What Is The Purpose Of A Dedicated Machine Room In A Professional Recording Facility?

Most well established recording studios have dedicated machine rooms,

It has become a trend over the past few years,

all thanks to advancements in technology.

So you might wonder why recording studios will separate all the gear/machines from their working area have it set up in another room.

Here are the reasons why professional recording facilities utilize separate machine rooms:

Space

let’s face it, space in recording studio setups is always a battle,

this is why dedicated machine rooms play a vital role in ensuring that you preserve some space in your working area,

while your gear/machinery is safely stored.

the truth is, you need space in a studio, so your clients have a place to relax while they wait for their session, so you can work better and to avoid any damage to equipment,

this is why i appreciate having a dedicated room for equipment because of the number of clients and work colleagues that we have plus for breathing room to work easier.

so, in case you are thinking of turning one of your rooms into a dedicated space for machines,

its definitely worth it and

it’s better than having your equipment and machines all over the place.

Storing noisy equipment

Recording studio spaces always strive to keep certain sounds inside

and keeping unwanted sounds and noises like car traffic and chatter out.

Most of the connections inside every modern recording studios are electronic (since we don’t live in the stone age anymore).

From time to time you are likely to encounter a bad connection that will in turn make unwanted electric noises that can interfere with your recording process.

the most common noises are buzzing noises from DC connections;

this is the reason why you’d want to keep all your machinery isolated in a dedicated room,

because you’ll want to make sure your recording studio space is free from inside and outside noises.

I make sure to run my connections in another room,

because I noticed that once I used one DC outlet to plug in two unstable connections,

the buzzing sound would start and i’d have trouble getting rid of it without having to disconnect either of the two connections in the outlet.

so make sure you keep your electronic connections well housed in a separate room ,

to save yourself the trouble of having to deal with noisy connection.

To store control equipment

large equipment can cause a lot of space trouble in a small recording studio setup,

that’s why its advisable to have all your control equipment in a machine room dedicated to house such big equipment.

because it would be impractical to have all that gear just laying around especially when you are expected to host clients within the same area.

therefore keep your control gear housed separately from the room you intend to do your recording and editing,

this will give you extra space for you to have the gear you need to use frequently.

To keep heat out or isolate it

controlling the room temperature in a recording studio is very key because excessive heat may cause damage to your more sensitive gear.

in order to keep heat out, good advice is installing air conditioning units or ventilation units,

which may cost a small fortune.

therefore you have to carry out a thorough investigation as to how you can control the heat in your recording room.

most of the times, with many recording studios you’re going to find that it is almost always the case of having too much gear/machinery emitting vast amounts of heat,

therefore causing potential harm to other gear.

it is key then to identify the equipment that is emitting the heat,

and then isolate and store it in a separate space away from sensitive equipment ,

this is the particular function that a dedicated machine room will serve,

you’ll be able to house your heat emitting equipment in a machine room,

properly isolated from one another,

therefore I’d advise that you run a heat check on  your equipment and decide on whether it needs to be stored in a machine room.

For safety purposes

let’s all face it, safety is always a primary concern when you own a recording studio,

especially that most studio equipment is quite pricey,

you have to make sure that you can guarantee safety for your equipment.

staying in the studio all the time would be effective and probably a good way to secure your equipment,

but you would eventually walk out at one point or another.

that’s why it is key to have your equipment housed separately from the main studio room,

this will eliminate your safety concerns to a certain degree atleast,

because not everyone will have access to your machine room as they would to the studio that you work out of.

this function right here is one of the key things that dedicated machine rooms serve,

having gear properly stored in another room will not only give you more space,

but it will atleast keep your equipment safe aswell.

so make sure you take safety measures into account when you’re building a dedicated machine room for all your equipment.

To store delicate equipment

studio gear comes in all shapes and sizes,

from the most delicate to the least delicate.

that’s why its important to have an understanding of your studio gear because you don’t want to damage anything that is delicate.

let’s face it studio gear is expensive and the last thing you want to do is damage something,

because your studio gear is all over the place and cluttered together.

that’s why its essential to store your delicate equipment in a room especially if you don’t have to use it all the time.

this function will allow you

to store all your delicate equipment that may otherwise face the risk of damage if not handled properly.

Cable Management

ever been to a studio that had so many messy cable connections everywhere?

I have.

it’s not a pretty sight.

lastly and one of the most important points is cable management.

cable management is one of the most essential things you’ll need to do for your studio,

in a home studio cable management will be less complicated,

but for big recording studios, its an entirely different story.

all equipment present will have cables running around from inputs to outputs,

and this may cause a challenge,

whats worse is that you run the risk of someone tripping over any exposed cables and possibly falling on equipment.

which means that all you have to figure out is a way to neatly run the cables from your machine room to your recording studio ,

rather having to deal with lots of cables and equipment in the same room.

having a dedicated machine room will ensure that you keep the cabling from machinery separate.

Conclusion

therefore in a professional recording facility a dedicated machine room will be necessary in order:

1. To create space within the recording area, so the recording, editing, and mastering can be done properly.
2. To store noisy equipment that would other interfere with recording and editing processes.
3. To store control equipment that doesn’t require frequent use.
4. To isolate any gear that may be emitting too much heat .
5. To keep expensive equipment safely away from the main recording area.
6. To store delicate equipment safely away to avoid damage.
7. To deal with messy cables that have to run from equipment to the main recording area.

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