Preparing a Room for Use as a Recording Studio
A Three Part Series
By Jai Hutcherson
By Jai Hutcherson
Part Two - Planning, Designing, and Materials: Treating a recording studio.
In the first part of this three part series on preparing a room for use as a recording studio we discussed the principles of sound and how sound travels beyond the walls of your recording studio. We will now apply these concepts, design your recording spaces in a way that minimizes sound from traveling where you do not want, and create a list of materials needed to actually build the treatments needed.
When you consider building a recording studio you need to think about sound energy and how it travels. We know that solid contact will transfer sound energy from one device to another. So, let’s consider what you are going to have in your studio that might make solid contact with anything else:
Speakers
The most used item in a studio that transmits sound will be the speakers. To even record sound you will need to have speakers so you can actually hear what it is you are recording. Most folks either buy speaker stands that sit directly on the floor or place their speakers on top of a desk that sits directly on the floor. Subwoofer speakers are becoming very common place in the recording studio as well and these things are far worse than regular speakers. Remember, low end sound energy travels further than high end sound energy though solid objects. Subwoofers will transmit sound beyond your studio walls far more than regular speakers.
Drummer
Drums are low frequency hogs. They have a lot of low frequency energy with every hit. Kick/bass drums travel very far and cut through even the best of “sound proofing” solutions. This is because most recording studios place the drum set directly on the floor which is part of a solid concrete slab that connects to other rooms that are build upon it.
Bass guitar
Again, low frequency sound energy travels further than high frequency sound energy. A bass guitar is meant to be the low end of music. Sitting a bass guitar amp directly on the floor will guarantee low end sound transmission to anywhere else that the floor exists.
Guitar
A regular guitar has a lot of low frequency sound energy. In fact, a guitar covers the entire audio frequency range. It’s guitar amp vibrates just as much as any other source of sound in the recording studio. Many studio owners find themselves in trouble from guitar amps transmitting sound energy through floors, walls, and ceilings with no apparent way of stopping the sound.
Piano
Most folks do not think of a piano as a source of low end sound energy. This is incorrect. In fact, the piano has a lot of low end energy. Just as much as a bass guitar or drum set. It may not be as amplified as a bass guitar amp or hit as hard or loud as a bass drum, but it does have just as much low end sound energy and it does travel just as far through solid contact as other low end sound energy transmitting instruments and speakers.
Vocals
Vocals do not have a lot of sound energy in the low end range. This does not mean they do not cover the low frequency range, in deed they do. But vocals do no carry the power or energy an amplified or stuck instrument like a bass drum does. A vocal booth or space for recording vocals still has to be treated for sound energy transmission, but it is not as hard to accomplish as other devices to isolate.
These are the most common instruments that will cause trouble with sound energy transmission beyond your studio. By all means this is not a complete list. However, if we concentrate on these items you will be prepared to handle any other sound source you may need to treat to minimize sound transmission beyond your recording studio walls. You may think a key instrument has been left off the list. Keyboards, samplers, and drum machines have become a staple of any recording studio. However, these instruments are usually recorded directly to a recording device. (Pro tools, tape, cd recorder, etc.) This means they are not amplified by anything other than the speakers used for monitoring the recording. For this reason these type of instruments fall under the “speakers” section when considering sound energy sources.
When planning a recording studio you need to consider what you will be recording, what you may record in the future, and the possibility that you will have instruments in the studio that you have not considered. Recording studios often are designed with one style of music in mind and transform to another style of music over night. For this reason, while in the planning stage of building a studio try not to simply consider what you ware wanting to do today. Always keep in mind that you may want to expand, change, or add services.
If you consider sound energy and how it transforms to energy that will vibrate solid objects and move beyond the walls of your recording studio, then you already know how to stop that sound from going anywhere you do not want it. You isolate it. Meaning you do not allow the sound to transfer from where it originates to other areas by way of transforming to energy that vibrates solid objects. No, you do not have to be Bill Nye the Science Guy to stop the transfer of sound energy to solid objects. It is actually pretty easy. You simply separate or isolate one solid object from another solid object. Sometimes this is done through physically separating one part of the floor, ceiling, and walls from others and sometimes it is accomplished through building devices that will not allow sound energy to pass to another through solid contact.
This article is meant for “DIY” studio entrepreneurs, not for millionaires that can afford to separate rooms from one another or cut concrete slabs to isolate one room from another. For this reason, we will concentrate on designing and building isolation devices that will stop or reduce sound energy from transferring from one solid object to another. Building isolation devices and rooms is much easier and less expensive than actually separating rooms, floors, and ceilings from one another.
