3 Essential Studio Design Secrets You Need To Know

Music technology has enabled almost anyone with moderate means access to the kind of production tools that would once have been the preserve of high end studios. But one area in which studios can still have an edge is in the physical construction of the workspace. Acoustics and studio design are a whole science unto themselves and things that can sometimes be forgotten in the quest for the newest synth or fastest computer. Luckily here at Ask.Audio we have a wealth of pro video courses available to help you understand and improve your own listening environment, and thus get better end results. Here are a few to consider. 

10 Common Studio Design Mistakes

What’s on your walls? What’s the shape of your room? Where are your speakers placed? How amped up is your sub bass? Is your room tuned? How loud do you monitor? All of these questions and many more affect the way your tracks will sound not only in your studio but to all listeners no matter where they are! These are the questions that get answered and explained in this Common Studio Design Mistakes course by expert Joe Albano.

Watching this course gives you 10 essential tips that you can easily apply to your recording space that’ll add clarity and ensure that your tracks will always sound their best! In this video, Joe deals with the common problem of bass - how to keep it under control and how to get as accurate a reproduction as possible.  

Planning A Recording Studio

Ask anyone who has tried to design a recording studio and they'll tell you: it's a very complicated process that requires a lot of planning. There are many moving parts involved. So, where do you begin? Well, first you've got to understand the various stages of the studio design process, and that’s exactly what this first course in our Studio Design and Construction series will teach you! In this short video, Jim Pavett covers the issues you need to understand around the subject of isolation. How should you treat your walls and surfaces to ensure optimum sonic clarity?

Audio Concepts 103: Acoustics

In this course, you learn all about the wavelength, absorption, reflection, transmission of sound in the real world. You also learn all about phase, polarity and interference and how these physical properties determine why sound “sounds” the way it does!

From there, expert engineer Joe Albano dives into phenomena like Comb Filtering, the Haas Effect, Standing Waves and other phenomena that can impact direct and reflected sound. The final two sections in this course zoom in on Room Treatment and Sound Proofing - essential knowledge for anyone designing or modifying a listening space or designing their own studio.

In this short video, Joe explains how to identify and set up nearfield monitoring to find the "sweet spot" - the holy grail of monitoring that provides a perfect balance of stereo image and clarity.