Building a Control Room Check it out!

[Bguzaldo]

Just started today and things are movin' real fast. The goal is to isolate my live room from my soon to be control room. I don't have any carpentry experience so this is going to be rather interesting, the thought of an 18 year old with a butt load of power tools is enough to paralyze my mom! But I've been safe and alls well. I'm gonna try my hand at the "picture blogs" because I always have a good time looking at them so I hope you do too!

Thanks,
-Barrett

 

[Bguzaldo]

And we're Off!

 

[Bguzaldo]

Before........

 

[Bguzaldo]

After Day 1.....

 

[RawDepth]

My first question is...How does an 18 year old get his hands on that much equipment? Your mom must be pretty generous. (Just kidding, that's your business.) Is that you in the last pic? Gees, you don't look a day over 17.

Looking good so far. Isolation from the rest of the house and neighbors is the hardest part. Noise travels right through the lumber of the home. Especially bass.

And outside too. Just yesterday a guitar player was here recording rhythm parts. His amp was set to maybe 8 on a 10 scale. I walked outside while he played and could hear it clear as a bell down at the mailbox. I need to build a new wall in front of the window in my live room.

Anyway, keep the pictures coming. We enjoy them. And some of us learn from them.

PS. Are they NS10's in that first pic?

 

[dodgeaspen]

Nice pics. I hate to be nosy but what kind of reel is that. Looks very nice. At first I thought it was a Teac x1000-r but the tape width looks to be 1/2 instead of 1/4. Keep the picks coming.

 

[dodgeaspen]

Nice pics. I hate to be nosy but what kind of reel is that. Looks very nice. At first I thought it was a Teac x1000-r but the tape width looks to be 1/2 instead of 1/4. Keep the picks coming.

Doesn't look like 1/2 either. I'm goin" nuts.

 

[Bguzaldo]

Hahaha she's the tascam MSR 24. 1" 24 track. absolutely love it!

 

[Bguzaldo]

My first question is...How does an 18 year old get his hands on that much equipment? Your mom must be pretty generous. (Just kidding, that's your business.) Is that you in the last pic? Gees, you don't look a day over 17.

Looking good so far. Isolation from the rest of the house and neighbors is the hardest part. Noise travels right through the lumber of the home. Especially bass.

And outside too. Just yesterday a guitar player was here recording rhythm parts. His amp was set to maybe 8 on a 10 scale. I walked outside while he played and could hear it clear as a bell down at the mailbox. I need to build a new wall in front of the window in my live room.

Anyway, keep the pictures coming. We enjoy them. And some of us learn from them.

PS. Are they NS10's in that first pic?

Lucky for me we just had an addition put on our house and the isolation from the outside is very good. I had to test to see if you could hear a drum kit from my neighbors house. Nothing! Haha the kid is my little brother he loves helping me out when I have my crazy antics in the basement. The speakers are the HS 50's I don't have the balls to mix on NS 10!!

Thanks for the comments more pictures will be up tonight!
-Barrett

 

[Bguzaldo]

Day Two, Dry Wall. The bulk of it is out of the way. Now just for the hard stuff, window and doors....

 

[Bguzaldo]

I went with a 4 leaf assembly and put 2 layers of drywall on the outside of the studs. I hope this is gonna get me the iso I need! It's a toss up at this point, I really have no clue how it's going to turn out.

I just ordered 2 panes of 1/2" laminate glass from a friend who is a glass distributor for very cheap. Just gotta work on getting the magnetic weather stripping and trunk rubber for the doors. I'm gonna hang two doors with about 15" between them. Each door is about 150 lbs no kidding. I've got plenty of mass on my hands here so I'm thinking I might be able to actually do this! Hahah.

I've run into a problem. Getting my cables through the wall... I made a "tunnel" for them in the wall outta just scrap 2 x 4s but I'm sure that needs to be sealed off somehow....I was thinking of putting the cables through, framing it with drywall, and then caulking it? But I dunno if I want my cables in there that permanently and also I'm always adding gear to my racks....

Thanks for tuning in (if there is anyone there...)
-Barrett

 

[pandamonk]

I went with a 4 leaf assembly and put 2 layers of drywall on the outside of the studs. I hope this is gonna get me the iso I need! It's a toss up at this point, I really have no clue how it's going to turn out.

I just ordered 2 panes of 1/2" laminate glass from a friend who is a glass distributor for very cheap. Just gotta work on getting the magnetic weather stripping and trunk rubber for the doors. I'm gonna hang two doors with about 15" between them. Each door is about 150 lbs no kidding. I've got plenty of mass on my hands here so I'm thinking I might be able to actually do this! Hahah.

I've run into a problem. Getting my cables through the wall... I made a "tunnel" for them in the wall outta just scrap 2 x 4s but I'm sure that needs to be sealed off somehow....I was thinking of putting the cables through, framing it with drywall, and then caulking it? But I dunno if I want my cables in there that permanently and also I'm always adding gear to my racks....

Thanks for tuning in (if there is anyone there...)
-Barrett

You can't be serious?! A 4 leaf system is terrible! Removing the two inner leafs will significantly INCREASE isolation!

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

I went with a 4 leaf assembly

You can't be serious?! A 4 leaf system is terrible!

Pandamonk is dead on as far as 4 leaves are concerned. Hindsight is 20/20 but the info has been here for at least 6 years that I know of. However, he might be wrong because of this:

and put 2 layers of drywall on the outside of the studs.

