Small Studio In Texas

I have just registered and this is my first post. I hope I’m putting this post in the right place. I wasn’t sure whether it should be here or in the construction, so If its in the wrong place, let me know. I’ve been reading and researching topics on the forum, as well as other sources, for some time now in contemplation of building my own small studio/control room. Introduction. I’m located in a small town in central West Texas. I’ve been recording semi-professionally for a couple of years, and have produced one professional CD and several other CD’s that were for the artists personal use. I also install professional sound systems in small churches. So, while I’m familiar with sound equipment, the basics of acoustics, etc, I am concerned I’m stepping into really new territory with building and designing a recording studio. However, Since the CD I produced has been released, I have had a number of bands and artists that want to record and produce their CD. I have a number of artists that want to record live (which is most of what I have been doing), and some that want to work in the studio. So I really need a good room for mixing and producing tracts that I have recorded live as well as being able to record in the studio. After reading a number of posts and looking at what others are doing, I’m finally ready to get started, and am hoping to get some ideas, suggestions and advice of the specific build. I am in the planning stage now, but hope to start construction in about a month. Anyway, here goes with the information. The Room: The overall room is attached to my house, adjoining my living room. The rough room measures 15’ 8” wide by 28’ 10” long (inside dimensions). Ceiling height is 9 ft. My goal is to have a live room, control room, and 2 smaller iso/vocal booths. I will be completely gutting the inside of the room to do a total reconstruction. The outside of the building is stucco (circa 1930’s). To answer the issue on how loud am I and neighbors? Obviously, I am in a residential area. However, I live in a small rural town and there are no code issues, subdivision restrictions, or any specific regulations for building or operating the studio in this location. However, for practical purposes, both to keep neighbors from complaining, and to keep outside noise from coming in, I want to do a very good soundproofing job, especially on the outside walls. I am generally recording country music, western swing, folk music and Christian music. The neighbors are not particularly close or picky. My main issue here will be keeping sound out of the studio from the outside, as I do have a couple of neighbors with load motorcycles. (At least they can’t complain much about any “noise” I would be making). Existing Structure. The existing outside walls are 2x4 stud walls with stucco on the outside. The ceiling/attic is 2x4 joists and rafters. This will be a complete rebuild on the inside, meaning I have lots of flexibility to do what I want. The floor is pier and beam with 1x 3 pine flooring. When I get through “gutting the room there will be no inside walls or ceiling. Floor. I will have to raise the floor about 4” from its existing height to be even with the floor of the rest of my house, so I will be building an additional sub floor on top of the existing floor structure. I plan to do this by using 2x4 or other suitable dimension stock on one foot centers fastened to the existing floor. I will then use 1 inch tongue & groove plywood to make a raised subfloor to the height that when the new finish floor is installed it will be the same height as in my existing house. I plan to use a pre-finished wood floor of nailed to the subfloor for the finished floor. Outside Walls: Existing outside walls are traditional 2 x 4 construction, with stucco on the outside. Stucco construction of this era was done by attaching the stucco to a wire mesh nailed to the 2 x 4 frame, so there is no wood or other material behind the stucco. I have considered putting a 3 /4” plyood between the studs next to the stucco, then insulation, then the inside wall of 5/8” sheetrock. Inside Walls (new construction). My new inside walls I was considering building using 2 x 6 with insulation and 5/8” sheetrock. Windows (new): Windows into the live room and iso booths would be double paned 1 /4 in laminated glass set at angles. Floorplan. I wanted to utilize the space to get the most out of it I could, but keep it comfortable. The following is a diagram of the basic floorplan I was considering.Ceiling. The ceiling as it exists will be about 8 ft 8in after raising the floor. It is also perfectly flat with standard 2 x 4 and 2 x 6 rafters. However, I would like a little more height. I’ve given it some thought and have come up with the following design that would give a basic height of about 10’ in the middle of the room. I will be having a structural engineer do the actual specifications for whatever design I use so that the modifications will be structurally sound. The following is a diagram of what I would like to do with the ceiling in the live room and control room. Budget. Probably the most difficult question to answer. I probably will be allotting about $15,000 to this project. However, while I don’t mind spending money on doing it right, I also have a since of the “diminishing return.” In other words, I don’t want to spend $500 on a product that is only marginally better than one that is only $100. By the way, this budget includes only construction, not studio sound equipment which I already have most of. Questions/Advice: I would like input on a number of things. If you do have some ideas, but need information I haven’t thought of, please let me know. First deals with my plans for the outside walls. I consider this the weak point unless I get it right. I think they really need to be sound proofed as best I can, and I want to do them right. So my question would be is a layer of stucco then 3 /4 plywood, insulation and 5/8 sheetrock enough? Or is there a better way to handle it? Should I make the walls thicker? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Floor Plan. Thoughts or ideas on my floor plan, improvements, location of bass traps, slot resonators, or other sound treatment would be appreciated. I haven’t quite settled on what nearfield monitors I will be using or whether I will build them in the walls or setting out from the walls on stands. So if anyone has ideas, I would like to hear them Inside Walls. Is a 2x6 wall with 5/8” sheetrock on either side with insulation sufficient or do I need more? I have considered an extra 1 /2” sheetrock on top of the 5/ 8” sheetrock. Is there a better design shape for the ceiling? I will be using track lighting. Any specific or general comments or suggestions would be appreciated. At this time I’m not locked into anything specific except the overall size. Thanks Karl

