few basics: fill voids in frame and door hardware, and

isolate hard surfaces from hard surfaces.

I had already filled the door frames with expandable
foam and used two acoustic panels of varying thick-
ness on the iso booth’s window.
Albert started isolating the hinges from the door frame
using standard gasket material available at any hard-
ware store. Then he cleaned the frame with isopropyl
alcohol and installed perimeter gasketing.
Albert put two strips along each side of the frame, as
my door was definitely a little undercut. After every-
thing was installed, the door was closed and I ran a
flashlight up and around the frame to see if any light
got through. This is a very easy initial way to physically
test how well the area is sealed. After it was deter-
mined that everything looked good, Albert installed
an automatic door bottom. This device drops a rubber
bar down to seal the door bottom when the striker on
the side hits the doorframe.
Finally we put on some music and closed the door.
After listening with our ears pressed against different
areas on and around the door, it was decided that we
should caulk around the window frames and put some
gasket material inside the door handle.
When all was said and done, the door closed really
well and there was a marked drop in higher frequency
bleed. The amount of leakage was absolutely toler-
able and I was extremely happy with the results.
Organizing
Every studio, no matter what the size, needs to
have certain accessories. First, make a list of things
you need to operate your studio efficiently — tape,
CD-Rs, envelopes, packing material, office supplies,
etc. Then buy, build, or salvage storage for all these
items. Set up an area for each so that if you need to
mail something everything is next to one another.
If you need a cable, they’re all in one dedicated area.
It’s Never Done
I tackled everything I wanted to get to in the construc-
tion phase of the studio build. I am sure there will
be modifications and changes down the line. There
always are. My mind is already working on adding a
small carpet in the studio, adding carpet to the iso
booth, hanging a curtain on the main entrance door...
Michael Tarsia is a two time Grammy recognized
Engineer, with over two dozen gold and Platinum
album credits. He is also a Director and Instruc-
tor for the Sigma Soundz Recording Arts Program.
Learn more at miketarsia.com, email sigmasoundz@
gmail.com, or call 215-837-1002.
Homemade Speaker Stands
When mixing, it’s good to have more than one pair of speakers as a reference.
I decided to pull out my trusty Tannoy PBM 6.5’s and place them next to the
Mackie 624’s on top of my Argosy desk. This would complete my midsize near
field speaker requirements, but I needed more space for the larger speakers.
I looked around for speaker stands and almost died. Hundreds of dollars for a
pair of stands. No way!
Then my dad emailed me a link to a site that had an inexpensive speaker stand
design that he thought we could expand on.
For each stand, you’ll need:
• 3” schedule 40 PVC pipe, cut two inches shorter than the actual height
you want the stands (you’ll have to cut the pipe even shorter if you’re
placing feet on the stand)
• 1” thick piece of solid wood board
• 3 1x4s cut to the total height of the stands (minus the feet, if applicable)
• a 50 lb bag of fine sand (that’s enough for two speaker stands)
• a threaded 3/8” rod cut 1 3/4” longer than the length of your pipe
• 2 washers and bolts
Cut two pieces of board to your preferred size (either 10, 12, 14, or 16-inch
square): one for your base, the other your top. A 7/8” hole is counter sunk on
the top of the top piece and the bottom of the base, each about half way
through the wood right at the center of the square. Then a 7/16” hole is drilled
all the way through.
Rub silicon glue along the bottom of the PVC pipe and affix it to the bottom
piece of wood. Slide the threaded rod through the base and attach a washer
and bolt on the underneath. Make sure that your PVC pipe is centered. When
the glue has dried sufficiently, get a funnel and fill the PVC tube with sand. Tamp
down to help the sand “settle” then pop the top on, and affix with the washer
and bolt in the counter-sunk top piece.
Now get the three 1×4 boards and screw these into the sides and back of the
stand’s top and bottom solid wood. I used six 2 1/2” wood screws for each
board (three top/three bottom). Depending on the weight of your speakers,
place heavy objects such as decorative paving stones around the base.
PRESENTS
You can stain or paint the wood, paint the pipe, or cover it in fabric. A carpet
square can be attached to the top or you can use a foam pad for the speakers
to sit on. You can put felt, rubber, or metal pin feet on the bottom, just remem-
ber to factor in their height when determining the cut on your PVC tube. These
stands are very sturdy, cost less than $25 each, and they can be the exact height
Volume 1: Building A Professional Home Studio
you need rather than an off-the-shelf approximation.
A no-skimping guide to turning your living room into an A-Room

B y M i k e Ta r s i a | E d i t e d b y A n d r e C a l i l h a n n a
B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o PAGE 8

Back Cover Front Cover

prod master:
Sales
sales order: SO00801790
order:
acct
prodmgr: master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
artist: kthompson
contact:
ofa date:
“Home project studio” can mean a thousand things. It can be a 16-track digital board tucked in the corner of
a guest room or a laptop loaded with Pro Tools and a tiled bathroom as an iso booth. Maybe it’s a semi-
constructed main room with an adjoining control room. Most any home recording setup can be classified as a
“project studio.”
Conversely, a home studio can be a not-so-modest suite to rival many professional studios. With the proper
construction, materials, dimensions, and gear, the sky is the limit. More correctly, the budget and the available
space are the limits (along with variables like neighbors and traffic noise).
This guide chronicles Philadelphia’s Grammy-winning producer/engineer Mike Tarsia as he set out to build a
studio in his home after the sale of the legendary Sigma Sound, where he had recorded classics for the likes of
David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, The Average White Band, and Stephanie Mills, to name but a few.

SHots of the finished studio.

