New Studio, from ground up. Canada Qc.

[gullfo]

i'd try to keep as much height as possible. maybe slope the ceiling - put in a false ceiling - with overhead hangers and some slats to keep things lively.

[Marc Duchesne]

Hi, here are the dimentions of the live room, height is 19' 10 1/2" at the highest point, 15' 11" at lowest and angled at 12 deg. Roughly 6300 cubic feet. Walls will be wood slats angled. Any suggestions on wood selection... It will also need acoustic treatments at some frequencies I guess. I will have some room modes calculations done to see. I still have to up the sketch file also. Thanks !

[gullfo]

I'm partial to hardwoods and pine but plywood and MDF can be used for slats. in some cases, the different thickness can help in creating broad band slat resonators walls. thicker wood and thinner slots = lower frequency (also deeper depth behind the slats will lower it). so you could vary 5/4", 1", 29/32", 3/4", 5/8", etc wood/MDF/plywood.

[Marc Duchesne]

I'm partial to hardwoods and pine but plywood and MDF can be used for slats. in some cases, the different thickness can help in creating broad band slat resonators walls. thicker wood and thinner slots = lower frequency (also deeper depth behind the slats will lower it). so you could vary 5/4", 1", 29/32", 3/4", 5/8", etc wood/MDF/plywood.

Hi Gullfo and thanks again for your help. Yes, I am planning using MDF in the live room as Slats with different sizes. One question. As I read, slats (Helmoholtz resonators) needs cavities behind them to resonate at a certain frequency (or freq. range). Do I need to construct an inside wall (I am talking the actual main frame exterior walls) in order to acheive good results or there is a construction method I can use to put the slats on the outside walls directly. I will also put some resonators 45 deg. in the corners. I did a estimated calculation of the room modes. (F0=28.81, F1=57.62, F2=86.43, F3=115.24 Hz) Since the width and depth dimension are the same, would I expect problems with F1 and F2. The ceiling I might make it completely flat with slats at an angle as you mentionned in earlier post. Will have to look at RT60 so I don't get too much reverberation.

[gullfo]

if you look at Sideshow's stickie you'll see inside-out wall construction which is what you're describing. when building it inside-out, you have a couple of options - one is to keep all the studs the same size and vary the slat size and slot width to create the frequency ranges (easier to build), or use a 2x4 stud on one end and a 2x8 stud on the other end to create an angled slat wall (more complex to build).

[Marc Duchesne]

Here is the link to download the sketchup file of the studio...

http://pages.royaume.com/digitek/Site/B ... 7E.skp.zip

Thanks
Marc

[gullfo]

ah... yeah, in this case, do the normal construction and then add trapping in the corners (slats work) and angled slats to create broadband trapping and angles to breakup flutter echos. as to what they need to be "tuned" to, once you have the basic construction done, do measurements and find out how the room is responding. since you have that really nice tall ceiling in the live room, you could put in a false ceiling about 3' below the top inner ceiling and put in some hanging traps and/or diffusers.

[Marc Duchesne]

Hi, yes I see. makes lot of sens, I guess that the air gap behing the insulation is not mandatory...

But if I built this way (with the slats and fabric directly on top of the insulation) I will have to compensate somehow for the layers that goes in the inside (I mean the vapor barrier and tentest insulation sheet). I will design and put up a wall cut view of this and post in construction forum.

Thanks !
Marc

[gullfo]

you want the wall construction to be the normal type - outside siding-vapor barrier-sheathing-framing w/ insulation-interior wall etc. the resonator treatments are separate and would be constructed using normal techniques as well (John has some fine examples in the Wall Unit section as well as through the site).

the ceiling interior construction would be to put drywall on the trusses as if you were creating a normal ceiling.

the false ceiling would be cloth stretched over a frame to hide the hanging absorbers. skyline diffusers could be attached to the false ceiling framing to add some diffusion so the false ceiling doesn't become totally absorptive. or you could add some slats to create some reflection.

[Marc Duchesne]

Ok got it, the outside drywall is pictured at the back, I though the cut was the actual outside wall. So, I have to built a deparate framing for the slats. I understand the slant angle would provide a wider frequency range absorbtion. Which could help. I ordered some sample fabrics from Guilford of Maine. The fabric behing the slats has to be flame retardant I assume. Any suggestions.
Thanks !
Marc

[gullfo]

you want flame retardent cloth. Guilford's is the famous brand but nearly any cloth properly treated will work as long as you can pass air through it. one trick is to paint the slat framing the same or as close a color as the cloth so you can't see them in wider gaps.

[Marc Duchesne]

Hi, ok, some changes in my plans...
I am planning to sell this house and built another for my studio. Since I just don't have enough room to access my backyard with the 20 feet studio width addition. Basically the same house but with an 180 feet X 300 Feet lot. Which would give me plenty of room. for construction.
Will ley you know how things are going...
Marc

[Marc Duchesne]

Ok, back to square one. I could not purchase the piece of land I was looking for. I will be though building a full basement in the extension in my actual home. The elevation will be higher by 4 feet (same as the house main floor). You will ear again from me soon...

Thanks for all your valuable help.

Marc

[Marc Duchesne]

Oh well, here I am again. Finally decided to sell the house next year et rebuilt from the ground up. After good advise, it will be more cost effective rebuilding the entire house. This way, I will not have the inconveniences fitting the studio to an existing building plus all other advantages. But a lot more work though. Back to my drawing board again. I guess only fools don't change their minds ; )

Thanks, Marc

[Marc Duchesne]

Ok, here I am again, already two years since I started. I am back to square one still with my first house and choose to keep it. I would like your advice on my choice of walls. I am leaning to using polycrete blocks (foam blocks filled with concrete). The price is a higher, I had an estimate of 17K$ from the footing to the highest wall (up to 20 feet at highest) I don't know if I am getting a fair estimate as the guy is the only distributor in the area anyone has any idea of what to expect for pricing. I think the acoustic benefits is excellent though. Will it be better to built four walls (including the left hand side of the house) using polycrete blocks. I am thinking it almost mandatory since I don't want sound leaking in the livingroom and in my daughter's room. Anyone has any experience with this type of construction and what to check for.

I am trying my new seventh circle audio mic pre's (A12 / N72) on AKG C12, nice nice nice...

Thanks again !
Marc