Soundproof Booth Build - Portable DIY Isolation Booth

[@casperthomsen5450]

Hey guys, I have seen this video many times by now and showed to a lot of people as well and think I have commented a couple of times before.. that I'm gonna do again. THANK YOU so much for making this video. I have finally built my own room highly inspired by your room and learned from your "mistakes" so to speak. In my apartment I can only have the inner room that you also built and had to build a frame for the whole room since its an apartment and therefore I need a floating floor in the room. The tecsound 50 I was able to get from Ireland and I'm so happy that I spent that extra money on this material. Damn it works wonders! My room is a bit smaller than your built and had to do some other dimensions for the wall segments but again.. I'm happy with it. I even got a window in it - two layered 44db glass, it's sick! One day I might do a video explaining it like you did (you will be credited in it when it happens!). After my own built I was like... You guys must have had a serious logistical challenge assembling such a big room within that shed. Getting those huge roof parts 2m up in the air... With such a small space between the outer roof and the rehearsal room. I truly did not think of that when I made the drawings for my room.. god damn it was crazy work. I ended up making some pillars in the corners to make sure there's a lot of material in the corners and the same in the roof. If anybody reads this comment and you want to make room like this: I for sure recommend that you think of the space it takes to built the wall/roof parts if you are gonna have it in an apartment or other "small" space. It takes up a lot of space in the whole process. My project was pure Tetris all the way since it's built in the living room. A logistic hell to say the least. I highly recommend building the whole thing outside if you have that opportunity and then assemble it inside. Also be aware that each wall part (if you have 3 layers of plasterboard and Tecsound 50 like this video) weighs around 80kg EACH. The roof part is the same. I had two gearbox-jacks and had to built some extenders for it to lift if up the whole way (my walls are 2.20m tall). Also buy a LOT of sealer... For my 2.40m * 2.15m room I've ended up using around 30 acrylic sealers of 330ml each. Wood is a living material and there will be gaps. My planks ended up twisting when they layd inside so consider having them somewhere outside like a shed or something... Or just get started right away when you buy your materials. Last thing that is a really good to know: remember all the weight is on one side of the walls. They use gravity A LOT. They can be tricky to get in place if you like me make a platform under the whole thing like I did. I hope it all makes sense, but again I'm really gratefulfor this video, it really has made my dream come true. Finally I can play drums without disturbing or being disturbed (acoustic drum kit with mesh heads and silence cymbals, but that is still noisy!). I pretty sure a second wall around a room like this will be soundproof enough for drums with real drum heads on. Thank you thank you thank you.

[@Isurusofficial]

That's great to hear! Glad the video helped you out with your soundproofing work! Yeah, if you do a video showing the build let us know, it would be great to see what you've done! Thanks!

[@mechadie5915]

I'm about to build a small 6x5 room, and this video has given me a lot of confidence and direction. thank you very much for all of the effort you put into the explanations and footage! i very much appreciate it!

[@mickavellian]

As a sound engineer I MUST congratulate you on your design and execution. I see there are a lot of new products to help with acoustic treatments but a 110 dB isolation is a FANTASTIC job . SONY international builds the best recording studios in the world and I worked on one and have seen two more and of course the booth is 100% isolated (entirely floating but the cost was probably what you paid for your whole project.

[@Isurusofficial]

+mickavellian Thank you! It turned out great and works perfectly for our needs.

[@rollomaughfling380]

Clever build. An old drummer bandmate of mine from a Very loud 3-pc and I DIYed a very similar thing in a concrete underground nuclear fallout shelter in his rental's backyard in Los Angeles back in 2000. Since it was underground already, our frames were thinner-more about treatment than proofing. Thrift store towels and rugs. Then we ran the same type roller fan up through its maybe 8" air pipe, and at the entrance, floated two doorframes on neoprene, and just cut a vent on each door, one high and one low. We didn't have gear to measure SPL, but when we finished it, I had him and our bass player just play as loud as they could stand at like 3am, went up and outside, and it just sounded like a tiny old clock radio coming out of the vent pipe in the middle of the yard. Harmless. Strung up some fairy lights and we had a nice environment we could pulverize our eardrums in if we wanted to for under $500. Well done though. Very impressed with the levels coming out of an above-ground shed..

[@gnatinator]

Honestly the best portable room within a room I've seen on youtube.

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks a lot! :)

[@daljeetghag3321]

Thank you all for taking the time to make this video for us!