Photos by: Natalie Grygo | www.nataliegrygo.com | natalie@nataliegrygo.com
Sigma Sound: The End of an Era
Sigma Sound, our family owned and operated recording studios — and home to the “Sound Of Philadelphia” — had issues. The client assemble these babies, as some pieces are large and unwieldy. to my main sewer pipe in the basement. The air conditioner is very
base for large, multi-room facilities in Philadelphia had been in decline for years. What can you do? In 1968, a $50,000 investment built a It took us three and a half hours to put the console together. quiet and puts out about 16,000 BTUs, more than enough for my
facility that could generate $130/hour in studio time, plus the additional 30% in tape, materials, and related sales. 30 years later, its $1.5 The instructions were clear and the fit and finish of the workstation studio needs.
million replacement could only garner $125/hour (or less), with no high-dollar materials to sell with the session time. The answer for Sigma were impeccable.
was painful but simple: sell. Hot Spot
As I sat and pondered my situation, I was left with two viable options: rent a space and build a studio, or build a studio in my home that Up And Running — As I listened to my Mackie 624’s in the room, I noticed a null fol-
could accommodate mixing, mastering, vocals, and small overdubs. I could then rent out time in larger recording rooms for drum and But Still Need a Few Tweaks lowed by a hot spot due to bass build up. I didn’t follow Nick’s lay-
out to the letter and the room needed a little help. I put a bass trap
live tracking on an “as needed” basis. The studio is up and running and it looks great. I’m getting used
in the center of the room in front of the console between the other
to the sound of the speakers in the room and the sound of the
two traps. This was the original configuration in the design draw-
iso booth. The more I work in the room, the more secure I feel in
ing, and it did a nice job of smoothing out some of the boominess.
knowing what changes I need and want. I have made a list of things
Rent A Room And Build Home Studio to be addressed by priority. Nick sent me a two-by-four foot, four-inch thick piece of “Cutting
Wedge” acoustic foam. The foam absorbs frequencies from 500 Hz
PROS PROS and above and takes the ring out of spaces. I mounted this in the
Sound Leakage ISO booth across from the curved wall. Immediately the sound was
My neighbors in the back could hear music late at night because tighter and more pleasing in the booth.
Can find space to suit specific needs 24/7 access to gear
of the window in the studio. It is of utmost importance that I keep
No clients wandering through my home No lease them happy while still being able to work. My father built a window Curtain Call
cover using rigid fiberglass and 1/2” plywood. The unit was press- The exit from the studio to my bedroom is by way of French
More “professional” looking No partners fit into the window opening and covered in the same acoustical doors. These are constructed from wood and glass. I wanted
fabric as the rest of the room. I went outside as my father cranked to reduce any mid-to-high frequency reflections off of this sur-
Save space in my home No monthly rent up the audio in the control room. Not a sound escaped. The unit face, as well as obscure the view to my bedroom, so I decided to
he built did the job perfectly! I can now listen at 120dB with no hang some curtains.
Room for tracking full bands No outlay of costs for rental improvement complaints from neighbors at any time of day. I called Moskow’s, a drapery store near my home, and asked about
fabric. The owner told me he had the original theater curtains that
CONS CONS Air Conditioning were left over when we remodeled Sigma Sound’s “Studio 1” over
The next priority was the air conditioning. My first thought was 25 years ago! Instead of using a standard pull cord setup, I put
Cost of rental Clients wandering inside and outside my home up a rod and used heavy-duty shower type hangers to mount the
to pop a window unit in the adjoining bedroom, but the thought
of hearing the compressor howling while I was working was not drapes. There would be no binding and I could just grab the drapes
Capital improvements to someone else’s property Loss of space in home and pull them open or closed.
inviting. Mitsubishi makes a split AC unit, where the compressor
At mercy of lessor Physical constraints of space in home is on the outside of the home and couples with the inside unit by
a three-inch pipe. The system is whisper quiet and really effective. Iso door
I was getting more leakage than I wanted out of my iso booth door,
No instant access to equipment Noise issues with neighbors In my application, the compressor was mounted on the roof. The
so I called in a professional. Albert Kleinschmidt is a musician as
only place to put the indoor unit was above my control room door. well as a door man, so I had him over to try to lessen the amount
Possibility of having to share space No room for tracking live bands 220-volt lines were run from the basement to both the unit on the of leakage between rooms. The first thing he did was to explain a
roof and in the control room. The condensation line was run down

B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o PAGE 2 www.discmakers.com | 1-800-468-9353 PAGE 7