Eliminating sound energy from directly transferring from solid object to another solid object is only half the battle when trying to stop sound from going beyond your recording studio walls. The other half of the battle is indirect transfer of sound. This is the sound traveling in the air coming from the speakers or source itself and hitting walls that will then transfer the sound, though energy, into solid objects that connect to other locations outside your studio walls. However, treating sound that travels in the air is much easier to deal with and simple sound absorbing devices can be constructed to handle this sound and reduce or eliminate it from traveling beyond your recording studio walls. Therefor a combination of isolation rooms/devices and devices that absorb sound carried in the air is how you eliminate noise complaints from neighbors and city officials.
We have talked about “solid” contact a lot. A piece of wood, concrete floor, metal speaker stand, wood floor, etc. make up items that can create a “solid” contact. Things that will vibrate easily and freely most transfer sound from one object to another. This means that items that absorb or do not vibrate help eliminate sound energy from transferring between objects. The most used material for stopping sound energy from transferring from one solid object to another is air. If one object is not touching another it can not directly transfer sound. The second material used to stop sound energy from transferring to another is neoprene rubber. Rubber absorbs sound energy within itself and does not transfer that energy to other objects. This means that if a metal speaker stand is placed on top of a neoprene rubber pad or base, the rubber will absorb the sound energy and not transfer that energy to the floor it sits upon. A combination of air and neoprene rubber is used to eliminate the sound energy of a drum set transferring to solid objects by building a room that sits upon a rubber base that is totally self contained. Meaning: the room floor joists are built sitting on neoprene rubber and the the walls, ceiling, and supports for the room are not touching any other solid object around it. This is called an isolation booth. The air around the booth, from not being connected to other walls in the studio for support, acts as an isolation barrier from solid contact to other solid objects.
Material for constructing isolation booths, speaker stand platforms, and isolation stands can be purchased from local hardware stores. The Material is not expensive and the actual construction techniques are not hard to understand. Even the most “hand tool challenged” individual can construct isolation devises that will reduce or eliminate sound from traveling beyond studio walls. The hardest part is in the design of these devises. For this reason, the next part in this three part series on preparing a room to be used as a recording studio is dedicated to actual design and building techniques.
Good Luck!
Peace,
Jai
“Love the Music in Yourself, Not Yourself in the Music.”
When you consider building a recording studio you need to think about sound energy and how it travels. We know that solid contact will transfer sound energy from one device to another. So, let’s consider what you are going to have in your studio that might make solid contact with anything else:
Speakers
The most used item in a studio that transmits sound will be the speakers. To even record sound you will need to have speakers so you can actually hear what it is you are recording. Most folks either buy speaker stands that sit directly on the floor or place their speakers on top of a desk that sits directly on the floor. Subwoofer speakers are becoming very common place in the recording studio as well and these things are far worse than regular speakers. Remember, low end sound energy travels further than high end sound energy though solid objects. Subwoofers will transmit sound beyond your studio walls far more than regular speakers.
Drummer
Drums are low frequency hogs. They have a lot of low frequency energy with every hit. Kick/bass drums travel very far and cut through even the best of “sound proofing” solutions. This is because most recording studios place the drum set directly on the floor which is part of a solid concrete slab that connects to other rooms that are build upon it.
Bass guitar
Again, low frequency sound energy travels further than high frequency sound energy. A bass guitar is meant to be the low end of music. Sitting a bass guitar amp directly on the floor will guarantee low end sound transmission to anywhere else that the floor exists.
Guitar
A regular guitar has a lot of low frequency sound energy. In fact, a guitar covers the entire audio frequency range. It’s guitar amp vibrates just as much as any other source of sound in the recording studio. Many studio owners find themselves in trouble from guitar amps transmitting sound energy through floors, walls, and ceilings with no apparent way of stopping the sound.
Piano
Most folks do not think of a piano as a source of low end sound energy. This is incorrect. In fact, the piano has a lot of low end energy. Just as much as a bass guitar or drum set. It may not be as amplified as a bass guitar amp or hit as hard or loud as a bass drum, but it does have just as much low end sound energy and it does travel just as far through solid contact as other low end sound energy transmitting instruments and speakers.
