sound isolation, airport, etc.

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oldboy

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I would like some advice on sound isolation (and acoustic treatment) for my home studio. The structure of the studio is 18x20x12 (converted garage), with vinyl on concrete floor, 3 layers of sheetrock + 1 insulation for walls, and 1 layer sheetrock + 1 plyboard + 1 insulation for the ceiling. So there will be some mass (being completed in 2 weeks), but not a lot. The problem is that I live really close to an airport, so I’m not sure how much this structure will help. I know that building another room within this one is the best option, but I don’t have the money right now. I’m looking for a budget alternative that would suit my needs, which is recording vocals and acoustic guitar via microphone. Electric guitar, bass, and electronic drums will be recorded direct. I will be my own engineer as well, so no separate control room, and if I build a booth for increased isolation my computer will have to go inside of it or otherwise be accessible.

Would building a vocal booth be a good option? Would this effectively keep out the airplane noises while I record vocals and acoustic guitar within the booth? I’m thinking about doing the PVC frame draped with moving blankets. Should I be concerned about that the “dead” sounding recording and the “imaginary” virtual room added later on? Will the guitar sound too boomy since the cloth doesn’t absorb the mids/lows – maybe another material should be used? Any budget alternatives that people can recommend? I’m willing to spend some money on this, but if there is no appreciable difference from the PVC/blanket approach then maybe I should just save up money for a later date. Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions!

- oldboy
 
Forget about the blanket covered PVC. It does nothing. First off, consider this. A vocal booth in reality is nothing but a smaller room with in a room. Now the room you build it in becomes the "air gap" to the second leaf, which is in effect, the interior walls of your studio. Therefore, to effectively seal off the booth, it must have its OWN second leaf, to truely soundproof it. Look at it this way. For ANY structure to be isolated from sound, it must be de-coupled from the source. The source in this case is your studio, as other sounds eminate from, and pass through, such as aircraft noise. But just as any room within a room must be sealed, this creates the first problem in studio sound isolation. AIR. You can't make a room sound "proof", without makeing it AIRPROOF also. Sound is a pressure. ANY pressure within the studio, wants to LEAK into the booth, and will find a way just as steam or water pressure. There for, it must be sealed. Therefore, you have to address HVAC concerns, or you can only use the booth for minutes at a time. Personally, I would forget the booth, and save to build your studio as a room with in a room. But then, the same elements must be addressed for this, as the booth. No difference, except you have another problem already. You've already sheetrocked the interior surface of the exterior wall. For a true double wall/double leaf system to work at its potential, your exterior wall should NOT be shiethed with anything, ON THE INTERIOR.. For a room with in a room system, it should be....EXTERIOR SHIEATHING,EXTERIORWALL STRUCTURE, EXTERIOR WALL INSULATION.....AIRGAP....INTERIOR WALL INSULATION, INTERIORWALL STRUCTURE, INTERIOR WALL SHIETHING. Same with ceiling. Same with floor. That creates a MASS-AIR-MASS system. You would do yourself a favor by going here and reading everything.

http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2&sid=f9934825667ef722267450b10c684710

fitZ
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I've been looking at the website you mentioned, and I've read Jeff Cooper's book (which is excellent). I understand the physics of sound and the function of mass and air in limiting the sound that enters/exits. That said, I still have many questions.

>No difference, except you have another problem already. You've >already sheetrocked the interior surface of the exterior wall. For
>a true double wall/double leaf system to work at its potential, >your exterior wall should NOT be shiethed with anything, ON >THE INTERIOR

I'm not following. Mass should be useful whether it is on the outer or inner side of the exterior wall. The decision is usually influenced by constraints on the existing structure. Jeff Cooper's book has examples with added mass on either side, and my current wall will be built according to one of the specifications from the book (right now there is only a wood frame). I also have consulted a sound engineer friend who has built a couple professional studios.

As for waiting to build a room within a room.. I have a deadline coming up in 2 months or so, so I need something that can be used asap in the meantime. Also, as this is for personal use, I have yet decided whether I want to drop the $15-25k for a non-business studio. We will see. So I'd really like some suggestions on a budget solution for the interim. It seems like this board is geared toward home enthusiasts who would have some experience/knowledge in this area. Also, my needs are only vocals and acoustic guitar, so there is reduced complexity (no drums, bass, etc.). Thanks again.

- oldboy
 
Hello oldboy. Let me post my disclaimer.:D I am NO expert. But from my understanding, yes the mass could be on the inside of the exterior wall, however, you need to VENT the exterior sheithing, otherwise if sealed it becomes a third leaf, which actually lowers the STC. This is only what I have read at Johns site, and even he has done this, although the sheetrock was used to LINE the exterior wall CAVITY, and the exterior shieathing was old board and batt, with lots of gaps for the venting to take place. If you read the stickys and the USG sheets on wall type comparison STC charts, then you would see. BUT....let me qualify this. Having never done this myself, I can only pass on what I've read. And from my experience here, it DOESN"T matter whether it is truth, best info available, or what, someone will have a different opinion. Seems as though everytime I stick my neck out, somebody pulls the rope on the guiotine.:p
So my best advice is ask your consultants.

As to the booth, many people here have built all sorts of contraptions and call it a booth. I personally have yet to see a full blown vocal booth, with hvac, etc, detailed correctly here. Seems NO ONE really has the full answer yet. If they do, I've yet to see it, other than my own, and it had nothing to spec for HVAC. Good luck.

fitZ:)
 
Last October, I was traveling on business. I stayed at the Westin Hotel in Detroit, MI.
For those of you that don't know this hotel, it is right at the airport; in fact, it is directly adjacent to the air freight taxi-ways. I could see the planes taxiing and taking off, but I couldn't hear a thing!!

How did they do it?

Thick walls and windows, lots of mass, and EVERYTHING was decoupled from the exterior structure. The level of isolation they achieved was awe-inspiring.

:cool:
 
oldboy said:
So I'd really like some suggestions on a budget solution for the interim.
Click to expand...

There really is no way to do budget sound proofing. The only way to soundproof a room is with lots of mass and air tight seals. The cheapest thing would be to build a small sound booth.
 
:eek: :eek: :eek: 7000 POSTS!!!! Holy moly Tex, are you at the keyboard 24 hrs a day:p

fitZ:)
 
Thanks for the help everyone. I think I will go with the suggestion to build a small isolation booth, 5x6x7, to record vocals and acoustic guitar in. This seems to be the cheapest solution that is effective. Now to investigate the particulars =P.

- oldboy
 
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