|
|
|
CONSTRUCTION DIARY The flat-roofed extension at the back of the house was earmarked for the studio site. It has its own bathroom/toilet, a small storage area and a large room that was just big enough to turn into a studio. Soundproofing was to be a major consideration, as there are houses close by in every direction. Here is a photo diary of the studio build: Stage 1: Bricking Up The Windows Stage 2: Reinforcing The Existing Ceiling Stage 3: Constructing The Framework Stage 4: Inserting The Rockwool Stage 5: Adding The Plasterboard Stage 6: Strengthening The Walls To Take Monitor Brackets Stage 8: Plumbing In The Electrics Stage 9: Finishing The Doors, Frames & Seals Stage 10: The Internal Windows Stage 11: Filling & Decorating Stage 12: Testing The Soundproofing Stage 1: Bricking Up The Windows It was felt that, with the weakest parts of any soundproofing system being the doors and windows, a great benefit would be had by simply removing the windows and bricking up the gaps! It seemed a shame to ruin such a beautiful floral wallpaper scheme and such attractive bathroom tiles (yes, I am joking!) but it had to be done.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 2: Reinforcing The Existing Ceiling We prodded the existing ceiling and found it to be already stuffed with Rockwool, so we decided to just add 2 more layers of plasterboard to make it a bit denser.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 3: Constructing The Framework The studio would consist of a Live Room, where vocals, drums etc. would be recorded, and a Control Room, where all the equipment would reside and where mixing etc. would take place. It was decided to construct a new room-within-a-room structure inside the main room. The walls & inner ceiling would be built using a 4" x 1" timber frame, standing on 1/2" horse hair & jute carpet underlay for insulation from the existing concrete floor. The outside of the timber frame would be left open, to avoid a "triple-leaf system" - this means that adding plasterboard to the outside as well as the inside could well have reduced the efficiency of the soundproofing (grateful thanks to the many acoustic experts and studio builders who post on www.studiotips.com for the wonderful FAQ's and personal advice on every aspect of this build, by the way). The internal flooring would consist of a layer of plasterboard on top of the underlay, topped with 2 layers of flooring chipboard with staggered joins. Carpet (for the Live Room) and laminate flooring (for the Control Room) would be laid on top.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 4: Inserting The Rockwool The walls & new ceiling were to be insulated with 4" of Rockwool RW3, which is specialist high-density acoustic Rockwool, many times denser than the stuff used between the brick walls.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 5: Adding The Plasterboard Inside each new room the timber frame would be covered by 4 layers of plasterboard on walls and ceiling for extra mass. All joins were to be sealed with special acoustic caulk and all joints staggered. The walls and ceilings were to be isolated from each other, the small gaps in between being sealed with the special acoustic caulk. This meant that the new walls, floor and ceiling would not actually touch each other at any point.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 6: Strengthening The Walls To Take Monitor Brackets The main vintage JBL L100 Monitors weigh in at 42lbs each, and the Yamaha NS-10M Nearfield Monitors are not light either. Therefore it was decided to beef up the wall that their brackets would be attached to in order to cope with the heavy load. Each wooden block is 4" deep.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page All existing doors were to be replaced with fire doors and all new doors were to be fire doors. Each door would hang on 4 heavy-duty hinges and would be beefed up with 4 layers of plasterboard & finished with a layer of plywood.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 8: Plumbing In The Electrics It was decided to run all the wiring on the surface so as not to compromise the soundproofing - looks being less important than noise control!
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 9: Finishing The Doors, Frames & Seals Specialist acoustic "O" shaped neoprene door seals were to be used, to provide the tightest possible seal, along with special drop-down threshold seals (see the little black button at the bottom of each door).
