Help me to make a shed into a makeshift studio.

koolkarlnz

New member
Hey everyone, I'm new around here but my name is Karl and I'm a guitarist and vocalist from New Zealand. The drummer from my band has bought some recording gear which is sick. We practice in his shed which is all brick, 3 windows with a tin roof. I know this sounds like a ridiculous challenge to get anything good out of but I really like the reverb in the room. I've figured that the roof isn't going to create much reverb but will let things like rain and hail become audible. How can we make the room soundproof so that A, we don't get too much outside noise and B, we won't annoy the neighbours too much. A downside of the space is that it is in a family home so a permanent conversion isn't an option. Any help is much appreciated.
 
What are the dimensions (height, width, length)? Being that anything you are allowed to do is not permanent, you are very limited, and won't be able to make it 'soundproof'. Are their rafters on the ceiling that you can traps from?
Have you actually tried recording in there yet? What sounds good to your ears 'live' may not sound great when recorded.
 
The roof will be a pain - a tin roof keeps the rain out, but sound passes through both ways with ease. You need to add at the very least a solid new ceiling that has considerable mass. Is this doable? Brick is semi-good, so again, mass added helps there. Anything portable enough to be removed easily will not be much use at reducing sound levels.

Had to smile at this line.
The drummer from my band has bought some recording gear which is sick
I thought at first the drummer had bought a pile of faulty gear and the topic was going to be about fixing it!
 
I'll ask him what the dimensions are. It's not small and it's also not, it's had a bathroom built into the side of it so there's a 45 degree angle in one corner. As for the rafters yes there are rafters to hang things from but I wouldn't trust putting anything heavy on them, they're pretty spaced out there's only 2 or 3 beams across it so I'd imagine they're there for holding up the roof and no more. At this point we're more concerned with the sound coming in than getting out because the neighbours don't mind too much and he doesn't have too many neighbours to worry about either. The sound of rain and birds is more of an issue. As for recording in the room we haven't yet, as soon as we get the drum mics we'll give it a go. I know doing something temporary is a bit of a pain and a bit of a challenge but we can't exactly build anything new and certainly couldn't afford to buy a building to build into a studio at this stage as much as we'd love to. Thanks for your replies!
 
At this point we're more concerned with the sound coming in than getting out
Sound is not unidirectional" if it can go out, it can come in. IF you can't hang anything from the rafters, then you somehow have to construct a 'false ceiling', held up by studs around the perimeter and/or support poles in the center. This has to be heavy enough to block the sound (stuffed with insulation).
 
If it's a tin roof, take it off and put foil faced insulation under it, the think stuff. Then you put the ceiling under it with insulation between. The foil faced stuff stops drumming noise during rain.

Alan.
 
If it's a tin roof, take it off and put foil faced insulation under it, the think stuff. Then you put the ceiling under it with insulation between. The foil faced stuff stops drumming noise during rain.

Alan.

He said he can't do anything permanent.
 
Hey Koolkarlnz we've put together a few studios before using Durra Panel - its a 50mm thick densely compressed straw panel which has decent TL and thermal properties. Most people would build a box within the shed as the system can be all self supporting. Best thing for you is it can be dismantled if you end up moving - dry construction. I got some photos if your interested.

Dolby 5.1 before.jpgIMG_2215.JPG

Manufactured in Victoria Australia, but they ship a bit over to the NZ. Currently there's 2 very large projects in Auckland and 1 comming up in Christchurch....might be able to get some spare panels if there left over!
 
I wish I had seen this product when I was building, however it may not have been around 12 years ago when the current place was build.

Alan.
 
Some snaps would be worth a million words! I dare say you can put 'joist hangers' between the existing rafters and put more wood in. "Nothing permanent" is a bit loose? I bet there are gaps where the existing rafters rest on the walls? Fill those with expanding snot. Fit more rafters then insulate between them. Then you can fix a new ceiling using Plaster Board sealing the edges. All that is sort of permanent but is nothing you would not do to make the place more habitable.

But! My greatest concern is how you intend to power the kit in there? I assume it has some form of Consumer Unit/fuse box? Concrete floor? The incoming mains needs to go STRAIGHT into an RCD CU (earth fault trip) and the whole supply needs to be checked by a competent sparks.

Just checked. NZ is the more sensible but more lethal 240V 50Hz.
Dave.
 
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