Basic, economic basement 'studio'

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:27 am

Aim: To turn an existing basement room into a recording room for my own use (ie. non commercial). The only acoustic instruments will be voice and guitars. No acoustic drumkits. My 'studio' is essentially my laptop, so this would be like a home-base, saving me from travelling to find nice spaces to record in.

Quality: I can record when my family are not stampeding upstairs. The house is detached, no adjoining buildings. The nearest neighbour is far enough away that I'll never hear him and vice versa, so neighbours are not really a problem. I just need to treat the room so it isn't 'live' and reduce sound levels so I don't bug the family when I sing / scream / turn it up to 11!

Location: 6' x 6' room, 7' 6" high. with two adjacent concrete walls (outside) which are partially framed and two adjacent framed/insulated/hardboard covered walls. Yes, it's small, but I'll likely be the only one in there.

Budget: Under $200 would be nice.

Ok, now the question. I've searched the forum and can't find anything relevant. . .

* Will it be enough for my needs to simply frame with 2x4's, nail 5/8 drywall and use panels to absorb reflections?

* A second wall might make the room pretty tiny... can I get away with just two layers of drywall?

Thanks!!

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Wed May 18, 2005 1:43 am

I forgot to mention that I'm open to all and any ideas. Especially the ones that tell me I'm not delusional!

Thank you.

VSpaceBoy · Post by **VSpaceBoy** » Wed May 18, 2005 4:28 am

nicholaspaul wrote:I forgot to mention that I'm open to all and any ideas. Especially the ones that tell me I'm not delusional! .

You are!

For that size room you have no choice but to make it dead. Glue or fasten a layer of drywall over all the existing walls then line 4" OC or equal on every square inch, cover it with fabric and call it a day. Your still going to loose almost a foot each way though. Can you say TIGHT.

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Wed May 18, 2005 6:44 am

My bank manager can say 'tight'...

What is 4" OC ?
What kind of fabric should I cover it with? Anything heavy?

Post by **sharward** » Wed May 18, 2005 10:20 am

nicholaspaul wrote:What is 4" OC ?

I think it stands for Owens Corning, "the company that invented glass fiber." However, "o.c." often refers to "on center" (but I doubt it in this case).

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Wed May 18, 2005 1:17 pm

So 4" OC is insulation... any particular kind? Density?

the dreamer · Post by **the dreamer** » Wed May 18, 2005 5:12 pm

So 4" OC is insulation... any particular kind? Density?

OC 703

Leave the floor as is, or wood but no carpet. You don't want to suck out the last bit of liveliness in there.

I'm no expert, but this is what I would do:
If it's not getting too claustrophobic I would try to make corner broadband traps as deep as possible. Also at the wall/ceiling corners. otherwise you will end up with a really bad bass response in your room. It will not cure it, but it will be much better. And cover the whole ceiling with 4" OC.
To brighten up the sound a bit you can experiment with panels of plywood/MDF at some places (in front of the absorbtion. But avoid to "catch" early reflections. Do the mirror trick.
for absorbtion:
http://forum.studiotips.com/viewforum.p ... 226b7354d0
http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm
Florian

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Thu May 19, 2005 1:40 am

Can you tell I have no clue when it comes to this stuff? Dammit Jim, I'm a musician, not a doctor.

Isn't the idea of this (in general) to kill the room dead so you can add reverb later?

I'm having trouble locating OC 703 in Canada. Can I use regular foam you might use for camping (don't roll your eyes like that) and cover it in fabric?

When do I need to make a second wall, and how thin can I make it? (I still need room to sit down comfortably with a guitar !)

Thanks!

the dreamer · Post by **the dreamer** » Thu May 19, 2005 2:23 am

Isn't the idea of this (in general) to kill the room dead so you can add reverb later?

It depends on what you want "from" the room. Is it going to be a recording booth only or do you want to mix in there as well? (Probably a horrible room to mix in that size!)
It's also matter of taste and what you record.

I'm having trouble locating OC 703 in Canada. Can I use regular foam you might use for camping (don't roll your eyes like that) and cover it in fabric?

Search the material forum, I'm sure there are other canadian "predecessors".

