ooo, what to do?

[Flick]

I am almost sure this has come up before.

In the studio situation we are in, it is being framed out of a larger room. The main problem is that the ceilings are suspended. How would one get around that as far as keeping the room as soundproof as possible?

if any other info is needed, just let me know.

[RICK FITZPATRICK]

Hello, I'd like to help, but first you need to provide a little more information.
When you say soundproof, that is kind of vague. Is this a home, or garage or basement? When you say suspended ceiling, usually this is a commercial treatment to cover up old ceilings with ductwork etc., or to lower the ceiling and or to absorb office noise etc. Is there an actual ceiling above or exposed joists etc. Can you tear out the existing suspended ceiling, as actually, that type of material does very little if anything towards soundproofing. Is there another space or room above the proposed studio space. To what extent are you trying to soundproof? In otherwords, are you trying to prevent sound from transmitting into the rest of the house, or from irritating your neighbors, or a trains rumble from transmitting into the studio etc. Please be more specific. Are you recording rock bands or just accordian players? Thats what I mean. Got to know certain things before appropriate help can be given. Do you own the space(since your framing walls, I assume you do). Is there an existing HVAC? When you soundproof you airproof. Take that into consideration. There are plenty of people here to help, but you must provide enough info to determine what you really need.
fitz

[Flick]

the studio will be in a new addition to the Ymca. one wall will be concrete, with the adjoining wall being to a storage closet with concrete on the other side. the other two walls will be framed and sound proofed as much as possible. the ceiling is the problem, as it has been built with a suspended ceiling dropped from the 'real' concrete ceiling.

the hope is to get the place with enough isolation so it will not disturb other y activities, and that y activities will not disturb recording. we will be recording pretty much al you can imagine, minus symphony orchestras...this studio is set up to teach children the basics of recording and to alow them to have some fun and record for fun.

we have an air conditioning duct in the isolation room....the room's dimensions are approx 15x11x11x15...these are just rough measurments...we were looking at the ceiling and wondering how we could keep sound from leaking out...we could tear the suspended ceiling out where the studio will be, and just insolate over the higher up concrete ceiling...we could just frame right over the suspended ceiling...or do something ese...i wasn't sure...so we are just looking for the best way to accomplish this. pretty much do whatever...so ay ideas?

if any other info is needed, lemme know

[sheppard]

flick,you could take the tiles out of the cieling(as they dont offer much in the way of sound proofing)and cut 5/8 sheetrock to fit in place of them.(usually 2x2)in other words, make new tiles out of sheetrock.as you lay these new(sheetrock)tiles back into the cieling grid,place insulation on top of them.if you need alot of isolation ,use rockwool bats in place of the insulation.
if you have trouble locating rockwool in yer area,look up any fire protection company in the yellow pages and they should be able to put you in contact with a supplier.

happy building,
sheppard