Building My 1st Recording Room

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 10:47 am

Greener,

I plan on recording guitars, drums, vocals, and anything else a musician can throw at me. I would like to creat a fairly isolated environment, so I don't bother the rest of the house if I want to record drums at 12am. I'd also like the environment to sound good, because I have plans to unleash high quality music on the world. I'm ready to do what it takes.

Andre, you told me what I should do for walls not on concrete. What should I do for the walls that are on concrete?

Thanks for everything so far. This is a lot of work, eh??

Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 12:23 pm

eyeveedrip wrote:

Andre, you told me what I should do for walls not on concrete. What should I do for the walls that are on concrete?

Framing filled with absorbent insulation and drywall.

What is the intention with he rest of the basement? I am assuming that the room will be in the upper right corner beside the open space? Which way do the stairs go up? From the left or right?

Sound isolation and room sound are two different things

Keep the questions coming!

Andre

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:21 pm

Greener! Sup fella. Sorry I didn't post this sooner. Don't want you to think I've fallen off the earth. I've got that picture of my basement for you.

I doctored it with photoshop. The red areas are considered "open space".

If you get a chance, you should download Google's Sketchup. Andre recomended it, and it is an AWESOME 3d drawing tool that's super easy to use. There are some great tutorials on YouTube

Andre. You said to put up a stud wall on my concrete walls and insulate them. Should I just cover the two windows there with isolation and be done with it? I really don't care to have windows in the recording room. Thoughts?

Gracias!

Ol' Weezy

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:28 pm

I'm dumbstruck with windows all of a sudden. Block them up.

Andre

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:32 pm

As HackenSlash said in a thread in home studios;

"Builda framework, 4" deep, and fill it with rockwool. Now, mount that in the window opening with retainers. That'll get rid of just about all of it."

That's pretty easy to do.

I really am strongly in favor of having natural light though. The less dungeonesque the better.

You could make a frame with soundproof glass on both sides use acoustic caulk to get it airtight, then plug the window box with that and seal the plug in with acoustic caulk to make that airtight. Slightly more expensive but being able to see the sky when looking for inspiration is worth it.
If this post is completely mental, please someone correct me. Or expand apon it.

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 6:15 am

Greener wrote:

As HackenSlash said in a thread in home studios;

"Builda framework, 4" deep, and fill it with rockwool. Now, mount that in the window opening with retainers. That'll get rid of just about all of it."

That's pretty easy to do.

I really am strongly in favor of having natural light though. The less dungeonesque the better.

You could make a frame with soundproof glass on both sides use acoustic caulk to get it airtight, then plug the window box with that and seal the plug in with acoustic caulk to make that airtight. Slightly more expensive but being able to see the sky when looking for inspiration is worth it.
If this post is completely mental, please someone correct me. Or expand apon it.

Glass will never have the isolation of the concrete walls, unless the glass used is glass block. What you described will become the weak link.

What you quoted from HackenSlash will do just about nothing. What is needed is mass.

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:18 am

Andre, you said block them up. Do you mean put some type of concrete block in there? If you could expand, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Greener, you ain't crazy. Erybuddy luvs da sun! I just think the artist will have to go outside to get some.

Thanks,

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:41 am

Bricks, like your walls. Would seem logical.

Do look into these though.
Here.

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 12:26 pm

Concrete block, or glass blocs such as Greener linked.

Andre

Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:38 pm

Hola! Back with another question along with a video.

I've decided to build the location of my tracking room to a larger space. Basically from 200 sq ft (red area) to 450 sq ft (tangerine area). See pic:

<img src="http://www.sightsoundstudios.com/basement2.jpg">

Is this a good idea?

If I do it, three of the walls will be made of concrete over 8" thick (maybe 11", don't know where to get a good measurement). Should I strip the insulation of and glue drywall up, or should I stud it out and dry wall that? Thoughts?

<a href="http://www.sightsoundstudios.com/walls.wmv">New Video Here</a>

Thanks,

Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:39 pm

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:12 am

Andre, in an earlier post you said use framing with absorbent material and drywall it up. Do I nail the frame to the concrete wall, or should I build the frame away from the concrete wall?

If I put framing right up on concrete wall, is that a 1 leaf or 2 leaf system? Is the concrete a leaf? What's the logic behind that?

Should I use Resiliant Channel before I put up the drywall?

And one more question, if there is already a foil backed insulation on the concrete about 2" thick, should I remove it or leave it up?

Thanks sir!

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 7:37 pm

eyeveedrip wrote:

Andre, in an earlier post you said use framing with absorbent material and drywall it up. Do I nail the frame to the concrete wall, or should I build the frame away from the concrete wall?

You can do either. If you space it, you will have additional isolation and do not need RC etc.

[quote]If I put framing right up on concrete wall, is that a 1 leaf or 2 leaf system? Is the concrete a leaf? What's the logic behind that?[/quote

Either way it is a two leaf system with the concrete as one leaf.

Quote:

Should I use Resiliant Channel before I put up the drywall?

No need if you space it.

Quote:

And one more question, if there is already a foil backed insulation on the concrete about 2" thick, should I remove it or leave it up?

Leave it up.

Andre

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:50 am

I'm getting ready to put R30 insulation in the floor joists overhead (paper face up, pink to my studio).

I'm prepping a sketch of where I'm building walls and what not. Should the walls be nailed right to the concrete floor? Do I need any "goo" or anything? Should I build walls with 2x4, 2x6, 2x8s?

Sketch soming soon.

THANKS!

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:04 am

Caulk everything.
It goes along way to sealing up air-gaps.

I dunno how you will get a nail into concrete unless you guys use some sort of high sand mix over there... Maybe use brackets and dyna bolts.

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