John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Dear All

I am currently building my studio (garage) in LA. Dimensions are 18' x 17' and I've taken much advice to angle the walls and think "not square"! I am seriously considering a mixture of wall design so that I have built in bass traps in the walls behind my speakers and on part of the back wall behind my seating position - it seems that if I reverse the standard wall build or rather build "inside out" that I can do this BUT what I want to know is ....

1. can I do this on just select walls without sound leakage out of then studio
2. who has already done this and can share ideas with me.

My outside walls are the standard ....stucco/ wood and 2x4's which I will line with R13 insulation. Then there will be a 1 inch air gap. Then for the studio walls I am planning ...

2x4 framing with r13 insulation then 1-2 layers of drywall OR for my basstraps the reverse of a drywall layer then 2x4 wood framing filled with rock wool then a fabric layer inside the studio.

Attached is my idea for how to build it - its an aerial view looking down on the wall sections, trying to make it air and sound tight - I would love input on how well this might work for me

Also attached is a rough layout of my studio design

Thanks everyone

Hi "[debut]", and Welcome!

What you have at the front is fine, but there is no need to angle the rear wall: You are wasting space at the back there, that could be better used for bass trapping.

I would also suggest that you try to make the left side of the room more like the right side, to get the room more symmetrical. Right now it is symmetrical up to the mix position, but then there is a huge difference from there back, which I suspect is going to skew the behavior on the left and right. One possibility is to just build a wall on the left, mirror imaging the right, and use the space blocked off by that for storage, a machine room, or maybe as another iso booth.

You can, yes, but you must retain the same surface density all the way around your "built in" absorbers. Right now, for example, you show only one layer of drywall on the "inside-out" section, but the rest of your inner leaf is two layers. So you'd need an extra layer of drywall back there too. Also, you are talking about an absorber that is only about 4 inches deep: that's not much for a bass trap. It would be fine on your first reflection points, but not really deep enough fora serious bass trap.

Another issue to consider: You are reducing the MSM air gap in that section of the wall by about 4" to 5", so you will have a greatly higher resonant frequency in that zone, thus reducing the overall isolation of the entire studio. That will be the weakest link in your isolation. Which brings up the question: why not just do the entire wall inside-out, instead of just one stud bay?

In see an air gap more like 9 inches, not just one inch! The studs are 2x4s, so you have at least 7 inches right there, plus what looks like about 2 inch separation between the frames, so your air gap must be around 9 inches.

One more suggestion: Why not soffit mount your speakers? You seem to have plenty of space to do it right...


- Stuart -

_________________
I want this studio to amaze people. "That'll do" doesn't amaze people.

Hi Stuart

Thanks for your reply. I updated my post over the past weekend in the studio design section - http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewt ... =1&t=17764 - I would love it if you can look that over as I think it's further along that this first post. I'm not sure how to remedy the open left side of the room - I want it to have a workshop and open feel for daily use. I have abandoned the inside out concept right now and we are going with one layer dry wall not 2 due to cost. Gonna build much deeper bass traps for sure too. My biggest concern right now is the ceiling/ roof. It will be pitched which will help internal acoustics but essentially it will only be shingles on the outside, a layer of plywood, then 4" R13 then a layer of drywall - I'm worried that this will be my biggest sound leak area. Also, I really want some natural light in there so what do you think about 1-2 x 2'X3' sealed dual pane skylights? bad or great idea ))

We start construction on Aug 20th so its getting a bit tense here!!!

Thanks

Gareth