Need Help Designing, and decisions

About to move into a house where I'm planning to build a Recording/Mixing/Mastering Studio and a Vocal Booth. it is the second house on the street form the road, so the traffic noise is kinda loud. The Budget: I wanna build an accurate sounding and sound proofed studio so I'm willing to spend as much money as it will cost, I don't wanna cut any corners. (sorry for sloppy drafts I will sketch better ones later when I take complete measurements.) There are a few limits: The basement (see first sketch) has a stairs coming down in the middle of the basement. No entrance/exit form outside. the left side of the stairs has low duct work, and oil tank, furnace, washer and dryers. but I might utilize this area for the studio if needed. it's a bit wider than the right side of the stairs where I plan to build the studio. As you see in the picture the width is 9', length 12' and height 6' and 6". Option A: build the control room in 9x12 area. Build Vocal Booth where the furnace is and relocate the furnace. Option B: build the control room in 9x12 area. build vocal booth where the stairs begin and have the stairs turn to the left. Option C: Divide the 9x12 area into a Control Room and vocal booth. Option D: use option C as temporary studio, and Build an addition to the house (see second sketch):

is it possible to design/build Correct sounding Control room and vocal booth from options A, B or C and not waste extra money and time on option D ? Or Should I just go with Option D if it's not possible to build a correct enough sounding room/vocal booth using Option A, B or C ? sorry I didn't have my location. now I put it in.

Ok I've decided to go with option D, to build a studio temporarily (for about 2-3 years) in the basement and later built an addition to the house. So I'm thinking of breaking down the middle wall and extending my studio room

I've decided that the studio on the basement would be temporary. I plan to work in it for about 2 years than build an addition/studio to the house. So I thought I'd rather spend $$ for the studio designer to design the permanent studio that I plan to be building while working in this basement studio that I plan to build first. Today was the first day of moving in to the house. The only thing I (with a help of some friends) did so far was tear down the walls, electrical, some duct work, and and drop ceiling. The 2 things that worry me the most are: 1)that the Furnace/Oil Burner is very loud. 2) And the noise from upstairs is transmitted very well thru the floor, and also amplified (it seems) thru the duct system. After I removed some ducts the noise transmission lowered. But whenever someone walks on the first floor over the "studio" the frame and floor make a lot of noise. The floor plan in the first pic is how the "studio side" of the basement looks like. The second and third sketches are what I have in mind to build: Basically a Control Room and a tracking room. Before I start planning the sound proofing, I wanna decide the dimensions, and shapes of control room and tracking room. 1)Should I angle the CR/tracking room walls, or should I make it a rectangle? 2)What Size would be best in this situation for the control room and tracking room? 3)How Should I acoustically isolate the studio from the furnace and upstairs noise?

Hi "ts-12", and welcome! :) Just some quick answers and general comments on your build: 1) Photos of the area would help a lot so we can better understand what you are dealing with. 2) You apparently only have 6'6" of ceiling height to play with: that is VERY low. By the time you install your isolation ceiling and treatment, that is going to be down below 6 feet. I hope you aren't very tall! Also, it is not going to sound very good in there, with such a low ceiling. Therefore, I would DEFINITELY go with option "D": "use option C as temporary studio, and Build an addition to the house (see second sketch):" That certainly is the smart thing to do. It is not with spending much money on this place, with such a low ceiling.

1)Should I angle the CR/tracking room walls, or should I make it a rectangle?

You can splay your walls if you want, but to be honest I would not bother here: this place is not going to sound good anyway, no matter what you do, and splaying walls just complicates things and makes it slower / more expensive to build. So save the splayed walls for the future outbuilding studio, and just go rectangular here.

2)What Size would be best in this situation for the control room and tracking room?

For what purpose? What would be a typical recording session for you? A single musician with a midi instrument, or a full 6-man rock group with acoustic drums, keyboards, guitars, bass, and vocals?

3)How Should I acoustically isolate the studio from the furnace and upstairs noise?

With such a low ceiling, your only real option is to beef up the floor above you, seal it airtight, and hang a single layer of 5/8 drywall from resilient channel fixed across the joists, with fiberglass in the cavity. You don't have enough ceiling height to do any more. that takes care of the ceiling. For the walls, just follow the usual procedure for a fully decoupled two-leaf "room in a room". In other words, stud frames with drywall on only ONE side. That would be my basic approach. - Stuart -

Thank You Soundman2020! I just uploaded some pictures. I'm not tall, but some of my studio friends are :D Ok, I'm not going to splay the walls for the acoustic reasons you mentioned, and when I'll build the addition, the ex-studio can be a bedroom perhaps with "normal" walls :D The most people I will record simultaneously will be about 4 singers, but will be tracking instruments (Guitars, Bass, Accordion, Percussion, MIDI, Sax, Violin) mostly 1 or 2 at a time. The Black pipe going into chimney will be relocated, it will go into chimney from the "north" side.

I Carpet, removed ducts and will have hvac tech install new ducts so they wouldn't take up studio space. So I'm about to build walls

I Carpet, removed ducts and will have hvac tech install new ducts so they wouldn't take up studio space.

I hope you meant to say that you REMOVED the carpet, not that you carpeted! Carpet is really lousy for small-room acoustics. If you were thinking of using carpet in there, then forget that idea completely. Carpet will harm the acoustics badly.

