[cporro]

i'm looking for resources of turning my free standing garage/shack
into a studio. it's pretty rough, voids in walls, windows need
reframing, as do doors, etc.

i have read f alton everest's small budget recording studios with 12
tested designs and jeff coopers building a recording studio.

the issues for me are things like where to get cost effective
supplies, waterproofing, material for an exterior like siding.

i'll be working with a contractor that i trust but he is not a sound
person.

thanks for any advice.

[[email protected]]

On Aug 27, 7:32*pm, cporro wrote:
i'm looking for resources of turning my free standing garage/shack
into a studio. it's pretty rough, voids in walls, windows need
reframing, as do doors, etc.

i have read f alton everest's small budget recording studios with 12
tested designs and jeff coopers building a recording studio.

the issues for me are things like where to get cost effective
supplies, waterproofing, material for an exterior like siding.

i'll be working with a contractor that i trust but he is not a sound
person.

thanks for any advice.

I will try to help you ,but first a few questions. What do you want to
record. Voice overs. Loud rock. Drums, bass, keys .. Next is how close
are you to your neighbors house ? In building a studio you need to
think of a few things. one is STC= sound trasmission containment.
This means if you have a rock trio jamming at 105 db,s inside and a
neighbor 100 ft next door you will need to cut down the sound. drywall
= about 35 dbs and so on. Also How big is the garage? This would be
a start.Glenn.

[cporro]

I will try to help you ,but first a few questions. What do you want to
record. Voice overs. Loud rock. Drums, bass, keys ..

drums (i'm a light/medium hitter), guitar cabs at decent volumes,
vocals. most of this will be tracked separate. would be nice if a
medium loud rock band could play/record there.

Next is how close
are you to your neighbors house ?

about 40 ft. there are a few of them. i'm in san francisco so people
are used to a certain amount of noise. garbage pickup, there is pretty
much constant construction... but my house is in a relatively quite
area. i should take some average db readings with my radio shack
meter. it has an A curve setting.

In building a studio you need to
think of a few things. one is STC= sound trasmission containment.
This means if you have a rock trio jamming at 105 db,s inside and a
neighbor 100 ft next door you will need to cut down the sound. drywall
= about 35 dbs and so on. Also How big is the garage? This would be
a start.Glenn.

the garage is 23'x17' sloping ceiling 11-8ft. it slopes the short way
not long.

at present the walls are old and badly worn (some holes) redwood
siding. the ceiling has old boards (1x10?) with plywood over it and
then a shingle roof.

i also wanted to have 3 small double pane windows on the face wall
(23x11).

one solid core 36" door.

for ventilation/heating i can't see and cheap way of doing it. so my
plan is to takes breaks open windows use fan.

i think with insulation heating/cooling will not be a big issue. san
francisco is pretty even year round.

i will have a small dehumidifier but i also don't consider this a
major issue. after my old project studio was moisture proofed the
relative humidity was always around 40%.

i'm shooting for a stripped down but very usable space. i'm also
trying to plan it so modifications can be done as easily as possible
down the line.

[[email protected]]

On Aug 27, 10:59*pm, cporro wrote:
I will try to help you ,but first a few questions. What do you want to
record. Voice overs. Loud rock. Drums, bass, keys ..

drums (i'm a light/medium hitter), guitar cabs at decent volumes,
vocals. most of this will be tracked separate. would be nice if a
medium loud rock band could play/record there.

Next is how close

are you to your neighbors *house ?

about 40 ft. there are a few of them. i'm in san francisco so people
are used to a certain amount of noise. garbage pickup, there is pretty
much constant construction... but my house is in a relatively quite
area. i should take some average db readings with my radio shack
meter. it has an A curve setting.