[@Isurusofficial]

You're welcome!

[@RickStender]

Love how you treated the venting! I'm building a vocal booth for voice over in a very tight space. You've given me some ideas.Thanks!

[@Isurusofficial]

You're welcome, glad it was useful. Best of luck with your build!

[@Cougar139tweak]

@ 8:39 DAMN SON! best job I've seen so far on KZbin Bravo!!!

[@charliepowellvo4012]

One of the best DIY videos on vocal recording spaces that I have seen. Great job on the build guys! Keep on rockin'!

[@Isurusofficial]

+Charlie Powell VO Cheers! Hope it was useful to you, and good luck if you are building something similar!

[@dodo13500]

OMG! I am getting ready to build a room in a garage that is 17x20. As a drummer I want a good practice room that can't be heard outside, and a good quiet recording room free from outside noise as well. I must have looked at every video on youtube writing notes from all. This video by far is the best! You guys did a great job explaining EVERYTHING! I was going to build it as a room, 2x4's 16" on center for my walls but the panels seem like a better idea only because if I move it will be eaiser to take down. Thank you for posting, if anyone has suggestions please let me know!

[@Isurusofficial]

+dodo13500 Thanks for the kind words, and glad it has been useful to you. We are in the process of planning to move ours... Slightly scary... ;)

[@daljeetghag3321]

How did you get on with building your drumming room, I'm looking to use the same method as shown here. Did you have any success with it for a drumming room?

[@samilucille1]

This is great!!!!!! Just what I'm going to try myself xxx

[@SlimJim1890]

Just in the midst of building/planing my own modular build soundproof booth....man u guys did an absolutely fantastic job on yours. Thanks so much for sharing in this great demonstration video. Just got a bunch of valuable informiation of this...Have a good one

[@electricbazar]

Thank you so much for having taken the time to put this online. I'm gathering info to build a drum room in my house and this his helping. Great tips on the fan installation, and good job on the security door I'll check if the Tech 50 stuff is available in France Enjoy your studio guys !

[@alite502]

Great Video! Finally someone actually explains everything with great pictures and examples.. I promise over time people will find this video.. for years I've been looking for something like this..! Great Job, thumbs up!. If I have any questions could I contact you about a vocal booth I'm building?

[@Isurusofficial]

Tony ALI Hi Tony! Thanks for your comment, we really appreciate it. We made it our mission to promote a "DIY" policy for music production, so please feel free to ask any question you might have and we will do our best to be helpful. - Braun

[@BLMeredith87]

Really inspiring, I've been wanting to do a vocal booth for my bedroom, won't cost half as much as doing a whole room either. Fantastic sound deadening!

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks! Glad it helped you out! Yes, a vocal booth will be much less expensive and take a lot less time, best of luck!

[@MotherUniverseProd]

Great Video guys. Going to try copy your idea for my new commercial studio.

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks! Good luck with it!

[@davidkennerly]

I recommend pilot holes for screws into the 2x4's. I noticed the wood was splitting in the close-ups. The noise cancellation results are very impressive.

[@Isurusofficial]

Yeah, we did for some.. but got lazy.. 😂

[@JohnMcGFrance]

Thanks guys. I’ve just had a quote over 11,000 quid for a smaller prebuilt studio. Just going to have a go myself and save £9,000! Might take awhile to do but so worth it. Some brilliant ideas and advice. Thank you so much👍👍👍

[@Isurusofficial]

Cheers! Good luck with the build! Were you looking at the Esmono booths?

[@JohnMcGFrance]

IsurusOfficial No, it was a company based in Germany with a product called Studiobox. They looked good but beyond my budget for a home studio. I spent about £3,500 on a studio in my last house and had to leave it behind when I moved. Your modular idea would have been so much better. I’m definitely going to give it a try. I think I can do most of the work. I’ll need a hand for the ceiling module install and we=I’ll get an electrician to do the lights and power supply. Hope you guys are having a great time with your studio. Thanks again.

[@derkhedemann5606]

I made the ventilation exactly the same way, and it is super quiet. the fans are hardly available in the Netherlands, so I ordered them directly in England. why would you buy a very expensive ventilation system if you can make it yourself, but much cheaper, with the same result. and I made the ventilation hose on four PVC sleeves that I stuffed with Inno silencers, so that you hear the sound as little as possible. in the studio I measured the ventilation noise with a professional meter. and the sound noise does not higher than 5 db. and that is a good result, you will never be able to get the sound 100% silent

[@francoissteyn181]

Thank you for the amazing video! I will be replicating your booth in South Africa very soon.

[@Isurusofficial]

Awesome! Good luck with the build! :)

[@AntonioBrandao]

Congratulations guys, pretty amazing. Doesn't look incredibly portable, but still great for something DIY.

[@Isurusofficial]

+Antonio Brandao Thanks! By portable we mean it is not a modification to a building. It can be dismantled and set up again somewhere else.

[@Tim.Watkins]

Great video you really inspired me and gave me a better understanding of how to build a sound proof studio thanks

[@giovannifranzetti6214]

Great, great build and content, thank you! I have a question: you say the ventilation module is the best one soundproof wise. How come? Also, could you share the brand of the acoustic sealant you sprayed? Thank you again, I’m building a booth Emily inspired by yours, if I make a video about it I will acknowledge the source for shure

[@oleksandr3275]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience !

[@prostheticsouls]

The air filter wall idea is pretty genius, hats up to that one mate. That was the biggest obstacle I could think of I in my drum/studio I am building. Will this be effective in a small room where drums are being played in with a floating floor and totally decoupled walls?

[@Isurusofficial]

It should be, as long as the building it is inside is pretty solid also. If this was inside a brick building I think the reduction would be enough for an acoustic kit.

[@von8217]

Brilliant! Thanks for taking the time to share what worked for you. 1. How did you join the modules together in the corners? Couldn't quite tell if you drove screws through the horizontal edge into the vertical edge of the 2x4s or if you joined both modules to a 4x4 on the other side? 2. Also, do you have any recommendations on where to pass your electrical wiring from outside to inside?

[@Wise-Man-Say]

I also am interested in this exact issue for my planning. Watching other videos it seems it wouldn’t be enough to connect horizontal to vertical edge. A 4x4 would be good but maybe an extra stud 90° on one side would be enough.

[@nozlrecordingsuk]

I've been watching this video a good few times and taking some notes, so thanks for sharing it. I've been looking at the Esmono studio as it has a sell-on value in case I don't need it anymore, but your way is good value compared to the rest, and from what you say of it, it outperforms some of the commercial units which is good to hear. Thanks again for sharing your build plans. Good music as well by the way :-)

[@Isurusofficial]

NozL Recordings UK Thanks mate! The Esmono booths are great - we went to test one out at Studiospares in London a while back. They are expensive, but as you say there is resale value & less work!!!

[@debrudda6540]

ventilation was sick man

[@AlfonsoFP]

Very good idea. Thank you very much and congratulations for your job

[@UITATUBE]

Thank you...thank you...thank you!!! Ain't it amazing when you have an idea and then a like minded soul does the work for you and posts their efforts. A question, have you had a rehearsal with real (acoustic) drums? I might be wrong but was that an electronic kit in the room? Would love to know if your amps are loud enough to cope with an acoustic kit. Love the idea that it's kind of portable as I'm going to give it a go in a spare room first and if it fails take it out to the garden!

[@Isurusofficial]

Hi, you're very welcome and we're happy to hear that the video was helpful. We have not had full on accoustic rehearsals in the studio booth. Our booth is placed within a VERY badly insulated garden outbuilding. The roof of the room that the booth is within is only 1 layer of plywood and even considering that, we can play very loud music and not hear it outside. If the booth was placed within a well built / insulated building, I would guess that a full on accoustic rehearsal would not be a problem. It is an electronic drum kit.

[@officialpoa3171]

who thumbs down this - doing a project like this is no easy task!!!!

[@TheArpage]

I thumbed it down the moment he showed them layering the plasterboard, one directly ontop of the other. That's NOT how to layer plasterboard. That IS however how you run the costs up by having to use too much glue between each layered frame as the frames don't fit airtight against one another.

[@TheArpage]

Other than that, they didn't use any soundproofing glue between the plasterboard layers. Double thumbs down.

[@kenshoring]

Great video guys, thanks for documenting and sharing!! some great advice and ideas to use

[@dadabaimusic]

thank you explaining nicely from the scratch, very clear,

[@PLEASANTGIFFT]

Thanks a lot - you made it simple to follow - great job!

[@veniko6996]

Brilliant . Will be doing the same as this to my gaff. Tip top vid 🔥🙏🏼🔥

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks! Good luck with your build! Go for it!! :)

[@Benmeglei1]

You blokes are in the wrong business. Never mind the music, you lot should be erecting soundproof booths for a living. Bravo.

