Studio/Practice Room in the garden. Anyone done this?

Jalfrezi

I no longer live in a house with the space to setup a small studio/practice space.  I do have a large garden though, so toying with the idea of buying a large shed, insulating it, and running out power.  It would have to be on a smallish budget, say less than 5k, and preferably big enough to fit a drum kit too.

Has anyone here done such a thing?  If so, I'd welcome some pointers.

Thanks

Musicwolf

If your budget is £5k, and you don't want to fall out with your neighbours, then the simple answer is no.

To achieve any degree of sound attenuation (forget the term 'sound proofing') you need three things;

Mass

An air tight seal

isolation

A wooden structure is pretty useless when it comes to attenuation.  If you add insulation then you are just adding minimal mass and it will be anything but air tight.  If you are intending to use a drum kit then you need to think about a brick (or block) structure and then, ideally, a room within a room structure.

It won't be cheap but cutting corners will just result in something unusable.

First thing to do would be to enlist the services of a professional studio designer.  It will save you money in the long run and, if you can't afford their fee for a consultation, then you definitely cannot afford to build a usable room.

paganskins

Have a look at SIPS panels before committing to the shed option.

A structural insulated panel, or structural insulating panel, (SIP), is a form of sandwich panel used in the construction industry.

Jalfrezi

Musicwolf said:

If your budget is £5k, and you don't want to fall out with your neighbours, then the simple answer is no.

To achieve any degree of sound attenuation (forget the term 'sound proofing') you need three things;

Mass

An air tight seal

isolation

A wooden structure is pretty useless when it comes to attenuation.  If you add insulation then you are just adding minimal mass and it will be anything but air tight.  If you are intending to use a drum kit then you need to think about a brick (or block) structure and then, ideally, a room within a room structure.

It won't be cheap but cutting corners will just result in something unusable.

First thing to do would be to enlist the services of a professional studio designer.  It will save you money in the long run and, if you can't afford their fee for a consultation, then you definitely cannot afford to build a usable room.

Neighbours aren't really much of an issue.  In the intended site, the neighbours are far away, however the deer and squirrels won't like it much   I have a pretty good grasp of studio design, and acoustics, although this isn't intended for serious/pro use.

Danny1969

The most cost effective solution is mass - air - mass .... 2 plasterboard walls separated with an air gap can achieve around 55dB of attenuation down to around 90Hz ...... Anything below 100Hz or so is quite hard to stop. This is why you hear the low boom from a cranked car stereo when it goes past or the low bass you hear when walking past a nightclub. If you built a mass air mass room within a large shed that it's self was lined with 100mm acoustic Rockwool slab you could achieve some decent attenuation. Certainly I used to record guitars at deafening volume at 2 in the morning my attenuation down to 100Hz was that good. 

The good news is you don't need to stop sound altogether in a large garden. You just need to attenuate it to the point it has very little energy once it has escaped through the walls. At this point you will find a serious reduction in amplitude every 4 metres or so until it becomes level with the ambient noise and not detectable. If you can position your studio 12 metres or so from your nearest neighbour what you want to do is possible. 

I've done 2 garage conversions and built a 3200 square foot  commercial studio from scratch all using the mass - air - mass principle. There's a lot of science to it but there's plenty of good info as well online. 

Jalfrezi

paganskins said:

Have a look at SIPS panels before committing to the shed option.

A structural insulated panel, or structural insulating panel, (SIP), is a form of sandwich panel used in the construction industry.

I'd love to put something together with SIP's, however I've not found any DIY plans when looking, and UK suppliers don't have prices on their websites that I could find.  But I will look at this again, as I love the idea of using SIPs.

Danny1969

I don't think SIP design will work very well as it has little mass, remember you need mass - air - mass. Every time there's a change of acoustic impedance the sound loses more energy because the existing vibration wave has to be converted.  Things like double layers of plasterboard, concrete blocks with an air gap are good. Anything that has little mass will vibrate easy and the sound will pass straight through it. 

paganskins

Jalfrezi said:

paganskins said:

Have a look at SIPS panels before committing to the shed option.

A structural insulated panel, or structural insulating panel, (SIP), is a form of sandwich panel used in the construction industry.

I'd love to put something together with SIP's, however I've not found any DIY plans when looking, and UK suppliers don't have prices on their websites that I could find.  But I will look at this again, as I love the idea of using SIPs.

There's some on eBay, seem to be about £80 for an 8 x 4 sheet with 100mm core.