In building a studio you need to

think of a few things. one is STC= *sound trasmission containment.
This means if you have a rock trio jamming at 105 db,s inside and a
neighbor 100 ft next door you will need to cut down the sound. drywall
= about 35 dbs and so on. *Also How big is the garage? *This would be
a start.Glenn.

the garage is 23'x17' sloping ceiling 11-8ft. it slopes the short way
not long.

at present the walls are old and badly worn (some holes) redwood
siding. the ceiling has old boards (1x10?) with plywood over it and
then a shingle roof.

i also wanted to have 3 small double pane windows on the face wall
(23x11).

one solid core 36" door.

for ventilation/heating i can't see and cheap way of doing it. so my
plan is to takes breaks open windows use fan.

i think with insulation heating/cooling will not be a big issue. san
francisco is pretty even year round.

i will have a small dehumidifier but i also don't consider this a
major issue. after my old project studio was moisture proofed the
relative humidity was always around 40%.

i'm shooting for a stripped down but very usable space. i'm also
trying to plan it so modifications can be done as easily as possible
down the line.

Ok it is late in fl. I like those radio shack db meters. The digital
readout best.
What sounds that go through walls is low end. Kick bass low end of
a boomy guitar usually a marshall or a fender twin or like amp with
power chords. carpeting sound baffles materials that deaden the sound
within the room are nice, but only used to tune a room once massive
airtight walls and a ceiling are finished. I used to run drum machine
into a bass amp and play it about 100dbs the walk out into my
driveway. My closest neighbor was about 40 feet. I had a garage 24x
27 feet. It worked out good. It had 2" of stucco and 2by4 studs. I
used 2'x4' 1" sheets thick of spinglass 1000 or some name. This was 22
years ago In San Diego. 3 years ago building this studio I found a
place in Orlando that sold packs of 6- 2'x4'x 1" wool for $40 a pack.
I used a ton of these. and stuffed between the studs. Then I put 5/8"
drywall inside. So I had the stucco wall 2 layers of compressed
insulation the 5/8" drywall. Plug in the drum machine took a reading
about 6 feet inside at 105 dbs. went outside. It was ok but not enough
for me. Next about 12" in I buit a 2x4 floating frame added r-19 then
put another layer of drywall. That was enough. A room within a room. I
think I had a guitarist who played for the Red hot chili peppers overs
once. His Marshall half stack you could still hear in the back yard.
But in most cases unless late at night. 20 years and about 100 albums
no complaints.
Now I am back at a commercial building. The noise outside of semi
trucks is a bitch to keep out of my place. Ceilings are a bitch. To
get up there. If you put too much weight it will sag without cross
beams.
Cooling also is a problem. If you have a nice place with all that
insulation 4 hot bodies playing rnr for awhile it will heat up. Even
Lead walls over 95 percent of the building with 1 3'x3 window with a
stc rating of 30-50dbs will really reduce all your efforts 1/2" glass
dead air space and 3/8" or 3/4" angeled.works. Ac needs am intack
andoutake i think. I used a two ton. Solid core doors with good seals
around them 40 to 50 db. Two entry doors with 3 feet inbetween is what
I used. No weak spots. finally are you going to us a 7"x 20 for a
control room. that will help block sound . Control rooms are not as
loud as the playing room. Ok that a lot see ya. Glenn.

[Mike Rivers]

cporro wrote:

drums (i'm a light/medium hitter), guitar cabs at decent volumes,
vocals. most of this will be tracked separate. would be nice if a
medium loud rock band could play/record there.

about 40 ft. there are a few of them [neighbors]. i'm in san francisco so people
are used to a certain amount of noise. garbage pickup, there is pretty
much constant construction... but my house is in a relatively quite
area. i should take some average db readings with my radio shack
meter. it has an A curve setting.

You might be able to keep legal by reading your SPL meter, but people
will notice music even at a pretty low level. I'm afraid that you're
going to have a pretty expensive soundproofing job ahead of you. You can
save some money by doing construction yourself, but without building a
solid box inside your garage (including overhead) your band will always
be heard by your neighbors.

