Newbie Studio Design

[aine_canby]

Hi folks,

My parents are building a new house this year and myself and my brother are interested in converting one of the rooms to a music room / studio. I play guitar and he plays drums, but hes also into recording and has some mikes, converters a desk, monitors, and a PC - which he has set up in his room. I'm also interested in recording, and I've applied to a music technology course next fall.

Anyway the room will be 13 feet by 13 and I was wondering if this would be suitable? We were also thinking about soundproofing the room with Soundblocs-

http://www.british-gypsum.com/immediacy-1278

We were also wondering about an isolation room, but we probably dont have enough room...

If the room is soundproofed do we need to worry about sound reflection within it? Does the soundproffing obsorb the sound, or simply bounce it back. My guess is that a square room is the worst for bouncing waves.

Anyway, I'm hoping you guys can throw some ideas at us, so we might decide if this is at all possible.

Thanks for your help and look forward to hearing from you,

Aine.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

If the room is soundproofed do we need to worry about sound reflection within it

Not if you use absorbers and bass traps. Even if it isn't "soundproofed", you will still need them. There are a million threads here to learn from. Just do a search. And visit here:
http://www.realtraps.com/

Does the soundproffing obsorb the sound, or simply bounce it back.

Bounce it back, although some is absorbed by drywall acting as a panel absorber between studs. This is known as "free" bass trapping. But you still need LOTS more.

My guess is that a square room is the worst for bouncing waves.

Yes, a square room is not good, a cube is worse. And it is modal responce in width and length that is the culprit, as it is the same in both directions. Room dimensions have a great deal of influence on the rooms sonic character.

Anyway, I'm hoping you guys can throw some ideas at us, so we might decide if this is at all possible.

For starters, real "soundproofing" is NOT cheap nor is it easy to construct. But if this is new construction, it would be best to incorporate it while in the planning stage. However, this is not something we can casually comment on . Proper planning for this construction incorporates a broad scope of subjects, such as the planned structure, HVAC, noise floors, adjacent occupany(neighbors) distance, building and room location, local codes, permits and inspections(which safegaurds life and insurance), electrical, and other things that have a bearing on the final method and depth of containment. And that is just the planning. Actual construction is considerably more demanding and complex than simple residentiial construction, and depending on the db profile of environmental noise and source produced sound, can be extremely difficult to build. Especially for drums. So think about that and talk to your parents. If they are agreeable, and can tell you what kind of budget you have to work with at the outset, come back and we will try to get you on the right path. Once that is done, then we will talk acoustics. It doesn't make any sense right now.
fitZ