hi Gav, you've come to the right place for advice before you start your build
You're missing an important part of your studio description, which is budget. This kind of build from the ground up is going to be 5 figures for sure. What the first figure is depends on how much of this you can DIY.
gavisthename wrote:My dimensions are 9ft wide by 20ft long, then the roof is 9ft tall sloping to 8ft. There will be no windows and only one door on the 9ft side leading into the studio.
Have a look around the site for 'room ratios'. You'll find there are a few different opinions, but as you haven't built the space yet you might find that adjusting your sizes even by 6 inches makes a difference. The room ratio will be talking about the finished inside surface of the room, not the outer brick surface, so you may have to nut out your exact wall construction first.
gavisthename wrote:Here is a 3d view (I'm a total newb at 3d modelling so learning as I go).
Image
you've got the right idea there, but as this is a small-ish room, I'd be using John's inside-out wall building technique as you'll need a LOT of treatment in that room to make it sound right. Again, look around and in John's design manual on this site.
A lot of peeople on here use sketchup to do 3D models etc. very handy program and easy to get the hang of.
gavisthename wrote:The building needs to be sound proof as I will be writing/mixing/mastering techno music with lots of sub frequencies at loud levels. I won't be recording amped guitars or live drums, but I might record some vocals, this will all be done in a one room construction.
Sound proofing = not possible
It might sound pedantic, but you need to get the hang of this right from the start. A sufficiently loud sound will penetrate anything. So what you're talking about is transmission loss. The kind of construction you're looking at there will probably give you around 60db TL. This assumes that everything is built correctly.
So first up you need to figure out how much TL you need in your construction, which means getting an actual db reading of the level you will be working at. Get yourself a good quality SPL meter like a Galaxy or similar and figure out your working level. Then figure out what level is acceptable outside your studio and subtract it from your working level. This will give you the TL you need to achieve.
As an example, I live in a very quiet town. outside ambient noise at 9pm is 40db (sometimes less). I planned my build on being able to track drums (110db or sometimes more) at night. That equals 70db TL, a big ask but not impossible. I ended up in the 60-something TL which still gets me there, as the closest neighbours are far enough away that they would never be able to hear the slight kick and snare that penetrate the studio.
gavisthename wrote:I've researched the room within a room construction and am aware of the various layers of material/mass needed to stop sound leaking out. Will I need the complete decoupling, insulation, vinyl barrier sandwiched between two layers of drywall if I'm not recording live bands? Drums? Hoping to keep the costs down, so if I don't need all that to stop my subwoofer from leaking out then that would be great.
Yep, you will need all of those things and probably more, and in more specific detail, but you have the right idea to start with:) A sub is amongst the hardest things to isolate because low freq will penetrate your construction the easiest. But again, figuring out how much isolation you need is the first step.
gavisthename wrote:
Also with the HVAC system ... can I get away with a cheap thing plugged into the wall if I'm recording live instruments?
get away with, yes. comfortably work with, probably not. You'll be building an air-proof room, which also means no oxygen. Daiken have made an air-con that will do air exchange as well which is ideal for the size of room your looking at. They're called Ururu Sarara. I've got two of them in my build and they're great.
all the best
steve
quick, cheap or good....pick any two.
