Music room advice?

coomba
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Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:58 pm

G'day Al
I have converted a steel shed which is attached to the house into a home engineering workshop complete with all sorts of large and very noisy metal working machines, Sound proofing was critical for this shed, So I did quite a bit of experimenting to get a suitable result .this is what I came up with.

Density of you walls and ceiling is the key to keeping in the sound.

Rockwool insulation bats in the walls and ceiling cavity followed by 2 layers of carpet underlay then fitted 20mm thick plywood sheets to finish off.
The end result is I can have a lathe working making so much noise that your ears bleed and on the other side of the wall the sound of the wind blowing in the trees is louder.
Now this may be a little over the top for your music room but it wasn't all that expensive the carpet underlay was free as the local carpet suppliers were glad to get rid of the underlay removed for there customers houses. The ply wood I got off E-bay Seconds at a good price and the rockwool was not too expensive and it is designed for sound proofing

A couple of things to consider if you intend to run electrical cable in the wall cavity with sound proofing be careful as the cables can overheat ,I would get your electrician to advise you. In my case I ran ducting for the wiring.

Oh and I almost forgot if you wish to keep the sound in then you must seal every gap if air can get through so can sound.

This leads to ventilation you'll need to breathe .

If you do use plywood on the walls and ceiling they are great to fix items to as you can just screw directly to the wood no need to find a stud, great for fitting out.

After building the room the acoustics with probably be too good and you'll get sound bouncing off the bare walls this is where you may need to deaden the room a bit , this can be done (as MArk has mentioned) buy just adding soft fabrics ,foam etc , but remember as you add clutter to the room this will also deaden the sound so wait until you have all your gear in the room before trying to deaden it.

One last thing I did is put at my front door an intercom with monitor so I could hear and see some one at the front door, you can also decide if you really wont to answer it.

Hope this helps
Cheers
Scott


haoli25
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Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:52 pm

Al,

Avoid the "L-shape", you will have nothing but sound reflection problems. You mentioned that the basement was all concrete, SEAL IT FIRST, then put up vapor barrier. If there are any windows, do away with them. Glass and sound are NOT friends! A drop-ceiling and floating walls and floor would also be a good idea. Build wire/cable runs aound the perimeter of the floor for future expansion and configuration.
Use soundproofig insulation AND acoustic wall treatment. Auralex is a good wall treatment (and not too expensive). It comes in a variety of colors too, so ask your wife FIRST. :)
Do not run audio/video cables in the same runs with electricity. Put heating and air conditioning vents in the corners. (preferably in the ceiling pointed toward the floor)

That should be enough to get you started......



Bill





AcousticAl
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Mon Dec 06, 2010 11:20 pm

This is great stuff everyone! Thanks for your posts and advice. I'll be referring back to this when I take the plunge.
(which might be sooner than later! Helen really enjoyed the recording process.)


AndyT
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:42 am

Al,

First things first.

Write down all the features you want the room to have.
Then get a tape measure and diagram the room. Get as big as you can without turning the corner. The L shape is really bad for acoustics as was already pointed out.

Draw out the room. Include a small room that houses the computer and main mixer along with all the room controls. Keep as much in there as you can to avoid sound leaks of fans and other gear noises.

I'm not sure who mentioned it, but keep your audio cables away from computer cables. Have the wiring away from each other. They will mix freqs and you will get weird buzzing in your audio set.

Air con units make an incredible amount of noise so it's better if you run ducting instead of using a window unit.


Chasplaya
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:49 am

Chasplaya wrote:
I reiterate a small Bar in the L part of the room not used for playing, can't waste good space :) Wasn't actually kidding the first time I mentioned this. You need somewhere to entertain the paying public

Image


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neverfoundthetime
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 5:05 am

Interesting and sound advice, if you'll excuse the pun! Bill will know what he's talking about with his professional background. And I'd add Chas' bar for sure for when we all visit!

I have the opposite situation Al, my music room is the converted loft and I play up there as the acoustics are great.As long as Ale isn't occupying the room, I'm not disturbing anyone anyway. Playing in sound-proofed rooms makes for lousy acoustics playing live. So to get that sound back, you're going to need the best mic available on the market (I know you have the effects). I was doing some strumming for a friend's album of children's songs in Swiss dialect last week and we were in a normal room with windows an' all. Lap top, good software, good speakers and fantastic mic were the salient features and this CD will be on the market later. Just don't ask me how long it took to get the timing right on just strumming E and A !!! :-)


dekotaj
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 9:38 am

I would need a special place for the baby picture that's behind me in my videos now though. :)[/quote]


Hey Big Al,I think you might need to add and updated picture also. :laugh: :laugh:


wiley
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 10:14 am



willem
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:40 pm

That looks like a good plan Al,,i would do it step by step with good stuff,,go and look to somebody who as this and ask and ask,,if to expensive go for a good alternative,,i would start with some moveble wall's and experiment,,not that i know much about it ,but it must keep some akoestic volume(not sure about that)and don't make the celling to low,,maybe think in all his proportion's at a quadrangle..well,i got to say something,,wish you luck with it and looking forwards to the basement/band..


wiley
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Fri Dec 31, 2010 10:01 am



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