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Booth build - phase 1

 
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Foog
DC


Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 608
Location: Upper Canuckistan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:03 am    Post subject: Booth build - phase 1 Reply with quote

My handyman uncle was over for a visit this week, so we got cracking on working on my new recording space. This first phase of putting together the new room (or booth? boothroom? No, wait. That sounds too much like "bathroom") was going to be no more than planning and recon. But that got depressing whenever we thought about how low the ceilings were and how terrible the floor was, so we set about hitting and breaking things instead, some of it intentionally even!




Don't let the relative position of the shiny back of my uncle's head fool you. That's one low ceiling; he's just a short guy. And don't let my relative's relative height fool you, he's a capable feller. As you can see in the picture above, he has two hammers, so you just know he's a serious dude. You can also see one of the current "walls" of my room to his left - it's a slapdash frame stuffed with Roxul and wrapped in cloth. It served me well enough with the clients I had, but it's high time to improve on an allegedly temporary solution that I've been slow to upgrade. After all, a quieter room will attract more high end clients, right? (It better, I already dropped a couple hundred bucks on beer and Roxul!)




Did someone say Roxul? Two layers of Roxul bats stuffed in between the joists. The house is elderly (about 115 years old or so), so there's been lots of settling and shifting. The joists were alternately too close together or too far apart. Or it could have just been the way I was trying to install it: an elaborate method involving cutting the Roxul bats, swearing, putting it gently in place between the joists, swearing as it started falling down, gently-but-firmly stuffing it back into place, having the Roxul crumble into my eyes as I worked overhead, swearing some more, not-so-gently-but-rather-more-firmly-and-swearingly stuffing the next layer into place, and swearing. (now that I think back on it, didn't someone else have a recent post about a similarly swearing-intensive process? I can't quite remember what it was all about, but hope theirs was at least less itchy.)




We went with the plastic vapour barrier instead of any other method to help keep the Roxul in place since there was a whole tonne of the stuff sitting in the garage. Waste not want not. After all that itchy and sweary work earlier, this part was a breeze.




Here's a picture of my other assistant, proudly showing off the hole in the table that he drilled. And while it may be tasteless to condone child labour, I am rather pleased that - unlike dad - he did the whole thing with nary a profanity. The holes are for the microphone stand and a music stand. And before you look too closely, why yes, that "table" is nothing more than a salvaged piece of faux-wood panelling stapled to a particleboard base that is going to sit on some sorta jury rigged sawhorse legs. It's only gotta last me a couple of weeks, so I'm not overly concerned. I'll put the Chippendale table in when I'm finished phase two. Ikea carries those, right?


Last edited by Foog on Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:34 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Foog
DC


Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 608
Location: Upper Canuckistan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And here's the *cough* "table" in place....


The area has been cleaned up all spic and span, and we have put the heavy drapes my mom gave me back up on the walls to give some semblance of sound absorption. Plus, it gives the space a snazzy appearance. I like to call it late-Victorian brothel meets redneck lumberyard.



Why, it ain't half bad when I get everything back in place...

Note my other "wall" in the pic, plus what looks like yet another slapdash wall leaning against it, but is actually my slapdash door (I just grab the frame and wedge it into place. Simply grand!)


Whew! It's been a dusty and itchy couple of days it has. But I'm done for now and ready to start recording again. If only I can figure out where the hell this 60 hz hum that is vibrating through the entire house is coming from. I swear it's worse than it was before. Arrrgghhh!


Last edited by Foog on Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:36 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Foog
DC


Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 608
Location: Upper Canuckistan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The plan for phase 2 is to build some frames and walls. I am probably going with decoupling clips and whatchamacallits - hat channels? - on one side, with 2 layers of 5/8" drywall (and green glue between). The walls will have more itchy-fun Roxul in them, and either one or two layers of 5/8" drywall on the other side.

Once that is all up I am going to float a drywall ceiling on clips as well.

My weakest link is probably going to be my floor. Currently the floor is composed of particleboard tiles on dimpled rubber on concrete. I have drainage woes in my old house during really bad storms, so I am loath to mess with a system that lets water trickle under it on the rare and terrifying occasion when water gets in. And there is the added problem of having little floor-to-ceiling clearance. I'm thinking of simply getting a barrymat layer on top of the existing floor ( http://www.acoustiguard.com/barymat-m-100d/ ). Far as I can tell, a barrymat is basically mass loaded vinyl with a rug on top and a foam layer underneath. Anyone have any experience with this kind of product?

And my next weakest link is my door. Not sure if I'd be better off with a single door or do the double-door-airlock thing (space is limited, so it would be two doors in the same frame structure).

I've been blissfully ignorant of all things sound-treatment for many a year, so please, by all means disavow me of any of my more idiotic ideers if I shared any.
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Lee Gordon
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Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Since this is, I assume, a basement, sound transmission through the floor is probably not an issue. Therefore, all you need to put down on top of that drainage board is something that will be comfortable under foot.
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Foog
DC


Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 608
Location: Upper Canuckistan

PostPosted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 2:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lee Gordon wrote:
Since this is, I assume, a basement, sound transmission through the floor is probably not an issue. Therefore, all you need to put down on top of that drainage board is something that will be comfortable under foot.


You are correct. Basement indeed. And I'm glad to know that my weakest link is my least important in this case. Onward to worry over my doors then!
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