prod master:
Sales
sales order: SO00801790
order:
acct
prodmgr: master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
artist: kthompson
contact:
ofa date:
Patience in the construction process is immensely important. It
can’t be stressed enough that the weakest link lowers the isolation
properties of the entire booth.
Wall Treatments
After all the walls were sanded and
primed, acoustic fabric was applied to
all vertical surfaces. Sound Channels
looks like carpet but is lightweight and
easy to apply. It adheres to the wall with
Chapco 305, an adhesive made for in-
terior wall carpet installation. This stuff
is so good that we could skip the instal-
lation suggestion of putting temporary Sound Channels acoustic fabric
staples at the top of the fabric strips to covers the walls of the booth.
hold them while the adhesive dries.
Once the fabric was installed and cured,
we hung the bass traps and absorbers,
per Nick’s recommendations. On the
front wall there are two half-round cylin-
drical broadband absorbers by Geome-
trix. These are made with 1-inch thick
curved acoustical glass fiber with wood-
en supports. Between the bass traps are
two rectangular Sonora absorbers. On
the ceiling over the engineering console
there’s a Sonora panel made specifically
to hang horizontally.
Floors and
Finishing the Booth
The next step was laying a floor for
the studio. Half-inch plywood had
already been glued and screwed into Half-round Geometrix
the floor. The next step was to lay floor-
sound absorber.
ing. I choose 3/4” Bruce hardwood oak.
It’s durable, looks great, and fits nicely with the warm vibe I was cut in each. Now air being pulled out of the box had to run through
looking for in the space. The oak was laid both in the control room three 90-degree bends, significantly lowering any noise that could
and isolation booth. seep through the opening.
I had to commit to cutting holes for airflow and wiring in the booth,
and close the outer (visible) ceiling. I decided we should put a two-
inch cant in the ceiling so it and the floor were not parallel. Just like
the control room, the booth shouldn’t be dead, just controlled and
pleasant. On the one large wall in the room, we took two pieces
of leftover 1 1/4” round and mounted it vertically at the centerline
of the wall. Then we took a piece of masonite (pegboard without
holes) that was a little wider than the width of the wall.
Once we found the right size to make a nice curve, centered at the
now half-round “keel,” we cut and then screwed the masonite to
the walls in two horizontal sections. Before the second section was
in, we stuffed fiberglass in to hinder any sympathetic vibrations that
sound waves might induce in the arched panel. We did the same
thing for the top panel and then used duct tape to hold the two
B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o
prod master:
sales
Salesorder:
order: SO00801790
acct mgr:
prod master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
contact:
artist: kthompson
ofa date:
panels together before we put the Sound Channel fabric over it.
Once all the fabric was installed in the booth, we put quarter-round
up in the corners and top and bottom to further reinforce and hold
the curve line.
Our next issue was getting wires from
the workstation to the booth. I had de-
cided early on to run plastic pipe up the
wall, behind the console, and across
the ceiling into the soffit that was being
used as a conduit for a room-to-room
vertical fan.
After the pipe was painted and hung, we
used a string that was set inside to pull
six 22-gauge communications cables
into the booth. Once inside the booth,
we used Wiremold piping and Wiremold
boxes to surface mount two boxes: one
for microphone connections and one for
headphones. We pulled three lines in
each box. Two lines were connected to
off-the-shelf switch plates with XLR con-
nectors surface-mounted to them. The
other line in each box was tucked in and
is available for a future application. We
made the same terminations on the oth-
er end of the wire and then connected
them to my Digidesign 192 converter.
After the lines were checked, we mount-
ed a room-to-room variable-speed fan
to suck air out of the booth. This was
mounted over the steps in the stairwell
by attaching it to the soffit’s outside
wall. Inside the soffit, we made two ver-
tical half-inch-thick plywood plates and
mounted them to segment the soffit
into three equal zones. A large hole was
Early on in the construction of the booth, we anticipated the need
to have air flowing in, but acoustically, you don’t want a straight
hole through the walls. So we made eight-inch cuts in the outside
wall, between two studs, and framed it with 2x4s. The same thing
was done on the inside wall, offset from the other hole, so air and
any sound it carried had to pass through three 90-degree bends
before it entered the room.
Workstation
At Sigma, we had a Pro Tools rig set up in an Argosy workstation
(www.argosyconsole.com), so I knew of the company and the qual-
ity of their materials. I ordered the VR 70 Argosy workstation with
flat top rack sections for near field monitors. The console came
neatly packed in about 13 boxes. It takes at least two people to
PAGE 6
Great Expectations For My Home Studio
An important reason why I want my own room is that I was used
to the A+ quality of the recording experience integral to Sigma
Sound. Part of what made Sigma extraordinary was that the studio
space was built to demanding specifications.
At Sigma, we had a trolley line running right outside the recording
studios that operated in the heart of a bustling city. In spite of this,
we could open up a microphone on a whispering vocalist and not
have rumble from heavy vehicles, jet airplane noise, air condition-
ing hum, forced air whoosh, or bleed from control room monitors
leaking into the recording area.
I had taken this too lightly when I started my independent career
working in local studios, and the ramifications were immediately
apparent. I found myself saying:
“Hey can we take that again? The studio monitors were too loud.”
“I’d like to do that again, I can hear a truck in the background.”
“I didn’t hear the hum because the air conditioner in the control
room masked the noise. I had the monitors low to make sure they
didn’t bleed into your mike…”
Then there was the issue of dealing with rooms that had you
constantly guessing if your ears were messed up. Move my head
here it sounds like this, turn a little or move an inch and it sounds
totally different.
I wasn’t used to making excuses for poor room design. I knew
that before a computer went in or a speaker was placed in my
small project studio, I had to have a listening and recording struc-
ture that rivaled the high-quality facility that I took so much for
granted during my 30-year tenure at Sigma. The bar had been set.
It was time to take my vision and expectations and carve out a
home studio that I could be proud to work in and bring clients to.
Where to build?
A small row home in a large city is not the ideal location for a stu-
dio, but that is my challenge. The home’s unfinished basement has
a 7-foot ceiling and narrow 26-inch wide steps leading down to it.
It was out of the question. I was already in the process of gutting
the upstairs, so I chose a location in the back of the 2nd floor as
ground zero. Luckily there are many angles present in that room,
but it is rather small, having a 14’ X 11.5’ main footprint. One wall
is shared with a neighbor, another is a back wall facing my yard. The
third wall is against steps, and the interior wall abuts my bedroom.
The ideal room in which to build a home studio is the one
that’s the most isolated, needs the least treatment, and works in
relative harmony with the rest of the house. This space was at the
top of my steps, next to the bathroom, and shared only one com-
mon wall with neighbors.
When I say “least treatment,” that means try to avoid square rooms,
low ceilings, areas with high ambient noise, space that abuts other’s
property, and areas that constrict traffic to the rest of the house.
Good space for setting up a home studio is one with rectangular
or angled walls, good ceiling height, separate or restricted access
to the rest of the home, isolation from neighbors, and buffers from
noise such as street traffic.
www.discmakers.com | 1-800-468-9353
Assessing the Space — Sound Leakage
I knew from the beginning that sound leakage would be a major
issue. I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg to float the whole
studio space, but I wanted to be able to work nights and week-
ends. The first thing I needed to do was to see how much leaked
through the common and back walls. I went to Radio Shack and
bought a cheap SPL (Sound Pressure Level) meter and set up a
simple experiment.
We brought a sound system into the unfinished space. I had already
eliminated the idea of hanging speakers because the room was too
small. Anything we’d use would essentially be a near field moni-
tor, so we set the speakers on chairs close to where I figured they
would be when the room became operational. I cranked up the
bass on a graphic EQ and put on a low frequency heavy recording.
Then I knocked on my neighbor’s door and told him I like to play
my music loud and didn’t want to annoy them. I asked if I could go
into their bedroom and listen as my friend played music.
Getting my neighbors involved and showing concern for their hap-
piness would be a benefit later down the line, I figured, and I did
need to hear how much sound passed through their walls. I went
upstairs and called my friend. I told him to start playing the music
at a level of 85 dB — the level of most accurate human hearing
response and hence the best level for mixing.
I then listened as he brought up the music in 5 dB increments.
Not too bad, at 110 dB in the shell of the future studio, the leak-
age in my neighbors bedroom reminded me of a neighbor in my
old apartment complex playing his TV too loud late in the eve-
ning, when there are no masking sounds. This wouldn’t be good
past 10 pm, but nominally acceptable during the daytime. As I
wanted to be able to work 24/7 I knew I had some fixing to do.
I thanked my neighbor and went back to ponder my next step.
Design and Soundproofing
I know the golden rule of any studio design, having been involved
in a few major builds, and that is “get the structure right first.” A
recording studio is only as good as the space it’s in, and chang-
ing a space after gear is in is a nightmare and waste of resources.
I needed a game plan for construction and wanted the space to
be the best it could be. So I called on Nick Colleran at Acoustics
First (www.acousticsfist.com). Nick owned a large studio, played in
bands, and produced records, so he knows exactly what a person is
looking for when they come to him with audio concerns.
I gave Nick the lowdown on the purpose of the room, its dimen-
sions, the leakage I was experiencing, and my goal of having it look
and sound like the professional rooms I was used to working in. I
knew this wasn’t going to be an easy job, but Nick immediately put
my mind to rest.
The design Nick came up with is a classic Live End/Dead End setup.
I was relieved by the fact that space issues I thought would be det-
rimental, such as the French doors, were now turned into beneficial
tools for bass management.
PAGE 3

