Home Recording Studio: Build It like the Pros

by Rod Gervais

With advances in digital technology, musicians can now produce their own music. But the gear is only part of the equation when it comes to recording and mixing. The next part is finding a soundproof room that you can produce it in. Unfortunately, any old room in your house will not suffice for a quality recording. Without a decent room, you'll never be able to record a studio-quality recording you'll be proud of and be excited to have other people hear. So how do you go about creating a space in your home that has similar acoustics to that of a world-class studio? How do you soundproof this room to keep your sound in and outside noise out? How do you construct or modify the room so that its size and shape best complement its function? This book teaches you how to do all these things, from building a professional home studio to saving thousands of dollars in the process. This book shows you how to design and understand your room - how to treat it, wire it, and condition it while using widely available materials. Each step features visual aids to illustrate underlying concepts, as well as professional tips and examples from actual studios. Everything is covered, from room design to electrical considerations, room treatments to codes, permits, special needs, and more.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Technical

338 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 2006

Reviews

[Bennett Kane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd book. Everyone who knows me, knows I am very into acoustics and used to build recording studios around Atlanta. No single book on the subject is complete. For instance, this book is mostly about building walls and windows with green glue. Philip Newell's is about structural resonance. And Alton Everest's is about room modes.
Across these three classics, I am astounded by the lack of scientific experimentation backing up these "best practices". I only pray someone will come along one day and devote their career to really documenting the efficacy of these practices.

[Tom Coffeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seems to contain the most up-to-date and practical information for building a home recording studio. Highly recommended if you require such information.

[James Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made me realize that unless I have a years salary to spend I will never have a professional room.

[Jim Breau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book to build my studio. Holy God!, This book works!

[Michael Parish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for anyone building a studio. It has the technical stuff if you understand it, but also tells you what you really need to know in terms even I could understand.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a great source of info for the recording enthusiast. My main gripes are that the illustrations are all in black/white, and some of them suffer from the lack of contrast that color would have provided (this grey line represents the transmission loss of this material, and this other indistinguishable grey line is the transmission loss of another material) . The writing style is a little weak as well, showing the author's roots in Internet forums. He could use the cooperation of an editor or writing assistant to get his ideas across in a more formal and clear manner.

But make no mistake, Gervais knows his stuff. This is a must-read for anyone wanting to make a recording space in their home (or anywhere, really) .