—– VIDEO KANVA GUIDE —–

Of course, studios are always created within certain limits. But if we ignore the minor architectural and design restrictions inherent in any project, then in everything else I was free: in design, in the use of the latest technologies, in choosing a team, in innovation, design and much more. I also wanted to reconsider some existing stereotypes.

The future studio was located on Podol in Kyiv, on the third floor of a new monolithic frame house. The building’s design gave us flexibility in the interior layout. The total area of ​​the complex, including office space and reception, was approximately 140 sq.m., and the ceiling height was 340 cm. The room had access to a large terrace overlooking Kyiv Vozdvizhenka. There was also a separate exit to the balcony from the control room. The rooms had huge windows 3 meters high, almost from the floor.

What we planned to build can hardly be called just a studio. Most likely, it should have been some kind of creative laboratory and, possibly, a production agency.

The studio was supposed to specialize in modern – mainly electronic – music. This means that the control room must be spacious, and the monitor system must be capable of reproducing the lowest frequencies of sub-bass parts. The acoustic treatment of the room and its geometry had to provide acoustic control down to these frequencies.

In addition to the control room, a vocal room was also planned. This was enough to solve creative problems. In addition, it was necessary to provide for the possibility of uncompromising vocal recording directly in the control room.

Thus, we agreed that out of the total area of ​​the room, about 50 sq.m. were allocated to the control room, and about 15 sq.m. to the vocal room. It was also necessary to preserve the existing windows as much as possible.

Before the design began, we decided on monitors. The customer already had Focal Trio 11 near/mid-field monitors. And the far-field system was a selected stereo pair of Reflexion Arts 239X monitors. The design and configuration of this system took place simultaneously with the construction of the front wall.

A month and a half later, the project was ready.

First of all, it was necessary to think about sound insulation, because this was a residential building. For this purpose, “floating” partitions were used and, with the permission of the civil engineers, a multi-layer “floating” floor weighing about 8 tons and about 18 cm thick.

During the construction of the acoustic shell, specific parts were required using a CNC machine. This is how we met Alexander Kozachenko, who was not only an operator of such a machine, but also an interior designer. Together with our designer Maria Isaenko, they offered very interesting creative ideas.

The front wall contained 15 layers of different materials, and its front part was composed of numbered plywood blanks. The main monitor system was part of this wall, and the bezels were painted in its color. The large studio window did not look out into the vocal room, as is often the case, but outward, with a view of Vozdvizhenka.

In the first half of the day, the front wall was on the sunny side of the building and the window became very hot, as a result of which the inner glass fogged up, and it was not water vapor, but something similar to perspiration with fatty deposits. We tried a variety of ideas, and each time it was necessary to remove the internal inclined glass weighing about 200 kilograms.

As a result, it was decided to make a certain compromise and make a slotted ventilation gap between the glass and the window frame. The remote-controlled roller blind inside the window also helped partly, especially when working before lunch.

Sloped ceiling traps were designed to combat flutter rather than low frequency absorption. In addition, measurements and practical experience in constructing similar rooms pointed out to us their lack of efficiency given the relatively high costs of their manufacture and hanging.

The back wall traditionally consisted of low-frequency traps and was designed to leave room for an exit to the balcony.

The window sills on the side walls were deep enough to turn them into cozy armchairs.

The studio table is a different story. The availability of a CNC machine provoked the desire to make something unique, different, different. The wishes were as follows:

- impact on acoustics and monitoring conditions is minimal;

- material – natural solid ash (not chipboard or MDF) 40 and 20 mm thick;

- cables, power supplies (18 pcs.) and other switching are hidden;

- fasteners – be hidden;

- SSL controllers – must be located on a separate movable section of the tabletop, and when moving it should not touch the computer keyboard and the skin of the armrests;

- equipment must be ventilated, etc.

3-D modeling in Fusion 360 helped in solving these problems.

—– STUDIO TABLE MOVEMENT —–

The table turned out to be comfortable, ergonomic, beautiful, although not cheap.

Finally…

The floor covering is made of wear-resistant vinyl.

Climate control – an autonomous ventilation system plus an almost silent Mitsubishi ducted air conditioner, controlled via Wi-Fi.

The video monitor is panoramic with a swivel mount to the studio table.

Video projector. The back wall is a retractable screen with PU.

