Basement, L shape, all-in-one room

Hello forum members. I am in a new location, just outside of Philadelphia. I am going to build a Home Studio/Practice area in the unfinished basement. I have put together two previous studio areas, but never with framing and isolation of walls and ceiling. The basement is below ground, a smooth concrete floor, and masonry & fieldstone walls. First, what I am hoping to do. This would be a single room build. Part live/tracking area, and the other section a workstation/mixing area. I work as a solo musician, building tracks with audio and MIDI, and I also work with Blues Bands. So, mostly one person use, recording and practice, and 2 or 3 people recording/practicing in the live area. My amps are 20W to 100W, but I don’t play full up when I practice. I have measured outside with a Sound Level Meter, and because it’s below ground, even when loud, not much of a problem for neighbors. In the house is another story. Sound, even at low levels, is way to much at first and second floors. I feel like a fish out of water in trying to do this correctly. I have read Rod G.’s book and have been reading other project builds at this forum. I have posted a rough layout in Sketchup, laying out my all-in-one room in an L shape. The live area being 12.3 L x 11.3 W x 7.2 H, the mixing area is 16.2 L x 6.7 W x 6.5 H (6.5 H due to ducting which runs across from the HVAC unit). I have also posted actual pictures of the room to help with my limited ability in Sketchup. Some layout short-comings are: The return duct in the layout does not show the main duct that it ties into, the IsoMax wall by the supply duct is in the same plane as the I beam. All walls marked as IsoMax walls are my proposed new walls. The outside walls, one marked with a window and a breaker box, the other with ceiling to floor shelving, would also end up as an IsoMax wall. So because I need as much isolation from the first and second floors as I can reasonably do, I was thinking of decoupling the walls and ceiling using IsoMax clips. Additional materials would be 5/8 drywall, outlet backer pads, GreenGlue, Overly doorway, Corning 703. I am not sure if there is any reason for me to use a RIM pad roll or hocky puck pads under the plywood floor, or if I can just use an IsoLayment pad ,with a moisture barrier, and flooring. To get started I was hoping to get some suggestions on the layout of my two areas. There is flexability, with going smaller on the two areas, if the ratios need to be brought into line, but it just may be easier to treat the room, as I don’t understand ratios. At this point I will list my budget as $20,000, but I am hoping to go far under that, as studio equipment is needed. My plan is to try and get some assistance here with my layout and material selections. Once the layout, electrical, and lighting are solid, I will get local contractors, who will work with me and these methods, to complete the room. Considerations & Notes Due to low ceilings, I am looking for a compact design to retain as much height as possible. This is why I liked the low profile of the IsoMax clips. I would mount them to the joists and walls (with a 2x4 frame out of the room). I have included a diagram of an IsoMax and drywall, wall and ceiling mounting, from the Kenetics site. There is a steel support pole and I beam in the center of the room. Joists are 2.5 X 7.5, with 12” spacing. Flooring above is 3 ½” pine sub-floor, with 2” oak top, installed at 90 deg to the sub. • Running across the ceiling of the mixing area are HVAC supply and return ducts, bringing the 7’2” ceiling (to bottom of joist), down to a 6’5” height, to the bottom of the ducts and I beam in that area. Room isolation and possible additional treatment of the ducts will be important in preventing them from transferring the music throughout the house (which is happening now). • There is ceiling to floor cabinet shelving running ¾ of one wall. I would love to be able to use it for storage, but it may need to come out. I would appreciate feedback on what could be done. There is one window that will be in the room. I was thinking about some kind of hinged panel, to open & close for natural light. Windows are glass block, with a hinged, dbl. pane, middle section. * There are two electric service panels in one corner of the room. Not sure if I wall around them and have a service access panel (crawl through) or, like the window, just have hinged panels that flip up. There is not much wiggle room with the ceiling height, but the walls can be shifted a bit on L and W. I’m open to suggestions. The basement walls have no seepage issues. The previous homeowner used DryLok but did not finish the job. Before I start, I would like to treat the masonry walls with some waterproofing product, just to be sure. I run a dehumidifier. Without it, in the summer, the RH is to high (more info follows). The toilet has two privacy walls so I need to leave enough space for passage with the location of the studio wall (next to the space I show as “new hallway”). If needed, I can take off about 6” from the ends of the privacy walls. I need to leave space around the HVAC unit for service access. The supply and return ducts shown in the layout are proposed locations. I don’t think an additional HVAC system for the studio is in my budget. I am hoping to work with what I have. Currently, the room runs 45-50 RH at 70-72F (this reading is August, mid day, 95F outside) with the dehumidifier running at low. System is set at 75F. The room has 1 supply and 1 return. I would add 1 of each to the studio room. The basement has a walk out to the back yard, to the right of the laundry area. The hot water heater is to the left of the HVAC. The house is a 2sty brick, with plaster walls. The first and second story flooring is oak. Construction 1932. Sound Level Meter readings, using C weighted, slow, max reading over a 1 min run of music and live guitar. Basement 90 – 107 db, first fl. 74 – 81db, second fl. 72 – 76db. Of course, with my HVAC system, its piping music all through the house. I list this just to give you an overview. It is hard to tell how much lower (db) it would be without HVAC transfer. The electric service is 100 amp. I am going to beef up the panel to 200 amp. Possibly using 1,000W isolated transformers, for the studio equipment. I have power conditioners that I use now. Lighting is fluorescent and will be changed. If needed, this can take some of the budget because I would like to have things running quietly with clean power distribution. Again, this is for an overview. I expect to get into more detail as this project progresses. Wall construction (listed on layout as an IsoMax wall) would be single frame, with IsoMax clips on the inside leaf, one or two layers of 5/8 drywall, with GreenGlue in between. 703 fiberglass between 2x4 studs. Outside leaf would be one layer of drywall, direct to studs. So to sum up this first post. I am hoping to get suggestions and/or approval on the layout of my studio and material selections. In the above sections, questions are marked with a bullet, to show where I need extra help. Thanks in advance for your help, Joe

I had a few more attachments, so this is just to finish. I would like you to see what I wrote about above. Once again, thanks in advance to all for feedback on my project room.

"Wall construction (listed on layout as an IsoMax wall) would be single frame, with IsoMax clips on the inside leaf, one or two layers of 5/8 drywall, with GreenGlue in between. 703 fiberglass between 2x4 studs. Outside leaf would be one layer of drywall, direct to studs." Several things. First is to remove the ceiling tile, then to fill any and ALL holes and penatrations. You can cover them with wood or stuff insulation into them, but mass is what you need to isolate sound so whatever you use, the more dense the better. I thing Rod's book refers to beefing up ceilings and this is something that you need to consider if at all possible. This is one of several places that sound is moving out of the basement into the upper rooms. The other is the HVAC unit itself. With the thin metal that makes up the input/output areas, sound is vibrating that metal and going directly, and I mean directly into your house. You may want to consider damping the metal with an insualtion blanket, it will go a long way in slowing the transfer process of vibration. Your idea to use the clips on the walls is incorrect. Since you are going to build the frames, this is enough to have the wall decoupled from the structure. Build the frame insulate it with pink fluffy insulation and install the sheetrock to the interior side. 703 is used for acoustic treatments, do not use this higher priced material in your wall cavities. Use pink fluffy insulation in your walls. Good luck,