Re: arsclist Studio/Shop design

[Graham Newton <gn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Kurt Nauck wrote:

> I am about to start construction on a 6000 sq ft building for my business,
> and I have a couple of questions for the list.

Kurt... 

Here is an approximate outline of what your main concerns should be:-

Phonograph records, cylinders and such, would mostly be stored on heavy duty
shelving, preferably steel, which should be properly adjusted and sized to 
house the artifacts.  All building materials throughout should be fireproof. 
A monitored fire and over-heat or water system should be employed.  Hand
operated CO2 extinguishers should be readily available throughout the 
building.  You can't use Halon or any other extinguisher device that 
displaces oxygen because it puts people at risk of suffocation.  Water 
sprinkler systems are out because they could do more damage to the artifacts
themselves.  Build so that the CO2 extinguishers could handle any anticipated
problem. 

> 1)  Is there a preferred type of lighting for archives? Something that 
> won't cause objects to fade or discolor?

An archive implies long term storage in an enclosed area, separate to the 
rest of the business, with no windows or outside-world doors.  Lighting 
should be segmented so that relatively small areas could be well lit,
such as aisle-by-aisle switched lighting.  A low level overall reflected 
ceiling lighting arrangement could be employed for navigation to the desired
aisle or shelving area.  Timer or infra-red motion switches would be useful
to prevent lighting being left on un-attended for long periods. 

Filtered ventilation and reasonable climate control (temperature/humidity) is
a necessity, preferably separate to the rest of the building.  Also, keeping
the area at a slightly positive pressure is useful to prevent outside dust 
and dirt from accumulating as doors are opened and closed.  Alternatively a 
two door closed access if you really want "clean room" characteristics, which
I don't think would be warranted in this case.
 
> 2)   Again from an archivists' point of view, are there certain materials I
> should avoid? This will be a metal building with metal framing & sheetrock.

Avoid chipboard, plywood and fiberboard... in short, anything that is made 
up of glues or contains solvents that will out-gas.  Use moisture resistant
"green board" next to the floor, (in case of any flooding) seal all joints 
(other than the normal tape and "mud" joint in the wallboard (sheetrock or 
gypsum board).  Use a vapor barrier in all walls, and ceiling which should 
be done similarly and be sealed and painted.  All joins between dissimilar 
material (floors/walls/door frames etc.) should be caulked as should any pipes
or electrical boxes or wiring lines passing through walls.  Concrete floors 
should be sealed and covered with an inert floor covering.
 
> 3) I will be including a transfer studio. Are there specific things I need
> to plan for? Anything special concerning electrical wiring? 

Separate equipment wiring and two 15 amp circuits, four if feasible are 
needed for a small transfer suite.  Do not use thyrister dimmers!  Be sure
there is a heavy contiguous ground wire available that goes directly to a 
solid earth ground at the electrical entry to the building.  Ground all your
equipment to this.

> I won't be recording live music, only doing transfers from discs and 
> cylinders. Any need for acoustic foam?

Ideally, a studio should not have parallel walls to minimize sound 
reflections and standing waves.  Where this is not feasible, foam or other 
wall treatments can be applied to absorb reflections.  A solid and level
concrete floor base is absolutely necessary, and a tile surface would 
be good.

Use near field monitors along with a sub-woofer... there is a surprising 
amount of unwanted low frequency material on old recordings that you will 
miss entirely if you don't. 
 
> I know these are general questions, but I don't know enough to ask anything
> really specific.

Your questions are good enough for a start.  Attention to them covers most
of the critical bases.  If you want to talk about it off list, you already 
know where to reach me.



... Graham Newton

-- 
Audio Restoration by Graham Newton, http://www.audio-restoration.com
World class professional services applied to phonograph and tape
recordings for consumers and re-releases, featuring CEDAR processes.