First post - A big "Thank You"

Hi Everyone from sunny Australia, I have been reading this forum habitually for a few months and have only now become a member. About 16 months ago I began building a home studio inside a 12.5m X 7m steel shed (6 car garage). When I began, I had no prior knowledge and relied solely on "hearsay", some magazine articles and the usual old wives tales. Suprisingly, I have obtained fairly good isolation and quite pleasant sounding rooms. If I had discovered this forum back then, well... I'm damned certain that my studio would look quite different to what it does today. I won't give you all the details as I'm not seeking any specific advice (and I'm sure that I'd be flamed mercilessly!) :D However, my reason for this post is to offer a wholehearted THANK YOU to the moderators and regular contributors. In particular... John, Rod, Soundman, Avare, Kendale (and many others too). The knowledge that you impart is generous and extremely valuable. In this world, they say that knowledge is power... many guard it closely. But you guys GIVE it so freely and graciously, and I'm sure there are many other "spectators" such as myself, that don't ask questions, that are able to reap the same rewards. I'm continuously amazed at the number of posts that ask "stupid" questions and fail to meet the basic requirements that you ask of! :roll: I have learned sooooooo much from using the Search tool here and following links to doco that I have managed to make many changes to my set-up that already have and will undoubtedly improve my studio. Again... Thank YOU! Cheers, Glenn. BTW.... Soundman & Rod - I'm gonna nominate you for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for the way in which have handled some of the more recent posts regarding acoustic treatment (I think you know what I'm referring to). 8)

Thanks Glenn, and welcome! I agree with your sentiments 100%. Now, you DO know that we cannot possibly believe that you actually built a studio, right???!!! After all, you didn't post any PHOTOS, and as they say here: No pics means it didn't happen! :) Seriously, how about a few pics of your studio, as is? ( I promise, we'll turn down the flamethrower to "medium rare" for your benefit ... :) ) It's just that any photos of a completed studio, even if it is modest, serve as encouragement for those of us who are still in the process. - Stuart -

Glenn, thank you for your kind words.... In all my years in this industry - I have never met anyone who ever hesitated (for even a second) to answer a question I asked about their trade. In my mind that creates an obligation to share what they shared so freely with me....... I'm always happy to find someone who was able to make use of it. Sincerely, Rod

Seriously, how about a few pics of your studio, as is? ( I promise, we'll turn down the flamethrower to "medium rare" for your benefit ... )

Well... OK then... just donning my nomex balaclava and fireproof suit.... :lol: Studio consists of two rooms - Control Room and "Live" Room. The CR dimensions are approx 4m W x 6m L x 2.4m H, flat ceiling and generally rectangular with some angled sections in two corners. The LR dimensions are approx 4.75m W x 6m H with a vaulted ceiling that starts at 2.4m and peaks at 3.1m. There are exposed beams. The two rooms are seperated by double glass sliding doors. Entry to each room is via double solid-core timber doors with seals all around. General construction is timber hardwood framing, 19mm "yellow tongue" flooring particleboard (on walls), double layer of CSR Gyprock Soundchek drywall, CSR Bradford Soundcreen 90mm rockwool in all the cavities and a timber laminate "floating" floor on concrete slab. I'm yet to do any actual STC measurements as I'm still swinging a hammer and paint brush, but audibly the noise reduction outside of the rooms is huge and a few friends (a radio station manager and an SAE graduate among them) have indicated that I've achieved excellent isolation, considering that I play in a rock band and the SPL inside the studio is up around 100dB or so. The closest neighbour is approx 5m from the outside of the shed and it is barely audible at their fenceline. However.... since I discovered this forum, I now know that I could have done better!!! Back when I started, "leaves" grew on trees! In some places, namely between the two rooms, my MSM profile is more like MSMSM. As I have discovered from this forum, it is probably reducing my desired STC as a 3-leaf system. And there are flanking issues there too, no decoupling :( As these are supporting walls and solid as a rock, I am now forced to live with it... so the 90% design rule is so true. I'm also addressing some weaknesses in the sliding door seals and will most probably change the thickness of the glass in one set. The control room has originally been set up with the monitors firing at the short side. Although it is symmetrical and sounds quite OK, I now realise that this is acoustically undesirable and am currently in the process of "turning it around" and hence, modifying the interior walls to achieve symmetry and the required acoustic balances. Originally, the place was a mass of foam acoustic tiles, but now rockwool traps and slat resonators abound! Thanks to you guys :D (I've actually become quite a gun at Sketchup but the files are huge... so have attached some exported jpegs so you can see what I'm talking about) I want the LR to retain a certain "liveliness" for recording acoustic guitars and drums/percussion. It was as live as a public shower block (!!!), but the addition of corner/bass traps, absorbers and angled slat resonators (to compensate for parallel walls) has improved this space immensely. Have attached some actual pics of that room and will send some of the CR when I am able. Thanks again and feel free to flame away! :lol: Glenn.

