Relocating my studio, need building tips

May 12, 2005
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Hi!
Me and the band are currently about to relocate our studio to a new house with great opportunities.

The new place will have a recording/rehearsalroom, a lounge and a control/mixing room and we're gonna start renovating it in july.

The wall between the recordingroom and the mixroom is currently non-existant though, it was torn down a couple of years ago and now we aim to rebuild it.

How thick should such a wall be? I guess the greater the thickness the bigger the insulation, and right now we're thinking about doing two layers of drywall with some mineralwool inbetween -> framing with rockwool -> two layers of drywall with mineralwool in between. The main question is how wide the framing should be?

How would you have done it?

Our budget is of course not unlimited but we'd still like the room to be as insulated as possible.
 
I used 2 walls between my mix and tracking rooms, I used 2 sheets of standard 5/8 drywall and 1 sheet of soundboard underneath, I used standard Insulation as well. But I caulked all the studs to the soundboard, I also Used 2 pieces of 1/2 glass between the rooms. Its more than effective for Its purpose. Good luck!
 
I'm a Carpenter/General Contractor during the day. I've built a few studios myself, as well as a whole lot of custom-designed homes. If you are using Mineral Wool insulation, I assume you want to use it's because it fire-rated. If that's the case, then great, but you'll want fire-rated wood and sheetrock as well. Otherwise, what's the point? If you don't care about the fire rating, you can get everything for a whole lot cheaper, and still get the same - if not better - sound proofing.

Regardless, you have 2 possibilities from my book. 1 is for Professional Carpenters/Builders. 1 is for "Joe Homeowner". I don't want to lay them both out if I don't have to, because both involve a lot of details. So, which one do you want?
 
I guess I want whatever's the most bang for the buck.
We've got a couple of carpenters in the neighbourhood so if it gets to technical for us we can always get their help :)

I'm a Carpenter/General Contractor during the day. I've built a few studios myself, as well as a whole lot of custom-designed homes. If you are using Mineral Wool insulation, I assume you want to use it's because it fire-rated. If that's the case, then great, but you'll want fire-rated wood and sheetrock as well. Otherwise, what's the point? If you don't care about the fire rating, you can get everything for a whole lot cheaper, and still get the same - if not better - sound proofing.

Regardless, you have 2 possibilities from my book. 1 is for Professional Carpenters/Builders. 1 is for "Joe Homeowner". I don't want to lay them both out if I don't have to, because both involve a lot of details. So, which one do you want?
 
The wall between our control room and live room is 2 layers of 12.5 mm gypsum on 47x77mm timber studs with rocksilk mineral wool insulation between.

You would get better isolation with 3 layers on either side, and better still if you use Green Glue. Our biggest problem is sound transmitted through the floor. But we couldn't really do much about that. :(
 
I guess I want whatever's the most bang for the buck.
We've got a couple of carpenters in the neighbourhood so if it gets to technical for us we can always get their help :)

Okay... Bang for the buck then... Now, I'm going to have to give the info based on standard measurements. I don't know jack about the metric system. But... Give me until tomorrow, and I'll put up everything you need to know.
 
Our biggest problem is sound transmitted through the floor. But we couldn't really do much about that. :(

I always put down a dense 3/4-inch-thick carpet padding, and then lay "tongue & groove" hardwood laminated flooring down. Then "seal the deal" with adhesive vinyl base. Tremendous help.
 
In our control room we laid a layer of 18mm MDF on top of acoustic foam underlay then topped it with laminate. It helps, but only so much. A sand-filled floating deck would have been ideal but we don't have the ceiling clearance.
 
I love threads like this.

Makes me dream / wish of finally being able to do the same thing.

Sounds like Tommy Gun has some good input.
 
Well we have a slanted roof so on one side we have plenty of clearance ;-)

I think we're gonna build isorooms in the corners of the liverooms so we can track guitar and bass simultaneously to drumtracking.
 
