Studio acoustics advice needed

[Radioking]

After residing happily in our present location for a number of years, it looks like the studio is going to have to move. In September we go on to a month-by-month lease prior to the wrecking ball arriving. The word is that nothing will happen before Xmas and perhaps for a while after that as planning permission for demolition has yet to be obtained.

After checking out what is available to rent, I am exploring the option to buy. Buying, believe it or not, is not that much more expensive than renting. There are many property developments on brown field sites in London’s’ East end and most seem to incorporate business units amongst the regular housing developments. I guess this must be a planning trade off as most of these developments are on former industrial sites.

I have found a unit that I like. It is in a great location, Loads of potential clients and the local amenities are top notch (park, canal, tube, great local pubs & restaurants) The space is good. Three times bigger than the present studio (650 sq foot). All in all I feel that buying this place would be a good move.

Here is the problem, the units are part of a mixed use development. There would be housing directly above the studio. Is it possible to acoustically isolate a studio? I would hate to invest in such a place and find that I was served with a noise abatement order. The budget for moving would include £10-15K for the build and while that is not a huge amount, I am a competent self-builder and could do the bulk of the work myself.


What do you slutz think. Can it work or not?

Thanks

http://www.myspace.com/pressplaystudios

[Scott R. Foster]

Your Majesty:

You will cut your re-fit budget enormously if you can secure a stand alone building and obviate the need to fully isolate yourself through get you transmission losses across the walls, floors and ceilings up to standards typical for putting a sound studio up against a residential use.

To get an idea of the savings involved you might to try posting a thread at:

http://www.recording.org/forum-34.html

and get Rod G's input [buy his book also - it'll help a great deal IMO].

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...?redirect=true

Or try a general query on this forum:

http://forum.studiotips.com/

Good Luck!

[Radioking]

Thanks for the reply Scott.

I studied basic acoustics at college 18 years ago. It was part of my Guitar making course. Combined with a few purchased books and plenty of Internet research I was able to construct the place that I am in now. If I consider the standard of acoustic isolation in the existing studio, while OK (about 65 db loss through walls etc) it would not be good enough if I had neighbours.

The option of buying a standalone building would be the best option but it would also add a min of £50 K to the price. I am hoping it would be cheaper to buy one of these developer shell business units and spend budget on implementing a good acoustic design.

I would like to get an idea if its possible to achieve this before I drag some acoustic designer out on a wild goose chase.


BTW The moniker Radioking has nothing too do with the goofy brigade down Buckingham Palace but more for a love of Vintage Slingerland Radioking drums.

[RainbowStorm]

Originally Posted by Radioking

Thanks for the reply Scott.

I studied basic acoustics at college 18 years ago. It was part of my Guitar making course. Combined with a few purchased books and plenty of Internet research I was able to construct the place that I am in now. If I consider the standard of acoustic isolation in the existing studio, while OK (about 65 db loss through walls etc) it would not be good enough if I had neighbours.

The option of buying a standalone building would be the best option but it would also add a min of £50 K to the price. I am hoping it would be cheaper to buy one of these developer shell business units and spend budget on implementing a good acoustic design.

I would like to get an idea if its possible to achieve this before I drag some acoustic designer out on a wild goose chase.


BTW The moniker Radioking has nothing too do with the goofy brigade down Buckingham Palace but more for a love of Vintage Slingerland Radioking drums.

It's possible to isolate a recording room pretty good, the more you spend in the isolation material the more isolated it becomes. However, while isolating a room is mostly good for eliminating outside noise in a noisy but popular area I would recommend you to try finding a good place elsewhere instead, just to be able to put the money on more important stuff than isolation. First of all, try find a place that is big enough and has the right room dimension ratios. You will deeply regret what you build/buy if you don't get an attractive platform to work on. Sound quality is much more important than studio location. So my advice is that you try to find a location that has a quiet enough outside noise, isolate the studio without spending too much and then spend really much on the building itself and room acoustics. Good luck!

[Radioking]

Thanks for answering the question RainbowStorm.

It would probably be appropriate to add some more background information. The developer shell units that I am interested in are in the region of £130k. For that, you get a new build shell, which looks modern and smart, the area is 650sq ft and as I mentioned above the location is excellent. It is possible to layout good shaped rooms. I would get a control room of around 180 sq ft and a live room of 300 sq ft. I realise that is pretty small by some standards, but it would be 2 & ½ times the size of the current space.

I have also looked at a few other places and to give an example, I have looked at a mews building close to where I live. The price is £180K and would need another £25K spending to bring it up to a decent standard. The internal area is 950 sq ft but the location is not as good. Clients would have to travel to an area, which many consider a no-go zone. Although, I am happy living here.

Finding work/studio/light industrial space to buy in East London is difficult as all the owners of these properties think they will be granted permission to build 10 flats on the sites and hence have an inflated idea of the value of their properties. The Olympics coming her in 2012 has served to fuel this expectation.

I have explored the option of leasing a new space, this would cost about £7k a year for 500 sq ft and I would still have to invest in the build.

Option 1 or similar, is the most attractive & affordable. I could move the studio without a significant rise in the rates that I charge the clients. Facilities would, while not ideal would still be a significant improvement over what I offer now, hopefully, that would help to attract new business.

Thanks for the advice

Andy

http://www.myspace.com/pressplaystudios

[joeq]

Originally Posted by Radioking

The option of buying a standalone building would be the best option but it would also add a min of £50 K to the price. I am hoping it would be cheaper to buy one of these developer shell business units and spend budget on implementing a good acoustic design.

I would like to get an idea if its possible to achieve this before I drag some acoustic designer out on a wild goose chase.

you could rip out all your ceiling, even get access to the the upstairs neighbor's floor and still have unacceptable levels of transmission due to sound -especially bass- travelling through the framework of the structure. A totally separated 'room within a room' done right could cost you more than that and take away a lot of your space.

You could spend all that money and still have no guarantee. Imagine doing all that work and then getting complaints the day of your first tracking session.

At least owning a standalone building would be a guarantee. Plus, it should hold its value if that is any consolation. To me, real real estate includes dirt.

How much would it add to BUY the adjoining unit? Could you turn around and rent it out? Perhaps to a non-residential purpose? As the Landlord, your need for soundproofing diminishes greatly.