John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

First of all, hello!

I'm considering building a one-room rehearsal space in my basement; dimensions will be around 18x12, but the kicker is the height of 7' from basement floor to joists.

Given that I have about 6" to work with to keep reasonable height within the room, is this even doable if I want to achieve any "worthwhile" reduction in dB?

By worthwhile, I'd like at worst a 30 dB reduction to take a typical jam session down from 95-100dB to 65-70dB in the house/floor above it.

House is a bungalow that's roughly 1200' feet; built in the 1930s, brick. Hardwood floors throughout the main floor.

I'm in the self-doubting phase of this project, so I need someone to say yay/nay so I can get started or look for an alternative.

Hi there "gravyface". Welcome.

Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things!

That said, what you want is doable, and has been done. 30 dB reduction is roughly what a typical house wall gives you, so it is certainly very feasible. In other words, done right you can get much better than that. I'd shoot for 40 or even more. And it can be done within your height constraints, too. The issue, of course, will be that you¿ll end up with a low ceiling, which is not good acoustically, but as people say around here: if that's what you have, then that's what you have! I'm betting that a well isolated but non-optimal room is better than no room at all!

So I'd say: go for it! It won't be great, but it can still bee darned good, of designed and built right.


- Stuart -







- Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:Hi there "gravyface". Welcome.

Please read the forum rules for posting (click here). You seem to be missing a couple of things!

That said, what you want is doable, and has been done. 30 dB reduction is roughly what a typical house wall gives you, so it is certainly very feasible. In other words, done right you can get much better than that. I'd shoot for 40 or even more. And it can be done within your height constraints, too. The issue, of course, will be that you¿ll end up with a low ceiling, which is not good acoustically, but as people say around here: if that's what you have, then that's what you have! I'm betting that a well isolated but non-optimal room is better than no room at all!

So I'd say: go for it! It won't be great, but it can still bee darned good, of designed and built right.


- Stuart -







- Stuart -

Thank you Stuart. And my apologies for not reading the forum rules first: I've been a member of forums since BBS and Usenet days, so I skipped the rules as I figured it was the usual "be nice/no slander/racism" thing.

Be back shortly.

Perhaps acoustic ceiling tiles?