Cool. I usually just track the bass later though. i like to have ALL the editing done, especially for the kick drums, before tracking the bass. I've tracked drummers before that needed a little extra Quantizing, and if that had not been done prior to tracking bass, the whole recording would've come out very loose and sloppy.

As for the build-out instructions... They are almost done. i'll have them up in a couple of hours.
 
Okay...
How to separate your Live room from your mix room:

You'll be framing one wall. Build it out of 2x6's (or metric equivalent). I know it's not a load-baring wall, but you'll still want to do it at 16-inches on center (That's a stud every 16 inches).

Once the wood frame is up, find ALL your gaps between your new wall and the existing room (there WILL be some). Fill them all with either "Spray-Foam" insulation, or Painter's Caulk. It doesn't hurt to Caulk the rest of the edges as well, all the way around the wall, wherever it meets with the existing room.

Then, run your electric work. I would go with, at least, 4 outlets and any necessary switches on EACH side of the wall.

Then, you'll want to pick a side to hang your first layer of rock. Use 2 layers of Drywall/Sheetrock. And YES, you want to put a "finish coat" of mud on the first layer before moving on to the second layer.

Once you have one side of the wall "rocked", insulate the wall. Stuff that bitch good too! You want so much insulation in there, that you'll doing some pushing to hang your next layer of rock over it. After insulation, put up 2 more layers of rock on the open side, not forgetting to mud/finish-coat each layer individually.

Then, install your door frame and door (make sure it's a solid-core door). Once the door frame is leveled and secured, you can drill some holes down the center and fill the air space with spray-foam insulation. Then hang the door, and caulk the frame to the wall.

Follow the same procedure with your window, if you are putting one in. But, make sure you know what you need to get the window done correctly. 2 sheets of double-pane glass, one needs to be about 1 inch wider than the other. You'll need to have already framed out for you window size. Whatever the measurements are for the smaller piece of glass, add a 1/4-inch to the height and width of the window frame, to give yourself some play. And remember: The smaller the window area, the smaller the chance for sound getting through.

The glass on the control room side can be mounted straight up and down, and therefor will be the smaller piece. But the glass on the live room side should be mounted at an angle, leaning out at the the top, which is why you'll need the wider piece. You'll need some trim wood. I usually use simple 1x1 square trim. Measure to the center of the window frame and nail a "spine" of 1x1 all the way around the inside-center of the frame. That gives you a "backer" to put your first piece of glass against. Once your control room glass is in place, secure the outside with trim wood the same way. And make sure it pushes the glass tightly against the trim "backer". You don't want that glass rattling around. Caulk all the trim on both sides to the glass and to the frame.

Then, in the live room, place the bottom edge of your 2nd piece of glass against the 1x1, so you'll wind up with at least 1 inch of air space between the 2 pieces of glass, at the bottom. Lean the glass up, into the frame, until it touches the frame at the top. Remember: This piece will be leaning out towards you at the top. Take a pencil or thin marker and draw a line, tracing the window, on the frame, while someone else holds the glass up. Then take your glass down for a minute, and nail trim "backer" along the inside of your lines, up the sides and along the top. This supplies you with your "backer" for the live room glass. Once again, put the glass in place and nail the trim wood in front of it so that it's tight, no movement in the glass. And once again, caulk all the joints.

Last, but not least... PAINT THE FUCKER! You'd be surprised how much sound will get through without a couple of coats of paint.

**If anyone has anything to add, besides the obvious "Don't forget to put up your studio foam", I welcome the input.
 
Thanks a lot! Now I feel that I've got a good starting point.
We'll start buying stuff today as our local hardware store are having a sale on insulation and we'll start building in July. I'll be sure to post samples.

Regarding the "recording bass live" bit I definitely agree with you when coming to metal and so on, but the band I'm in now are playing some kind of 70's rock and we'd really like to capture our "live" vibe when recording.

Most of the time we simply rerecord small pieces of the basstrack if the bassdrum needs to be edited here and there though =)

Again; thanks!

