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By: Robert W. Orther
"How do I soundproof my garage, basement, or a bedroom
in my single family house or condo so my 4 piece rock band
can practice and record and not bother the neighbors?"
If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question,
I would be in the Bahamas right now, instead of writing this
article. Many factors need to be considered prior to beginning
your studio or practice room-soundproofing project. Some of
the questions you should be asking yourself are: What type
of amplification will the band be using, are the drums going
to be acoustic and miked or are they digital. Are you going
to be recording live late at night or are we going to be doing
"line in" recording only? These questions and many
more need to be considered before the actual construction
begins. If live recording and rehearsal are the plan, then
maximum soundproofing will be needed. The most effective way
to soundproof a garage, basement, or bedroom is to actually
construct a room within a room (go to http://www.auralex.com)
and download the free booklet "Acoustics 101", this
is a wonderful resource for the home studio builder. Their
ideas are solid and applicable to any studio-soundproofing
project. The room within a room concept utilizes the sealed
dead air space that is captured between the inner walls and
the outer walls to help greatly with the soundproofing endeavor.
It is probably easiest to frame the walls on the floor and
then tilt them up into place thus making dry walling the outside
of the walls much easier. It is also highly recommended that
another ceiling be joisted out for the room within a room,
however, this is often times not possible due to space constraints.
In this case, the existing ceiling and ceiling joists may
be used as the ultimate ceiling for the studio, provided that
it is adequately soundproofed with materials such as the mass
loaded vinyl or a combination of closed cell foam mat and
MLV. I will elaborate on these materials, as we get further
into this article. Once the walls are framed out and the right
amount of "Dead air space" is determined, then it
is time to install the soundproofing. The first order of business
is to consider what needs to be done to the wall cavities
prior to installing a barrier and finally the wallboard. I
like to line the inside cavities with a closed cell vinyl
nitrile foam mat such as American Mat. This mat (generally
1/4" thickness) is adhered to the inside cavity walls
as well as the studs and joists using a contact cement to
adhere the mat. Keep in mind that the American Mat is used
to line the cavities only, not to fill the cavity. If thermal
insulation is needed, use products such as rock wool, mineral
wool, cut wool fibers, or my favorite, Roxul. Roxul is a great
thermal rock wool based batt type insulation that has great
soundproofing qualities. If thermal insulation is a requirement
for the practice room or studio, then Roxul is the way to
go.
Now we come to a crossroads, it is time to determine if decoupling
the walls using resilient channels or American Sound clips
is a necessity. De coupling is used when impact transmission
or low frequency noise is a factor. Impact would come primarily
from the drums (acoustic type) or the bass amplifier. However,
if the band is using Marshall high powered amps (50 watt amps
with 4 X 12 cabinets for example) along with miked acoustic
drums and an Ampeg bass system, then decoupling will most
likely be necessary. These methods and procedures will be
explained in later articles. If decoupling were determined
to be unnecessary, then the next step would be to find a good
barrier material such as American mass loaded vinyl (which
is a high grade mass loaded vinyl barrier). This barrier could
be stapled directly to the studwork on a wall assembly or
directly to the joists. This is a method that is used if cost
or space constraints are factors. If the barrier material
is to be stapled directly to the stud or joist framing then
it is best that the seams be over lapped, caulked (using OSI
acoustical caulking compound) and then taped with either a
lead tape or a heavy-duty PVC seam tape. Once the Mass Loaded
vinyl (MLV) is installed and sealed, it is time to install
the final layer of drywall. I always recommend using 5/8”
drywall as the final layer because of its mass and its sound
blocking abilities. . It is always advisable to butter the
edges of the last layer of drywall with acoustical caulk.
You want to grab every STC (sound transmission class) point
you can when trying to make your new studio as soundproof
as possible. Finally you will tape mud and paint your final
layer of drywall. Now you have a great soundproof home recording
studio. We will discuss acoustical treatments for your studio
in subsequent articles, but for now you are well on your way
to having a professional grade-recording studio in your home.
About The Author
Robert W. Orther
Dr. Bob O.
Soundproofing America, Inc.
Senior Technical Director
Soundproofing Expert to The New York Times, The San Francisco
Herald Examiner,
The San Diego Union Tribune, and the Charlotte Observer
Ph (877) 530-0139 Toll free Fax (347) 721-9079
E-mail: bob@soundproofingamerica.com
Website: http://www.soundproofingamerica.com
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