Recording/Rehearsal studio in an urban brick garage

HI, I am in the process of designing a small studio in my garage out the back of my house, used for recording and rehearsal for my band. I live in typical urbanity (Keilor, Victoria, Australia) with houses each side and to the back, but RIGHT next door is the neighbours garage (see front image below) We are a loud band (think AC/DC) :twisted: so we're going to have to have some decent sound proofing. I am a complete noob when it comes to construction, so please bear with me as I learn the lingo The existing construction is as follows: Floor - Concrete Slab Walls - Double brick (Bricks are 23 x 7.5 x 10 cm) with some brick pylons spaced evenly on two of the inside sides of the garage. Ceiling - Tin top (the tin with ripples, but not corrigated) which is nailed on some wooden beams (19 x 4.5 cm x length of garage). Stapled to the bottom of the beams is some blue plastic stuff (looks like tarpolan) and on top of that there is some pink bats insulation. Nailed to the wooden beams (from underneath through the blue plastic stuff) is some wood sheeting about 5 mill thick.

I have a builder friend who suggested using masonary to create the inner wall (40cm x 20cm x 16cm core filled blocks) they will be filled with polystyrene balls (like you get in a bean bag). He will leave leave slots fo the roofing at 450mill centers so that I can put wooden beams in and then some gyprock and insulation. On the inside walls will be 12 mill gyprock. I will also brick up the window that is there at the moment.

my budget is around 5k AUD give or take ok so my questions are: 1) are there any glaring errors? 2) What sort of ventalation should I use? I have no idea what will be suitable. 3) How do I connect the microphones in the inner room to my desk outside - do I leave a hole in the wall?? (told you I was a noob) OK I think I've answered question 3) - I need to install a patchbay. I have a phantom microphone, and it appears that I can use this through a patch bay if the sockets are "normalled" is that correct?

Don’t know if it helps but, I made a large box (coffin size) and made the air flow though a variety of wells above the studio’s ceiling. Inside this coffin, I packed it with fibreglass and covered it with ground cover plastic (got small holes in it). The air then has to go around all of this fibreglass panels to escape thereby the sound gets absorbed. One end of the muffle I attached some duct to the studio and the other end I attached duct up to the roof where it was attached to a whirly fan thingy. At the studio end, I put a plain bathroom exhaust fan to suck up the stale air. My regret is that I didn’t put it at the far end opposite the door to maximize the amount of air moved. It works very well. I will state however that studios get very hot when full of bodies and equipment. I bought a reverse cycle standard air conditioner to heat/cool the room. It is now going to be placed in the sound lock near the exit door. The air con’ is not quiet but I can switch if off when recording by remote thereby saving $100's of dollars. If you are worried about the sound leakage, you can make a heavy duty cover that clamps over the face of the air con’. :D I am new here so someone else might have some better ideas. I would also think of the break down on equipment of the studio eg leads 15-10% air con X% furnishings X% and recording equipment etc. Hope this helps. :D

By the way, this might tread on a few feet here :? but have you considered using cameras rather than a window? They are cheaper and less chance of noise leaking out. B/w camera kits @ $99.oo Australian or opt for wireless ones for a couple of hundred more.

The wire bit I have decided to fill the gaps with sheet lead around the wires. But maybe someone else has a better idea? Maybe you should also make a sound lock? The wires can be routed via the sound lock.

null wrote:

OK I think I've answered question 3) - I need to install a patchbay. I have a phantom microphone, and it appears that I can use this through a patch bay if the sockets are "normalled" is that correct?

check in the wiring forum here. I think if you have phantom power going through your patch you want to have it open to reduce the risk of shorting something as you insert and remove plugs. AaronW posted something recently so read his advice to be sure. on the design, could you post your sketchup file?

Hey guys thanks for the suggestions, really appreciate it. I have changed the design slightly to allow for a bit more room for rehearsing. THis is going to reduce the size of the control room but I don't mind because if worst comes to worst I can extend out the front of the garage where the roller door is ($$ permitting). I've included the skp file below

If it were me, I'd scrap the separate control room if it has to be that small, and make due with a one-room studio design. The engineer can use headphones if there are live mics. I think it would be an insurmountable challenge to get a good sound in a control room of that size and shape.

jwl wrote:

If it were me, I'd scrap the separate control room if it has to be that small, and make due with a one-room studio design. The engineer can use headphones if there are live mics. I think it would be an insurmountable challenge to get a good sound in a control room of that size and shape.

Definitly... Also a one room approach is more fun, especially if you're a musician too

Hi guys yes I agree that the control room is too small. This is why I thought that later on (after I have completed the live room) I could extend the control room outside the front roller door:

Ok I've scrapped the separate control room. I'm thinking now of putting the inner wall all the way around the garage, and just separating one room off just big enough for a drum kit so I can isolate one instrument at a time. The rest of the room could be used for rehearsal. Stay tuned for a revised design (once I get back from work) :wink: