School Recording Studios!

[kennysarmy]

Anyone have any knowledge?

 

My latest "project management" task is to co-ordinate the school's music departments extension - which includes a "recording studio"

 

Any advice appreciated.

[Dos_Box]

Moving to AV and Multimedia forum.

[3s-gtech]

Yup, we have one. It's a big job to do properly, and goes far beyond the technical side - it includes the placing and tuning of sound deadening panels, the desk and setup, cabling between live room and mixing room, vision panel between them, elements of building work related to that, purchasing the correct rack-mount modules and setting them up with the chosen controller, etc. Ours was sub-contracted as it's pretty specialist stuff - I just set up and purchased the Mac that runs it.

[kennysarmy]

Yup, we have one. It's a big job to do properly, and goes far beyond the technical side - it includes the placing and tuning of sound deadening panels, the desk and setup, cabling between live room and mixing room, vision panel between them, elements of building work related to that, purchasing the correct rack-mount modules and setting them up with the chosen controller, etc. Ours was sub-contracted as it's pretty specialist stuff - I just set up and purchased the Mac that runs it.

 

Can you PM me or post the contractors you used?

[Andrew_C]

Watch out for architects. They won't understand the need for double glazing with different weights of glass, similarly doors. Or, in the case of our musics school, acoustic sealing between the upstairs floor and walls. Thus the sound leaks downstairs. Heat build up in small control rooms with lots of kit. Keeping noise from PCs etc to a minimum.

 

Put in 2x as many audio tie lines as you could possibly need (make sure they know the right way for an XLR circuit to be wired, ours didn't, I had to fix that one) Proper earthing of audio lines. 4x as many 13A sockets as you need. Not electrically "near" lifts, a/c, other big switched loads.

[kennysarmy]

Watch out for architects. They won't understand the need for double glazing with different weights of glass, similarly doors. Or, in the case of our musics school, acoustic sealing between the upstairs floor and walls. Thus the sound leaks downstairs. Heat build up in small control rooms with lots of kit. Keeping noise from PCs etc to a minimum.

 

Put in 2x as many audio tie lines as you could possibly need (make sure they know the right way for an XLR circuit to be wired, ours didn't, I had to fix that one) Proper earthing of audio lines. 4x as many 13A sockets as you need. Not electrically "near" lifts, a/c, other big switched loads.

 

Thanks.

 

I'm hoping to employ the services of a proper recording studio installer, if I can find one interested in the work, I've got the budget to get the job done properly....

[3s-gtech]

I'll try to find the name, it's a good few years back now.

[Pyroman]

Are you wanting it kitting out or building or both? You can start getting into all sorts of crazy with floating rooms within rooms for proper noise/vibration isolation it depends on the budget. And the same with mixing consoles, you could spend £3K on a nice desk or £20k+ on a proper console.

[VeryPC_Anthony_L]

Hi @kennysarmy

 

As mentioned above recording studios can be fairly specialist depending on what you want.

When some people say 'recording studio' they mean a room with equipment in to record a singer to a backing track, when others say 'recording studio' they mean a fully isolated Live room and a control room so you can mix a full band.

Having worked in several schools which have had 'recording studios' these tend to be more geared towards the gear side, neither of them had proper rooms more spaces converted than had a bit of acoustic padding.

 

A lot of stuff has evolved in recent years and much can be done just with a computer. Many digital sound desks also have functions or cards that you can buy that allow you to record all the inputs to a computer via USB.

One option worth exploring could be the Focusrite Rednet equipment which works on a network protocol called Dante, essentially with these you could turn any room into a Live Room.

 

 

The first thing in this is to understand what the teachers will want to do with it, are they planning on running a full studio course/music tech course, who will be in charge of it. I have seen schools purchase TV studio equipment and it get used for a few weeks and then it goes into storage until open evening.

 

If you would like any advice then more than happy to discuss options etc.

 

 

All the best with this project it will be a fun one for you

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I'd be happy to offer advice or suggestions on gear and setups.

 

A large portion of my degree involved studio design and implementation so I've got a great handle on the requirements, plus plenty of hands on experience using studios professionally.

Drop me a pm if you'd like a chat :-)

[bclarke]

I was involved from scratch in our music centre new build several years ago which includes teaching rooms, computer room, performance rooms, practice rooms and a recording studio. For the recording side of things, if you want students and teachers to be able to record without a technician, keep it really simple.

 

We used a great company called Sound Foundation Ltd in Berkshire who are brilliant with this stuff.

 

If you are able to get to Berkshire, let me know if you want to visit. We are also having a theatre built so have experience with that too if it helps.

[twin--turbo]

1st thing to consider...

 

Do you have anyone that has the 1st clue how to use anything more than an 8Ch stereo mixer... If not then you could be wasting a lot of money. My old place had a fully kitted out sound proofed, windowed multi room patched recording studio.

 

Never got used for more than a kit store.

