MusicRadar
The No.1 website for musicians
How to build your own studio in 11 easy steps
From soundproofing to floating floors…
Pete Riley - Rhythm Magazine, Mon 23 Feb 2009, 5:02 pm UTC
4. Don't forget to breath
With all of the windows and doors sealed and walls caulked and airtight, there is the small issue of how you're going to breathe. Surprisingly easily overlooked, the supply of air into the studio is important, not only to avoid lapsing into unconsciousness mid-paradiddle, but also for the preservation of the recording equipment, on which moisture can collect.
You'll need both an inlet and an outlet (one with a fan), spaced evenly apart of possible.
5. Build an acoustic box (hello, MDF)
In creating these air vents you'll now have a hole in your soundproofing that will need an acoustic box built over it, one of which will house the fan. Make an 'S' shape duct within an MDF (or equivalent) box, line with acoustic foam and place over the vent holes along with some mesh to keep out unwanted crawly things.
One final consideration is to avoid putting the inlet vent where the sun shines, so to speak, as it will pull in unwanted hot air during the summer.
6. Create a room within a room (the difficult bit)
Most soundproofing is done with the 'room within a room' principle in mind: construct a separate room within the original building with minimal contact. If space allows, run a new wall of high-density concrete blocks internally, mounted on thin neoprene (a type of synthetic rubber compound) so that the blocks are not directly on the floor.
Tie them to the outer walls using acoustic wall ties and, once you have soundproofed the original roof using mineral wool placed between the beams and a couple of layers of plasterboard mounted on resilient channel, do the same thing again on a second roof mounted to the new internal wall.
These internal walls can then have 2x2 timber attached vertically, again mounted on neoprene, and after pushing in 2" thick mineral wool inbetween the studs, our two layers of plasterboard can be fitted onto resilient channel. Finally (phew!), all surfaces should be sealed with decorators caulk – a small hole in the surface, which can be caused by cracks around the surface of a wall, can compromise its efficiency by up to 50 percent.
7. Don't hide the power
It's often assumed that power and lighting cables should be run behind the new plasterboard walls. However, cutting out plug sockets will destroy your carefully built soundproofing. Instead it's recommended that all power is surface mounted using conduit or trunking, or you could build out another area for light, plugs and power using timber and plasterboard.
