[habiTat]

New year on the way, I'd like a new approach, I need to create a space where I can escape and actually concentrate on my music, it's my only real source of sanity in a house full of people and animals. Not having a bit of peace and quiet really does drive me potty when I've got an idea I just want to get quickly recorded. I'm resorting to grabbing the guitar and sitting anywhere I can find that's briefly quiet and doing iphone recordings I really want some space to be able to go where my mic, guitars, keyboard and laptop are all already set up and I can just press record. Spare bedroom currently occupied.

My options for location are limited, either the shed (full of crap, damp, and draughty), The brick built store (damp but I reckon fixable) or the loft (above bedrooms, not ideal) The brick built store is my best bet and I'm thinking about building a booth like this one inside it ...
http://www.improveyourmusic.com/building-a-vocal-recording-booth/

Has anyone on here actually 'built' something like this? is it worth the effort and cost? will it have poor acoustics? Or should I just accept that there is no room in my life for music at the moment? (don't say yes to that one )

[mihkay]

I hope it's worth it.    Have just moved into a new place with a large garage, workshop and extra brick room on the back. I have very cunning plans to turn this place into a studio. 
However it's going to be a lot of work and in the short term I need a temporary solution. So I'm going to use a variation on the system I used in my old back bedroom.

Look at these. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000RW4ZKW/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00  24 for £34.
I will hang them using string and clothes pegs around the walls to deaden any bad boxy type re-verb as best as possible.

Good luck. 

[Ramshackles]

Much better than those foam tiles, which are expensive and only address high frequencies (which are usually only a minor problem) is building your own acoustic treatment from rockwool and wood.

Make a wooden frame - a couple of inches thick (or more if you like). The bigger the better, but if you want them to be moveable around 6ft tall by 2ft wide is pretty good. Back the frame with plywood and fill it with high density rockwool. The higher the density the better, but even just standard insulation rockwool will have better effect than the foam tiles.

Make a few of these, perhaps fashion some kind of base for them. For maximum effect there should ideally be an 'air gap' between the panels and the wall. This will increase their attenutation of lower frequencies.
To get an idea of what Im describing, watch this vid:
http://ronansrecordingshow.com/2012/10/mobile-acoustic-panels-from-la-sound-panels/

The good thing about these (or bad, depending on the room) is they will warm up the room a lot.
Of course, if you dont want them to be mobile just make it like a dry wall type thing; but with the air gap and the high density rockwool

In choosing which room to record in, Id go for the one with either:
- most space, mainly for practical purposes (sitting or standing comfortably with a guitar, and having space for equipment and treatment.

Or if they all have the same space, the one with highest cielings

[habiTat]

Ok cool, the best space is the store/outbuilding thing, I guess some false plasterboard walls, gapped away from the main walls, then rockwoll, then more stud work is probably the way forward.

Thanks

[mihkay]

Ramshackles is right about the acoustic tiles not being the complete answer but I mentioned it as it is a quick & dirty, no DIY required starting point.  Building a couple of "coffins" filled with rock wool is a good idea as they can be moved about to fine tune the room so they tell me. 
Of course I'm only just beginning to look seriously at this whole area and am probably going to be asking many questions online in the course of my journey, but my starting point, will be a "Dead Room". Three reasons for this approach.
1. It means I can sing loud or crank up an amp without annoying the neighbours. Something I haven't been able to do at home.
2. It's much easier to do than get a "live" room right.
and
3. The room is already just an empty box so the DIY requirements are relatively easy.

I think we should compare notes on our progress? 

[habiTat]

Ramshackles is right about the acoustic tiles not being the complete answer but I mentioned it as it is a quick & dirty, no DIY required starting point.  Building a couple of "coffins" filled with rock wool is a good idea as they can be moved about to fine tune the room so they tell me. 
Of course I'm only just beginning to look seriously at this whole area and am probably going to be asking many questions online in the course of my journey, but my starting point, will be a "Dead Room". Three reasons for this approach.
1. It means I can sing loud or crank up an amp without annoying the neighbours. Something I haven't been able to do at home.
2. It's much easier to do than get a "live" room right.
and
3. The room is already just an empty box so the DIY requirements are relatively easy.

I think we should compare notes on our progress? 

All sounds very morbid, dead rooms, coffins LOL 

Absolutely, that is exactly what I want to create, somewhere where I know I can't be heard from outside, giving me the freedom to be as loud as I like, whenever I like, I always seem to play and sing better when the house is empty and I know nobody can hear. This would hopefully recreate that.

Deffo compare notes on this, good plan, it'll be good to keep in touch with someone in the same boat as it were. 

Cheers

hab..

[Boydie]

I am sure you guys will do your homework before starting your respective projects (which both sound awesome by the way!) but I would point out that sound "treatment" is different from sound "proofing"

Complete sound proofing is very difficult (and costly) to achieve so to be able to crank up an amp without the annoying the neighbours could be a big ask (depending on location and tolerance level of neighbours!)

A friend of mine built a "room within a room" to achieve soundproofing and even with all of these efforts it is not 100% with a band in full swing

However, it is a million times better than no soundproofing / treatment and for his location (no direct neighbours) it is absolutely perfect

If you are expecting 100% soundproofing from a DIY project (or a cheap pro project) I think you need to do a lot of research, add a few zeros to your budget and perhaps re-align your expectations

I don't want to dampen any enthusiasm but it is best to fin 100% before you spend a penny than complete the project and wonder why it didn't work

It may be worth trying to find some local studios and see what they have done - and ask to have a listen outside when they are tracking drums, bass and guitar

Good luck and please keep up posted with updates and pics

[mihkay]

I am sure you guys will do your homework before starting your respective projects (which both sound awesome by the way!) but I would point out that sound "treatment" is different from sound "proofing"

Complete sound proofing is very difficult (and costly) to achieve so to be able to crank up an amp without the annoying the neighbours could be a big ask (depending on location and tolerance level of neighbours!)

Totally agree Boydie. Been in many rehearsal rooms in the 1980's early 90'swhere the two guitarists are running 100W Marshall's through two 4X12's. 200W of Bass amp and a drummer with twin kick's and a 12 inch deep snare. Add to that the vocalist bellowing through the 400w PA, all in a 12' x12' room!    Could be heard in the next county!  

Sound proofing is not required. Just enough deadening to sing, un-amplified at full volume without the worry of being overheard by next door in their living room. Little combo amp loud enough to give the right effect.

However any advice is gratefully received. I've begun a blog on my project, to seek advice and allow anyone following avoid my mistakes and hopefully between myself and Hab we'll both get something that works.

If anyone's interested, or can advise on the project the blog is here. http://mihkay-home-studio.blogspot.co.uk/

[habiTat]

Great blog Mihkay I'll be watching that like a hawk. You have a lot more space than me...and exactly the same reasons for doing it, darn inhibitions 

My requirements are very similar, all my stuff is acoustic so the max volume will be from my own voice.

Mine will be just one room, with guitars, keyboard, laptop and mic in it. that's it really. I just need it to be sound proof enough so noone can hear from next door..

I'm glad i'm not alone

hab..

[habiTat]

Erm.. slight change of plan, the shed/outbuilding is way too damp   I can't risk ruining my equipment. It's a shame because it's probably the best place in terms of location but I want to be able to keep all my gear in the recording space and I'll not be able to keep it heated/dry enough.. recent rainfall has actually formed puddles inside where the water seeps through the walls...

Next best place is the loft... I think I plan to build a 'room within a room' thingy to reduce sound leakage, the biggest problem will be the transmission of sound through the loft floor into the rooms below, I'm thinking some kind of suspended or floating floor might be the solution. I'd also like to build this room/cubicle as a modular thing so that when I eventually move house, it could be dismantled and taken with me in pieces. It's all quite ambitious I suppose but the loft needs sorting out anyway and it's an under-utilized space.

Anyone built a studio in the loft? any advice would be greatly appreciated..

[habiTat]

For anyone who's interested, I've started a blog on my project, inspired by Mihkay's blog. I figure it may help others, and also me, as motivation to get it built, and also as somewhere for any advice people may have to offer me.

http://loft-recording-studio.blogspot.co.uk/

Here is the very basic idea I have, I figured the shape would be good because there are no parallel walls, the image is a cross section, the 'front' wall will be flat/upright/vertical (as in a normal wall with door), the opposing (back) wall I thought could be built with a lean to avoid the parallel wall issue front to back.. The whole thing would be built as an independant room, floating on some dense sponge buffers (I have some old bouncy castle crash mats to cut up for this purpose) This will hopefully reduce the transmission of sound downwards to the rooms below. All comments/ideas very welcome..

[habiTat]

Ok chaps, the space clearing begins tomorrow, as I finally sort out and rack the loft space, leaving the available space for my studio. My worry is.. will 1200mm x 1600mm be a big enough space?

It only needs to house me, a chair, the mic with stand, my guitar (maybe my keyboard) and a shelf for the laptop.

Here is the space marked out on my lounge floor..


If it's big enough, and I proceed, the plan is developing...

The floor I'm thinking, will be these, sat on dense sponge pads, sat on top of the loft joists...



I'll then build a ring base frame from timber on top, to which I'll erect corner posts and construct the wood and plasterboard walls.

thoughts..?

[Ramshackles]

if you can I'd swap out those foam pads for some dense rockwool. (not the normal fluffy type that is used for insulation; A denser type that is more rigid)

[habiTat]

Progress.... 

http://loft-recording-studio.blogspot.co.uk/

[habiTat]

Finished! Total cost to build, about £50 but lots of the wood I already had, and that doesn't include the actual recording gear or instruments.. obviously. 


All works great though, so far 

http://loft-recording-studio.blogspot.co.uk/