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Project Studio, Part III: The truth about isolation booths
by Michael Tarsia |
Part
III of PSE’s exploration into the construction of a home studio.
We find ourselves immersed in the building of the isolation booth,
after a slight delay caused by expected but unforeseen delays.
The room is coming along well. Two dedicated 20-amp circuits have
been installed for audio power. Lines have been run for lighting.
The ceiling has been insulated and the outer walls are ready to be
prepped for paint and wall treatments. Now that the main part of the
room is taking shape, it is time to look at the ISO booth design and
construction.
I had just ordered industrial felt to “float” the inner
framing of the booth when I spoke to Nick Collerian at Acoustics First.
He told me about a newer way to float the frame using Vib-X, a vibration-isolating
pad made of DuPont Neoprene. Vib-X pads have a ribbed design, can
be cut easily, don’t degrade over time, and are especially good
at rejecting low frequency transmissions. I quickly called and cancelled
my order for the felt.
Along
with the pads, I got some Vib-X washers to isolate the bolts securing
the wall footers.
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| Inner
framing with Vib-X washer. |
|
It
should be noted that an ISO booth is a room within a room. The outside
of the structure is of typical design, while the inner structure is
meant to “float” separate from the outer structure (and
the entire building) by means of insulators, like the Vib-X pads and
washers, as well as physical space.
The
whole process of building the booth has been a bit nerve-racking for
me. The room needs to float and be isolated, but air must flow through
it. In addition, cables, wiring for lights, and electrical outlets
must be strung through, and a door has to be installed. All of these
holes in the structure can ruin the room’s isolation qualities
if not treated properly.
Building the room
First
the outer wall was constructed. At the same time, consideration for
anything that had to be fed through the walls was mapped out and fabricated.
This meant that all wiring and boxes had to be extended long enough
to get through the two walls, and a provision for a run above the
booth had to be put in to ensure ease of adding anything to the room
at a later date.
Once
the outer walls were finished, the Vib-X was installed on the footers
and headers of the inner wall. The inner wall itself is situated so
it doesn’t touch the outer wall of the booth. I found a 28-inch
door and metal frame for an entrance and am now working on a design
to place the door in an optimum position for both sound and space.
A glass window is being ordered to give the ISO room door a view to
the studio to make it less claustrophobic.
The inner walls, the ones you see as you stand in the finished room,
consist of a layer of 1/2” sheetrock, Block Aid vinyl barrier,
and 5/8” green rock.
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| Green
rock, Block Aid, sheetrock. |
| |
The
airflow issue wasn’t as bad as I expected due to the fact that
a soffit was already put in next to where the booth is being built.
I must admit, the original purpose of the soffit was for bass trapping.
The soffit will be my “exhaust duct” and will be boxed
in hard fiberglass insulation.
The inside of the box will have two 90-degree hard fiberglass barriers
so that any extraneous sound will be minimized as it tries to pass
around the corners. A low noise fan will be placed on the far end
to evacuate air outside the studio properly and a vent will be situated
on the near end where the duct will connect to the booth.
On the intake side, air being pulled into the booth will come in around
two feet from the floor on the outer wall, run down the stud wall
to a “T,” then pass down the adjacent stud wall and exit
a few inches above the inner wall floor. As in the soffited area,
by going thru 90-degree bends, the sound from these holes in the system
will be greatly reduced.
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| Layers,
from bottom to top: Vib-X, 2x2” block, high-compression
plywood, vinyl, plywood. |
The
floor of the booth must also float off the room's original flooring.
Wood blocks with Vibe-X “feet” and two-inch plywood with
high-compression vinyl sandwiched in make the floating floor. Insulation
will be packed in between the floating floor and the original flooring,
and the edges of this floating floor will also be isolated from the
inner walls of the booth.
Diligence in the construction process is very important. It can’t
be stressed enough that the weakest link lowers the isolation properties
of the entire booth.
As I said at the beginning of this series, I knew this would be a
learning experience for me and that there would be twists and turns
for us during this journey. At Sigma, I had a team of people who tackled
different issues. I oversaw and lent my opinions but didn’t
get into the nitty gritty. Plus money was never an issue there. If
a wall had to be torn down or if we needed triple-isolating filters
put into lighting schemes, it was just done. In my situation in the
home studio, time and money are big issues, and a balance between
goals and gold have to be met.
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| ISO
“room” before… |
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| ISO
“room” so far… |
We’ve
now encountered some of those expected but unforeseen twists. Late
shipments, construction crews who are juggling different projects,
money shortfalls, and things behind the walls have made the job more
difficult and time consuming. I didn’t follow my own rule to
triple any projected completion time and then be happy when it took
a little less.
I had hoped to have the booth completed by now, but that didn’t
happen. Hopefully by next month, great pictures of a finished booth
will be in the mix.
Michael Tarsia is a two time Grammy recognized Engineer, with 19 Gold and Platinum album credits. He is also a Director and Instructor for the Sigma Soundz Recording Arts Program. Learn more at www.myspace/miketarsia or call 215-837-1002.
Acoustics First Corporation offers a full range of acoustical materials,
including sound absorbers, barriers, diffusers, and specialty products
used in studios for recording, broadcast, and multi-media production.
Learn more at www.acousticsfirst.com. |
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