 

TT

[kennysarmy]

Are you wanting it kitting out or building or both? You can start getting into all sorts of crazy with floating rooms within rooms for proper noise/vibration isolation it depends on the budget. And the same with mixing consoles, you could spend £3K on a nice desk or £20k+ on a proper console.

 

We've already appointed a builder who will build the new rooms, on top of the existing!

I think we're looking for someone to help with the design, liaise with the architect and then ensure the studio etc is installed to the spec.

 

Hi @kennysarmy

 

As mentioned above recording studios can be fairly specialist depending on what you want.

When some people say 'recording studio' they mean a room with equipment in to record a singer to a backing track, when others say 'recording studio' they mean a fully isolated Live room and a control room so you can mix a full band.

Having worked in several schools which have had 'recording studios' these tend to be more geared towards the gear side, neither of them had proper rooms more spaces converted than had a bit of acoustic padding.

 

A lot of stuff has evolved in recent years and much can be done just with a computer. Many digital sound desks also have functions or cards that you can buy that allow you to record all the inputs to a computer via USB.

One option worth exploring could be the Focusrite Rednet equipment which works on a network protocol called Dante, essentially with these you could turn any room into a Live Room.

 

 

The first thing in this is to understand what the teachers will want to do with it, are they planning on running a full studio course/music tech course, who will be in charge of it. I have seen schools purchase TV studio equipment and it get used for a few weeks and then it goes into storage until open evening.

 

If you would like any advice then more than happy to discuss options etc.

 

 

All the best with this project it will be a fun one for you

 

As this is a new build, we have the opportunity to get it right, perhaps not to the extent of a floating room, but certainly the best we can get for our budget...so yes, an isolated room and a control room is what's currently shown on the plan.

 

I'd be happy to offer advice or suggestions on gear and setups.

 

A large portion of my degree involved studio design and implementation so I've got a great handle on the requirements, plus plenty of hands on experience using studios professionally.

Drop me a pm if you'd like a chat :-)

 

I'll update the thread as and when decisions need to be made so I get a good mix of views and opinions, though ultimately I guess I will have to be guided quite a bit by what our music teachers want!

 

I was involved from scratch in our music centre new build several years ago which includes teaching rooms, computer room, performance rooms, practice rooms and a recording studio. For the recording side of things, if you want students and teachers to be able to record without a technician, keep it really simple.

 

We used a great company called Sound Foundation Ltd in Berkshire who are brilliant with this stuff.

 

If you are able to get to Berkshire, let me know if you want to visit. We are also having a theatre built so have experience with that too if it helps.

 

Good point about keeping it simple, I'm hoping to find a consultant who has done work in the education sector before and thus knows the problems!

 

1st thing to consider...

 

Do you have anyone that has the 1st clue how to use anything more than an 8Ch stereo mixer... If not then you could be wasting a lot of money. My old place had a fully kitted out sound proofed, windowed multi room patched recording studio.

 

Never got used for more than a kit store.

 

TT

 

Yes, we have a music technician and also my IT technician has played in bands and his background was in music so he'll also be a good source of information during the planning, though he might not be able to advise so much on the sound-proofing and design on the space side of things - but he'll be great to have once the desk is in etc.

[kennysarmy]

These guys seem to have a very good portfolio:

Studio People - The latest projects from the leading studio design and build company in the UK

[3s-gtech]

Yup just found out - they did ours!

[kennysarmy]

So now the architect for the building has said he knows someone who works with Steve Winwood and they advise us to use his expertise!

 

I don't believe he's designed and built ANY recording studios in schools or colleges!!! Yet they are suggesting he's an expert in this field!

 

Apparently he's worked with some of the biggest acts in the music business - but I'm not sure that qualifies him to advise a school on how to design the space to maximize it's potential use and ultimately draw up the plans for the builder to construct and then install the best specified equipment!

[3s-gtech]

So now the architect for the building has said he knows someone who works with Steve Winwood and they advise us to use his expertise!

 

Seriously, avoid. I stress this - working with a mate of a geezer he know who went to a school with someone's brother type jobs are not the way to commission a build. Either bypass them, or insist that this is done properly - you will end up out of pocket and with nothing to show for it otherwise.

[VeryPC_Anthony_L]

There are 4 'people' options you can have to advise,

 

1) The techie consultant - looks at the kit

2) The acoustic specialist - likes to get the room sounding right

3) The musician - wants you to buy a decent guitar amp

4) The consultant - listens to your needs and brings in the right people to make the right room and give you the right equipment.

[kennysarmy]

There are 4 'people' options you can have to advise,

 

1) The techie consultant - looks at the kit

2) The acoustic specialist - likes to get the room sounding right

3) The musician - wants you to buy a decent guitar amp

4) The consultant - listens to your needs and brings in the right people to make the right room and give you the right equipment.

 

I agree and I'd hope either of these could do the roles of 1,2 and 4!

 

Studio People - The latest projects from the leading studio design and build company in the UK

 

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