Small garden studio & control room

You might also consider incorporating a TAR array (T-Shaped acoustic resonator) into your window design. :wink:

Huuummm not sure what that is, looked on google for a picture or diagram of one and am still not sure can any one advise :?:

Soundman2020 wrote:

what sort of air gap would you suggest as I have around 280mm minimum between each face on the walls,

A gap of 280 mm between the two panes of glass (9mm and 12mm) is fine. In theory, that should get you over 50 dB of isolation, and probably closer to 60. In other words, if the kids are going wild at 110 dB in the room, that will be down to around 50 db or so outside the room (assuming that the rest of the build is up to the same level, and that you have no flanking issues).

(drums, lead guitar, bass guitar)

:shock: :!: Yup, 110 db is highly probable, So is 115... Maybe more! :) - Stuart -

Hi Stuart have been in touch with a glass company in my town and they either do 6.4mm or 10.8mm laminated glass, would it be ok to have 2 panels of the 10.8mm? If so thats going to be around £160 each panel of glass :shock:

10.8mm is fine. If money is tight, you could even go with one of 10.8 and one of 6.4m, with the corresponding reduction in isolation, especially in low frequencies.

If so thats going to be around £160 each panel of glass

:shock: They saw you coming, didn't they! Did you shop around at different places? Maybe some other place has it cheaper. But laminate is expensive. Another alternative is to go with thicker panes of tempered glass for the same effect. Or worse case, thicker panes of ordinary float glass. As with all things studio related, it's a trade-off: and as with most things studio related, the trade-off is performance vs. mass vs. money. (PS: Money always wins! :) ) - Stuart -

BriHar wrote:

"Acoustic resonators for noise control in enclosures"

thanks for that link I managed to d\l the thesis and skipped through it, i think if i can come up with a way of building a 4 sided one to the dimensions of the window I will give it a go as a 20db reduction is unbelievable, unless someone advises otherwise.

Soundman2020 wrote:

10.8mm is fine. If money is tight, you could even go with one of 10.8 and one of 6.4m, with the corresponding reduction in isolation, especially in low frequencies.

If so thats going to be around £160 each panel of glass

:shock: They saw you coming, didn't they! Did you shop around at different places? Maybe some other place has it cheaper. But laminate is expensive. Another alternative is to go with thicker panes of tempered glass for the same effect. Or worse case, thicker panes of ordinary float glass. As with all things studio related, it's a trade-off: and as with most things studio related, the trade-off is performance vs. mass vs. money. (PS: Money always wins! :) ) - Stuart -

I chose the local one as they manufacture them selves and I would be able to pick it up myself, but I will shop around for the best price and will get the thickness you have mentioned rather than going less as I want to make the build as good as I possibly can to some extent, On the above post do you have any views on acoustic resonators built into windows Stuart?

On the above post do you have any views on acoustic resonators built into windows Stuart?

To be honest, I hadn't heard of them before I saw Brian's post, but I just spent a couple of hours going through that thesis, and they sound interesting. The performance is quite impressive at treating specific modes, but finding those modes and designing the devices requires techniques that are way beyond studio builders like us, and the math is also pretty complex! :shock: So while they might help to some extent, unfortunately I reckon they are not really an option for us. But the concept behind them is interesting! - Stuart -

That is what I was thinking and was kind of worried that I might spend extra time making something that wouldn't work for my personal circumstances, many thanks again Stuart for taking an interest and helping with my questions for the build. I am now a couple of hours calking away from finishing the boarding in the control room so over the weekend will be making the viewing window frame and fixing the door frame, have you any cost effective 'beef up' suggestions for my 2nd hand hospital fire door which will be used on the control room entrance and can I get away with 2 seals on this door as there is an 'airlock' to the outside world? Carl

A few photos of the on going work, still need to make my window frame for the viewing window between the control room and the tracking/live room, I'v noticed that a lot of pictures I have looked at the glass is angled is there a minimum an maximum to these angles? here you can see the depth of normal finish floor level compared to the depth of the control room floor. Approximate size of viewing window will be 1050mm x 850mm Total width of the 2 walls is anything from 360mm - 300mm depending on the depth of the sandstone and limestone walling

Is it essential to angle the panels of glass and if so by how much? Can anyone tell me how much I will have to 'beef' up my heavy fire door for the control room bearing in mind that I still have an 'airlock' with a short corridor before a double glazed upvc door to the outside?

Is it essential to angle the panels of glass and if so by how much?

No, not essential at all. On the contrary, angling the glass is BAD for isolation, since it reduces the gap between the leaves: any angle at all means that the two panes of glass are closer together on one edge than they could be. So contrary to popular belief, there is no acoustical reason to angle the glass. The only reason you might want to angle glass is to avoid glare from lighting, so that you don't see annoying reflections in the glass when you are actually trying to see what's on the other side!

Can anyone tell me how much I will have to 'beef' up my heavy fire door for the control room bearing in mind that I still have an 'airlock' with a short corridor before a double glazed upvc door to the outside?

The surface density has to be at least the same as that of the leaf, So if you are using (for example) 3 layers of 5/8 drywall, then you would need a surface density of at least 36 kg per square meter. That is the very minimum: more would be better. So figure out the surface density of each of your leaves, and use that as the minimum for the door(s) that go in that leaf. But even more important than the mass, are the seals around the edge of the door: you need at least two separate seals around the entire perimeter (top, bottom, both sides), and preferably three. - Stuart -

thanks again Stuart for the reply and continued help, I'm kinda hoping I can add the extra layer or layers to the doors once there hanging as I struggled to carry them round to the build as it was, they are ex Hospital solid fire doors, one of which has a layer of plastic vinyl over it as well so is extremely heavy :shock:

A few pictures of some stud work for the small sink area, I plan to have a mini sink an mixer tap with a microwave and kettle on a shelf above and a mini fridge below the work top.

Some more photos of on going work Exterior entrance door fitted Also fitted my Eye bolts for the cloud before plastering the ceiling.

Separate window frames for the viewing window between the control room and tracking room

Some more work photos, ex hospital solid fire doors with a plastic protective coating on one side I plan to add either a sheet of 8mm or 12mm mdf to the studio side unless any one can suggest something better at a similar price point I can vouch that they are pretty solid and very heavy :lol: Here's a few more photos can anyone post some links for the seals I should use for these doors? Here's my small wet room tiled, no door hung yet was hoping I would be on a demolition job so I could grab a door, Plastering has dried out nicely Final picture is my 2 sheets of 10mm laminate glass for my viewing window between control room and as yet not built tracking room

Congrats, that looks like a great work in progress! Those ex-hospital doors look perfect! :)

Thanks for the comments , its always good to get comments, :D

Started fitting the 10mm laminated glass After filling up the cavity all round I then put little bags of silica gel in the cavity in case of condensation, and covered with some 6mm thick fibreboard insulation with a couple of beads of acoustic sealant to hold in place, stone side of the window frame all sealed up with acoustic sealant some purple material to cover the gap in between the 2 panels of glass

2nd panel of glass in with purple material in air gap complete, will finish the trim around the window later, am hoping to get all painted and door finished over the next week

That window is looking pretty good...but what's up with the Vikings jersey? ;)

That's my son, although I think its more to do with his sisters boyfriend plays for the Ipswich Cardinals and he kinda likes the Vikings :D

Some of the finishings and 2nd fix starting to get done after we had a couple of weeks of cold weather so haven't been able to get on much