DAYS 26,27
Yesterday with the rain, they only got some outer sheeting put up (those are coated "Zip" panels), and set up the scaffolding for the big roof raising. Today the rafters were all cut and prepared and the last picture shows the big 34' 2"x14" LVL ridge beam that will be hoisted up to support the rafters and roof.
The plan is to do that tomorrow, but right now they are calling for rain all day, so it might not happen until Monday.
In the meantime, I've been reconsidering my room-within-room plan, and am now considering simply going with a single wall, and to add a third layer to the inner, double drywall layers, and to just use some dampening material (maybe Green Glue...or similar) in between the drywall layers. The third layer would be plywood (it would actually be the first layer on the studs)...that would provide a solid layer across the entire wall and ceiling surfaces, which is great for hanging and attaching things to them later, without only using the studs, plus it would be useful in the ceiling for applying adhesive for the first layer of drywall, since there is some concern that the weight of the double drywall could potentially rip off the screw heads (very unlikely, but the adhesive won't hurt).
The three main reasons for considering not doing the room-within-room are...necessity, space and acoustics.
After considering that double wall designs are primarily used in situations where there are adjoining rooms or rooms above and below, like in a multi-room studio or in multi-story living space or where it's a repurposed bedroom or basement, and you want to control sound getting into those spaces...I'm not really seeing the net value for my situation since my studio is basically a standalone room. There are no adjacent rooms next to, above or below me...and my entire structure is basically decoupled from any other structure...and that certainly would include any neighboring structures, which are at a good distance. So the added soundproofing of a double wall would provide only marginal value.
The other, and more important reason has to do with the amount of space that I would lose with the second walls/ceiling...about two feet total on both width and length but the loss of about a foot or more of ceiling height was the one that really bothered me. I mean, an 11' ceiling would still be pretty tall, but not as impressive as a 13' ceiling (I am already losing about a foot because of the 10" rafters, plus the double drywall and layer of plywood).
The third reason is that a decoupled wall system (clips/channels or double wall), while doing a great job at higher frequencies...has the potential to resonate at some LF and create node problems that could be substantial. Now...I don't tend to do bass-heavy music...but still, it is something to be aware of.
The best way to deal with LF soundproofing is with rigid mass, not decoupled mass.
So my logic tells me that it's very simple to treat a room for upper mids and highs with basic broadband trapping...but the hard stuff is always the low end...so why create a LF problem with a decoupled wall system, that I would then have to treat/correct (if even possible) acoustically afterwards....and acoustic treatment of the space was always the most important aspect of this build for me...and not the worry about noise suppression, which will be quite good even with a single wall system that has substantial mass and on a standalone structure (the double drywall + plywood layers would be about 2" thick total).
All that said...I will add that it will also be so much easier to build without doing the double wall, less hassle with the building inspector, since we never identified the room-within-room on the architectural plans...and not to mention, it will save me some cost that I can then funnel into the final acoustic treatment where it will do more good than the double wall idea.
Heck...in my current converted spare room studio I've had drummers drumming and I've cranked my amps at 3AM, and no one every came banging on my door to complain...and all that has been in a basic single wall room with one layer of drywall on a 2"x4" frame.
If you really have the need to soundproof...and you have the space to lose for it...double wall construction still IS a best-case method, but even as Rod Gervais says in his book, it's important to consider just how much soundproofing you really need...and the fact that it's almost impossible to soundproof 100% without building some kind of cement bunker.