“Building an apartment studio” to many of us means adding a laptop, clearing off a desk, and donning some headphones. But Brooklyn-based Katherine Belsey Davis, who does all sorts of wonderful (non-musical) things in wood, glass, fabric, and other materials, had lofty plans for a NYC studio job:

Since this studio was built for mixing sound and music for film and TV in a residential coop apartment building in NYC, both sound proofing and treatment had to be near perfect. It also had to look good for clients… on a very tight budget.

The studio in question is for John M. Davis in Brooklyn Heights. Even in a coop, they pulled out all the stops — silent air conditioning, sound absorbers, floating floors, and decoupled walls. (I’ve been in a few apartments in the city with decoupled walls and floors, but not in a way that lent itself to acoustics so much as deferred maintenance.)

Studio Photos
Belsey Davis homepage

Stained glass and sound studios? You’re one Renaissance woman, Katherine!

She’s shared her work. Studio construction is a science (and a dark art), and not one I pretend to understand. And much of this is specific to the job. But for those who do know what they’re doing, I imagine this could be interesting inspiration – and to the rest of us, provides some insight into what’s involved.

I also quite like the multiple screens and Novation ReMOTE Zero for compact control. Here’s the process on Instructables:

Build a music studio in an apartment building – More DIY How To Projects