Insulating without drywall?

[JustMastering]

I'd be tempted to leave it just the way it is, run cabling up there if you plan to use it for recording, and control everything remotely from a room down below.

The trouble is, no matter what you do, anything you add to the walls will change the character of the room's sound to a degree. If you have found a great sounding natural space, that can be part of the magic that makes everything you record sound completely unique.

One of my favorite recording locations, ever, was a 200 year old barn that I recorded an ensemble in a few years ago. Given its age, the floors, walls and roof were full of holes, but I think it was precisely that combination of old, dry wood, no insulation, and holes everywhere that made for a really interesting sound.

Anyhow, food for thought . Best of luck!

Rob Stewart | JustMastering.com

[Thinedude]

I completely agree with you. I should have been more specific though. I actually have planned on running cables from a separate control room downstairs. I was more worried about music equipment. Drums, amps, guitars, etc. Because I would like to use it as practice space as well to minimize the amount of equipment hauling to and from the 3rd floor.

[JustMastering]

Oh, gotcha. Something that might do the trick is spray http://www.ultimatesprayfoam.com/faqs.htmlfoaming between the roof joists. That adds r value and a vapour barrier in one shot. You could then cover it with wood sheeting of your choice, instead of drywall. If you were hoping to keep the original studs or joists exposed to the room, that could be tricky depending on where you live because they will transfer cold from outside.

Cheers!

Rob Stewart | JustMastering.com

[Thinedude]

I like that idea much better than drywall. I could also probably find some scrap wood from barns and construction sites and places like that. The winters aren't too bad here, so I'm not too worried about the cold. Thanks so much for your input, Rob!

[ckreon]

Originally Posted by Thinedude

I like that idea much better than drywall. I could also probably find some scrap wood from barns and construction sites and places like that. The winters aren't too bad here, so I'm not too worried about the cold. Thanks so much for your input, Rob!

You could insulate it from the outside.

[Thinedude]

go on...

[HermanV]

Originally Posted by Thinedude

go on...

That would kind of be a pain. You can always frame the outside of the roof and insulate. just make sure everything is super sealed and airtight.

[JayBeez]

Why don't you just run roll insulation into the roof joists and wall framing. Guessing R19 in the roof, and R13 in the walls. Paper side toward the room, staple to the wood, and you'd be in pretty good shape. Will insulate against weather, control the sound a bit, but wood beams would still be exposed. Before building my room within a room, I insulated the outer frame this way and it sounded pretty good (and controlled the weather a bit)

[AdAudioInc]

From the outside, lay pressure treated 2 x 4's 16" oc across the roof.
Then lay 1.5" rigid foam insulation between the 2 x 4's
Then cover the entire works with fan-fold insulation
Then 1/2" roof sheathing
Shingles
done (maybe some ginger bread around the edges, like fascia board)