The Everest book is a good guide. Talk the various isolation approaches
over with your builder and he should be able to locate the resilient
materials that you'll need. Don't even think about starting without at
least $20,000 to spend on materials and labor. Not only walls, but
you'll need acoustic treatment, wiring, ventilation, and finishing.


--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me he
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Scott Dorsey]

cporro wrote:
I will try to help you ,but first a few questions. What do you want to
record. Voice overs. Loud rock. Drums, bass, keys ..

drums (i'm a light/medium hitter), guitar cabs at decent volumes,
vocals. most of this will be tracked separate. would be nice if a
medium loud rock band could play/record there.

The problem is that drums are one of the hardest things to record well in
a small room. All I can suggest is that you build out as much as possible,
build your ceiling up as high as possible, and try and get as live a room
as you can get without having obvious slapback. That probably means splayed
out walls and a whole lot of diffusion.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Chris Whealy]

cporro wrote:
i'm looking for resources of turning my free standing garage/shack
into a studio. it's pretty rough, voids in walls, windows need
reframing, as do doors, etc.

i have read f alton everest's small budget recording studios with 12
tested designs and jeff coopers building a recording studio.

the issues for me are things like where to get cost effective
supplies, waterproofing, material for an exterior like siding.

i'll be working with a contractor that i trust but he is not a sound
person.

thanks for any advice.

I did a similar project a couple of years ago, except that my garage was
being used only for drum practice and not recording.
Personally, I think you will have trouble making good sounding drum
recordings in a small room. Generally speaking, the smaller the room,
the boxier and less life like drum recordings sound.

Nonetheless, check out what I did and reuse whatever is appropriate for
your situation.

http://www.whealy.com/drumming/Soundproofing/index.html

Chris W

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
But the words of the wise are quiet and few.
---

[[email protected]]

On Aug 28, 7:57 am, Chris Whealy wrote:
cporro wrote:
i'm looking for resources of turning my free standing garage/shack
into a studio. it's pretty rough, voids in walls, windows need
reframing, as do doors, etc.

i have read f alton everest's small budget recording studios with 12
tested designs and jeff coopers building a recording studio.

the issues for me are things like where to get cost effective
supplies, waterproofing, material for an exterior like siding.

i'll be working with a contractor that i trust but he is not a sound
person.

thanks for any advice.

I did a similar project a couple of years ago, except that my garage was
being used only for drum practice and not recording.
Personally, I think you will have trouble making good sounding drum
recordings in a small room. Generally speaking, the smaller the room,
the boxier and less life like drum recordings sound.

Nonetheless, check out what I did and reuse whatever is appropriate for
your situation.

http://www.whealy.com/drumming/Soundproofing/index.html

Chris W

--
The voice of ignorance speaks loud and long,
But the words of the wise are quiet and few.
---

Make yourself comfortable, brew a big pot of coffee, get some pencils
and paper standing by and then go to this forum: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

Read thru as many of the stickies as you can, then dive into those
threads that seem germane. Don't post simplistic questions until you
have researched through their archives, or the forum leaders will eat
you. Consider buying "Ron's book" that you'll hear talked about a lot
on the forum: "Home Recording Studios: Build it like the pros". There
is a TREMENDOUSLY HUGE amount of info the you will see that people
go to ridiculous extremes with their home studios, but you will
literally find out more than you ever wanted to know about how to do
pretty exactly what you are proposing there. In other words, if you
dig enough you'll find the the construction "story" of someone with a
very similar situation to yours.

Philip Perkins

[cporro]

ok, i bought rod's book. after reading reviews it seemed like a book
that might cover things from a different angle from my other stuff.
maybe it will have more specifics on where to buy materials. i also
signed up for the forum.

my budget is 15k. so maybe i can't do it all now. but i can start v1.

i will have an acoustic kits in there. but i am also looking into
realistic electronic kits. things with good samples and triggers. that
could be an option if things sound boxy. on the plus side the 2
largest faces are splayed. roof is probably 20 degrees.

thanks all for the info...i'll start slowly digesting.