So I'm about to build walls

Where's your plan? What room ratio are you using? What is your isolation goal in decibels? How will you decouple the walls and ceiling? What is your MSM tuned frequency for the walls / ceiling? How much mass on each leaf? How big is the air gap? How much insulation? What type of doors? How will you seal them? Where's the design for the HVAC silencers? That's just a few of the questions that need serious, well-though out answers before you start building anything. - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

I Carpet, removed ducts and will have hvac tech install new ducts so they wouldn't take up studio space.

I hope you meant to say that you REMOVED the carpet, not that you carpeted! Carpet is really lousy for small-room acoustics. If you were thinking of using carpet in there, then forget that idea completely. Carpet will harm the acoustics badly.

So I'm about to build walls

Where's your plan? What room ratio are you using? What is your isolation goal in decibels? How will you decouple the walls and ceiling? What is your MSM tuned frequency for the walls / ceiling? How much mass on each leaf? How big is the air gap? How much insulation? What type of doors? How will you seal them? Where's the design for the HVAC silencers? That's just a few of the questions that need serious, well-though out answers before you start building anything. - Stuart -

I meant removed carpet. sorry :oops: For decoupling walls I'm thinking of using resilient channels, sheetblock, and 2 layers of 1/2" gypsum board. double leaf wall next to the oil burner For ceiling I'm thinking of sealing the corners where 2x6 meets the above floor's boards, to minimize creaking noise when someone walks on the floor, because it makes alota noise when someone walks on the first floor, add 2x4 to 2x6 to the side and in between for the same reason, and, as one carpenter suggested, put thick plywood instead of gypsum board. and attach it with "liquid nails" glue, and screws or nails. What do you think about this? Yes I have to decide about all those other factors, before I continue. I'll do more research. I remeasured the room. the previous measurements were incorrect. The measurements are: Height: Exactly: 6 ft 11 in (from the un-carpeted floor to the bottom of 2x6 boards on the ceiling) Length: Approx: 22 feet (+/- 2inches) Width: Approx: 11 ft (+/- 2inches)

my idea about control room size: Of course i want the frequency response to be as flat as possible, but as there are always room modes in every rectangular room. I want the room modes in this new studio control room to be as different as possible from current studio at my apartment. I uploaded 2 REW measurements, (the current studio is 11 x 8.9 x 7.9 feet. Ratio: 1 : 1.13 : 1.39) as you can see there is big bump at 50hz and around 140hz and a big cancellation around 85hz. So in the new studio I want the room modes to be as different as possible from these current ones Which i've decided to go with: (Length x width x height in feet ): 15.7 x 10.9 x 6.8. (Ratio 1 : 1.6 : 2.33)

For decoupling walls I'm thinking of using resilient channels, sheetblock, and 2 layers of 1/2" gypsum board.

I would suggest just using two layers of 5/8" drywall. That would give you better isolation, overall.

For ceiling I'm thinking of sealing the corners where 2x6 meets the above floor's boards, to minimize creaking noise when someone walks on the floor, because it makes alota noise when someone walks on the first floor, add 2x4 to 2x6 to the side and in between for the same reason,

I'm not sure I understand what your plan is there. Maybe you could model that in SketchUp, and post it here so we can get a better idea of what you mean.

as one carpenter suggested, put thick plywood instead of gypsum board.

Yes, you sure can substitute plywood for drywall. The density is very roughly the same, and the plywood has the advantage of strength. - Stuart -

Ok as you can see in the picture, I filled the cracks and corners of 2x6 joists with "Liquid Nails. Heavy Duty" and it helped a bit making the floor (basement ceiling) quieter. the yellow sketch of 2x4 board i drew on top of the pic is where i am planning to attach the 2x4 boards to strengthen the structure in hope of quieting the floor

The oil burner got replaced by much quieter Gas burner. (can't tell you exact db right now, will measure later). While Liquid Nails Glue is drying that I glued the ceiling joists and boards, I'm working on HVAC Air Ducts. I'm trying to figure out how to supply Air circulation into live and control rooms without compromising Sound "proofing". After I'll decide and finish HVAC duct works The sketch is what I have planned so far. and to show you where the double wall will be (next to the furnace)

While Liquid Nails Glue is drying that I glued the ceiling joists and boards,

Liquid Nails is probably not what you should be using for that. It dries hard and might crack, and probably doesn't have enough mass. The best stuff is proper acoustic sealant, and second best is ordinary non-hardening bathroom caulk (the type that stays flexible and rubbery, even after it has fully cured).

I'm trying to figure out how to supply Air circulation into live and control rooms without compromising Sound "proofing".

Silencer boxes at all leaf penetrations. Search the forum for examples of how to do that. - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

While Liquid Nails Glue is drying that I glued the ceiling joists and boards,

Liquid Nails is probably not what you should be using for that. It dries hard and might crack, and probably doesn't have enough mass. The best stuff is proper acoustic sealant, and second best is ordinary non-hardening bathroom caulk (the type that stays flexible and rubbery, even after it has fully cured).

I'm trying to figure out how to supply Air circulation into live and control rooms without compromising Sound "proofing".

Silencer boxes at all leaf penetrations. Search the forum for examples of how to do that. - Stuart -

the liquid nails was what carpenters suggested, and i didn't have any other ideas.. but it helped with floor joists crackling sound. ok, i've built and installed silencer boxes on the roof for both rooms. the silencers thru the walls I'll build after the walls will be built, because i have to find a good place for them. I've attached a picture of possible studio floor plan. i'm a little concerned about that the door from tracking room to the control room, the speakers will be in the walk way, it will be a bit uncomfortable to walk for people from one room to the other trying not too knock off the speakers off the stands... any suggestions about this? maybe i should place the desk along the long wall and have speakers facing another long wall?