John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi guys,
I'm buying a new house and could use some advice on where to place a jam area in the separate garage. This will primarily be to isolate the sound of my drums from my neighbors, but occasionally will want to play with a band. We will not be recording anything in here so it doesn't need to sound good. Looking for advice on where to place this "room" but also how much construction I realistically need to do. This garage is on a concrete slab and there is a guest unit above that we'll be renting out sporadically (I wouldn't play if the renters were home so we're not going for maximum isolation). In my mind, this would be considered a 2-leaf already since there's so much empty space between the garage ceiling and the actual roof (but I'm new to this so please correct me). Either Option I go with, I'd also cover the main garage door and side door with an acoustic curtain so I could still use both. Then I'd build a plug for the garage window. The drums are also already on a wheeled riser--see attached.

Budget - $2000 (with discounts from construction friend)

Decibels - No reading yet. It will be months before I can take a proper reading. But shooting for 10-20db reduction.

Option A - 11x7x9. Would butt up against the water heater, leaving a foot of clearance (would need to move the furthest white cabinet & bookcase so I could access water heater for maintenance). Behind this corner of the house is just a small garden (no other air gaps between this wall and the neighbors).

Option B - 12x8x8. This is a weird idea, but hear me out. Behind the white cabinets is a wall, then a staircase behind that. See the additional photos for context--the white door outside leads upstairs to the guest unit. I was thinking of using the perimeter of the white cabinets as the left wall of this jam area, then just extending a frame to the right of it. I'm wondering if if I could get away with a simple frame and then using moving blankets to isolate. I know this is the cheap way to go and is only effective at blocking out higher frequencies--but I'd rather test the minimal solution before spending thousands of dollars for a permanent room. I also still need access to the cabinets.

Option C - Whatever suggestions you may have! I don't want a room smack dab in the middle of the garage as that will severely limit the usability of the rest of the space.

Thanks in advance!

Bump. Hope I didn't scare you away with Option B.

Hello & howdo'?
Firstly, you have come to the right place! As they used to say on The X Files - "the truth is out there" (or rather in here)! This is essentially a self help resource and if you take the time and effort, you'll be able to find what you need to know. Secondly, I confess that I don't 100% understand what you are proposing in terms of a build. The dimensions look small (especially for a whole band) and it's possible to burn through $2000 in the blink of an eye! The best advice I can offer here & now is to encourage you to read through this member's thread which follows a garage build in Sacremento and apply that process to your own project. Don't stop there, read other threads, the reference section of this forum and the standard texts (Rod Gervais, F. Alton Everest) before you do anything - I guarantee you'll be glad you did. Good luck and best wishes, John.
http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2921

I'd also cover the main garage door and side door with an acoustic curtain so I could still use both.

What product are you referring to when you say acoustic curtain? Sadly, I'm not aware of any curtain that you can just hang over a leaky opening and achieve great isolation. Care to show a link with some lab data?

Then I'd build a plug for the garage window.

A proper plug is the way to achieve isolation

The drums are also already on a wheeled riser--see attached.

If you want to tame structure borne transmission, then you should build a riser on insulation. I doubt your existing riser is doing much in that sense. Note, a riser will not help sound from blasting through walls or the ceiling.

But shooting for 10-20db reduction.

Do you mean 10-20dB MORE that there already is?

I'm wondering if if I could get away with a simple frame and then using moving blankets to isolate.

The moving blankets will block a very little amount of very high frequencies. The low frequencies are the ones that are going to cause the cops to show up!

If you spend some time cruising the forum (the search feature is very very helpful), you'll get a better idea of what it takes to stop sound. As mentioned above, you can rip through $2000 in a single Home Depot trip. Also, you need to consider ventilation. This will at least require 1 supply and 1 return silencer box with an inline duct fan. Note, a single home made acoustic door (you will at LEAST need one of these) is going to run you around $1000. For the minimal isolation you seem to require, I'd suggest checking out isolation clips and hat. But this method is still wicked expensive and still requires a lot of work sealing your outer layer.

Greg

Thanks for the input, guys! Regardless of what I end building, do you think A or B is a better placement given the circumstances that I've outlined?

Thanks for the input, guys! Regardless of what I end building, do you think A or B is a better placement given the circumstances that I've outlined?

Both have their quirks. I really can't say which I'd do at this point if I were you. Go with whichever one makes the most sense to you.

Greg