VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Lee Gordon

I just came home from the store with some Green Glue and some acoustical sealant, so I guess there's no turning back now. As I have mentioned here previously, I am about to build myself a VO booth. Due to severe space limitations, it's going to have a square footprint with exterior dimensions of around 4'6" per side.

Factoring in the 2x6 framing and double layer of 5/8" drywall on the inside, the final interior dimensions will be around 39" on a side. We all know that parallel walls are not ideal, so my question to the experts is, if I shorten a couple of the interior walls by another inch or two so that none of the interior walls is exactly parallel, will that be worth sacrificing the limited floor space, or will being just an inch or two out of square not be a significant enough difference to matter?
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

Jason Huggins · Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 5:26 pm Post subject:

I don't personally know if it would make that much difference to be an inch or two out of square, but definitely make sure you decouple the walls in some way.

ballenberg · Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 6:29 pm Post subject:

That's what the 2x6's are for, right , Lee? Staggered studs? Those few inches won't really matter, I'd say--especially since they'd be subtracted from your space. Keep all you can.

Scott Lyle · Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 8:15 pm Post subject:

2x4's would be plenty sufficient in strength for the studs. or are you going to need the extra width for insulation or are you staggering 2x4 studs on a 2x6 plate? looking forward to reading more about your build, lee! excited for you!
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FinMac · Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:32 pm Post subject: Square?

When I was getting ready to build out my space for my booth I discussed it with an audio engineer I often work with.

One of the things I remember was him saying, "whatever you do, do not make it a square".

It will be interesting to hear how it works out.

Mac
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 12:00 am Post subject:

I have no choice but to make it square-ish. I was really just asking if shifting walls by only an inch or two changes the angle enough or if they would still be, for all intents and purposes, effectively square.

The reason for the 2x6 walls is, indeed, to make a double stud wall. I'm thinking of using 2x3s rather than 2x4s for the framing, except on the wall where the door will be. Outer wall will be a single layer of 5/8" drywall, cavity between inner and outer walls will be filled with Roxul Safe 'n Sound, inner wall will be two layers of 5/8" drywall with Green Glue in between and installed on resilient channel, and I may install a layer of mass loaded vinyl under one of the walls.

As you can see, I believe in using belt and suspenders.
And a piece of rope.

And another belt. cool

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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

vkuehn · Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 5:24 am Post subject:

From the earlier days of studio design, we bring with us the idea that having all walls parallel and perpendicular is a bad thing. But in a room as small as you are building, if you ran the math it could be that you cannot put enough slant in the walls to make an acoustical difference. But if you choose to slant them even 2 or 3 inches, you will always have a level of confidence you did everything possible everytime you enter that precious space.

When we mount Roxul product inside the room (but not inside/internal to the walls) we want it fluffy so the sound waves enter the Roxul and an appropriate number of those waves get "trapped" or slowed down so reverb is reduced/eliminated. Roxul or other content internal to your wall serves another purpose. To isolate the room, you may want the most dense version of whatever product you put in there, and you may want to pack it in pretty tight. MASS seems to be the key description of products needed for SOUND PROOFING.

vkuehn · Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 5:29 am Post subject:

A second thought on to square or not to square. Slanted wall studios were the vogue way, way back in broadcasting studios when live music performances were part of the mix. They didn't want the dead sound we seek to achieve in VO work spaces. They wanted reverberation... but they wanted balanced reverberation in the various frequency ranges. Some music recording studios have been built that way. And the builders and designers of these facilities went back and looked at the characteristics of great performance halls where classical music sounded it's best.

Most of us are not looking for that reverberant sound that great musicians demand.

Donna · Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:20 am Post subject:

Lee, I'm heading out for a meeting in a couple of minutes, but I will be more than happy to talk you through my process later today, if you can wait.

A couple of very quick notes on my trapezoid-ish booth:

I used 2 X 4 plate and staggered the 2 X 4 studs sideways to maximize my interior space. Thought about using a 2 X 6 plate but if you use 2 X 4s you will gain 4" of space on the inside. Think of it, Lee. 4 whole inches! Makes a huge difference.

I was told that if you can get even 10 degrees out of square it will help immensely.

BUT ... If I were to build another booth, I would build it square on the outside and make the crazy angles through treatment on the inside. Fitting the ceiling on my little funhouse was just plain ugly. Let's just say it's a good thing to have mad plastering skillz.
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heyguido · Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 8:09 am Post subject:

One caveat....

If the booth is in any way part of the structure of your room.... Check local building codes. Using 2x3 studs could be a code issue that could affect your ability to sell or insure your home.

Just sayin'.... Inoccent

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jsgilbert · Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 9:04 am Post subject:

Stud size requirements usually only pertain to load bearing walls; a sound booth is not considered "living space". Theoretically you could use Leggo's to build it. None of the whisper rooms, etc. use 2 X4 stud construction.

The choice you have is to make your room "DEAD QUIET". In general, knocking the walls out of plumb doesn't do much for any smallish room/ booth. But this also has a bit to do with how high your ceiling is, as this is figured out in cubic inches.

The purpose of unparalleling walls is so that you can keep a little "life" in your room. Your room would need to be considerably larger to even attempt this.

You will need to put extremely dense foam (Auralex) everywhere and use basstraps. This will eliminate practically all standing waves. This will also mean that your recordings will all need to be e.q.'ed, by rolling off 80hz and possible also bringing up your mid's slightly. All voices are different, so you will need to fididdle. Most people recommend recording straight in and e.q.'ing afterwards.
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