Building a vocal recording booth in the cellar

[Renoized]

Hello everyone,

Another musician here looking to not disturb his neighbours when recording, specifically me singing. We have a storage space in the cellar I intend to use (yes it's messy!).

IMG_20210219_195525.jpg

There's a concrete floor with nothing below, and more storage on either side, so if some noise leaks in those directions it's not a huge problem. However I'm concerned about noise travelling upwards as there is a shop/business space above (currently empty, but whoever takes it after me won't want to hear me singing) and I've heard people playing piano from up there before, as it used to belong to a vocal coach.

So now onto my plans. I would like to build a room within a room something like this and because of the awkward pipes in the back left corner I'm just going to make it a bit narrower and avoid them.:

room1.png

The outer dimensions are 1.5m x 2m, making it 1.8m x 1.3m ish inside and I'm using Rockwoll Sonorock Acoustic for insulation. If anyone has a recommendation for an acoustic sealant I would be happy to hear it!

Question #1: Should I back my walls off the existing rear and right walls? Would an air gap help stop the sound travelling into the walls and upwards? If so how much of a gap?

Question #2: I have the space to double up the ceiling thickness, possibly with an air gap inside, would this achieve anything if the other walls are only 100mm thick?

Question #3: I have two solid wood doors I was planning to use for this, but would it actually be better to construct my own door for this with Rockwool inside?

Thanks for the help
Alex

[gullfo]

i would build the entire framing to mirror the contours of the existing walls leaving about a 1" gap from those walls and pipes to the interior frame. since it's small, an inside-out approach would be a idea. 3x 5/8" type x gwb on the outside of the frame, fil the air gap between the exterior wall and gwb with semi rigid insulation.

[Renoized]

Hey Glenn, thanks for the info. I'm afraid I'll need a little more explanation!

3x 5/8" type x gwb --> this is plasterboard of some kind, right? and you say three sheets thick? And then more insulation between this outer wall and the existing walls. I've attached a drawing below, tell me if I've understood you correctly. Maybe the same with the ceiling?

I'm not sure what you mean by inside out approach, Google just gives me a load of marketing articles. Could you link me to something?

Also not sure what you mean about the pipes. Are you saying I should avoid them completely? The lower side of those pipes is going to be about 2m, judging by the door. Then adding a ceiling under that will make it uncomfortably low. I'm 1.78m.

If I need to incorporate the horizontal pipes (the one in the back left corner is annoyingly placed) what would you suggest?

[BackEastDon]

I'm not sure what you mean by inside out approach, Google just gives me a load of marketing articles. Could you link me to something?

I'm pretty sure he means to skip the 1x plasterboard on the inside. Cover the walls instead with fabric and the walls become your sound treatment.

[gullfo]

'zactly! framed with drywall on outside, then filled with insulation and cover with cloth. add lights and ventilation (air is important), and a door.

[Renoized]

I'm pretty sure he means to skip the 1x plasterboard on the inside. Cover the walls instead with fabric and the walls become your sound treatment.

Riiiiiiiight, will do!

Thank you for taking the time to sketch that, Glenn. However going under the pipes would make the booth very low inside, less than 1.8m/6ft!

What could I do about building the ceiling higher than that and have them coming through the walls?

[gullfo]

you could incorporate the pipes into your space (probably not best) or build up some framing around them to maximize the height (think "soffits") but this is more complex. either way inside-out or not, you'll have those pipes to deal with. another option, possibly the hardest, is to re-route the pipes so they're as far out of the way as possible.

[Renoized]

As I'm renting I can't really do anything about the pipes, although I understand it would be a lot better if they weren't there. I suppose framing them in the ceiling construction would be possible although the ceiling would still be low. For the space I'd prefer to just take them through each of the walls. Are there any specific things I should think about in this case?

I'm thinking cut the plasterboard as close to the shape of the pipe as possible and use acoustic sealant? Maybe some expanding foam around it?

[gullfo]

you're probably better off stuff insulation in the spaces since it's a rented space and if they decide to tear it out (or make you do it) it will be easier to clean up. no matter what you do the space it very small. personally, i'd find another space but this might be your only option. then again, contemplate the cost of the build, your usage rate (daily, weekly, etc) versus just finding an inexpensive rehearsal studio to do the work...

[Renoized]

Argh, you're right. I should look into inexpensive places near me, but I'd really like to have a space at home where I can just record. Maybe I'm just being silly, but I'll do some more research and compare it to the cost of building it. I intend to rent here for years to come, so in the long run it might make sense, but as you say they might tear it out!

Once again thanks for all your advice either way, Glenn.