Designing With Acoustics In Mind
By Nick Coller an (of Acoustic s First )
When we’re asked to help design a studio, our team inter-
views the client, qualifies their needs, and presents solu-
tions to correct and enhance the sound characteristics of
their space. I knew Michael wanted a room that would have
acoustic properties as close as possible to Sigma Sound,
but I needed to get a few things straight before I could
present solutions, including:
1. Expectations
2. Dimensions showing walls, doors, windows etc.
3. Materials the space and coupled areas are constructed of
4. Ballpark budget expectations
Fix the acoustics first!
For accurate monitoring, it is necessary to eliminate the first
reflections that might combine with the direct sound before
getting to the mixer’s ears, coloring the sound and affect-
ing the stereo image. We also needed to make the back wall
acoustically ambiguous, diffusing the sound field to make
the room feel acoustically larger and eliminating a defined
single reflection that says there is a wall behind the listener.
We also need to give the bass some room to develop. This
is partially accomplished by broadband (bass) traps and ex-
tended by the features already present in Michael’s space.
Contrary to popular belief, bass does not accumulate in
corners, it just appears that way when the reflected out-of-
phase energy meets the incoming wave and cancels in the
middle of the room.
“Bass trap” is a counterintuitive term. Trapping the bass
does not destroy the sound wave, it prevents it from re-
flecting back and causing a cancellation. Also, “bass trap” is
often misapplied to broadband corner absorbers that also
go after higher frequencies. If bass is the only problem, the
corner absorbers will make the room too lifeless.
In Michael’s home studio, the room to the mixer’s right
provides the extra space for the bass to roam and a thick,
pleated curtain will cover the double doors to take care
of the high-end, first reflections. A window to the left
provides a similar function. However, just venting the bass
is not enough. Without the absorbers and diffusers to
eliminate cancellation, the neighbors will hear the bass
while you do not.
Nick Colleran founded Acoustics First Corporation in 1997. They offer a full range of acoustical materials,
including sound absorbers, barriers, diffusers, and specialty product. Find them online at www.acousticsfirst.com.
B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o
prod master:
Sales
sales order: SO00801790
order:
acct
prodmgr: master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
artist: kthompson
contact:
ofa date:
For common walls, noise barriers and vibration isolation
should be considered. Mass blocks transmission, when
combined with internal wall absorption, to eliminate the
drum effect (tap one head and the other vibrates). We’ll use
mass-loaded vinyl, applied as a layer under the fabric wall
covering. This is a good solution for noisy neighbors, with
or without a studio.
Since Michael would not be dealing with too much heavy-
impact, structure-borne sound — and since he wasn’t wor-
ried about sound leaking downstairs — we saw no need
to float the floor, though that is a relatively low-cost pro-
cess in new construction. Michael’s room will have a layer of
one-pound-per-square-foot mass-loaded vinyl (BlockAid™)
on the common wall, installed under the Sound Channels®
acoustical fabric wall covering.
Other considerations for materials were building codes,
ease of use, and long term wear. The entire wall will be
treated with an acoustical wall covering that takes the
edge off of the drywall and allows for less critical
placement of furniture. It installs like heavy wallpaper and
only needs to be cut straight and hung in a consistent direc-
tion to look good.
Panels and traps are hung like pictures over the wall cover-
ing, eliminating the need for precise fabric and panel cuts.
Anyone who can measure accurately should be able to in-
stall these materials.
These materials wear well and are Class A fire rated. Acous-
tical polyurethane foams, while effective acoustically, do
not wear well and produce toxic smoke when burning. The
same is true for carpet installed on a wall. It may have some
acoustical value, but does not pass vertical and corner burn
tests. Egg cartons, while having some absorptive qualities,
have been proven to have “holes” at certain frequency
ranges and are also a fire hazard.
The ceiling cloud over the mixer provides an enhanced lis-
tening space by eliminating the reflection between the desk
surface and the ceiling. It also allows for indirect lighting,
and if used with a dimmer, provides the room with a subtle
glow. If the room looks good, it always sounds better!
PAGE 4
The Isolation Booth —
A Room Within a Room
An iso booth is a room within a room. The outside of the structure
is of typical design, while the inner structure is meant to “float”
separate from the outer structure (and the entire building) by means
of insulators.
Nick told me about a way to float the walls, ceiling, and floor using
Vib-X, a vibration-isolating pad made of DuPont Neoprene. Vib-X
pads have a ribbed design, can be cut easily, don’t degrade over
time, and are especially good at rejecting low frequency transmis-
sions. Along with the pads, I got some Vib-X washers to isolate the
bolts securing the wall footers.
The room needs to float and be isolated, but air must flow through
it. In addition, cables and wiring for lights and electrical outlets
must be strung through, and a door has to be installed. All of
these holes in the structure can ruin the room’s isolation qualities
Green rock, Block Aid, sheetrock.
if not treated properly.
The airflow issue wasn’t as bad as I expected due to the fact that a
soffit was already put in next to where the booth is being built. The
soffit will be my “exhaust duct,” and will be boxed in hard fiberglass
insulation. The inside of the box will have two 90-degree fiberglass
barriers so that any extraneous sound will be minimized as it tries to
pass around the corners. A low noise fan will be placed on the far
end to evacuate air outside the studio properly and a vent will be
situated on the near end where the duct will connect to the booth.
On the intake side, air being pulled into the booth will come in
around two feet from the floor on the outer wall, run down the stud
wall to a “T,” then pass down the adjacent stud wall and exit a few
inches above the inner wall floor. As in the soffited area, by going
through 90-degree bends, the sound from these holes in the system
will be greatly reduced. The floor of the booth must also float off the
room’s original flooring. Wood blocks with Vibe-X “feet” and two-
inch plywood with high-compression vinyl sandwiched in make the
Inner framing with Vib-X washer. floating floor. Insulation will be packed in between the floating floor
and the original flooring, and the edges of this floating floor will also
be isolated from the inner walls of the booth.
Building the Booth
First the outer wall was constructed. At the same time, consideration
for anything that had to be fed through the walls was mapped out
and fabricated. This meant that all wiring had to be extended long
enough to get through the two walls, and a provision for a run above
the booth had to be put in to ensure ease of adding anything to the
room at a later date.
Once the outer walls were finished, the Vib-X was installed on the
footers and headers of the inner wall. The inner wall itself is situated
so it doesn’t touch the outer wall of the booth. I found a 28-inch door
and metal frame for an entrance. A glass window will give the room
a view to the studio to make it less claustrophobic.
The inner walls, the ones you see as you stand in the finished room,
Layers, from bottom to top: Vib-X,
consist of a layer of 1/2” sheetrock, Block Aid vinyl barrier, and 5/8”
2x2” block, plywood, vinyl, plywood.
green rock.
www.discmakers.com | 1-800-468-9353 PAGE 5

Designing With Acoustics In Mind
By Nick Coller an (of Acoustic s First )
When we’re asked to help design a studio, our team inter-
views the client, qualifies their needs, and presents solu-
tions to correct and enhance the sound characteristics of
their space. I knew Michael wanted a room that would have
acoustic properties as close as possible to Sigma Sound,
but I needed to get a few things straight before I could
present solutions, including:
1. Expectations
2. Dimensions showing walls, doors, windows etc.
3. Materials the space and coupled areas are constructed of
4. Ballpark budget expectations
Fix the acoustics first!
For accurate monitoring, it is necessary to eliminate the first
reflections that might combine with the direct sound before
getting to the mixer’s ears, coloring the sound and affect-
ing the stereo image. We also needed to make the back wall
acoustically ambiguous, diffusing the sound field to make
the room feel acoustically larger and eliminating a defined
single reflection that says there is a wall behind the listener.
We also need to give the bass some room to develop. This
is partially accomplished by broadband (bass) traps and ex-
tended by the features already present in Michael’s space.
Contrary to popular belief, bass does not accumulate in
corners, it just appears that way when the reflected out-of-
phase energy meets the incoming wave and cancels in the
middle of the room.
“Bass trap” is a counterintuitive term. Trapping the bass
does not destroy the sound wave, it prevents it from re-
flecting back and causing a cancellation. Also, “bass trap” is
often misapplied to broadband corner absorbers that also
go after higher frequencies. If bass is the only problem, the
corner absorbers will make the room too lifeless.
In Michael’s home studio, the room to the mixer’s right
provides the extra space for the bass to roam and a thick,
pleated curtain will cover the double doors to take care
of the high-end, first reflections. A window to the left
provides a similar function. However, just venting the bass
is not enough. Without the absorbers and diffusers to
eliminate cancellation, the neighbors will hear the bass
while you do not.
Nick Colleran founded Acoustics First Corporation in 1997. They offer a full range of acoustical materials,
including sound absorbers, barriers, diffusers, and specialty product. Find them online at www.acousticsfirst.com.
B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o
prod master:
Sales
sales order: SO00801790
order:
acct
prodmgr: master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
artist: kthompson
contact:
ofa date:
For common walls, noise barriers and vibration isolation
should be considered. Mass blocks transmission, when
combined with internal wall absorption, to eliminate the
drum effect (tap one head and the other vibrates). We’ll use
mass-loaded vinyl, applied as a layer under the fabric wall
covering. This is a good solution for noisy neighbors, with
or without a studio.
Since Michael would not be dealing with too much heavy-
impact, structure-borne sound — and since he wasn’t wor-
ried about sound leaking downstairs — we saw no need
to float the floor, though that is a relatively low-cost pro-
cess in new construction. Michael’s room will have a layer of
one-pound-per-square-foot mass-loaded vinyl (BlockAid™)
on the common wall, installed under the Sound Channels®
acoustical fabric wall covering.
Other considerations for materials were building codes,
ease of use, and long term wear. The entire wall will be
treated with an acoustical wall covering that takes the
edge off of the drywall and allows for less critical
placement of furniture. It installs like heavy wallpaper and
only needs to be cut straight and hung in a consistent direc-
tion to look good.
Panels and traps are hung like pictures over the wall cover-
ing, eliminating the need for precise fabric and panel cuts.
Anyone who can measure accurately should be able to in-
stall these materials.
These materials wear well and are Class A fire rated. Acous-
tical polyurethane foams, while effective acoustically, do
not wear well and produce toxic smoke when burning. The
same is true for carpet installed on a wall. It may have some
acoustical value, but does not pass vertical and corner burn
tests. Egg cartons, while having some absorptive qualities,
have been proven to have “holes” at certain frequency
ranges and are also a fire hazard.
The ceiling cloud over the mixer provides an enhanced lis-
tening space by eliminating the reflection between the desk
surface and the ceiling. It also allows for indirect lighting,
and if used with a dimmer, provides the room with a subtle
glow. If the room looks good, it always sounds better!
PAGE 4
The Isolation Booth —
A Room Within a Room
An iso booth is a room within a room. The outside of the structure
is of typical design, while the inner structure is meant to “float”
separate from the outer structure (and the entire building) by means
of insulators.
Nick told me about a way to float the walls, ceiling, and floor using
Vib-X, a vibration-isolating pad made of DuPont Neoprene. Vib-X
pads have a ribbed design, can be cut easily, don’t degrade over
time, and are especially good at rejecting low frequency transmis-
sions. Along with the pads, I got some Vib-X washers to isolate the
bolts securing the wall footers.
The room needs to float and be isolated, but air must flow through
it. In addition, cables and wiring for lights and electrical outlets
must be strung through, and a door has to be installed. All of
these holes in the structure can ruin the room’s isolation qualities
Green rock, Block Aid, sheetrock.
if not treated properly.
The airflow issue wasn’t as bad as I expected due to the fact that a
soffit was already put in next to where the booth is being built. The
soffit will be my “exhaust duct,” and will be boxed in hard fiberglass
insulation. The inside of the box will have two 90-degree fiberglass
barriers so that any extraneous sound will be minimized as it tries to
pass around the corners. A low noise fan will be placed on the far
end to evacuate air outside the studio properly and a vent will be
situated on the near end where the duct will connect to the booth.
On the intake side, air being pulled into the booth will come in
around two feet from the floor on the outer wall, run down the stud
wall to a “T,” then pass down the adjacent stud wall and exit a few
inches above the inner wall floor. As in the soffited area, by going
through 90-degree bends, the sound from these holes in the system
will be greatly reduced. The floor of the booth must also float off the
room’s original flooring. Wood blocks with Vibe-X “feet” and two-
inch plywood with high-compression vinyl sandwiched in make the
Inner framing with Vib-X washer. floating floor. Insulation will be packed in between the floating floor
and the original flooring, and the edges of this floating floor will also
be isolated from the inner walls of the booth.
Building the Booth
First the outer wall was constructed. At the same time, consideration
for anything that had to be fed through the walls was mapped out
and fabricated. This meant that all wiring had to be extended long
enough to get through the two walls, and a provision for a run above
the booth had to be put in to ensure ease of adding anything to the
room at a later date.
Once the outer walls were finished, the Vib-X was installed on the
footers and headers of the inner wall. The inner wall itself is situated
so it doesn’t touch the outer wall of the booth. I found a 28-inch door
and metal frame for an entrance. A glass window will give the room
a view to the studio to make it less claustrophobic.
The inner walls, the ones you see as you stand in the finished room,
Layers, from bottom to top: Vib-X,
consist of a layer of 1/2” sheetrock, Block Aid vinyl barrier, and 5/8”
2x2” block, plywood, vinyl, plywood.
green rock.
www.discmakers.com | 1-800-468-9353 PAGE 5
Patience in the construction process is immensely important. It
can’t be stressed enough that the weakest link lowers the isolation
properties of the entire booth.
Wall Treatments
After all the walls were sanded and
primed, acoustic fabric was applied to
all vertical surfaces. Sound Channels
looks like carpet but is lightweight and
easy to apply. It adheres to the wall with
Chapco 305, an adhesive made for in-
terior wall carpet installation. This stuff
is so good that we could skip the instal-
lation suggestion of putting temporary Sound Channels acoustic fabric
staples at the top of the fabric strips to covers the walls of the booth.
hold them while the adhesive dries.
Once the fabric was installed and cured,
we hung the bass traps and absorbers,
per Nick’s recommendations. On the
front wall there are two half-round cylin-
drical broadband absorbers by Geome-
trix. These are made with 1-inch thick
curved acoustical glass fiber with wood-
en supports. Between the bass traps are
two rectangular Sonora absorbers. On
the ceiling over the engineering console
there’s a Sonora panel made specifically
to hang horizontally.
Floors and
Finishing the Booth
The next step was laying a floor for
the studio. Half-inch plywood had
already been glued and screwed into Half-round Geometrix
the floor. The next step was to lay floor-
sound absorber.
ing. I choose 3/4” Bruce hardwood oak.
It’s durable, looks great, and fits nicely with the warm vibe I was cut in each. Now air being pulled out of the box had to run through
looking for in the space. The oak was laid both in the control room three 90-degree bends, significantly lowering any noise that could
and isolation booth. seep through the opening.
I had to commit to cutting holes for airflow and wiring in the booth,
and close the outer (visible) ceiling. I decided we should put a two-
inch cant in the ceiling so it and the floor were not parallel. Just like
the control room, the booth shouldn’t be dead, just controlled and
pleasant. On the one large wall in the room, we took two pieces
of leftover 1 1/4” round and mounted it vertically at the centerline
of the wall. Then we took a piece of masonite (pegboard without
holes) that was a little wider than the width of the wall.
Once we found the right size to make a nice curve, centered at the
now half-round “keel,” we cut and then screwed the masonite to
the walls in two horizontal sections. Before the second section was
in, we stuffed fiberglass in to hinder any sympathetic vibrations that
sound waves might induce in the arched panel. We did the same
thing for the top panel and then used duct tape to hold the two
B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o
prod master:
sales
Salesorder:
order: SO00801790
acct mgr:
prod master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
contact:
artist: kthompson
ofa date:
panels together before we put the Sound Channel fabric over it.
Once all the fabric was installed in the booth, we put quarter-round
up in the corners and top and bottom to further reinforce and hold
the curve line.
Our next issue was getting wires from
the workstation to the booth. I had de-
cided early on to run plastic pipe up the
wall, behind the console, and across
the ceiling into the soffit that was being
used as a conduit for a room-to-room
vertical fan.
After the pipe was painted and hung, we
used a string that was set inside to pull
six 22-gauge communications cables
into the booth. Once inside the booth,
we used Wiremold piping and Wiremold
boxes to surface mount two boxes: one
for microphone connections and one for
headphones. We pulled three lines in
each box. Two lines were connected to
off-the-shelf switch plates with XLR con-
nectors surface-mounted to them. The
other line in each box was tucked in and
is available for a future application. We
made the same terminations on the oth-
er end of the wire and then connected
them to my Digidesign 192 converter.
After the lines were checked, we mount-
ed a room-to-room variable-speed fan
to suck air out of the booth. This was
mounted over the steps in the stairwell
by attaching it to the soffit’s outside
wall. Inside the soffit, we made two ver-
tical half-inch-thick plywood plates and
mounted them to segment the soffit
into three equal zones. A large hole was
Early on in the construction of the booth, we anticipated the need
to have air flowing in, but acoustically, you don’t want a straight
hole through the walls. So we made eight-inch cuts in the outside
wall, between two studs, and framed it with 2x4s. The same thing
was done on the inside wall, offset from the other hole, so air and
any sound it carried had to pass through three 90-degree bends
before it entered the room.
Workstation
At Sigma, we had a Pro Tools rig set up in an Argosy workstation
(www.argosyconsole.com), so I knew of the company and the qual-
ity of their materials. I ordered the VR 70 Argosy workstation with
flat top rack sections for near field monitors. The console came
neatly packed in about 13 boxes. It takes at least two people to
PAGE 6
Great Expectations For My Home Studio
An important reason why I want my own room is that I was used
to the A+ quality of the recording experience integral to Sigma
Sound. Part of what made Sigma extraordinary was that the studio
space was built to demanding specifications.
At Sigma, we had a trolley line running right outside the recording
studios that operated in the heart of a bustling city. In spite of this,
we could open up a microphone on a whispering vocalist and not
have rumble from heavy vehicles, jet airplane noise, air condition-
ing hum, forced air whoosh, or bleed from control room monitors
leaking into the recording area.
I had taken this too lightly when I started my independent career
working in local studios, and the ramifications were immediately
apparent. I found myself saying:
“Hey can we take that again? The studio monitors were too loud.”
“I’d like to do that again, I can hear a truck in the background.”
“I didn’t hear the hum because the air conditioner in the control
room masked the noise. I had the monitors low to make sure they
didn’t bleed into your mike…”
Then there was the issue of dealing with rooms that had you
constantly guessing if your ears were messed up. Move my head
here it sounds like this, turn a little or move an inch and it sounds
totally different.
I wasn’t used to making excuses for poor room design. I knew
that before a computer went in or a speaker was placed in my
small project studio, I had to have a listening and recording struc-
ture that rivaled the high-quality facility that I took so much for
granted during my 30-year tenure at Sigma. The bar had been set.
It was time to take my vision and expectations and carve out a
home studio that I could be proud to work in and bring clients to.
Where to build?
A small row home in a large city is not the ideal location for a stu-
dio, but that is my challenge. The home’s unfinished basement has
a 7-foot ceiling and narrow 26-inch wide steps leading down to it.
It was out of the question. I was already in the process of gutting
the upstairs, so I chose a location in the back of the 2nd floor as
ground zero. Luckily there are many angles present in that room,
but it is rather small, having a 14’ X 11.5’ main footprint. One wall
is shared with a neighbor, another is a back wall facing my yard. The
third wall is against steps, and the interior wall abuts my bedroom.
The ideal room in which to build a home studio is the one
that’s the most isolated, needs the least treatment, and works in
relative harmony with the rest of the house. This space was at the
top of my steps, next to the bathroom, and shared only one com-
mon wall with neighbors.
When I say “least treatment,” that means try to avoid square rooms,
low ceilings, areas with high ambient noise, space that abuts other’s
property, and areas that constrict traffic to the rest of the house.
Good space for setting up a home studio is one with rectangular
or angled walls, good ceiling height, separate or restricted access
to the rest of the home, isolation from neighbors, and buffers from
noise such as street traffic.
www.discmakers.com | 1-800-468-9353
Assessing the Space — Sound Leakage
I knew from the beginning that sound leakage would be a major
issue. I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg to float the whole
studio space, but I wanted to be able to work nights and week-
ends. The first thing I needed to do was to see how much leaked
through the common and back walls. I went to Radio Shack and
bought a cheap SPL (Sound Pressure Level) meter and set up a
simple experiment.
We brought a sound system into the unfinished space. I had already
eliminated the idea of hanging speakers because the room was too
small. Anything we’d use would essentially be a near field moni-
tor, so we set the speakers on chairs close to where I figured they
would be when the room became operational. I cranked up the
bass on a graphic EQ and put on a low frequency heavy recording.
Then I knocked on my neighbor’s door and told him I like to play
my music loud and didn’t want to annoy them. I asked if I could go
into their bedroom and listen as my friend played music.
Getting my neighbors involved and showing concern for their hap-
piness would be a benefit later down the line, I figured, and I did
need to hear how much sound passed through their walls. I went
upstairs and called my friend. I told him to start playing the music
at a level of 85 dB — the level of most accurate human hearing
response and hence the best level for mixing.
I then listened as he brought up the music in 5 dB increments.
Not too bad, at 110 dB in the shell of the future studio, the leak-
age in my neighbors bedroom reminded me of a neighbor in my
old apartment complex playing his TV too loud late in the eve-
ning, when there are no masking sounds. This wouldn’t be good
past 10 pm, but nominally acceptable during the daytime. As I
wanted to be able to work 24/7 I knew I had some fixing to do.
I thanked my neighbor and went back to ponder my next step.
Design and Soundproofing
I know the golden rule of any studio design, having been involved
in a few major builds, and that is “get the structure right first.” A
recording studio is only as good as the space it’s in, and chang-
ing a space after gear is in is a nightmare and waste of resources.
I needed a game plan for construction and wanted the space to
be the best it could be. So I called on Nick Colleran at Acoustics
First (www.acousticsfist.com). Nick owned a large studio, played in
bands, and produced records, so he knows exactly what a person is
looking for when they come to him with audio concerns.
I gave Nick the lowdown on the purpose of the room, its dimen-
sions, the leakage I was experiencing, and my goal of having it look
and sound like the professional rooms I was used to working in. I
knew this wasn’t going to be an easy job, but Nick immediately put
my mind to rest.
The design Nick came up with is a classic Live End/Dead End setup.
I was relieved by the fact that space issues I thought would be det-
rimental, such as the French doors, were now turned into beneficial
tools for bass management.
PAGE 3
“Home project studio” can mean a thousand things. It can be a 16-track digital board tucked in the corner of
a guest room or a laptop loaded with Pro Tools and a tiled bathroom as an iso booth. Maybe it’s a semi-
constructed main room with an adjoining control room. Most any home recording setup can be classified as a
“project studio.”
Conversely, a home studio can be a not-so-modest suite to rival many professional studios. With the proper
construction, materials, dimensions, and gear, the sky is the limit. More correctly, the budget and the available
space are the limits (along with variables like neighbors and traffic noise).
This guide chronicles Philadelphia’s Grammy-winning producer/engineer Mike Tarsia as he set out to build a
studio in his home after the sale of the legendary Sigma Sound, where he had recorded classics for the likes of
David Bowie, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, The Average White Band, and Stephanie Mills, to name but a few.

