soundproofing

im about to move, when i do the place im movin to has an extra bedroom, so im gonna convert it into a full fledged studio

so as far as soundproofing goes will the auralex foam really do the job or what?

All the foam is going to do is tame the slap back. You know stop the sound from bouncing off the walls. If you line the walls full of foam it will help a little but not as much as you would expect. Here is a good idea. See if a scool or some store has a bunch of old thick velvet drape to sell for cheap or give away. Line your walls with that making thick ruffles at least 4in thick. I have always wanted to do this.
Ron

The magazine sound on sound always has a lot of advice on soundproofing. Their "studio sos" feature, where they go home to someone and fix problems in their studio, almost exclusively deal with soundproofing and reducing listening problems.

I don't have any experience in soundproofing (except for a rehearsal space, which doesn't really count), but their advices seem pretty solid.

Ron wrote:All the foam is going to do is tame the slap back. You know stop the sound from bouncing off the walls. If you line the walls full of foam it will help a little but not as much as you would expect. Here is a good idea. See if a scool or some store has a bunch of old thick velvet drape to sell for cheap or give away. Line your walls with that making thick ruffles at least 4in thick. I have always wanted to do this.
Ron

yea i work at an old auditorium, and they're doing sum renovating, i'll see if i can't snatch up the old curtains, that was a real good idea. it's all flame retardent too, big ups

when ever i moved , i would only foam my booth area where i record my vocals...... rather its a walk in closet or a corner of the room specified for recording.

Yeah i was actually thinking of building a recording booth, i'm thinkin i could build one for under $400

Science wrote:when ever i moved , i would only foam my booth area where i record my vocals...... rather its a walk in closet or a corner of the room specified for recording.

that's exactly what im plannin on doing, i figure with the idea ron gave me, i can save a bunch of money by just hanging up the thick curtain, and bying like 50 sq ft of foam to hook up my closet with.

also wouldnt egg crates that u sleep on, u know the kind u put under the mattress, work instead of actually buying the expensive foam by auralex? or is that stuff made of a special material or sumthin

MistaMike4u wrote:Yeah i was actually thinking of building a recording booth, i'm thinkin i could build one for under $400

you could do it for less if you are handy in the carpenter department. i built a standalone booth in my living room for around that much. i actually had someone else build it and traded his build time for studio time, so it may have cost me more in the end. but i aint skilled in the carpentry. but as far as materials go, im pretty sure i spent around that much.

advice if you do it, build it so you can stuff some seriuos insulation in there. make the walls a little wider than you would normally do, meaning the inside of the walls, so you can put r30 insulation, thats the stuff that normally goes in your attic. thick as hell. we built my walls a little to thin an stuffing all that insulation in there made it hard to put up the drywall. also, make sure not to have any right angles goin on if possible, make it the shape of a trapezoid or something like that. dont make it a square or rectangle shape. and foam the hell out of the ceiling. that was my biggest culprit as far as weird slap back went. keep us posted.

with what mesh said. Just dump that egg crate idea. i tried it like four years ago. it looked mad sloppy and in my opinion, it didnt work that well. forget the bootleg methods. you want the space where you record to look nice neat and comfortable. trust me it will refect in your music. a matress? man heck naw... but it you low on doe and you need a quick fix ...roll with. but if you can spare or sacrifice like 300 -400 bucks, go for the gusto!!! peace and love

What should I do as far as ventalation?

MistaMike4u wrote:What should I do as far as ventalation?

dont smoke in the booth

I am trying to do the same thing. I am remodeling my house and building a studio and a vocal booth.
You may want to look at the "sound deadening" boards at home depot.
They are 4 x 8s and cost about $8 a piece.
They also stock a product the same size called "homosote" it costs a little more , maybe $12-$16 depending on your area. This stuff is also called
"beaverboard" by old timers as well as other names. It's supposed to be more effective than the "sound deadening" boards.
I guess the best thing to do would be to ask about these products BEFORE you commit to them..although , home depot would always let you return them. I dont have boatloads of money either so I'm gonna build a booth with those items and decouple the booth from the surrounding frame / walls , etc. It aint gonna be absolutely soundproof but it should make it considerably quieter than what I would have used before.
I hope this helps...I'll be watching this space too , looking for tips.

MistaMike4u wrote:What should I do as far as ventalation?

good question. i dont have an answer as my booth is not ventilated. biggest complaint aside from noise entering the booth. just take breaks with the door open in between takes after it starts to warm up. alot of the guys that record in my booth come out sweating! oh well. its better than the bathroom they used to be in!