John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Hi all,

I have found a studio for rent and I liked the place a lot. I'm considering running my business there. However, I found it has some construction problems and it is not 100% functional. The problem is, it was poorly designed... It shares a wall with another house and whenever you try to play drums and bass there, the neighbour complains about low frequency vibrations, so it cannot be used to drums recordings or band reharsals, which would be part of my business (other things I do like producing soundtracks and mixing won't be a problem). The wall that separates the studio from the next house is a brick wall, about 40 cm thick (I'm guessing).

Also, this studio in on the lower floor of a 3 story house, and I would like to reduce the vibration to the upper floors too.

I was wondering if there is a way to do something to the live room so that it is better isolated, like building another wall over the one that is shared and or using a drums platform like this one:
http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_ ... atfoam.asp

Any recommendations, please?

Thanks a lot.

Here is a floor plan of the studio:

oddly enough, solid construction can be an excellent transmitter of sound. for example, tapping on the neighbors wall practically sounds like your in the room with them. to achieve proper isolation, you will likely need to tear down most or all of the existing inner walls and ceiling etc and re-build them correctly as well as add a floating floor to prevent flanking which may be a large cause of the problem. I recommend getting a copy of Rod Gervais' book Home Recording Studio: Build It Like The Pros to get a sense of what is involved. Rod documents how the design used in the Hit Productions studio in the Philippines which needed a lot of isolation for the live and control rooms.

Hi Tux, and welcome. What part of Brazil are you in?

This might just be one of those cases where a floating floor is actually justified. But just to make sure that you understand what this involves, here's an interesting discussion on the subject:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... f=2&t=8173

Like Glenn said, you might need to do some major stuff to your building. If you can provide more details, photos, diagrams and things, then we'll have a better idea of what you are facing.

- Stuart -

Thanks gullfo. That's what I needed to know. If that is the case, the building is just not right for me, as I don't want to invest money and time in someone else's property and eventually leave. If that was something easier to do, I would. Thanks again.

gullfo wrote:oddly enough, solid construction can be an excellent transmitter of sound. for example, tapping on the neighbors wall practically sounds like your in the room with them. to achieve proper isolation, you will likely need to tear down most or all of the existing inner walls and ceiling etc and re-build them correctly as well as add a floating floor to prevent flanking which may be a large cause of the problem. I recommend getting a copy of Rod Gervais' book Home Recording Studio: Build It Like The Pros to get a sense of what is involved. Rod documents how the design used in the Hit Productions studio in the Philippines which needed a lot of isolation for the live and control rooms.

Hi Soundman2020. I'm in Sao Paulo. Thanks for the help. I was afraid I'd have to do major rebuilding and it seems like the case, so I'll look for something else and not rent someone else's problem

Thanks again!

Soundman2020 wrote:Hi Tux, and welcome. What part of Brazil are you in?

This might just be one of those cases where a floating floor is actually justified. But just to make sure that you understand what this involves, here's an interesting discussion on the subject:

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... f=2&t=8173

Like Glenn said, you might need to do some major stuff to your building. If you can provide more details, photos, diagrams and things, then we'll have a better idea of what you are facing.

- Stuart -