Vocals
Vocals do not have a lot of sound energy in the low end range. This does not mean they do not cover the low frequency range, in deed they do. But vocals do no carry the power or energy an amplified or stuck instrument like a bass drum does. A vocal booth or space for recording vocals still has to be treated for sound energy transmission, but it is not as hard to accomplish as other devices to isolate.
These are the most common instruments that will cause trouble with sound energy transmission beyond your studio. By all means this is not a complete list. However, if we concentrate on these items you will be prepared to handle any other sound source you may need to treat to minimize sound transmission beyond your recording studio walls. You may think a key instrument has been left off the list. Keyboards, samplers, and drum machines have become a staple of any recording studio. However, these instruments are usually recorded directly to a recording device. (Pro tools, tape, cd recorder, etc.) This means they are not amplified by anything other than the speakers used for monitoring the recording. For this reason these type of instruments fall under the “speakers” section when considering sound energy sources.
When planning a recording studio you need to consider what you will be recording, what you may record in the future, and the possibility that you will have instruments in the studio that you have not considered. Recording studios often are designed with one style of music in mind and transform to another style of music over night. For this reason, while in the planning stage of building a studio try not to simply consider what you ware wanting to do today. Always keep in mind that you may want to expand, change, or add services.
If you consider sound energy and how it transforms to energy that will vibrate solid objects and move beyond the walls of your recording studio, then you already know how to stop that sound from going anywhere you do not want it. You isolate it. Meaning you do not allow the sound to transfer from where it originates to other areas by way of transforming to energy that vibrates solid objects. No, you do not have to be Bill Nye the Science Guy to stop the transfer of sound energy to solid objects. It is actually pretty easy. You simply separate or isolate one solid object from another solid object. Sometimes this is done through physically separating one part of the floor, ceiling, and walls from others and sometimes it is accomplished through building devices that will not allow sound energy to pass to another through solid contact.
This article is meant for “DIY” studio entrepreneurs, not for millionaires that can afford to separate rooms from one another or cut concrete slabs to isolate one room from another. For this reason, we will concentrate on designing and building isolation devices that will stop or reduce sound energy from transferring from one solid object to another. Building isolation devices and rooms is much easier and less expensive than actually separating rooms, floors, and ceilings from one another.
Eliminating sound energy from directly transferring from solid object to another solid object is only half the battle when trying to stop sound from going beyond your recording studio walls. The other half of the battle is indirect transfer of sound. This is the sound traveling in the air coming from the speakers or source itself and hitting walls that will then transfer the sound, though energy, into solid objects that connect to other locations outside your studio walls. However, treating sound that travels in the air is much easier to deal with and simple sound absorbing devices can be constructed to handle this sound and reduce or eliminate it from traveling beyond your recording studio walls. Therefor a combination of isolation rooms/devices and devices that absorb sound carried in the air is how you eliminate noise complaints from neighbors and city officials.
We have talked about “solid” contact a lot. A piece of wood, concrete floor, metal speaker stand, wood floor, etc. make up items that can create a “solid” contact. Things that will vibrate easily and freely most transfer sound from one object to another. This means that items that absorb or do not vibrate help eliminate sound energy from transferring between objects. The most used material for stopping sound energy from transferring from one solid object to another is air. If one object is not touching another it can not directly transfer sound. The second material used to stop sound energy from transferring to another is neoprene rubber. Rubber absorbs sound energy within itself and does not transfer that energy to other objects. This means that if a metal speaker stand is placed on top of a neoprene rubber pad or base, the rubber will absorb the sound energy and not transfer that energy to the floor it sits upon. A combination of air and neoprene rubber is used to eliminate the sound energy of a drum set transferring to solid objects by building a room that sits upon a rubber base that is totally self contained. Meaning: the room floor joists are built sitting on neoprene rubber and the the walls, ceiling, and supports for the room are not touching any other solid object around it. This is called an isolation booth. The air around the booth, from not being connected to other walls in the studio for support, acts as an isolation barrier from solid contact to other solid objects.
Material for constructing isolation booths, speaker stand platforms, and isolation stands can be purchased from local hardware stores. The Material is not expensive and the actual construction techniques are not hard to understand. Even the most “hand tool challenged” individual can construct isolation devises that will reduce or eliminate sound from traveling beyond studio walls. The hardest part is in the design of these devises. For this reason, the next part in this three part series on preparing a room to be used as a recording studio is dedicated to actual design and building techniques.
Good Luck!
Peace,
Jai
“Love the Music in Yourself, Not Yourself in the Music.”
