Temporary but sound-resistant walls?

I have a post in the design forum..no replies yet http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6836 But I have a question about wall construction. Is 4" insulation comparable to the scale of our project? Heres some details: We're thinking about putting up temporary walls in a basement for a demo studio. Our budget is only a few thousand dollars, so we cant afford double walls and sheetblock and all that. Were just looking for enough absorbtion and isolation as neccessary to produce demos and low budget albums. We have all the gear, now we just need to fix up the unfinished basement however we want to. There is 1 wall of just the frame running through the middle, we'll have to build around that cause I think its load 'bearing. (See post link above) We could put 4" thick auralex (cheap for us) mineral fiber insulation board between the studs and 2" insulation between 1"x2" we'll install against the concrete walls. the insulation should then be flush with the studs and we can lay 1/4" luan plywood over that. (4'x8' sheets with a molding strip every 2 feet) Same for the ceiling. We'll need to frame a wall between the control room and the vocal booth (which we'll make a lounge after expansion) This way..we can always strip off the luan, pop out the insulation, and take down the studs and move the wall to another location. I realize this isnt the best way to make a studio wall, but were just trying to do decent with what we have. So to reiterate my question, Is the 4" mineral fiber insulation board a good choice for these temporary walls, or will 2" or maybe something totally different do the job? Any other suggestions on constructing this temporary but terrific basement demo studio?

Temporary and sound resistant are practically mutually exclusive when it comes to construction. There are ways to treat walls and ceilings with temporary lightweight materials to make the space sound better... But when it comes to achieving any decent levels of isolation, I'm afraid there is no substitute for mass-air-mass. FYI, "sheetblock," also known as "mass loaded vinyl," is a rip-off... So don't even think about it. See this thread (and many others) for testimony on that. --Keith :mrgreen:

There are ways to treat walls and ceilings with temporary lightweight materials to make the space sound better

We'll get some auralex panels for that...were gonna be building the walls so we might as well put some good stuff in em...any reccommendations?

I'd suggest starting here and following all of the guidelines, which will minimize the number of clarification questions that we would ask of you. :-)

Sorry if i wasnt clear enough..i thought i followed all the guidlines...i linked to my other post (which hasnt been answered yet) cause it has some more general details. This is really an important project, but theres so much to do, i dont know where to start! I'll try to borrow a camera and take some pics of the walls so you can see what Im talking about. PS.. maybe you can make a form we can all fill out and post as an attachment, so we dont miss anything

Actually, I guess there IS a system of effective portable soundproofing enclosures... I don't know how expensive these all are... but they sure as heck are portable/movable/temporary.... the following pics illustrate 3 different versions:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: I vote those pics become part of a sticky :twisted: :twisted:

I especially like the top pic... Seems to be a two-part harmony vocal rehearsal 'chamber'... Just try to avoid garlic-containing meals before usage... K

How about the way all the pipe smoke gets trapped the "cone"? :shock: RedBlip, just in case you don't recognize the 1960s TV show from the photos, those are images from Get Smart of the infamous Cone of Silence: "used for secret communications between agents in Get Smart - the joke being that the echo caused by two people conversing under a large inverted wok rendered speech incomprehensible." Hilarious! (If not... You had to be there... ;-)) I sure hope you don't think we're teasing you. Your situation is quite common -- so common, in fact, that there is no shortage of rip-off artists all over the world foaming at the mouth to sell you products that don't work. My pointing you to the "Before You Post" announcement for another review of the important items and information there was intended to get you going in the right direction. Your limited budget makes it all the more important not to make any costly mistakes. Your idea about having a form that can be completed and posted as an attachment is pretty cool -- too bad there's not a way to tightly integrate such a form into the forum itself so that entry of such form fields can be enforced electronically. However, I would guess that most people would skip right over it. I'm not a moderator or owner, though (hence, the "mere mortal" title I have rightfully earned here ;-)), so my opinion on that isn't very relevant! :lol: After revisiting that introductory announcement, and especially the "Reference Area" thread that is linked from it, we stand ready to answer any questions you may have and look forward to more details about your situation. Just understand ahead of time that there really is no ignoring the fact that achieving effective and efficient sound isolation (sometimes called "soundproofing" -- whatever that means) requires mass, then air, then mass. --Keith :mrgreen: