PROJECT STUDIO PRODUCTION AND ADVANCED SOUND SYNTHESIS

Details of Assignment:
Produce a design for an acoustically isolated project studio space of 3 x 4 x3 metres giving
particular reference to acoustic resonance, standing waves, reflections, modes, sound
leakage and methods of treatment to minimise associated problems.

The report should include the following considerations:

Comparisons of various sound absorbing materials and your reasons for choosing them
Various methods of restricting sound transference outside the studio space and comparisons of different
approaches
Construction methods
Floor, wall and ceiling leakage
Door and window leakage – control methods
Treatments to control internal coloration and reflections
Budgetary constraints and practical limitations

The assignment should comprise approximately 2000 words and include a graphic layout plan and
illustrations of structural methods.

Reasons for choosing 4x3x4

diffusion behind the head, more control of the phantom source, more direct.
ACS recommende, modern recording tech

RT 60
Background noise with all equipment powered on should optimally not exceed 25dB
SPL A-weighted.
leakage from the studio to the outside world.

vocal booth in room?

Takes up a lot of space, but figure out a way?
Hanging absorbers?
Helmut resonater

Aiming for a acoustically flat room !!

real traps!

Mixing with your mind

Acoustic isolation: This prevents external noises from transmitting into the studio environment
through the air, ground or building structure. It can also prevent feuds that can arise when
excessive volume levels leak out into the surrounding neighborhood.

The setup of the room:

The room is going to be 3 x 4 x 3 and I will transfer this as:
L= 4meters, Widht= 3 meters, and H= 3 meters

Isolation of the room:

As I dont have much experience in this area, I would like to take tips from people who have done this before.
On the topic of sound isolation Paul White (sound on sound) states:

"The simplest way to attenuate sound is to put a solid wall in its way -- the more solid,
the better the isolation you'll get. As a rule, if you double the mass of a wall, you halve
the amount of sound transmitted through it" (Sic) .

The idea for the room is to decrease the noise coming in and out of the room. After my research in sound
isolation I have been digging up some great points out there. Some ideas are very expensive and others are
affordable. In this assignment I want to create my studio as I would in reality. In reality I would have
budgetary constraints and would choose effective but affordable ways to create my project studio.

Creating the walls, floor and ceiling:

If I assume that I have bought a apartment in a concrete building. The room I want to make is faced towards
the street, so I would get concrete on the side wall (4 meters), side wall (3 meters) and on the floor.

Floor:
With the floor I have to consider the rumbling from nearby traffic. Since the concrete floor is tied to the
buildings ground foundation, I want to make a "floating floor" so I can decouple it from the subfloor
foundation.
If I assume that my floor is already layered with concrete with plywood surface I will build the floating floor
over this ground floor layer.
The expensive way to do this:

If I want to do this really thoroughly I can build the floor as in a professional facility. The way to do this is to
either use neoprene hockey pucks or a rubberized floor mat and spread it over the existing floor. Then cover
it with 1/ 2 inch plywood followed by a layer of plastic sheeting. The plastic sheeting is provided to insulate.
After creating this, I have to cover the structure with reinforcing wire mesh, and then provide a 4 inch layer
of concrete on top. Now the structure is ready for a
E.g a carpet layer, painting and so on.

The more affordable way to do this:

I can layer the floor with a carpet foam pad and then put a 1/ 2 layer of "tongue and groove" plywood on top.
I will not use nails because this will connect it with the original floor. I will use glue or lock them together
with thin, metal braces. After this is done I can layer the structure again with another foam pad. Then I can
top it with carpeting.
I choose this way of making a floating floor because it is a better approach for me as I want to keep my
project studio affordable.

The Walls

To make the studio wall, I first have to provide studs for the application. The inner and outer wallboards
(made of gypsum) is not going to hold the same density, and not be connected to the same stud application.
This is because the transmission through the wall can be increased due to resonance frequencies that is
created when sound hits the wall. To provide even more decrease in these resonant frequencies I will insulate
the wall with rockwool, that will stop the resonance going through the wall. I will put the rockwool between
the wallboards, inside the studs (picture 1.2). When building this structure, theres always leakage that will
occur ( through cracks). I will close this leakage by adding nonhardening caulk to the wall to floor, wall to
ceiling and the corners.

Picture 1.2
Placing the studio monitors in the room:

In my last assignment I wanted to have 5.1 surround in my project studio. The monitors I provided was
Adam A7X (6,5 inch) and Adam sub (8 inch).
To place this monitors in the room I want to use the "official" setup stated by The International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) :
The speakers are placed at equal distance to the listener (center point). Three of the speakers are placed in the
front and two in the back:
one dead center, the left and right speakers placed 30 degrees from the center point on each side, and the two
in the back placed 110 degrees from center on each side.
The sub is placed near the center. If the sub (also the speakers) is to close to the front wall it can provide bass
buildup and change the overall response so I have to take this into consideration.
Calculating the room modes:
Bibliography:

Sound on sound, http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/articles/faqacoustic.htm, last accessed 4/12 2010

The Recording Academy's Producers & Engineers Wing

Recommendations For Surround Sound Production
,http://www2.grammy.com/PDFs/Recording_Academy/Producers_And_Engineers/5_1_Rec.pdf, last
accessed 7/ 12 2010

Huber, David Miles (2005), Modern recording techniques, Elsevier, Burlington

DIY, http://www.diy-home-theater-design.com/staggered-stud-wall.html, last accessed 8/12 2010