When do I need to make a second wall, and how thin can I make it?

You need to make a second wall when you're playing guitar in there and you are annoying your family. It's that easy.
The thickness depends on your soundproofing needs.
With such a limited place like this the first thing I would try is to put several layers of drywall directly on the existing walls.
But maybe Steve could give you far better advise on this.

Florian

VSpaceBoy · Post by **VSpaceBoy** » Thu May 19, 2005 2:27 am

Instead of OC703 you could track down knauf to do the job. Its an equivalant to OC. I found this site : http://www.amerisafe.net/store/item.asp ... ENT_ID=152 but have not ordered any there so I can not endorse the company.

IMO you would have no choice but to deaden the room. It will be too small to get any useful reverb out of so you'll have to add it all later.

Post by **sharward** » Thu May 19, 2005 4:39 am

nicholaspaul wrote:Dammit Jim, I'm a musician, not a doctor.

Classic!

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Thu May 19, 2005 7:01 am

sharward wrote:
nicholaspaul wrote:Dammit Jim, I'm a musician, not a doctor.
Classic!

(Hehe!)

What I want from the room is just to deaden the volume to a reasonable level for others to handle. Not soundproofing! *gulp*
When /if i put in a second wall, can it just be another 2x4 frame/insulation/drywall fixed to the existing wall? could I JUST double up on the inside walls ?

the dreamer · Post by **the dreamer** » Thu May 19, 2005 8:20 am

IMO you would have no choice but to deaden the room. It will be too small to get any useful reverb out of so you'll have to add it all later.

Vspaceboy's right, I did a wrong conversion from feet to m. I thought it's a little bit bigger than it is. It's realllllly small, so I assume it's just a booth 4 you.

When /if i put in a second wall, can it just be another 2x4 frame/insulation/drywall fixed to the existing wall? could I JUST double up on the inside walls ?

I just realized that I made a wrong statement in my last post about a second inner wall which I deleted. I missed that you already have 2leaf walls. So as I see it, if you do not want to tear down the studwalls the only option you have is to put more mass/layers on the existing ones.
But what about taking down the hardboard, make staggered studs or RC and put 2-3 layers of drywall inside and double up the other side too?
The same goes for the concrete wall RC or studs without hard contact to the wall.

What about the ceiling? Just the decoupled inner walls won't do the trick without a decoupled ceiling.

nicholaspaul · Post by **nicholaspaul** » Thu May 19, 2005 12:34 pm

Just a booth yes, but I can't have a control room and a booth - I can't be in two places at once!! I'll only be recording vocals, guitar and drum machine. But I'm sure I could figure out the acoustic requirements for recording a drum machine

Hehe

So far it looks like I should just make regular walls and double up on the drywall, which sounds like it should reduce sound transmission.

Oh the ceiling - yes, its a regular basement ceiling with insulation and drywall over it. I was also thinking of adding weatherstripping to the regular door (wait, I could probably add mass to that too with drywall, yea?)

• As far as 'killing' the room goes, would I use regular foam, acoustic foam (which in such a small room seems kinda silly) or 2'x4' solid fibreglass panels covered in fabric?

Thank you EVERY body for your patience and replies. Sorry for all the questions. I'm a little confused as their seem to be so many options, and I'm not sure what I'll be getting and what exactly would make any difference. I just want to know what I can get away with;) By the sounds of it, my rule of thumb in this case is MASS to reduce noise...

the dreamer · Post by **the dreamer** » Fri May 20, 2005 4:58 am

I was also thinking of adding weatherstripping to the regular door (wait, I could probably add mass to that too with drywall, yea?)

If the hinges can handle it you could glue and screw a layer od MDF on the door. Make it bigger then a the door is, so you can make a second seal around. You will have to build a frame on the wall around the door as a counterpart to thighten the seal.
I hope that makes sense to you.

As far as 'killing' the room goes, would I use regular foam, acoustic foam (which in such a small room seems kinda silly) or 2'x4' solid fibreglass panels covered in fabric?

regular foam......no, no, no, closed cell...
acoustic foam...works well (for example Auralex), not cheap.
fiberglass...works well...most bang for the buck.