Retractable system for the movable section of the tabletop – GRASS Movement Systems.

Studio microphone and keyboard stands are available upon request.

And most importantly…

This work gave us all pleasure, and the monitoring, acoustic features of the studio and its design pleasantly surprised many of my colleagues, even from European countries.

—– VIDEO KANVA GUIDE —–

What do you wish for the studio? The same as for all of us: victory and peace.

Glory to Ukraine!  Слава Україні!

In the meantime, we’ve finished to install and adjust RA239 – high-definition monitor system with extended cabinets.

The studio has beautiful acoustics and excellent sound insulation. It is assumed that this studio will specialize in classical music recording. The owner of the studio has already purchased a large grand piano Steinway&Sons, which was made by his order. This is the second studio in Musychi. The first – more little – was built in 2009.

Acoustic design – Alexander Kravchenko. Engineer - Oleg Naumenko.

In the meantime, we’ll put some photos in the Portfolio.

Once we were invited to a meeting. The topic of the meeting was unusual: studio furniture. Our interlocutors were musicians who perform electronic music. The specificity of such creativity lies in the fact that near you there are always a lot of keyboards, samplers, sound modules, synthesizers and so on. Our interlocutors were already tired of this mess and wanted to change something.

These musicians were engaged in creativity in a small unsuitable room on the first floor. The height of the ceiling was about 280 cm, and the panels between the floors (as we learned later) were wooden, because it was an old building.

We pointed out the musicians to the problems of their premises. During the conversation it turned out that they did not know that we design recording studios. They agreed with our proposals, but they need took some time to agree on the budget. We told them that in these conditions nobody can talk about a full-fledged studio, but we can help them to do everything in this room that the laws of physics allow.

Projecting furniture is a very interesting activity, and in this case we had an opportunity to realize our ideas about studio furniture.

Three months later, everything changed. The studio table turned out to be functional, ergonomic and very beautiful. The room was very comfortable. Quantity of microphone cables became smaller at times. In addition, we managed to significantly improve the sound insulation.

Acoustic and furniture design – Alexander Kravchenko. Interior design – Maria Movchan.

More information - here and here

The studio was built very quickly, because there was constantly one of our engineers during the construction.

Almost six months has passed. During this time more than 180 people were recorded! No one expected that the studio would become so popular!

And recently we’ve received such a letter.

Our research team is engaged in the study of Kazakh speech, so it was extremely important for us to have our own room or a recording booth in which it will be possible to continuously collect high-quality acoustic data. I think that we were incredibly lucky with the company Sound Consulting, which made such small and remote project as ours. And we are very happy that instead of a small cabin, we got a full-fledged sound recording studio! The studio is excellent, exceeding all our expectations for noise insulation and technical equipment. We were convinced in this once again, when we started recording, although at that time noisy construction and installation works were carried out in the university building. The recording quality is flawless! Since the completion of the studio we have already recorded more than 170 people, including professional actors, announcers and leading local TV channels. I note that it’s a pleasure to work in such a studio!

Separately, I would like to thank Alexander Kravchenko for his unique project and for not leaving us at the most difficult moment. I was very pleased to work with such professionals as Alexander and Valery, who really do their work.

Thank you, guys! I wish you further creative success!

Zhandos Esenbaev

Researcher

Nazarbayev University

Research and Innovation System

Astana, Kazakhstan

Acoustic design – Alexander Kravchenko. Installing and adjustment of monitor system – Oleg Naumenko and Alexander Kravchenko. The owner of the studio – Meshcheryakov George.

The studio has control room and neutral acoustic room for recording.

Acoustic designer – Alexander Kravchenko. The owner of the studio – Alexander Shevchenko.

Construction of the studio has several features.
Firstly, it will the first RA234 monitor system installed RA234 in the CIS!
Secondly, the studio has built in the shortest record time – almost a month and a half!
Thirdly, Alexander Shevchenko (the owner) is one of the judges of popular TV-show “X-Factor” in Kazakhstan; it guaranteed popularity of the studio and interest to its construction.
Fourthly, the studio was built in the area of ​​seismic activity.

Acoustic designer – Alexander Kravchenko. Owner of the studio - George Meshcheryakov.

We will install RA239 monitor system.

Approximately studio construction will begin in late April 2011.