SHots of the finished studio.

Photos by: Natalie Grygo | www.nataliegrygo.com | natalie@nataliegrygo.com
Sigma Sound: The End of an Era
Sigma Sound, our family owned and operated recording studios — and home to the “Sound Of Philadelphia” — had issues. The client assemble these babies, as some pieces are large and unwieldy. to my main sewer pipe in the basement. The air conditioner is very
base for large, multi-room facilities in Philadelphia had been in decline for years. What can you do? In 1968, a $50,000 investment built a It took us three and a half hours to put the console together. quiet and puts out about 16,000 BTUs, more than enough for my
facility that could generate $130/hour in studio time, plus the additional 30% in tape, materials, and related sales. 30 years later, its $1.5 The instructions were clear and the fit and finish of the workstation studio needs.
million replacement could only garner $125/hour (or less), with no high-dollar materials to sell with the session time. The answer for Sigma were impeccable.
was painful but simple: sell. Hot Spot
As I sat and pondered my situation, I was left with two viable options: rent a space and build a studio, or build a studio in my home that Up And Running — As I listened to my Mackie 624’s in the room, I noticed a null fol-
could accommodate mixing, mastering, vocals, and small overdubs. I could then rent out time in larger recording rooms for drum and But Still Need a Few Tweaks lowed by a hot spot due to bass build up. I didn’t follow Nick’s lay-
out to the letter and the room needed a little help. I put a bass trap
live tracking on an “as needed” basis. The studio is up and running and it looks great. I’m getting used
in the center of the room in front of the console between the other
to the sound of the speakers in the room and the sound of the
two traps. This was the original configuration in the design draw-
iso booth. The more I work in the room, the more secure I feel in
ing, and it did a nice job of smoothing out some of the boominess.
knowing what changes I need and want. I have made a list of things
Rent A Room And Build Home Studio to be addressed by priority. Nick sent me a two-by-four foot, four-inch thick piece of “Cutting
Wedge” acoustic foam. The foam absorbs frequencies from 500 Hz
PROS PROS and above and takes the ring out of spaces. I mounted this in the
Sound Leakage ISO booth across from the curved wall. Immediately the sound was
My neighbors in the back could hear music late at night because tighter and more pleasing in the booth.
Can find space to suit specific needs 24/7 access to gear
of the window in the studio. It is of utmost importance that I keep
No clients wandering through my home No lease them happy while still being able to work. My father built a window Curtain Call
cover using rigid fiberglass and 1/2” plywood. The unit was press- The exit from the studio to my bedroom is by way of French
More “professional” looking No partners fit into the window opening and covered in the same acoustical doors. These are constructed from wood and glass. I wanted
fabric as the rest of the room. I went outside as my father cranked to reduce any mid-to-high frequency reflections off of this sur-
Save space in my home No monthly rent up the audio in the control room. Not a sound escaped. The unit face, as well as obscure the view to my bedroom, so I decided to
he built did the job perfectly! I can now listen at 120dB with no hang some curtains.
Room for tracking full bands No outlay of costs for rental improvement complaints from neighbors at any time of day. I called Moskow’s, a drapery store near my home, and asked about
fabric. The owner told me he had the original theater curtains that
CONS CONS Air Conditioning were left over when we remodeled Sigma Sound’s “Studio 1” over
The next priority was the air conditioning. My first thought was 25 years ago! Instead of using a standard pull cord setup, I put
Cost of rental Clients wandering inside and outside my home up a rod and used heavy-duty shower type hangers to mount the
to pop a window unit in the adjoining bedroom, but the thought
of hearing the compressor howling while I was working was not drapes. There would be no binding and I could just grab the drapes
Capital improvements to someone else’s property Loss of space in home and pull them open or closed.
inviting. Mitsubishi makes a split AC unit, where the compressor
At mercy of lessor Physical constraints of space in home is on the outside of the home and couples with the inside unit by
a three-inch pipe. The system is whisper quiet and really effective. Iso door
I was getting more leakage than I wanted out of my iso booth door,
No instant access to equipment Noise issues with neighbors In my application, the compressor was mounted on the roof. The
so I called in a professional. Albert Kleinschmidt is a musician as
only place to put the indoor unit was above my control room door. well as a door man, so I had him over to try to lessen the amount
Possibility of having to share space No room for tracking live bands 220-volt lines were run from the basement to both the unit on the of leakage between rooms. The first thing he did was to explain a
roof and in the control room. The condensation line was run down

B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o PAGE 2 www.discmakers.com | 1-800-468-9353 PAGE 7

prod master:
Sales
sales order: SO00801790
order:
acct
prodmgr: master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
artist: kthompson
contact:
ofa date:
few basics: fill voids in frame and door hardware, and
isolate hard surfaces from hard surfaces.
I had already filled the door frames with expandable
foam and used two acoustic panels of varying thick-
ness on the iso booth’s window.
Albert started isolating the hinges from the door frame
using standard gasket material available at any hard-
ware store. Then he cleaned the frame with isopropyl
alcohol and installed perimeter gasketing.
Albert put two strips along each side of the frame, as
my door was definitely a little undercut. After every-
thing was installed, the door was closed and I ran a
flashlight up and around the frame to see if any light
got through. This is a very easy initial way to physically
test how well the area is sealed. After it was deter- Homemade Speaker Stands
mined that everything looked good, Albert installed When mixing, it’s good to have more than one pair of speakers as a reference.
an automatic door bottom. This device drops a rubber I decided to pull out my trusty Tannoy PBM 6.5’s and place them next to the
bar down to seal the door bottom when the striker on Mackie 624’s on top of my Argosy desk. This would complete my midsize near
the side hits the doorframe. field speaker requirements, but I needed more space for the larger speakers.
I looked around for speaker stands and almost died. Hundreds of dollars for a
Finally we put on some music and closed the door. pair of stands. No way!
After listening with our ears pressed against different
Then my dad emailed me a link to a site that had an inexpensive speaker stand
areas on and around the door, it was decided that we
design that he thought we could expand on.
should caulk around the window frames and put some
gasket material inside the door handle. For each stand, you’ll need:
• 3” schedule 40 PVC pipe, cut two inches shorter than the actual height
When all was said and done, the door closed really
you want the stands (you’ll have to cut the pipe even shorter if you’re
well and there was a marked drop in higher frequency placing feet on the stand)
bleed. The amount of leakage was absolutely toler-
able and I was extremely happy with the results. • 1” thick piece of solid wood board
• 3 1x4s cut to the total height of the stands (minus the feet, if applicable)
Organizing • a 50 lb bag of fine sand (that’s enough for two speaker stands)
Every studio, no matter what the size, needs to • a threaded 3/8” rod cut 1 3/4” longer than the length of your pipe
have certain accessories. First, make a list of things
• 2 washers and bolts
you need to operate your studio efficiently — tape,
CD-Rs, envelopes, packing material, office supplies, Cut two pieces of board to your preferred size (either 10, 12, 14, or 16-inch
etc. Then buy, build, or salvage storage for all these square): one for your base, the other your top. A 7/8” hole is counter sunk on
items. Set up an area for each so that if you need to the top of the top piece and the bottom of the base, each about half way
mail something everything is next to one another. through the wood right at the center of the square. Then a 7/16” hole is drilled
If you need a cable, they’re all in one dedicated area. all the way through.
Rub silicon glue along the bottom of the PVC pipe and affix it to the bottom
It’s Never Done piece of wood. Slide the threaded rod through the base and attach a washer
and bolt on the underneath. Make sure that your PVC pipe is centered. When
I tackled everything I wanted to get to in the construc-
the glue has dried sufficiently, get a funnel and fill the PVC tube with sand. Tamp
tion phase of the studio build. I am sure there will
down to help the sand “settle” then pop the top on, and affix with the washer
be modifications and changes down the line. There
and bolt in the counter-sunk top piece.
always are. My mind is already working on adding a
small carpet in the studio, adding carpet to the iso Now get the three 1×4 boards and screw these into the sides and back of the
booth, hanging a curtain on the main entrance door... stand’s top and bottom solid wood. I used six 2 1/2” wood screws for each
board (three top/three bottom). Depending on the weight of your speakers,
place heavy objects such as decorative paving stones around the base.
Michael Tarsia is a two time Grammy recognized PRESENTS
Engineer, with over two dozen gold and Platinum You can stain or paint the wood, paint the pipe, or cover it in fabric. A carpet
square can be attached to the top or you can use a foam pad for the speakers
album credits. He is also a Director and Instruc-
to sit on. You can put felt, rubber, or metal pin feet on the bottom, just remem-
tor for the Sigma Soundz Recording Arts Program.
Learn more at miketarsia.com, email sigmasoundz@
ber to factor in their height when determining the cut on your PVC tube. These
stands are very sturdy, cost less than $25 each, and they can be the exact height
Volume 1: Building A Professional Home Studio
gmail.com, or call 215-837-1002.
you need rather than an off-the-shelf approximation.
A no-skimping guide to turning your living room into an A-Room

B y M i k e Ta r s i a | E d i t e d b y A n d r e C a l i l h a n n a
B u i l d i n g A P r o f ess i o na l H o m e S t u d i o PAGE 8

Back Cover Front Cover

prod master:
Sales
sales order: SO00801790
order:
acct
prodmgr: master: ALH0078
artist:
acct
bus. rel.:mgr.: MktProd,
artist: kthompson
contact:
ofa date: