Building rehearsal rooms

[paulflan0151]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of building some rehearsal rooms. Any basschatters had experience of building rehearsal rooms? I'd be renting them out so would need to be to a professional standard.
I was thinking of just building a wooden frame and using some sort of soundproof insulation inbetween.
The space is open plan so I'm free to make 'em anyway I want. No neighbours so no need to worry about the noise.
I was even thinknig about offering some basic recording if possable.

Thanks-Paul-

[bassfunk]

Hi Paul

fellow Basschatter (and our band's sound engineer) Adam aka Dolando is in the process of building a studio/rehearsal rooms. might be worth sending him a PM?

There was a thread ages ago about this too, I seem to remember a Basschatter building one for personal use in his garage?

Good luck

Pete

[paulflan0151]

Thanks Pete

[Skol303]

Sounds like a great idea to me Paul! Especially the idea of offering some sort of recording set up too. I can see that being a big attraction.

You're going to be busy what with this and building a certain someone's bass...

[KevB]

I recall Beedster creating a thread on this maybe last year? Not sure how far he got and he doesn't post so often these days but could PM him,if nothing else he might be able to point you at the original thread.

[BigRedX]

IMO the main constructional issue for rehearsal rooms is not noise leaking to the outside, but sound leakage from one room to the others. Your partition walls between the rooms need to be of the same standard as the outside walls, which means brick or some other heavy duty construction and preferably with a sizeable air-gap between each room.

[joeystrange]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1369904663' post='2094095']
IMO the main constructional issue for rehearsal rooms is not noise leaking to the outside, but sound leakage from one room to the others. Your partition walls between the rooms need to be of the same standard as the outside walls, which means brick or some other heavy duty construction and preferably with a sizeable air-gap between each room.
[/quote]

This.
I've rehearsed at a place that was pretty much as you described your idea - an open space with three rooms built inside using timber frames and doubled-skinned plasterboard walls with rockwool in between. There were two rooms that shared a wall and another which had its nearest point around 10 feet from the other two. On the inside they sounded OK (though they weren't very well treated) but even from the separate room you could still hear the bands in the other two rooms quite clearly when you stopped playing.

[Fat Rich]

Square or rectangular rooms can cause standing waves of sound to build up, you might want to angle a wall or two particularly if you plan to use them for recording.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='bassfunk' timestamp='1369858237' post='2093698']
There was a thread ages ago about this too, I seem to remember a Basschatter building one for personal use in his garage?
[/quote]

Happy Jack's garage > rhsal room thread here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/135383-kitting-out-my-garage-as-a-rehearsal-space/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/135383-kitting-out-my-garage-as-a-rehearsal-space/[/url]

Also the book [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basic-Home-Studio-Design-White/dp/1860742726/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369911573&sr=1-1&keywords=paul+white+basic+home+studio"]Basic Home Studio Design[/url] by Paul White. A mere £4.49 (Amazon) buys you scads of info.

[flyfisher]

My understanding is that the 'dead air' in between is only 'dead' if the room walls are substantially built, i.e. not a couple of bits of plasterboard on a stud wall. Mass is what really deadens sound. Rockwool might be good for thermal insulation but it's pretty useless for sound insulation.

[Mr. Foxen]

Rockwool works as sound insulation by converting the sound energy to heat through friction as the fibers rub together, its a good balance of practical and functional, because two walls with loose sand between is difficult.

Other consideration is ventilation, got to keep sound in, but avoid the rooms that stink like a bunch of sweaty blokes are in them often.

[LawrenceH]

There's a useful introductory guide to soundproofing techniques here:

http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/soundproofing101/

Soundonsound magazine's website/forum is also good for advice on both soundproofing and acoustic treatment.

Agree completely about the ventilation, the top issues for our band in Edinburgh choosing between rehearsal rooms were room sound quality and air quality! (then drum kit quality)

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1369915699' post='2094379']
Rockwool works as sound insulation by converting the sound energy to heat through friction as the fibers rub together, its a good balance of practical and functional, because two walls with loose sand between is difficult.
[/quote]

Hmm. I'd like to see some figures for dB losses through an empty stud wall with double-skinned plasterboard and one filled with rockwool. I'd bet on there being very little difference.

Fair point about the (im)practicality of loose sand though - in most domestic environments anyway.

