Anyone doing/done studio construction?

[foley]

So I'm walling off part of my big mutha garage, and I've been spending a lot of time at the Sayles webboard. Good stuff over there, though I swear there isn't been a single "best porn sites" topic on the whole damned board.

So I'm gonna start pounding my thumb this weekend. Anyone have any general advice/tips? I'm looking at staggered studs on 2x6 base, with a steel door and maybe some interesting window contraptions I am going to pull out of the garbage. Otherwise, I'm open to suggestions. Any good stories?

[trodden]

Hey good luck! i'm in the middle of transforming my basement.. the sayers site is a great resource but a bit over my head most of the time. That and i've got quite a few restrictions to what I can get away with due to me not being the owner of the house, but a bandmate is so its not toooo bad. The biggest problem being really low ceilings. However, its been fun and now i know how hang sheetrock and other "fun" things and i've not cut finger off or a dread lock stuck in the skill saw.

RIght now, though, i need to start working on treatment... so many options out there and a bit confusing. would really like to make my control room really really good sounding so i can do mixes there and most of my tracking in larger studios and rooms around town and just use my place for overdubs and mix.

so bass trapping and early reflections are to be dealt with. That and wiring up a patchbay and getting the new board in January is mostly what i'm working on... won't really be ready for demo work til end of January/beginning of February.

Screw Ikea, i've built a 6'X 3.5' table for the mix board and computer monitor out of the cheap ass plywood and studs from Home Depot. Sanded, stained, and finished, looks WONDERFUL and cost me less than $40.00, I still have stain and finish left. Will be building double rack furniture next with my scraps soon as i buy some rack rails...

I basically split my room which "L" shaped into two rooms. The little part of the "L" is now my control room. Built a double wall with each wall containing 1/2" and 5/8" sheet rock on the outside of each wall, standard pink insulation in each wall and 1/2" sheet rock for the inside of each wall. there is also a 6" air space between the double walls. also within this dividing wall is a sliding glass door, instead of building a window and a door, i figured i'd just do this.. with the idea being that i'll have a double sliding glass door set up for maximum sound blockage.. however afterfinding out how much these things cost, one will do for now and for me to put in another, it would have to be customed made due to duct work/ceiling hight in the way.

The basement walls are "finished" with some rough wood panelling of various sizes which seems to help out with diffusion. However much more treatment is needed due to how small the rooms are.

[brian beattie]

I'm in the design process right now. I've mortgaged myself and my family till I'm 73, and I'm having wes lachot design a place for me. It'll be called "brian beattie's wonder chamber", and the bathrooms gonna be a live reverb chamber....
I've been working out of my garage for years with a pretty portable set-up, tracking elsewhere, or in my house, or in my wife's painting studio, mixing in the garage with the ever widening gaping holes in the foundation. (I share my studio with rats and ants and ant lions and tiger moths and teddy bears.)
I just decided I needed somewhere that wouldn't burn down and take my "legacy" with it....
I'll be getting my hands dirty in the spring.
good luck, guys.
brian

[Seventh Wave Studio]

I had all my contruction done from ideas on this board.

In my basement, the 2x6 studs are laying on sill seal , six inches out from the cinder block wall. Use screws, not nails.

Two layers of 5/8" drywall, do not let seams line up. Seal off before putting on second layer.

Drum room is thick, sometimes too thick, but great. Step outside, hear nothing. It rocks. No door from drum room to control room, build an airlock. It is so worth it.

More information, check my website, and I'm sure people on here will help you as they did me.

[foley]

Trodden - how is the sliding glass door working out as a sound barrier? It sounds like you need more resistance, do you think the door could be the problem?

Seventh Wave - nice website! your studio looks great! what was the sill seal that you used underneath the 2x6's?

Thanks!

[MichaelAlan]

Screw Ikea, i've built a 6'X 3.5' table for the mix board and computer monitor out of the cheap ass plywood and studs from Home Depot. Sanded, stained, and finished, looks WONDERFUL and cost me less than $40.00, I still have stain and finish left. Will be building double rack furniture next with my scraps soon as i buy some rack rails...
.

Sounds interesting...post pictures. I can be pretty handy and have considered this myself recently.

Mike

[trodden]

Trodden - how is the sliding glass door working out as a sound barrier? It sounds like you need more resistance, do you think the door could be the problem?

Seventh Wave - nice website! your studio looks great! what was the sill seal that you used underneath the 2x6's?

Thanks!