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 10: The Internal Windows The window glass was specially made. One pane is 10mm (3/8")and the other 12mm (1/2"). This is to prevent them vibrating at the same frequencies, therefore making it harder for sound to be transmitted between them. Each is seated on neoprene supplied by Studiospares, to stop the glass vibrating within the frame. The large air gap in between provides excellent soundproofing between the two rooms, together with the exceptionally thick glass.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 11: Filling & Decorating Hundreds of screw holes to be filled, filler still needed around the door & window frames and the final layer of acoustic caulk to go on the top layer of plasterboard. Also, the holes in the walls to allow cables through needed filling with expanding foam - a messy business but essential. All the plasterboard layers have been caulked with special acoustic sealant, which will stay flexible for ever to allow for movement. To ensure good soundproofing every single hole and gap had to be filled with this sealant, as even the smallest hole would allow sound to escape. As you can imagine, this was quite time-consuming. The laminate flooring needed to be laid in the Control Room, and the carpet in the Live Room.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Stage 12: Testing The Soundproofing Well here we were: months of designing, re-designing, last-minute changes & improvements; several weeks of hard work and several thousand pounds of hard-earned cash. The crucial question was about to be answered - would the soundproofing work? After a couple of days putting it off for no good reason it just had to be done (cue drum roll!!). A boom box was plugged into the Control Room and turned up to full volume. Not a strenuous test but a good enough first step. Doors were closed, fingers crossed and....... lo and behold it could not be heard outside. Phew!! Still, that wasn't a severe enough test, so in came the 100w bass combo - a veteran of many a gig and plenty loud enough. It was duly placed in the Live Room, all doors duly closed then turned up to a volume that was unpleasantly and painfully loud within such a small and as-yet-untreated room. Jib, one of my bass tuition students, started playing and I went outside. It was possible to hear a muffled kind of noise, but very faint. Back inside and the amp was turned down to a level that was about as loud as any sane person would want to expose their ears to - plenty loud enough to get the "bite" and depth but not so loud as to be painful. Back outside again and this time nothing whatsoever could be heard. Very encouraging. Now it was time to bring on the drums..... The kick and snare drum could just be heard outside, but only very quietly. Unless the neighbours were actually sunbathing in their back yard (and how often does that happen in Bridlington?!!!) they wouldn't hear a thing. Soundproofing successfully tested!
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page It is important to have as accurate a sound as possible in the studio. Consumer hi-fi systems (i.e. mp3 players, personal stereos, home stereos, car radios etc.) tailor the sound in various ways, boosting and cutting certain frequencies to make it pleasing to the ear. However in a recording studio it is essential to be able to hear absolutely everything that is going on at every frequency range. This is known as a "flat" sound. There are 2 essential steps to achieving a flat sound: firstly a pair of flat-sounding monitors (in Red Bamboo's case the industry-standard Yamaha NS-10M's, and for a fuller louder sound a pair of vintage JBL L100's) and secondly treating the room with sound-absorbent materials. For the live room it was decided to build broadband absorbers on one wall and a bass trap on the opposite one. Thick carpet was laid on top of 1/2" felt to help deaden the sound. The control room was fitted out with triangular acoustic foam bass traps on the ceilings and far wall, along with a lot of rockwool panels to eliminate standing waves that were initially present. A small amount of acoustic foam was used to diffuse higher frequencies.
Back to Construction Index Back to Home Page Carpet has been laid in the live room & bathroom; laminate floor has gone down in the control room; all the filling has been done; everywhere has been painted; all sound shaping has been taken care of. So it's in with the equipment (special thanks to the friends who lent their muscles to bring it all down two flights of stairs - especially the mixing desk!). It's taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears, not to mention a whole load of money, but it's finally complete. Red Bamboo Studio is now OFFICIALLY OPEN!!
THE END (of the construction!) A special huge thank you must go to Kevin Sparks, of Alternative Door Styles, Bridlington (tel Bridlington 400626 / 07801 013961), for doing an absolutely fantastic job in building this studio. He did everything to do with the construction - I merely finished off and decorated. The quality of the work is outstanding and the soundproofing is excellent. If you want a Home Studio or a Home Theatre constructing then look no further. |
