypsum, 2x4 studs 16" OC w/ R13 insulation, 1" air gap, 2x4 studs 16" OC w/ R13 insulation (staggered from other wall, separate headers and footers), 5/8" gypsum, green glue, 5/8" gypsum. THe ceiling has 2x10" joists with R30 insulation, Resilmount A237R clips, hat channel, 5/8" GP, Green glue, 5/8" GP. I got putty pads on all outlets, walls decoupled from ceiling and floors with acoustic sealant... really trying to hit as high an STC as possible without being completely financially ruinous. ?

Current Status:

The walls are done being built and just need a coat of paint. The ceiling is almost done, needs the lights and outlet to be installed (and also a coat of paint). And flooring (LVP) needs to be installed. FWIW, I am NOT floating the floor. I'm in the basement on a concrete slab, so I'm not worried about vibrations going between other rooms in the basement, as long as it's not powerful enough to "flank" and end up upstairs somehow.

I have a cheap ECM8000 measurement mic, and I'm hoping to play around with REW soon to get a nice "before" picture of what it sounds like. It's insanely reverberant right now without any acoustic treatment yet. My friend tells me that's a good thing, since it means the sound energy is being constrained to the space. I'm hoping I can figure out REW enough to get an RT60 level.

Alright, I'm going to submit this since I wrote too much, and I'll figure out how to edit it with pictures tonight. Cheers!