Hi Karl, and welcome aboard! There is an announcement at the top of the forum about what to do to assure getting as many responses as possible. The announcement leads to this post. Actually, several people, who are experts on this forum, will not reply if you do not do what is written in the post. Many others who are very helpful, will not reply out of respect for the moderators' wishes. That said, one comment on your floor:

Floor. I will have to raise the floor about 4” from its existing height to be even with the floor of the rest of my house, so I will be building an additional sub floor on top of the existing floor structure. I plan to do this by using 2x4 or other suitable dimension stock on one foot centers fastened to the existing floor. I will then use 1 inch tongue & groove plywood to make a raised subfloor to the height that when the new finish floor is installed it will be the same height as in my existing house. I plan to use a pre-finished wood floor of nailed to the subfloor for the finished floor.

That sounds suspiciously like it will resemble a floating floor, which is not a good idea. Read this: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8173 Yes, I know your intention is not actually to float it, but your description says that you will be building a thin, low-mass floor on top of an air gap, with another floor underneath, and will bring you the same kind of issues as a floating floor. I'd suggest you re-think that floor. Resonance is a good thing inside a kick drum, but a bad thing inside yoru floor...

First deals with my plans for the outside walls. I consider this the weak point unless I get it right. I think they really need to be sound proofed as best I can, and I want to do them right. So my question would be is a layer of stucco then 3 /4 plywood, insulation and 5/8 sheetrock enough? Or is there a better way to handle it? Should I make the walls thicker? Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Yup, definitely the weak link. Yup definitely you want them as good as you can get. For all of your walls and ceilings (not just outside walls), think "Mass-Air-Mass" or more correctly, think "Mass-Spring-Mass". What that means is that you want a massive panel as one "leaf" of your wall, probably built up from several layers of sheetrock attached to studs (or brick, or concrete) then an air gap of a few inches filled with fiberglass or rock wool insulation, then another massive panel built in a similar manner. And you do not want anything connecting the two panels, so they should not be on the same set of studs. Or at least, one side needs to be decoupled using something like iso-clips and hat channel, or resilient channel, but even better is just to build another set of studs. This is called a "two-leaf wall", and is the best possible isolation you can get at a reasonable cost. There are no short-cuts or magic building materials, despite what you might read on the internet. The only "almost-magic" product worth considering is something called "Green Glue", which isn't glue at all, but even then it isn't magic, and is based on solid acoustic principles. Search this forum for "MAM" and "MSM" and "mass-air-mass" and "two leaf" and "three leaf" and suchlike. Then read it very carefully, until you understand the concept. Don't start building before you do. Also, check out the Green Glue web site: they have lots of laboratory test results that help you grasp the concepts. You do NOT want to build a wall that has three leaves, or four, etc. you ONLY want to have two leaves in each wall. not more, not less. Bad things happen to sound isolation at low frequencies, with multi-leaf walls.

Inside Walls. Is a 2x6 wall with 5/8” sheetrock on either side with insulation sufficient or do I need more? I have considered an extra 1 /2” sheetrock on top of the 5/ 8” sheetrock.

For best isolation, go with two independent 2x4 frames, each with a couple of layers of sheetrock on only ONE side of the frame, for a total of two sets of sheetrock: 2 leaves Mass-Air-Mass. Rip the sheetrock off one side of the existing frame, carefully, use the pieces that you rip off to beef up the other side, from the inside of the wall, between the studs, up tight against the sheetorck on the other side. Then build a second frame, put a couple of layers of 5/8 sheetrock on that with copious Green Glue in between, fill the air gap with insulation, make sure everything is sealed air-tight, and you are done!