Well, as Glenn already put it so eloquently, there's really nothing more that I can add, other than to say "ditto all of the above"! By the way, Glenn, that is a beautiful room!

By the way, Glenn, that is a beautiful room!

Thanks mate! :D It does have a nice ambience in there.

I was going to say the same thing! really nice looking room. I love those rafters! I'll bet it sounds pretty good too? - Stuart -

Thanks Stuart! I purposely wanted to have a higher ceiling in there and utilise the "peak" in the surrounding shed. I could have done it without exposing the beams but I thought... a) it looks nice... a rustic feel. b) I can temporarily hang (off the rafters) either absorptive or reflective panels/materials in any part of the room to achieve the ambience that I require, eg. drape a heavy blanket overhead to prevent ceiling reflections or even hang a sheet of corrugated iron to liven it up. c) My original thoughts were that the beams and struts may help diffuse soundwaves in the space. This is pure guesswork! It may add some nasty comb effects ?!?! You must understand that this was built before I discovered the forum, so it will undoubtedly have it's flaws. So far I've only recorded some heavy guitar in there with close mics on the cabs and a Rode NT2 as a "room" mic about 4m away. The room had no effect on the close mics. But we seemed to achieve the desired room effect on the other mic. So far so good. But have yet to record any vocals or acoustic intruments there... that will be the big test. Although, strumming an acoustic guitar in there does sound good :D Cheers, Glenn

G'day there: Looks great - just wondering if I could ask a few questions... Just wondering about the 'double glass sliding doors' btween your Cr & LR - so you literally have two sets side by side? Whats the air gap between them? Generlly how do you find them for isolation between the rooms? effective? Do they seal well enough? Cheers Rob

Hi Rob, Thanks for asking. If they are done well then they are great. I saw the idea "somewhere on the internet" but didn't know the specifics about how to do it correctly. So I basically bought two 2nd-hand sets of doors and almost butted them up back-to-back, except... the frames don't actually touch each other, they are seperated by a neoprene rubber strip all round about 1cm thick. The glass in both sets is approx the same thickness. However... I DON'T recommend that you actually do what I did! :oops: I only discovered this forum long after I'd installed the doors. It's recommended that you differ the thickness of the glass between the 2 sets of doors. Also, I have read that you can splay them slightly. Also, also... :) leave a larger air gap and bridge it with acoustic materials. If you do a search of this site for 'double glass sliding doors' there are heaps of references to threads with valuable info. There are some basic tips here too... http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/audio/pages/fullindex.htm I'd certainly recommend using them though as they are easier to install than a set of doors and a window - and serve both functions in one opening. Hope that helps! Cheers, Glenn.

Have you done any actual full spectrum testing through those doors, just as they are, Glenn? It would be interesting to see just how well they do perform. from the way you describe it, I reckon they should do quite a reasonable job. If you ever do get the chance, it's always nice to have real data on the forum from different construction techniques. - Stuart -

Have you done any actual full spectrum testing through those doors, just as they are, Glenn?

I just finished re-modelling my control room about 10 mins ago! (will post some pics) So... now I will wire everything back up and do a few tests. :yahoo: For the door tests... I'm thinking that I will play a test CD with 1/3 octave tones on one side of the doors and set up my el-cheapo SPL meter on the other side. First measurements with the doors open (should be flat if my monitors are flat!) 2nd measurement with one door closed. 3rd measurement with both doors closed. Does that sound like the logical way to do it??? Cheers, Glenn

Hey Glenn, 1/3 octave bands are probably way too broadband to tell you much. You could have a dozen deep dips and tall peaks inside a 1/3 octave range. I'd suggest that you you use Ethan's trick of playing back a sequence of specific 1 Hz. spaced tones, hitting every integer from 20 Hz up to 300 Hz with a second or so of each tone, then use pink noise above that, and just record the result to your DAW with a decent flat response mic, or a mic with known response. I think Ethan even has the set of files that you need on his website, for download, and a video of how he uses that to test room response. If not, then you can make them yourself with any decent DAW, albeit painstakingly! Ethan uses that for testing room response, but it will work just fine for testing isolation between two rooms as well. Do the test twice, once with doors open, then again with doors closed (or thrice, if you prefer, with one-door / two-doors), and you'll get a pretty good idea of how well your doors (and walls!) work across the toughest range of the spectrum (low end). You might be surprised at where your problem frequencies are! Now, if you just want a very general, rough ball park figure, then just go with pink noise and an SPL meter: It will give you a basic idea of how well your isolation works, but without any details as to frequencies. Well, that would be my $0.02 (not sure what the exchange rate is to your neck of the woods!) - Stuart -

Thanks Stuart! :D I'll probably just do the "pink noise" test for starters - quick and easy. Will definitely check out Ethan's site for the room response tests. BTW - here's some pics of the Control Room after the makeover... I'm verrry happy. Q. Can you spot the DAW? A. Trick question! It's a fully analogue 16 track tape set-up (although I do run Cubase on a speedy laptop after offloading from tape). Hope you like it! Cheers, Glenn