John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hey all,
been a while.
Some changes to my project.
First I have sold my current property (YAY!)
and we are in the process of starting a new build.

The studio plan has changes slightly.
We are now building an American style barn which will house the studio.
And since our nearest neighbour will be slightly further away than first thought (probs more like 10 to 12 mtrs)
my isolation requirement are slight less (another YAY!)

I had a chat with John recently (thanks for your advice John!!) re how to deal with adding mass to the barn and I am going to go with 2 layers of concrete sheeting to line the inside of the barn.

My footprint in now slightly smaller. 9x12 (as apposed to 9.5x13.5)

Having read more and hopefully learnt more in the last couple months I believe my original wall configuration is not ideal.
Initially I was concentrating on keeping a 2 leaf system throughout but I think in doing so I have neglected the MSM principle.

Below is the orig layout with:
external walls (leaf 1) in brown
internal walls (leaf 2) in beige
air gap in pink.

In this design leaf 1 is Cinder block.
Between CR and LR is it creating a MSMSM situation? (the same applies between several of the rooms)
And between the CR and the outside world on the West side is it not the same with the ENTRY area acting as a Spring?
I guess the simple question is:
should all these leaf 1 walls (apart from the outside ones of course) be removed in order to maintain MSM between rooms?

Tim

anyone got an answer re: the MSM question above?

btw Finance fell through on our bid for the block we were planning to build on (BOO!!!)
So now I am on the hunt for a better/different deal. A couple of ideas in the pipeline.
I'll keep you all posted.

Bummer about the financing! But hopefully you'll find an even better place, even cheaper, anf with better financing options!

About the MSM question:

I am going to go with 2 layers of concrete sheeting to line the inside of the barn.

Smart move! Lots of mass in a small thickness.

I think in doing so I have neglected the MSM principle.

Yep! All your rooms are 3-leaf... HEre's how it should look, to be 2-leaf:
2-leaf MSM means that between any pair of rooms, there are only two leaves. So if you are standing in one room and could walk through the walls, you would encounter only two sets of mass on your way, with only one air gap in between.

should all these leaf 1 walls (apart from the outside ones of course) be removed in order to maintain MSM between rooms?

Correct.

I'm not sure what the purpose of "Ent" is, nor what the purpose of the "thing" on the right between the two iso-booths, but assuming they are not part of the studio itself (eg, lobby, storage, office, bathroom, etc.) then they are part of the outer leaf, and don't need separate inner-leaves. So that's why I left them as single-leaf.

- Stuart -