I've just (almost) finished(or does a studio ever get finished)a 350 sqfeet studio, the building was already there but I've built it from scratch with isolating walls internally, windows, doors, painting, placing floor etc.
As you request general advices and doesn't tell anything about your situation, and even ask for a "sticky" in the subject I will try to speak in general and tell you my impressions and the lessons I've learned so far regarding the subject.
There are a couple of "rules" out there which you will have to consider before you even think about starting a build, otherwise you will sit in your own shit which will be nasty to clean when you realise stuff when it's to late to consider things.
First off: Studio business is a mess about being contradictory, regarding property there are a shit load of things to consider before decide to go for it or point the middle finger to it.
if you of some reason have to be whereever you have close neighbours, you will have to do some REALLY serious sound isolation, which will require a big space(isolation walls/ceiling/floor takes a LOT of space).
This is where the contradictory elements reminds you they exist, as as long as air passes, sound passes, which will make it either sound isolated OR air ventilated. installing good (quiet) ventilation will, as I guess you've realized, create a big vacuum in your pocket which you want to spend on precious gear.
Also, as you begin to do some serious isolation, you will as well probably accomplish weird acoustical environments as the sound will stay inside the room, causing some serious standing waves, comb filtering, poor stereo imaging and so forth, which you will have to deal with.
In general, never build paralell surfaces, and try to have different distances between different walls facing each other, ceiling to floor, to hopefully achieve as many SMALL standing waves(which will, if successfull, rather be small differences which can easily be dealt with) as possible instead of one big hole or peak in the register, being much harder to tame with acoustic treatment.
one general rule is, bigger rooms = less acoustical issues.
So if this all is done, don't even think about considering any cool name-drop gear that will make your clients drool(at least before they enter the studio) BEFORE you realize that this will never help you if your listening environment or workflow will suffer from the absence of love that you decide to treat them with. Let me tell you, the client will not give a flying baloon about your rack of Neves and api's, if he/she/it won't get a proper headphone mix within the seconds they demand it. Throw the Neves out of the window, install some serious headphone amps, patchbays, stageboxes or whatever is neccessary for the workflow to be much better than perfect. NO CORNERS CUT!
And do you think your 1 hz - 100 000 000 000 khz +-0,0000001dB preamp will matter if you have a +-30dB 70 hz-10 khz listening environent? Always start with the control room, make no corner cutting, spend rest on gear(which will probably be a half set of behringers when you realize what not cutting any corners will cost you)
Gain a master degree in psychology, as you will need it to convince stupid obstinate musicians that it's your way or the highway(but in a nice way) and that their Peavey bandit 112 isn't the best combo on the planet.
Learn to live on water/noodles, as this is what you will(if you are lucky to finish the build) eat the first 5 years in business, or consider it a hobby).
But hey... It's not all.. whenever you realize that all the precious releases and heroes of bands/musicians you've adored for so long is nothing else but quantized drums and autotuned vocals(as you will HAVE to learn this, or let shit out on the market), you will seriously consider burning the place down.
But there IS a light in the tunnel... in like 1/20 sessions you will have a HELL of a time not being trade-able to anything... and I promise, the build itself is of extreme satisfaction(as long as you follow the rules... always remember)
And hopefully you evolve and will be the next Bob Rock, or Michael Wagener, or ANDY SNEAP:Smokedev:
If u're still serious about your business, some good starting points:
For discussions and a lot of great topics in the subject, visit the John Sayers forum:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=19&sid=f876dc9a19adbee13ce341bea67a7ff9
Good, hands-on litterature that you WILL NEED:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Home-Recording-Studio-Build-Like/dp/1598630342"]http://www.amazon.com/Home-Recording-Studio-Build-Like/dp/1598630342[/ame]
Cheers
, hope I didn't discouraged anyone