Danny1969 said:

I don't think SIP design will work very well as it has little mass, remember you need mass - air - mass. Every time there's a change of acoustic impedance the sound loses more energy because the existing vibration wave has to be converted.  Things like double layers of plasterboard, concrete blocks with an air gap are good. Anything that has little mass will vibrate easy and the sound will pass straight through it. 

No, but better than typical shed construction for the outer shell of the building in terms of heat and moisture.

WiresDreamDisasters

What are the typical costs for doing something like this then?

Rocker

It might be possible to rent a space in a warehouse in an industrial estate. No problems with neighbours there. 

Woodandwires

There is a company near me that sells metal containers, people wood clad the outsides to look like summerhouses etc,but  they might be an option to turn into a music room, if there is something similar near you.

Jalfrezi

Woodandwires said:

There is a company near me that sells metal containers, people wood clad the outsides to look like summerhouses etc,but  they might be an option to turn into a music room, if there is something similar near you.

I have seem some studios in shipping containers, and they seem quite successful, in warmer climates IIRC.  However, I'd like something less narrow, and intrinsically dry & warm.

Fuengi

Agree with much of the above. 

Take a look at resilient bars, they are cheap, easy to fit and provide excellent sound reduction. You could create a frame and install resilient bars internally both to the walls and ceiling and then clad with a finished material or soundboard or even plasterboard. 

I have used them in my garden studio / office in conjunction with acoustic insulation and I'm very impressed with the results. 

Jalfrezi

Fuengi said:

Agree with much of the above. 

Take a look at resilient bars, they are cheap, easy to fit and provide excellent sound reduction. You could create a frame and install resilient bars internally both to the walls and ceiling and then clad with a finished material or soundboard or even plasterboard. 

I have used them in my garden studio / office in conjunction with acoustic insulation and I'm very impressed with the results. 

Thanks for the pointer, I'd not seen these before.  I like the idea of a simple frame, with this on the inside, a membrane on the outside, and external cladding.  Food for thought!

Fuengi

Jalfrezi said:

Fuengi said:

Agree with much of the above. 

Take a look at resilient bars, they are cheap, easy to fit and provide excellent sound reduction. You could create a frame and install resilient bars internally both to the walls and ceiling and then clad with a finished material or soundboard or even plasterboard. 

I have used them in my garden studio / office in conjunction with acoustic insulation and I'm very impressed with the results. 

Thanks for the pointer, I'd not seen these before.  I like the idea of a simple frame, with this on the inside, a membrane on the outside, and external cladding.  Food for thought!

If you fix them at 90 degrees to the studs / rafters it cuts down the connection further. 

I went with resi bars every 400mm at 90 degrees to my rafters with 25mm mineral acoustic insulation between the bars. 

With the studio door open voice level of sound is absorbed and is inaudable standing 4m away facing the open door and window. To the other elevations where there are no doors or windows you can more than double to volume before it becomes audible, even with the doors and windows open. 

Edit - I fixed OSB to the resilient bars which avoids plastering. 

WiresDreamDisasters

The intro to this video is great!

Lestratcaster

I recently converted a garage that was already in my garden into a music room. Even though I had the base shell there it took a lot of money, way more than £5k haha. But yeah for the insulation we put some insulated plasterboard (25mm thick I think) between the walls and brick. There was no power so we had to install a new fuseboard and drill a hole at the back of the kitchen wall to run armoured cable across the garden. The door isn't well soundproofed its just a UPVC door but as its 50ft away from anyone and we're only doing guitars into small combo practice amps no one hears anything anyway.

WiresDreamDisasters

https://www.vividgreen.co.uk/

Thoughts?

Musicwolf

WiresDreamDisasters said:

https://www.vividgreen.co.uk/

Thoughts?

Considerably over the OP’s budget

WiresDreamDisasters

Musicwolf said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

https://www.vividgreen.co.uk/

Thoughts?

Considerably over the OP’s budget

Yes. But what do you think of the builds/construction?

Musicwolf

They look like very nice garden rooms.  Having never seen one I've no idea how solid they are and what the sound attenuation is like, they certainly look more substantial that a garden shed or summer house.

I am somewhat dubious about the claim on their website "Or what about your own garden music room? Somewhere you can play or listen to what you like, as loud as you like without disturbing the neighbours"

If you've got a fair bit of space between you and your nearest neighbour, and you don't play your music too loud, no doubt you'll be fine.  But a drum kit in a suburban environment?  I very much doubt it.