NEED HELP Acoustic treatment for basement studio

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Sal_A_Mander

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I am in the beginning stages of building a medium sized recording studio in the unfinished basement of my house. Currently I have built a 6' by 12' control room and a 12' by 15' band/tracking room with an 8" wall between the two. The window between the rooms is going to be 4' by 4' 1/2 inch glass with a 6" gap. I am a newbie to acoustics and am going to have several questions throughout the duration of my build. My first question is about preventing sound reflections between the floor and ceiling (I learned in school there was a specific term for this, but cant remember for the life of me what it was). I was planning on adding a 1/4" shock absorbing subfloor from home depot below high traffic carpet, but have been told by an uncreditable source that I need to build a false floor. Is this true and if it is how should I go about building it so it is stable enough to place large amps on?

Thanks, Kevin
 
Is this studio just to record yourself and your friends? Or do you plan to record others for hire? If it's just for you, I'd have advised against building the wall. Both of those rooms are now too small for good sound unless you add a lot of bass traps and other treatment.

There's no acoustic benefit from floating the floor.

More advice here:

Acoustic Basics

--Ethan
 
Thanks Ethan. I appreciate the advice. I'm attending Columbia College in Chicago majoring in Audio Arts & Acoustics with an emphasis in audio engineering. I need a home studio to work on my homework and to give me a workshop to improve my tracking and mixing experience. I also have a good amount of local clients lined up willing to pay for higher quality recordings. I feel like it is necessary to separate the two rooms to avoid the mic picking up sounds from my computer, outboard gear, and other people in the studio. From my experience, clients bring in a friend or two; their manager; or band mates and get aggravated when they are forced to be completely silent during an entire recording session. I have a decent budget and have started to realize that spending money on proper acoustics is wiser than spending it on a $3500 mic or a $5,000 mixing board. This is only going to be my first studio and I plan on upgrading several times throughout my career. With proper acoustics is it possible to work in a room with these dimensions?

Kevin
 
Yes, it's possible to get good results in such small rooms, but you'll need a lot of bass trapping and other treatment. The smaller the room, the louder and more damaging the reflections are.

--Ethan
 
Alright, this is something I'll have to discuss with you after the construction is finished. Do you recommend that I use Green Glue and Mass Loaded Vinyl when drywalling?

-Kevin
 
Ethan Winer said:
Those products are intended to increase isolation, not improve acoustics.

--Ethan
Click to expand...

So you're saying there would be no acoustic benefit using it on the walls that are framed up in front of the concrete foundation? In that case, I will only use that on the wall dividing the two rooms. Do you recommend that I use acoustic insulation behind the drywall on those walls or do anything special to them? I may also use those products to increase isolation on the ceiling of the studio since it is located below our dining and living room.
 
As I said, products meant to increase isolation do nothing to improve the acoustic properties inside the room. As for your walls, yes, fluffy insulation is always good between the studs and drywall. That helps to damp vibration, and gives a small amount of bass trapping at whatever frequency the walls naturally vibrate.

--Ethan
 
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