Okay...
How to separate your Live room from your mix room:

You'll be framing one wall. Build it out of 2x6's (or metric equivalent). I know it's not a load-baring wall, but you'll still want to do it at 16-inches on center (That's a stud every 16 inches).

Once the wood frame is up, find ALL your gaps between your new wall and the existing room (there WILL be some). Fill them all with either "Spray-Foam" insulation, or Painter's Caulk. It doesn't hurt to Caulk the rest of the edges as well, all the way around the wall, wherever it meets with the existing room.

Then, run your electric work. I would go with, at least, 4 outlets and any necessary switches on EACH side of the wall.

Then, you'll want to pick a side to hang your first layer of rock. Use 2 layers of Drywall/Sheetrock. And YES, you want to put a "finish coat" of mud on the first layer before moving on to the second layer.

Once you have one side of the wall "rocked", insulate the wall. Stuff that bitch good too! You want so much insulation in there, that you'll doing some pushing to hang your next layer of rock over it. After insulation, put up 2 more layers of rock on the open side, not forgetting to mud/finish-coat each layer individually.

Then, install your door frame and door (make sure it's a solid-core door). Once the door frame is leveled and secured, you can drill some holes down the center and fill the air space with spray-foam insulation. Then hang the door, and caulk the frame to the wall.

Follow the same procedure with your window, if you are putting one in. But, make sure you know what you need to get the window done correctly. 2 sheets of double-pane glass, one needs to be about 1 inch wider than the other. You'll need to have already framed out for you window size. Whatever the measurements are for the smaller piece of glass, add a 1/4-inch to the height and width of the window frame, to give yourself some play. And remember: The smaller the window area, the smaller the chance for sound getting through.

The glass on the control room side can be mounted straight up and down, and therefor will be the smaller piece. But the glass on the live room side should be mounted at an angle, leaning out at the the top, which is why you'll need the wider piece. You'll need some trim wood. I usually use simple 1x1 square trim. Measure to the center of the window frame and nail a "spine" of 1x1 all the way around the inside-center of the frame. That gives you a "backer" to put your first piece of glass against. Once your control room glass is in place, secure the outside with trim wood the same way. And make sure it pushes the glass tightly against the trim "backer". You don't want that glass rattling around. Caulk all the trim on both sides to the glass and to the frame.

Then, in the live room, place the bottom edge of your 2nd piece of glass against the 1x1, so you'll wind up with at least 1 inch of air space between the 2 pieces of glass, at the bottom. Lean the glass up, into the frame, until it touches the frame at the top. Remember: This piece will be leaning out towards you at the top. Take a pencil or thin marker and draw a line, tracing the window, on the frame, while someone else holds the glass up. Then take your glass down for a minute, and nail trim "backer" along the inside of your lines, up the sides and along the top. This supplies you with your "backer" for the live room glass. Once again, put the glass in place and nail the trim wood in front of it so that it's tight, no movement in the glass. And once again, caulk all the joints.

Last, but not least... PAINT THE FUCKER! You'd be surprised how much sound will get through without a couple of coats of paint.

**If anyone has anything to add, besides the obvious "Don't forget to put up your studio foam", I welcome the input.
 
You need the F. Alton Everest books. Go to Amazon and type that name in. Buy all three of them. Everything you ever needed to know about studio construction, standing waves, the whole bit. I built three rooms from those books. Then find an online acoustic calculator so you can enter your dimensions and adjust them to get the least amount of overlapping standing waves. Take a few months to read the books and let it sink in. Then get to work!

Cheers,

Colin
 
So we've started doing the build now; the process so far can be viewed here: http://egonaut.blogspot.com
We've framed the wall and rocked one side, we'll caulk all gaps and slap on the rock on the remaining walls in the mixroom tomorrow.

On monday we'll get the rest of the sheetrock and the insulation for the wall.

We decided to go with the same frame thickness as in the current studio, as it seems to be working well.