If you mean you built a DOUBLE wall, with ONE leaf of 2 layers of drywall on the outside face of each wall, then you do NOT have four leaves, you only have two..which is good. However, if you mean you drywalled BOTH faces of each of the double wall frames...then indeed you have a 4 leaf system..not good.



It never ceases to amaze me how many people come here AFTER they build iso assemblies that DON'T do what they thought they would do.

Although, you may have flanking paths that could undermine the BEST Transmission Loss you could build in a wall. Like a coupled floor, common ducts, common exterior walls etc. All must work together or you have the dreaded weak link syndrome...which if this is any indication...

I made a "tunnel" for them in the wall outta just scrap 2 x 4s but I'm sure that needs to be sealed off somehow....

then doing this may be a waste of mass, time and money...

I'm gonna hang two doors with about 15" between them. Each door is about 150 lbs no kidding.

...especially if you just built a 4 leaf wall system to put them in...ie..why put in a double door system with a possible TL rating of 52 if your wall system is a weak link with a TL rating of 43 or your window sytem TL only reaches 39?(hypothetical TL ratings)

Please don't think I'm trying to rain on your parade here though. It sounds as though you've thought this through and may have succeeded. The proof is when you TEST your TL.....ie....at what frequency/SPL will your ISO break down? In other words, what frequency will "cut through like a hot knife through butter?" That is the question.

 

[pandamonk]

FitZ. quick question. What you think of two leaf system like one of these? The first is a double stud system with the inner stud sheeted on the opposite side from usually recommended, leaving the rigid fiberglass exposed to be covered with fabric. What about building it with pucks/u-boats for more rigidity like the second?

 

[pandamonk]

Please don't think I'm trying to rain on your parade here though. It sounds as though you've thought this through and may have succeeded. The proof is when you TEST your TL.....ie....at what frequency/SPL will your ISO break down? In other words, what frequency will "cut through like a hot knife through butter?" That is the question.

I second this note

 

[miroslav]

I know I'm a little late to the party since the walls appear to be already up...
...and I'm not looking to "ruin it" for you...
....but I'm curious why you felt you needed to "box in" a small control room rather than just leave it wide open as one big room?

I tend to prefer the single large room approach, and during tracking, I just put on my headphones and monitor that way, but then later on when mixing...I have a nice large, open room instead of a small, closed-in box.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

FitZ. quick question. What you think of two leaf system like one of these? The first is a double stud system with the inner stud sheeted on the opposite side from usually recommended, leaving the rigid fiberglass exposed to be covered with fabric.

Hi Pandamonk. Well, John Sayers builds these kind of assemblies all the time. Its called an INSIDE OUT wall. Its STILL two leaves with the studs on the outside of one wall. This allows for insulation in the exposed side to be used as absorption...but I'd suggest using 703 or Rockwool vs standard batt insulation.

What about building it with pucks/u-boats for more rigidity like the second?

That all depends on your existing or planned floor? If you have a COMMON floor OR ceiling, or any other assembly like a wall..ie, one that is structurally tied to the two spaces, then yea...under some circumstances. In the case of a slab, maybe...in the case of a wood diaphram floor...I don't think it would make a difference that much as the whole membrane acts as one if these are simply partition walls(ie..in the middle of the floor joist span) If its a bearing wall, then the wall may set on a beam/girder that has floor joists which in that case may act as 2 different membranes...although, structural transmission of impact noise as well as vibration may occur simultaneously...which in my mind negates the use of U-boats. However, my disclaimer is in FULL force here.

Pandamonk, these kind of issues are ALWAYS difficult to analyse from a distance, in general, and solutions are usually case specific depending on all the other existing and proposed assemblies as well...ie...WEAK LINK syndrome. For successful TL as a whole, the COMPLETE PACKAGE has to be designed to work together. Simply assigning one solution for one assembly may be at risk of failure should you not address any others...ie..use of U-Boat Iso decoupling may fail to reach its potential when a HOLLOW CORE door is placed in the wall.

 

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

...but I'm curious why you felt you needed to "box in" a small control room rather than just leave it wide open as one big room?

I tend to prefer the single large room approach, and during tracking, I just put on my headphones and monitor that way, but then later on when mixing...I have a nice large, open room instead of a small, closed-in box.
__________________

Let me answer this.

Personally, monitoring in headphones sucks. You can't tell WHAT the ROOM is doing to the sound...ie...COMB FILTERING. Headphones lie. PERIOD. If you can't differentiate what is happening in the headphones, you can't tell what is being recorded in TRUTH.

And under some circumstances, once the recording is made..its TOO LATE to fix it in the mix.

With good TL, good monitors, appropriate geometry, and GREAT TREATMENT, even small rooms will sound good under most circumstances. The point here is to KNOW and trust your monitors and room...other wise TRANSLATION may suffer. Even if you have a isolated control room, if the COMB FILTERING in the control room MASKS the comb filtering in the studio or if modal resonances occur louder in the control room...you will make EQ mistakes or misjudgments. And there are more issues as well. Too many to address here.

However, this is just my opinion, as many successful recordings are made in one room. I think its GOOD EARS that make the difference.

 

[darrin_h2000]

I can appriciate what he is saying...Id just make the tracking room smaller and use it mostly for drums and vocals...then you can keep a bigger control room...right now only 3 people can sit in my control room and be comfortable...if I do it again Id love to do that different.

 

[Weasel9992]

What are you planning in terms of treating the CR and the live room? Right now I see a couple pieces of closed cell foam...now that you've changed the shape, size and TL rating of both rooms, you're dealing with *completely* different acoustic environments. The increasing in TL is going to demand a more thorough job of treating both spaces.

Frank