When some people thing of a studio apartment, they think of a small residential unit that saves space by allowing for a living room and bedroom all in one like a hotel room. There’s another kind of studio: A music studio where a live performance is recorded for the purpose of later being turned into a product for mass distribution as a consumer product of artistic enjoyment. What if the desired studio location is a residential condominium unit with neighbors and a home owners association?
There are pros and cons of turning your condo into a music studio. For musicians, a personal music studio at home in a apartment or condo is something that can make a lot of sense, and dollars too. It can be quite a task to haul a bunch of equipment to an expensive studio and try to work some instant magic, only to pack up all of the stuff and come all the way back home. To avoid such a tedious hassle, turn the condo apartment into a music studio if the budget, skill and will are there.
Transforming a condominium, like a loft condo, into an audio studio makes more sense since they are generally closer to the top business and cultural hub of the city. A professional musician thus gets to meet a lot of new people and home spaces closer to good restaurants and commercial centers. That comes in handy when a recording professional appointment with someone.
Let’s take a close look at the pros and cons of turning a condo into a music studio while highlighting the conflicts that may come up.
As for the pros of starting a home music studio, it can be convenient and cost effective. The convenience of a home music studio setup makes a big difference. It brings comfort of strumming instruments, eliminating worry about the number of takes, time and money. It ends up saving that money, so it can be used for high quality recording equipment so that one can churn out professional stuff from the home jam pad. Also use the place as an alternative source of income by renting out to others.
Develop more creativity and control over the work. Be the master of what is created at your the home sound studio place with the convenience and familiarity of one’s own setup. Many artists feel a sense of achievement of giving their best when they record at their own studio. It becomes a comfy abode of creativity where artists and recording engineers can spend time with an open mind, and easily make plenty of artistic content.
One’s own place gives the feeling of control of one’s work flow as it allows easier tracking of all of the equipped facilities and provides freedom for development. This allow for easier recording of tracks and mixing them any which way, without outside interference, bringing more freedom and versatility into the mix.
There are also cons and conflicts in turning a condo into a music studio. For one, consider the legal issues. Before getting up one’s hopes of owning and running a home music studio, let’s undergo some reality checks. One of the major issues is whether or not a residential condo building association or apartment residents group allows it. Go through the lease documents that were signed during the successful purchase of the condo. Check to see if there’s a clause and restriction attached to it when it comes to further renovation inside the rooms and property area. If these terms aren’t clearly mentioned then, sit and discuss with the HOA board or other residential authorities about the do’s and don’ts, and work out a deal to convince them that the condo music studio will be done in a way that works for everyone. With permission, be prepared to do the hard yards of filing the paperwork, legal documentation and permit arrangements. Rule #1 is: DO NOT GENERATE MORE NOISE INTO YOUR NEIGHBOR’S UNIT THAN THEY WILL TOLERATE. Be as quiet as the neighbors require. For extremely loud live music, a condo may simply not be appropriate.
Consider the construction. This will cover locating the area of the condo unit; cleaning it thoroughly and starting the reconstruction work on it so that the musical haven can be built. Clear out anything that might cause disturbance, and start from scratch. Procuring all of the stuff necessary for constructing a studio can be quite a task, so be prepared for some work. Overestimate a budget to cancel out last-minute expensive details. And now to the most important part….
How about soundproofing? Gone are the days when people used egg trays, styrofoam, blankets and mattresses to cancel out sound both to and from the music room. There’s no cheap way now that will cut the sound and the neighbor’s while making amazing music. The key to this will be to make an airtight space, and that won’t be inexpensive.
To balance the sound frequencies, get acoustic panels, bass traps and diffusers, which may include hardboard sheets, mineral wool slabs and dust sheets. One way of soundproofing is to create a smaller airtight room or sound booth inside the six walls of the loft or condo unit. But be sure to provide an air vent for natural air ventilation so that it doesn’t get claustrophobic inside. Once this has been accomplished, go into designing the studio — budget permitting of course.
Audio and music gear must be managed. This is one of the biggest reasons why artists choose to practice at a paid professional studio. It is less of a worry when something goes wrong in a rented place, like a software problem or a hard-drive failure or electricity issues. Therefore, it’s necessary to always have a safe backup of all produced music. At the home recording space, the owner will need to ensure safekeeping of all the musical instruments, the wires, the cables, microphones, stands, ports and the sound system. For those who are particular about these things, this can become a headache unless the recording studio owner is gifted at such tasks.
Weigh all of the options financially before deciding to turn an apartment or condo into a music home. This is a dream project so don’t hurry and stumble on the way. Wait a little longer to get all the right stuff and make some magic.
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Copyright © This free information provided courtesy L.A. Loft Blog with information provided by Corey Chambers, Realty Source Inc, DRE 01889449. We are not associated with the seller, homeowner’s association or developer. For more information, contact 213-880-9910 or visit LALoftBlog.com Licensed in California. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Properties subject to prior sale or rental. This is not a solicitation if buyer or seller is already under contract with another broker.