Help with feedback on home studio design

vschwa

New member
Hi,

I have an old house that is being lifted in the air and a whole new basement, foundation, and garage are being built and then house will be lowered back down. I have managed to include a dedicated home studio in part of this new basement. Lots of other competing priorities in the house, so the room size i have is what it is...I have read Rod Gervais Home Recording Studio, and my architect has as well, and the design and construction docs are based on this book.

Here are the main goals for me:

- I am not a pro but this will be used to record my band other and projects will include tracking of acoustic guitars, electric guitars, synths, electric bass, drums, vocals, piano, etc..
- However, main priority is to allow me to play guitar/bass/synths at moderate volume, anytime, without bothering other occupants of the house or neighbors too much (doesn't have to be completely silent to them for full on drums, but should be muffled, and near silent for moderate volume on guitar/bass)
- It will be used for mixing on near field monitors, but not mastering (will hand that off to a pro)
- The mixing will eventually be OTB but will start mostly ITB if that matters for design

The drawing is attached and here are the main design elements:
- Room is 15' 3 3/4" Width, 16' 9 1/4 Length, with 8' height
- Slab will be isolated using foam from the rest of the basement slab
- Walls will be 2x6 with alternating studs per Gervais recommendation and filled with insulation (rock wool probably)
- Sheetrocking will be QuietRock and will be 5/8" on outside and 1/2" on inside except on the walls that abut the foundation and those will be 5/8" on inside
- The only holes will be one electric wire coming and external conduit for all electrical and lighting (led) and two for the mini-split heads to connect to the heat pump
- the existing floor above the space will have quite rock layers installed and then filled per Gervais recommendation
- ceiling will be resilient channel hung per Gervais recommendation
- Door will be STC 60
- Windows will have different thickness on each pane, but don't have those details yet

I know that the dimensions and use will need acoustic treatment but that will come later. My main question that I am looking for help with is if this design looks ok to meet the goals?

Thank you!
Steve

MusicRoom.PNGMusicRoom2.PNG
 
Your images don't show how the studio space is connected to the rest of the house (or how it is disconnected from it).

If you're not decoupling from the studs/joists...the wall layers may not have as much effect.
IOW...a couple of drywall layers decoupled from the studs/joists will have a much greater level of soundproofing and LF control than if those same layers are directly mounted to the studs/joists.
If the drywall is mounted directly...then you would need a room within the room to get a similar effect as simply decoupling the drywall layers from the studs/joists.

I see you mention some resilient channeling...but not clear what it is or how it's installed...?

Apart from the soundproofing considerations, which apparently is your big concern...you should consider that a room that size (even if soundproofed) will need substantial acoustic treatment inside to deal with the quality of sound reproduction in the room. Actually quite a bit of it, even if your current build plans provide 100% soundproofing, they won't address the acoustics in the room.
I know it's all you have to work with...but you're trying to stuff quite a bit of purpose into a fairly small space that will get even smaller with acoustic treatment and with equipment.
I know I'm stating the obvious about the room size...but I guess what I'm really saying that as much as you are concerned about the soundproofing with your building plans...you should be more concerned about how it will actually sound...and think about the treatment you will need in the room.
 
I don't know anything about heat pumps, but will this provide ventilation/fresh air? One of the biggest issues with 'sealed' rooms is keeping the air good.
 
Thank you for the replies. I will check with my architect on the decoupling of the drywall from the studs, I know that is needed for 100% soundproofing, but do you think that would be needed to have near silent for moderate volume? I don't need 100% and know that if I had a bass going at gig volume or a drum kit, it would be audible.

The resilient channeling is based on the Gervais book recommendation.

Regarding the the sound treatment - yeah, I know that will be a challenge, even though live room recording is 2nd priority to sound-proofing, but I want it to sound decent while playing in the room, but the acoustic treatment will be a future project and focus and appreciate your sentiment on how important this will be.

Regarding the heat pump and air exchange - it will be infrequent that I have full band and gear all on and going, but this is a concern and I am contemplating a separate system for air exchange, but that then opens up more holes to the inside and outside. Do you think that air exchange will be an issue for the 95% of the time it is just me in the room?

Thanks!
 
The resilient channeling is based on the Gervais book recommendation.

Id you're referring to the RC1 and/or RC2 on pages 66/67...then yes, they will decouple the drywall to a good degree. He also talks of RISC 1 clips as an alternative for decoupling that will increase the soundproofing by several dB, and then you don't need to use the RC1 or RC2 channel. With the RISC1 clips, you can use the less expensive 25 gauge hat channel, since the decoupling is done by the clips, not the actual channel, as with RC1 and RC2.

Are you using resilient channel in the ceiling too? A lot of your sound will transmit through the ceiling.

It's also hard to tell if any of your studio walls are all interior walls or some exterior walls...? Are they new walls inside the basement...a room in the basement, not using any of the basement's exterior walls?
 
Yes, that is what I was referring to, but I'll check on the RISC1 clips as well, thanks for that! And yes, the plan was to use resilient channel on the ceiling.

Correct, these are new walls in a new basement, and the walls on the north and east sides will be up against the foundation walls facing a crawlspace on the north and exterior on the west.

Thanks!
 
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