budget desgin for bedroom studio in cambodia | John Sayers’ Recording Studio Design Forum archive

hello, first, off—great site. thanks for all the info. so, i need to do a little soundproofing of my apartment for a private recording studio/bedroom here in cambodia. i’m just now planning and getting set up to do this and then start recording. after reading other postings and references, i can say my goals are less ambitious and ‘professional’ than most of what is covered here, but i’m hoping i can find some help here nonetheless. i’m in a rental property and on a budget of < $100 if possible—perhaps more if need be. and living where i do i don’t have access to resources and materials i would otherwise. the landlord is cool about stuff as long as i leave it in good condition when i leave. i’ll be tracking vocals and, occasionally, acoustic guitar. no drums or anything really loud and i’m not expecting to achieve ‘crypt-quiet,’ but i need to keep sound out and also not bother the neighbors. the neighbors are not sensitive to sound the way many people are in other countries i’ve lived. this is a wonderful but noisy country. the way things work is you can make reasonable noise and others expect to be able to do the same. but i hope to spare them the sound of my vocal warm ups and takes and retakes… (i’m sorry i don’t have access to a dB meter to see what my voice clocks in at, but i am not a very loud singer by vocal projection characteristics and genre.) i do almost all my monitoring on professional headphones. i have a portable set up here and no real monitors—just active computer speakers for reference. so, while i will do some listen back on the speakers, the most important thing is that the room works for recording vocals since any critical mixing will be done in the headphones. the apartment is in a stucco/brick building. being in cambodia construction materials (bricks, etc) can be expected to be sub par and not as dense as they might be elsewhere. and i’m quite sure there’s no added insulation of any kind. my unit is on the top (second) floor of a 6-unit building and is the last unit so it only shares a wall with one neighbor who is quite easy going. the space is about 3m x 3.3m x 3m tall or 10’ x 11’ x 10’ tall. the walls and ceiling are painted stucco. the floor is hard tiles, presumably with stucco and bricks underneath. there is an occupant below me but i can’t say i have heard him hardly at all so it seems maybe there isn’t much bleed through the floor… there are no odd obstructions in the room. there is a large bed, so that will absorb some things. there are a few pieces of small furniture (desk, side table, small shelf-unit and a ceiling fan. there are a few issues in the room right now: 1. screened vents along the top of 3 of the 4 walls that i need to cover/seal. of the 3 vented walls, one wall is adjacent to the outside; one to hallway and the other to the front room. the front room also has vents and those will remain open since no a/c in that room. the fourth wall is adjacent to the bathroom. 2. windows. there is a single pane window that opens to the front room—but not outside. it has drapes on the inside where i will be set up, and beneath the drapes are bars, because in cambodia you can’t have a window without bars on it. it’s (coincidentally) set up like a control booth in that it connects two rooms, though i won’t be using it that way so it can be obstructed/plugged. since the front room gets noise, i’ll probably have to deal with the window. there is also a thick, privacy ‘block glass’ window (that doesn’t open) on the outside wall of the bedroom. this is the style with several small tiles/blocks of thick, striated glass blocks grouted/caulked together. i’m hoping that one will be ok since it is quite thick… if not, i’m thinking of plugging it with bubble wrap and then sealing it with a plexiglass sheet. 3. doors. there are two solid core, heavy wooden panel doors. one opens to the hallway and will remain in use. the other opens to the bathroom and i’m going to keep it shut and out of commission since there is another access point to the bathroom from the hall. the vents are the most pressing matter right now because i’m going to install a/c in the bedroom/studio shortly and will quickly need to cover the vents to keep the cool air in as well as to soundproof. to cover the vents i’m thinking of using either: a. 1” plywood w weather stripping gasket for a good seal; or b. 2 pieces of thinner plywood with something like polyethylene packaging foam sheets between the two pieces—also with weather stripping gasket. in either case, i plan to affix the panels/covers with anchor screws. additionally, i am going to put a carpet down where the mic is set up and build a small, curved baffle just behind the mic and/or put foam on the wall behind the mic to minimize reflections. and maybe put some traps in the corners. if need be, i could possibly put up some acoustic foam along the walls but it's already a small space. noise considerations: for cambodia it's quiet where i am—on a small private road. some dogs, motos and occasional chickens outside. (dogs and chickens are a given throughout the country!:) and there is an establishment several houses/buildings away that plays hip hop at medium to loud volume. it’s not loud inside my apartment, but it is audible--in particular, the bass freqs. and then during wedding season parties are just plain over the top loud... so i’m interested in if/how my solutions will deal with the range of frequencies, from higher (chickens, motos) to lower (distant subs, 808s etc.) my main questions are: a. how much bleed am i likely to get through the brick/stucco walls and the floor and ceiling/roof? i.e., at what point will i be overdoing it by making the vents more soundproof than the walls, floor and ceiling are? and do i likely need to look at treating the walls somehow for my modest needs? i won’t know until i get the vents sealed but i don’t know how much trouble i should go to with the vents. b. does my idea for the vents sound reasonable or should i be thinking in a different direction? c. i’ve read about window plugs, but because of the bars that run vertically and horizontally on the inside of the window, do you have any suggestions for how to design/fit something there to treat it? it would be ideal if it can be taken down to let light in the room when i’m not tracking. d. the other question is, at what point am i depriving myself of necessary fresh air? assuming i seal the vents as described, plug the window, use weather stripping and a sweep on the doors i’m assuming i’m ok with these ‘consumer’ budget measures, but i am not sure where the tipping point is. of course ventilation is completely out of my price range and perhaps not even viable here. any insight and suggestions on materials and methods would be greatly appreciated. thanks so much! jim