Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

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SimonHirst
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Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

It's been a full on few months because we recently sold our old house and my studio space went with it, and we purchased a new one. Which means I had to find a new space to convert into Grange Studio v2.0! I thought some people may be interested in checking out the how/what/why's of the process, so thought I'd start a thread and I'll update it as I can.

Before I start in on the details it's probably important to explain what I am wanting out of it because, effectively, this dictates basically everything and why it's being done. But I'll try and keep it brief.
Essentially I am after a very good functioning 4 track studio which has an Iso Room, however it won't really be set up to record drums. If needed I can go and track drums at Insert a studio name here and then take those sessions back to my studio to finish. So I wanted to focus on creating a 4 channel setup, but have the best preamps and pieces of outboard gear I can afford. Like a quality over quantity type argument. I don't have the facilities to have a great drum room but having an Iso Room and four channels allows me to record anything I need to be able to do if I have tracked drums elsewhere. I do however need a very well sound proofed room so I can get the amps up loud which is one of the priorities. With that said...

I have two rooms to work with. One is roughly 3100x3000 and this will be turned into an Iso Room (Live room). The second room is bigger (roughly 5.5x3.7) and will be the Control Room.

We started on the Iso Room so we'll begin there. We took off all the electrical fittings, curtains, and finishing lines. Once we had done that I used Gib Sound Seal to fill every gap. Around the window, between where the wall Gib meets the ceiling Gib etc. One of the biggest areas sound can escape is in the smallest of gaps, and if you have many it adds up quickly. That done, we then lined another layer of Gib straight over the existing one to add some mass. Once that was complete we sealed every join etc again. Tedious but important! At this point the room, even without the new door fixed, feels significantly different. (Photo #1)
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Last edited by SimonHirst on Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:14 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

My good friend Matt has been helping me build this and is somewhat of a knowledgable person on the finer side of acoustics, and sound design. We decided early on that we would follow the 'room in a room' type method which is exactly what it sounds like. You build a room inside your existing room. However, the trick is that you build it so that none of the walls and ceilings, including all the framing, are touching the existing ones. You can also go to floating floors, but we've got a concrete pad to work off so have decided to run with that. The general belief is that the bigger the gap between the two different walls and ceilings is, the more sound isolation you get. However it seems to be quite diminishing returns too, and the smallish nature of the room has dictated that we've gone about as close as we can without anything touching. The reason for this is simply that once you've got your new frames and rafters in, then added the 2-3 layers of Gib to each surface, you start chewing in to your available space pretty quickly.
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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by AiRdAd »

OK - you've missed out the most important aspect of the studio build. It's the question that you should have answered first - before even considering sharing info on anything else!!!!

.... how did you manage to get the Mrs to let you have two rooms!?!?!?! :-)
Slowy wrote: To Danny, everyone is either a supplier, customer or a courier.

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

AiRdAd wrote: .... how did you manage to get the Mrs to let you have two rooms!?!?!?! :-)
I promised her a date with Chris Hemsworth! Ha! :wink:
It might sound a bit cliche but I’m fortunate to have married a great woman who is very supportive of what I do :thumbup:

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by Cdog »

Sweet! I helped a friend do something similar in his garage for recording... It's quite a lot of work! Ideal man cave tho :)

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

Cdog wrote:Sweet! I helped a friend do something similar in his garage for recording... It's quite a lot of work! Ideal man cave tho :)
Nice! Yeah, I helped Matt build one years ago which he sold, and then I converted a carport at our last house, so we’ve been accumulating ideas of how best to do things with better results for about 10 years now! Looking forward to finally seeing what the results are. Hopefully they’re pretty good :thumbup:

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by Delayman »

Cool. I did a room within a room and then sold the house.

One thing I learned was that a lot of people wreck the sound tightness by cutting in light fittings and electrical sockets after they've gone to all the effort of room-within-a-room. Ideally most stuff is surface mounted.
They keep telling me tone is in the fingers, but I have yet to see a "look at my fingers" thread.
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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by AiRdAd »

SimonHirst wrote:
AiRdAd wrote: .... how did you manage to get the Mrs to let you have two rooms!?!?!?! :-)
I promised her a date with Chris Hemsworth! Ha! :wink:
It might sound a bit cliche but I’m fortunate to have married a great woman who is very supportive of what I do :thumbup:
Dude, I'm telling ya - if she's letting you build that... she's either pregnant again and doesn't know how to tell you, or is planning on using the room for herself!!!! hahahaha!!!
Slowy wrote: To Danny, everyone is either a supplier, customer or a courier.

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

Delayman wrote:Cool. I did a room within a room and then sold the house.

One thing I learned was that a lot of people wreck the sound tightness by cutting in light fittings and electrical sockets after they've gone to all the effort of room-within-a-room. Ideally most stuff is surface mounted.
Absolutely. It’s those small details that have a very large effect in the overall result isn’t it. We’ve been isolating all the wiring through the framing as much as possible too :thumbup:

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by Delayman »

SimonHirst wrote:
Delayman wrote:Cool. I did a room within a room and then sold the house.

One thing I learned was that a lot of people wreck the sound tightness by cutting in light fittings and electrical sockets after they've gone to all the effort of room-within-a-room. Ideally most stuff is surface mounted.
Absolutely. It’s those small details that have a very large effect in the overall result isn’t it. We’ve been isolating all the wiring through the framing as much as possible too :thumbup:
And then you realise you've contained all the sound in a box and you need to absorb it, so you become an absorbtion expert...And then you realise that an airtight room needs some ventilation, so you become an amateur/expert in quiet HVAC....

But you have a studio you can actually work in without hearing birds and traffic later.
They keep telling me tone is in the fingers, but I have yet to see a "look at my fingers" thread.
Lawrence wrote: Every orchestra that comes thru here is a covers band as are most of the jazz bands...

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

Haha, it’s certainly an on-going process isn’t in! Matt is more the knowledgeable person on this stuff, and I just tag along :wink:

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by GrantB »

Where’s the whisky bar going? Asking for a friend.
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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

GrantB wrote:Where’s the whisky bar going? Asking for a friend.
Next to the wine rack...

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by SimonHirst »

Framing is just about finished. We've got a 10mm gap between the outside of the new frame and the existing walls right around the room. We've gone with less clearance above the rafters because we're trying to retain as much height as possible :thumbup: Second door frame and the interior room's window frame will be some of the next work done.
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Last edited by SimonHirst on Sun Nov 03, 2019 8:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Studio Build 2019. Grange Studio v2.0

Post by rickenbackerkid »

look amazing!

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