I've worked in studios that used double sliding glass doors with success, i have a feeling that my one won't be enough, but will have to do until i can either afford to have a custom second one build that will fit in the area. The door i have now i got used for $100. and its regulation size.. normally they go for $300. However, due to the basement being mostly finished already, i don't have the space, hight wise for another standard sized door. too hard to explain... you'd have to see..

but to answer your question, yes TWO double sliding glass doors seem to do the job... i 'll see what my one does as soon as drummer boy heals from his retina surgery and we start playing again...

be prepared to buy a lot of caulk.

[stui]

I've just built a live room/control room setup under my house with two sliding glass doors in between - splayed non parallel with a six inch gap.
The isolation is pretty good and gets my monitors at very moderate levels over a drumkit no problems.
For me the extra visual contact during tracking far outweighs any minor loss in isolation. The vibe is much better than the traditional window IMO.
Really important to ensure that you float different floors in each room and that you isolate your door frames from each other properly.
I saved heaps by buying a bulk load of rubber safety matting and cutting them up like hockey pucks to float the sub floor on. On top of this I've put down timber laminate flloring which also floats - no rumbles from the street.

Stu

[nipsy]

dont use a single 2x6 plate, use two 2x4's leave a gap between them, and stagger your studss off those, weave your insulation horizontally thru the studs creating two walls which are one. less sound transfer thru the wall.

for cheap you can get those celotex(sp?) sound boards at home depot.
great for deflecting ( to use under shreet rock).

float your floor.

[Red Rockets Glare]

if you don't need to see through a window, and just want the light, try glass blocks. They are great at stopping noise and look oh-so-miami-vice.

oh, and foley, I think you're horning in on my VU on a dark background avatar.

[underthebigtree]

Buy a case of acoustic sealant. This is a caulk-like substance designed specifically for creating acoustic isolation. It never dries out. Not much more expensive than caulk, but you have to find it - I found mine at a pro construction supply shop, not at Home Despot.

What worked for me is to hang multiple layers of different thickness drywall off the staggered studs. After the first layer, create many circles of acoustic sealant on the drywall itself, then attach the 2nd layer of drywall with screws.

Works like a charm. I can record foley, rehearse my bands, and create records in a quiet neighborhood without disturbing the neighbors.

Good luck!

[Shawn Simmons]

Caulk is your best friend.

I've built my current studio. I've also built a few iso booths at other studios. Staggered studs on a 2x6 is a good idea. My control room is built like that. One suggestion, if you haven't heard this already, is to use different thicknesses of sheet rock on the walls. Example: On one wall of my control room, one side of the wall has two sheets of 1/2" rock and the other has one sheet of 1/2" and one sheet of 5/8" rock. Density is your friend when building walls. There are some other good reasons for this but I just forgot what they were (it's early). Something to do with cutting down vibrations and sound transmission thru the wall, I think.

Craigslist is your friend too. Check the free listings for building supplies.

Trodden, let me know how it all ends up. Good luck.

shawn

[Seventh Wave Studio]

sill seal is a foam seal that lays under the stud, so it provides a seal against sounding creeping out under the studs.

staggering studs is a great idea.

also, i found quickly that when you make airtight rooms, you better have some sort of air conditioning! the temp will go from 70 to 90 in minutes!

[trodden]

Caulk is your best friend.

I've built my current studio. I've also built a few iso booths at other studios. Staggered studs on a 2x6 is a good idea. My control room is built like that. One suggestion, if you haven't heard this already, is to use different thicknesses of sheet rock on the walls. Example: On one wall of my control room, one side of the wall has two sheets of 1/2" rock and the other has one sheet of 1/2" and one sheet of 5/8" rock. Density is your friend when building walls. There are some other good reasons for this but I just forgot what they were (it's early). Something to do with cutting down vibrations and sound transmission thru the wall, I think.

Craigslist is your friend too. Check the free listings for building supplies.

Trodden, let me know how it all ends up. Good luck.

shawn

so far so good, thanks for letting me come over and check out your place. Like you said, caulk has been my friend, but making the house owner a bit nervous.

also liquid nails has been great for not only fastening but making a seal.

I've been checking out the furniture place for some office dividers.. no luck though, they keep telling me to keep checking in though.

Need to find a Owens Corning 703 dealer here in seattle, start building some traps and other treatment.

[foley]

You know, the double sliding glass door idea sounds really good to me right now. I was just stressing over how to afford a good window, and getting bummed that I might need to have like a 2x3 foot window or something, just so I can afford 5/8 inch glass on one side. The double sliding glass doors sound intriguing.

Thanks for all the suggestions! This is really fun to think about and start working on. It's cool to try to do stuff right from the ground up.

And hey, Red Rockets - you're right. It was time to give the puppy some props anyway,