Any specific or general comments or suggestions would be appreciated. At this time I’m not locked into anything specific except the overall size

Research "room ratios" on this forum. Also "room modes". You need to make sure that the dimensions of each room are optimal. There are good ratios, and there are bad ratios. For example, avoid all multiples, so if your room is six feet wide, do not make it 12 feet long. If it is 8 feet high, do not make it 8 feet wide, or 16 feet long. research tis forum to find out why, and to find ratios that will work for you. Final points: your control room must be totally symmetrical. Put the speakers such that they fire down the longest dimension of the room, not across it. If the ceiling slopes, it must slope up and away from the speakers (speakers under the lowest point, roughly). Don't plan to put anything in the front and rear corners, such as doors or windows or lights or electrical power sockets or furniture or equipment, as you will need that space for bass trapping. Best advice I can give you: Buy Rod Gervais's book, and buy the Master Handbook of Acoustics: Read them both until you understand everything. Then start designing. Only then think about building. Don't make the mistake that so many visitors here make: start building before you have a clear total grasp of the principles, and a design that has been thorougly "sanity checked" by the experts here. And I'm not one to the experts! I'm just a loud and noisy parrot that learned how to repeat what they have already said a thousand times, so that they don't have to say it again! - Stuart -

"Floor. I will have to raise the floor about 4” from its existing height to be even with the floor of the rest of my house, so I will be building an additional sub floor on top of the existing floor structure. I plan to do this by using 2x4 or other suitable dimension stock on one foot centers fastened to the existing floor. I will then use 1 inch tongue & groove plywood to make a raised subfloor to the height that when the new finish floor is installed it will be the same height as in my existing house." An older home like yours, elevated wood framed on piers, presents many obstacles. Flanking not being the least of them...it's practically living with you! The potential to overload this type of house is a real and present consideration, code compliance or not. If this is in fact something from the 30s then the chances of pier footings versus a complete linear perimeter footing, are increased. This "pier pad" does well to support itself and the distributed load it receives. Any change in the weather, e.g. high sustained winds, snow loads or seismic activity delude this piers ability to continue to support what it was designed for with added weather elements plus the added amount of weight. This will be a high priority concern for your engineer. You have options, but since I am not inside that build I cannot say with any authority. One would be this. The floor gets stripped all the way down to the existing framing, you can see the ground now:) Once the interior perimeter walls are established, additional pier pads can be installed to support the new walls. The floor joists should be up-sized to attain the height you are looking for, this eliminates the "drum head" design you suggested by building a new floor on top of the existing wood framed floor. Another would be to ask the locals. The weight of the entire house AND the build will rest on this floor/pier area and it is a simple task to topple piers or create unwanted settling due to compression.

I appreciate the comments on the floor. I really hadn't realized that my plan to raise the floor would in fact lead to a possible "drum" effect. It seems obvious, but sometimes your too close to the project and overlook the obvious. One of the good things about additional input. I will have to rethink that part of the project.

"However, I would like a little more height. I’ve given it some thought and have come up with the following design that would give a basic height of about 10’ in the middle of the room. I will be having a structural engineer do the actual specifications for whatever design I use so that the modifications will be structurally sound. The following is a diagram of what I would like to do with the ceiling in the live room and control room" One of the areas he will advise you on will be the structural integrity of your walls, and how they will have the potential to spread outward without sufficient connections between them. As with all remodeling, this is going to take some consideration. One suggestion might be a post and beam construction to support the ridge. This could be complicated by the fact that there is no hard contact at ground level. So there may be concrete footers poured to support these posts. How many and how far apart is another question best left to those that can see the room. This would create horizontal support but the engineer may be as much or more interested in lateral support since the whole perimeter of this area now depends on this post beam construction to keep the roof up and the walls stable. Simply moving the joists up is not going to work. Keep us in the loop we live for this stuff, Brien

After some serious consideration of the cost of raising the floor and ceiling in this project, I am abandoning that aspect. It seems that the cost of doing it right will far outweigh the benefits. With a little work, I think I can design around the step down, and with some acoustic treatment planning work with the 9 ft. ceilings in a lot more cost effective manner.