The 'Circle Studios Refurb' topics on here somewhere shows how commercial studios handle sound-deadening and it seems to be all about building thick solid concrete/block walls, i.e. the more mass the better.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1369916175' post='2094394']
Hmm. I'd like to see some figures for dB losses through an empty stud wall with double-skinned plasterboard and one filled with rockwool. I'd bet on there being very little difference.
[/quote]

Have a look at that link I posted - insulation is supposed to reduce cavity resonance.

[Mr. Foxen]

Soundproofing rockwool is a bunch denser than general insulation stuff, its basically blocks. http://www.rockwool.co.uk/why+rockwool-c7-/sound+proofing

[CyberBass]

If you need any auralux tiles I have plenty left over from when I had my studios built. Let me know and I'll give you a good price on them :-)

[Skol303]

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1369916802' post='2094412']...insulation is supposed to reduce cavity resonance.[/quote]

Would that be a job for Phil McCavity? [i][ba-da-boom-tish!][/i]



...I'll get me coat.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' timestamp='1369916938' post='2094415']
Soundproofing rockwool is a bunch denser than general insulation stuff, its basically blocks. [url="http://www.rockwool.co.uk/why+rockwool-c7-/sound+proofing"]http://www.rockwool..../sound+proofing[/url]
[/quote]

Ahh, that makes a bit more sense (more density, more mass etc) . . . as does the cavity resonance thing.

Edited May 30, 2013 by flyfisher

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1369917296' post='2094424']
...I'll get me coat.
[/quote]

Yes. Yes, I think you probably should

[KevB]

I had to go use a rehearsal room for the first time in over a year just the other night. I don't know how many of these I've used over the years but the thing that sticks in the mind is that they [i]all [/i]have the same smell of damp carpet. I recall one I used years ago I went down on one one knee briefly to try to coax some sense out of the awful bass combo provided and when I straightened up there was an actual damp patch on the knee of my jeans.

[Mr. Foxen]

The no ventilation does that, need to run dehumidifier in downtime.

[paulflan0151]

wow, thanks for the replies guys.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1369904143' post='2094074']
You're going to be busy what with this and building a certain someone's bass...
[/quote]

No worries Paul. I'll have made your bass before/ if I even make a start on this project.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1369904663' post='2094095']
IMO the main constructional issue for rehearsal rooms is not noise leaking to the outside, but sound leakage from one room to the others. Your partition walls between the rooms need to be of the same standard as the outside walls, which means brick or some other heavy duty construction and preferably with a sizeable air-gap between each room.
[/quote]

Yeah, I was thiknig wood walls at first to keep the costs down but I think bricks of some sort would be the way to go. A gap inbetween the walls with some sort of dense soundproofing inbetween. As this is a industrial job (as in not at home) I could use sand or soil or something like that.


[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1369912731' post='2094302']
Happy Jack's garage > rhsal room thread here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/135383-kitting-out-my-garage-as-a-rehearsal-space/"]http://basschat.co.u...ehearsal-space/[/url]

Also the book [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Basic-Home-Studio-Design-White/dp/1860742726/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369911573&sr=1-1&keywords=paul+white+basic+home+studio"]Basic Home Studio Design[/url] by Paul White. A mere £4.49 (Amazon) buys you scads of info.
[/quote]

Nice one. well worth a punt for a fiver!

Thanks guys-Paul-

[Skol303]

[quote name='paulflan0151' timestamp='1369944868' post='2094902']No worries Paul. I'll have made your bass before/ if I even make a start on this project.[/quote]

You're a good 'un mate! If you need any advice on the recording set up side of things then there are plenty folks on here that can help - 51m0n and Rimskidog spring to mind immediately.

Sounds like a great idea to me anyway.

[pete.young]

Friend of mine made a shed-within-a-shed in his garden. Despite comments on here about the ineffectiveness of stud walls, it works really well. You can stand outside the shed and hold a conversation in a normal voice even if someone inside the shed is playing the drums at max volume.

The inner booth has a floor made of paving slabs, which sit on 100mm thick Jabloc - this drastically reduces the amount of sound going out through the floor.

There's some info on materials and design used here: http://www.ashbysoft.com/wiki/moin.cgi/TheShed/PartII

[lurksalot]

I know mass is the thing , I fit new double glazing and throw away loads of old double glazed sashes and the like , it wont absorb noise but will help add mass if used to fill a cavity between rooms to prevent seepage , just PM me and come and collect , it might save a bit of landfill if it works for you .