John Storyk: Recording Studio Acoustical and Architectural Design

March 21, 2007

Visit John Storyk's website for publications and detailed information.

U OF M AUDIO STUDIO RENOVATION STATUS

  1. Acoustics of renovated studio
    1. Live room reverb time:0.7 s at 1 kHz with panel doors closed, 0.3 s at 1 kHz with panel doors open
    2. Control room reverb time:0.4 s at 1 kHz
    3. Control has NC of 25
  2. Project turned out well, especially considering challenges:construction crew had never worked on a studio before, and a lot of long-distance communication was needed

RECORDING STUDIO DESIGN (LECTURE HIGHLIGHTS)

  1. John's first project: Electric Lady Studios (Jimi Hendrix's studio)
    1. One of the first independent studios, revolutionary for its time
    2. Was personalized in style, very artist-oriented
    3. Control room was much larger than studios of the past
  2. Other projects of John's - details can be found on John Storyk's website.
  3. Studio programming should always come before acoustics
  4. If costs need to be cut in studio construction, it's better to do so in equipment than acoustics
  5. Studios today must have personality to remain competitive, since everyone can own their own personal studio if they so choose
  6. A large factor in studio construction costs is the degree of acoustic isolation desired - more isolation costs more, and the costs have not decreased significantly over time
  7. Acoustic reflections should be controlled, not eliminated - too much absorption is a common acoustical mistake
  8. Ear-level monitoring is ideal and can often be achieved through creative placement of monitors
  9. Symmetric rooms and parallel walls are not necessarily suboptimal acoustically - other factors are more important
  10. Useful acoustic tools:
    1. Plaque diffuser - the best currently-known method for reducing HVAC noise
    2. Helmholz resonator - low-frequency absorber, high-frequency diffuser
    3. Membrane absorbers
    4. Perforated wood paneling