Studio Project - The Begining

Hello. I am ready to begin renovation/construction of my home studio. Even though most of my tracking will be done when the house is "empty", I would like to make the tracking room as sound proof as possible. I have a little one and a better-half to consider. The neighbours haven't complained as of yet but I am interested in being sensitive to their privacy as well. I am a carpenter so labour will be free and materials will be purchased at a discounted price. Budget: Aprox $2000 Location: Canada's East Coast Application: Home Studio Tracking Room My tracking room is 11' 3" X 10' X an 8' ceiling. The room has hardwood floors and sheetrock for the remaining 6 surfaces. I plan on removing all of the sheetrock and insulating the ceiling with QuietZone Pink insulation (R20?), using resiliant channel on the joists with a layer of 5/8" sheetrock and another layer of 1/2". Ditto for the walls except I will have to use R7 or R12 insulation...unless I use buildouts for the 2X3 interior walls. Will this greatly reduce the volume of a kit or am I going to need to go further? I would like to put a window in the wall joining the tracking room and the control room. I was thinking of getting two sheets of glass, installing them angled and slightly recessed into the wall (So they can be hidden/covered over when not in use). What thickness should the panes be? Are the angles important to get right? I've also read that silica sand in between the panes is key for possible moisture problems... Nota: This is the rough opening left from when an addition (now my control room) was built onto the house. I am looking at building something around 3' X 4'. Check out the XLRs running through some old duct work in the basement. Underneath the window I would like to put an XLR pannel to run lines to/from the tracking/control rooms. Anything I need to watch out for here? I'd also like one for the iso booth... I will also install a solid core door...anything to be wary of here? The ceiling fan will be removed and replaced with a new light fixture with incandescent bulbs.All of the electrical outlets and light switches will be replaced with modern units. What should I look out for here? Should I have the elctrical for this room on seperate breakers? Will the outside wall window be a problem or could it be (temporarily) covered with a diffusion pannel? Isolation Booth I am planning on building an iso booth with the inside finished measurements of 3' X 5'. Should I keep the ceiling 8' or perhaps drop it to 7'? Are these measurements OK at all? I haven't decided whether I should build the walls out of 2X6 studs or 2x4s? I need a light source here as well. Should i go with a recessed fixture? Should the switch be inside or outside? Will one plug be enough for the booth? Should my (solidcore?) door be greater than a 28"? I am assuming the swing should be out into the room and not into the closet... Control Room My control room is 9' 7" X 8' 8". The ceiling is 8' high. Currently, the ceiling is a "cardborad" tile and the walls are poorly insulated (R7) covered in cheap pannel board. The ceiling angels down after 59". The angeled portion stretches 58" and ends up being 6' high at the wall. As you can see, I currently have book shelves and a wack of shit sitting around. I plan on having a couch on the back wall. What should I be doing to this room? Miscelaneous Am I on the right track? Could you give me some idea on how I can acoustically treat these rooms? Will I need bass traps? I was thinking of building diffusion pannels for the tracking room walls and using foam for the closet (Auralex Package?). Cosmetics are a concern as the room will occasionally be used for "other" things. Should I upgrade wiring (where possible) to insulated cables? Also, I am concerned with the hard wood floors. I will have these refinished when construction is done and I wish to prevent any damage from drum kit hardware (ie kick drum anchors). Will a few pieces of crapet be adequate? perhaps with the "kick drum anchor" accross the front fastened to the carpet? Thanks so much for any help and advice offered. Cheers.

Hi, and welcome; I see a LOT of questions that can be at least partially answered by following the forum guidelines - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231 in the REFERENCE section, the very last link on the page covers slanted glass and a few other "myths" - You're probably in "la-la land" if you expect to contain a drum kit with your situation/costs, so you'll definitely need to get a clear understanding of optimum construction - that too is in the first few links in the REFERENCE section, which you can get to thru the above link. As a (sort of) EX carpenter, I can tell you this stuff is NOT intuitive WHATSOEVER - you'll be amazed at the difference in isolation between "brute force" and actual design. So please read (or RE-read) the "before you post" link and hopefully I'll need less time to answer your remaining questions (pretty swamped for time as usual) Thanks... Steve

knightfly wrote:

Hi, and welcome; I see a LOT of questions that can be at least partially answered by following the forum guidelines - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3231

I have read many of the articles you were so kind to post. Unfortunately, many of the links (and I think a few of the most important) are not working properly. For instance: USG Construction handbook, + Hints - REVISED 5/3/04 How wall/floor details affect sound insulation More Useful links - UPDATED 5/3/04 etc I figure these ones are pretty important to have and they are unavailable. I have read many of the links but I haven't had time to get through everything. Many of the links that contain a great number of sub links are also apparently no longer available.

knightfly wrote:

You're probably in "la-la land" if you expect to contain a drum kit with your situation/costs...

I believe I wrote something along the lines of "as sound proof as possible"; not 100% soundproof. I fully expect something like a kit to be heard outside the tracking room. My goal is to eliminate as much of the leakage as possible without building multiple leaves with air spaces in between. Obviously, with my situation/room size limitations, I cannot do the "by the book" approach. The room wouldn't be able to hold a drum kit. I can only work with what I have so I am looking for the "as good as possible" approach..

knightfly wrote:

As a (sort of) EX carpenter, I can tell you this stuff is NOT intuitive WHATSOEVER - you'll be amazed at the difference in isolation between "brute force" and actual design.

Which is why i am posting here. :wink: I can't seem to get the link on "How wall/floor details affect sound insulation" to work. Ditton on a few construction links. That said, the ones I have read all included the multiple leaves apprach...which, as stated above, isn't an option for me.

knightfly wrote:

So please read (or RE-read) the "before you post" link and hopefully I'll need less time to answer your remaining questions (pretty swamped for time as usual) Thanks... Steve

I did miss the "angled glass" and door references though.

Sorry if I came across as actually accusing you of "being in la-la land", it wasn't meant that way; only a reference to the difficulty of isolating drums. I understand that you're looking for "better", not "perfect" - I'm not happy that so many links aren't working - gotta run soon (last 12-hour night shift) but if you could, list ALL the links you're having problems with and I'll chase them down. You're right, these ARE important or I wouldn't have listed them. I'll have a bit more time in a day or two, will be working to catch up EVERYONE's threads then - thanks for your patience... Steve

As I have already mentioned, all of the info I have found on this site regarding framing is for "proper" methods which really are not an option for me due to space limitations. Would more simplified questions be easier? How about multiple choice? 1) Will using 2X6 walls be that much better than 2X4 walls? (Ie saving some space, worth the extra money for another 2" thichkness...) A) 2X6 B) 2X4 2) Sould I use insulation in the walls or leave the air space? A) Insulate B) Air Space 3) Sould I use insulation in the ceiling or leave the air space (bedrooms upstairs)? A) Insulate B) Air Space 4) Will using expanding foam to fill any holes (door jam, windows, etc) significantly reduce leakage or is fiber insulation better? A) Foam B) Insulation 5) Is there a significant difference between me using pink acoustical fibeglass insulation versus the hard to aquire/more expensive "proper" insulation (both are made by Owens Corning) considering my specific case? A) Pink B) Pricey 6) Will there be a significant difference in my ISo Booth if the inside measurements are just a few inches shy of the standard rule of indivisible measurements? IE 3' X 5' X 7' vs 32" X 43" X 7'? A) 3' X 5' X 7' B) As long as they follow th "indivisible rule." 7) Is using shielded wire recomended over stadard PVC plastic worth the investment? A) Shielded B) PVC As I said, I am going for as good as possible. It's not a professional studio at all. Just something I can record and make some decent demos with. Thanks.

1) Will using 2X6 walls be that much better than 2X4 walls? (Ie saving some space, worth the extra money for another 2" thichkness...) A) 2X6 B) 2X4 Using double 5/8" gypsum both sides with RC on one side, 2x4 framing gives about 5 dB WORSE isolation for low end (drums) than 2x6, but STC (centered @ 500 hZ) is the same. For drums, the extra low end iso would be worth it. If only ONE layer of 5/8 gyp on one side and two on the other, same story but 3 dB lower in each case. 2) Sould I use insulation in the walls or leave the air space? A) Insulate B) Air Space Insulate. improves performance by 6-10 dB in most cases, partly thru damping of panels. 3) Sould I use insulation in the ceiling or leave the air space (bedrooms upstairs)? A) Insulate B) Air Space Insulate. Same as (2). Between any two HEATED or CONDITIONED spaces, don't use ANYTHING that could be construed as a vapor barrier (just use naked batts with no facing) 4) Will using expanding foam to fill any holes (door jam, windows, etc) significantly reduce leakage or is fiber insulation better? A) Foam B) Insulation For those applications, either expanding foam or (better) acoustic rated caulk, with closed cell foam backer rod BEHIND the caulk - you don't want any 3-point fills or you're more likely to get separations/leaks with building movement. See http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... c&start=15 about halfway down the page for wall caulk methods - for all the "shims and air" cracks normally hidden by molding, stuff the crack with as much insulation as you can get in there, then caulk both sides - no backer rod needed, because the caulk bead will be against movable insulation instead of solid wood (by this, I mean immediately behind the bead of caulk - if this were wood or gypsum, it would be a 3-point caulk which is NOT a good idea) 5) Is there a significant difference between me using pink acoustical fibeglass insulation versus the hard to aquire/more expensive "proper" insulation (both are made by Owens Corning) considering my specific case? A) Pink B) Pricey Think pink - usually less than 1-2 dB difference for a BIG diff in price. 6) Will there be a significant difference in my ISo Booth if the inside measurements are just a few inches shy of the standard rule of indivisible measurements? IE 3' X 5' X 7' vs 32" X 43" X 7'? A) 3' X 5' X 7' B) As long as they follow th "indivisible rule." B, for the most part. If you like, give me your preferred INSIDE dimensions and I'll do a modal analysis to be sure. 7) Is using shielded wire recomended over stadard PVC plastic worth the investment? A) Shielded B) PVC This question confused me; all audio wire EXCEPT speaker wire is shielded - this is the foil or braid that's around the 1 or 2 inner conductors. Some wire uses PVC, some use vinyl, some use various types of rubber for a SHEATH... :? Kinda like the "multiple guess" format... Still working on tracking down all those broken links... Steve