Home Recording Studio: Build It Like the Pros

365 Pages·2010·16.75 MB·English

by  Rod Gervais

Home
Recording Studio
Build It Like the Pros
Second Edition
Rod Gervais
Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Home Recording Studio: Build It Like the Pros © 2011 Rod Gervais.
Second Edition
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Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10
To all five of my children,
I want you to know that I am proud at the sense of drive and ethics you have brought
with you into adulthood, and to see you raising your children with those same values
(well, those three of you who have children anyway).
I would ask you all to remember that your dreams should not be set aside and forgotten, gathering
dust in some chest in your attic, but are meant to be embraced, fed with fuel for their fires,
so that you attain (in your lives) any and everything you could ever desire.
The only possible obstacle in achieving this is you. Don’t ever let that be the case.
Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge the following people for their assistance with this book:
Executive Editor Mark Garvey, for putting together everything it took to make this happen.
My editor, Marta Justak, who again put up with me while we put this together. Marta, you truly are an
angel.
Technical editor, Gino Robair, your efforts have made this edition of the book much more than it would
have been otherwise.
To the compositor of the book, Jill Flores, I know you jumped through a lot of hoops making it from A to B
in this edition; I appreciate this more than you could ever know.
Doug Plumb of Acousti Soft Inc., thanks for your assistance with Chapter 8.
Jeff D. Szymanski, PE, special thanks for your assistance in general, as well as providing review for technical
accuracy.
Brian Ravnaas, thanks for your assistance and contributions to Chapter 3.
To my brother Paul, the photographer, for providing my photo. You did a great job of making me look
much better than I do in real life.
A special thanks to my readers, the people who made the first edition such a success that we actually had a
reason for releasing the second edition. It amazes me the support you have provided to me—both from your
warm reception of the book to your recommendation to people that they purchase it. Without you, this edi-
tion really would have never happened.
And finally, last but certainly not least, again, to my brother Marc. You have been a source of strength to me
ever since we were kids—a shining light I could follow. I notice even this late in life that nothing has
changed.
About the Author
Rod Gervaisis a multi-disciplined engineer located in northeast Connecticut.
He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America, the Audio Engineering
Society, and the National Fire Protection Association. His background in con-
struction is wide ranging, from national museums to recording and movie
studios. It was his involvement in recording studio construction that first fired
his need for knowledge in the field of acoustics, a fire that still burns today.
His quest for knowledge is a never-ending part of his life.
Rod is also an accomplished musician, with over 40 years of experience in
percussion, as well as playing guitar, bass guitar, and keyboards. His musical
experiences run the gamut from classical to jazz, although the musical love
of his life is the blues.
It is this combination of the analytical engineer coupled with the artistic
musician that has led him to write this book—one more step on his
journey through life.
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Chapter 1 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A Variety of Equipment Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Room’s Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Power Station—the “A” Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Hit Productions—the “H” Room. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Dark Pine Studios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Sound Isolation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
What Sets This Book Apart from All the Rest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Easy Explanations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Thirty-Five Years of Construction Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Devil Is in the Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Ensuring Quality Control Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Doing the Job Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Hiring the Job Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 2 Modes, Nodes, and Other Terms of Confusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Amplitude. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Wavelength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Room Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Modal Waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Non-Modal Waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Other Reflective Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Flutter Echo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Comb Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Early Reflections and Stereo Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Mode Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Room Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Large Rooms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Medium Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Small Rooms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Contents
Types of Room Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Axial Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Tangential Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Oblique Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Room Ratios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Mode Calculators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3 Isolation Techniques—Understanding the Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Mass, Mass, and More Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Airtight Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Eliminate Transmissions Through the Building Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
What to Avoid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Chapter 4 Floor, Wall, and Ceiling Construction Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Floor Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Simple Concrete Slabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Isolated Concrete Slabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Floating Concrete Slabs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Description of Test Specimen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Test Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Test Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Test Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Floating Wood Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Sand-Filled Wooden Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Wall Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Existing Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Wood Walls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Steel Framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Masonry Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Ceiling Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Working with Existing Ceilings/Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Resilient Channel Ceilings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Suspended Ceilings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Semi-Independent Frame Ceilings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Independently Framed Ceilings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
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Additional Isolation Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Damping Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Optional Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Chapter 5 Window and Door Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Glass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Float Glass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Heat-Strengthened or Tempered Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Laminate Glass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Plexiglass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Window Frame Construction and Isolating Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Window Frames and Trims. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Glass Thickness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Manufactured Window Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Constructing Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Door Frame Construction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Windows in Doors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Door Hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Adding Insulating Panels to Door Assemblies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
The Finished Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Manufactured Doors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Chapter 6 Electrical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Line Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Low Voltage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Electrical Noise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Ground Loops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Ground Loop Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Isolated Ground Receptacles and Star Grounding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
What Is Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
The How’s and Why’s of Lighting Noise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Diagnosing and Troubleshooting Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Some Common Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Fixing the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
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Contents
Chapter 7 HVAC Design Concepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Room Design Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Btu Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Why Should I Care About Humidity?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Understanding the System as a Whole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
System Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Split/Packaged Direct-Expansion (DX) Air Conditioners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Through-the-Wall Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Ductless Mini-Split Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Portable Air Conditioners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Evaporative Coolers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Exchange Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Combination Cooling/Heating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Split Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Through-the-Wall Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Exchange Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Separate Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
System Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Noise-Level Design Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Chapter 8 Room Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Getting Down the Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
The Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Room Anomalies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Early Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Resonant Sounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Tools of the Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Impulse Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Frequency Response Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Gating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Waterfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Psychological Response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Proper Use of the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
The Nature of Scientific Measurements and Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Hardware Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
ix