[@totallyfrozen]

Wow! That really shields the sounds incredibly! Great job, guys!

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks! Yeah, it exceeded our expectations.

[@AustinsChannel888]

Best soundproofing video found so far.. thanks!

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks a lot, glad it has been of use! We are going to do a follow up video soon answering as many of the questions we have been getting about the build, so keep an eye out for that!

[@DeathByHumbuckers]

Superb work guys, thanks for sharing.

[@Sazabiiiiii]

This is by far the best video I've seen on this. First off a massive thanks for documenting.. I have two questions and i'd really appreciate it if you could answer them.. 1) When you joined the corner modules together, how is it that they're sound proof? Because weren't they just wood on wood i.e no actual dry wall in the corners on the outside? 2) This obviously worked really well, if i was to do this exact same thing pretty much except add an additional layer of drywall to the interior of the whole room as well (like you did on the ventilation module) do you think that would be a worthwhile improvement? Is there anything you wish you'd done differently now you've had it up for a while? Seriously impressive stuff guys. Well done!

[@IsurusDrums]

+Jay Sullivan Many thanks for the reply and we're happy to hear that the video was helpful. To answer your questions: 1) Your understanding is correct. There is no drywall in the corners and a small section of each wall is technically just the wood frame with a layer of the Tec 50 on the outside, wrapped around it. You can think of it as the 2 layers of drywall being replaced by 1 piece of 50 mm wooden frame. As the Tec 50 (MLV product) overlaps the top of the wall modules, there is no wood on wood contact and it is actually wood (ceiling module) on Tec 50 (wall module) contact. Then using the coach screws to pull the ceiling modules down into the wall modules creates a seal and that's the most important element in that aspect of the build. 2) Adding a layer of drywall on the inside would improve the performance of the room to some degree which would be further improved if it was sealed properly module to module. The degree to which it would improve performance of the room overall would likely not be a very large amount as we have a lot of mass in the rockwool, drywall and Tec 50 configuration. Another consideration would be the fact that the door would likely be the weakest point in terms of soundproofing and in fact, it is almost certainly the weakest factor in our existing build. If we were to upgrade the soundproofing of our studio as it stands now, we would be looking to upgrade the door. It's quite difficult to describe here but I hope that has helped. Let us know if you have any more questions. My general advice would be to plan properly and then just go for it. Cheers

[@Sazabiiiiii]

Awesome, and thanks for such a quick reply! That definitely cleared a couple of things up. If you ever do decide to upgrade the door please do document the process as the way you relay the methods used are so easy to understand :) Also, just a thought, would slightly upgrading the density/build quality of the outer shed and getting a half decent security/solid door for it not improve the performance even more than upgrading the booth itself? Or would that mean a ton of effort making sure everything is air tight etc. Anyways i think this should more than cover me as all I'm gonna be doing in there is vocals and guitar, just want to be able to crank my AC30 up, it hurts to play it so quietly at the moment

[@IsurusDrums]

+Jay Sullivan Thanks again for the feedback. Yes, you're right; upgrades to the outer building would make a very big difference for us and likely more so than upgrading the inner studio's door. The inner door is the weakest element as far as the inner studio shell/room is concerned. We think that having our existing studio within a building that was built to modern residential standards would allow us to play live drums in there. That's actually our next aim so we may well be making the outstanding upgrades to the outer studio shell at some point. We'll be sure to document it if/when we go ahead. As for playing guitar and singing; what we've built would be perfect for that even if it is inside a poorly built shed.

[@cocacola3452]

Great video! Thank you for sharing. You could build a semi temporary module for a 3rd door per say. Enter into the room, close both doors, put the 3rd door / module over the inner door.

[@officialpoa3171]

fucking "A" guys..! I have a modular system that I am designing and cant wait to build it, however my own is designed for an STC of 60 and where I can easily install and remove without the need for power tools...! I love what you guys did with your duct system, Cheers!!

[@Isurusofficial]

+Official Poa Thanks man! Hope the video was useful, and best of luck with your build!

[@officialpoa3171]

IsurusOfficial Thank you! I AM putting my in 4 shipping containers

[@jusroc6353]

Hey, really interesting video. I am in the process of building a similar project, although more of a vocal booth about a 3rd the size internally using practically the same materials as you. although, I am using Tecsound 100 instead, and am also building a basic floating floor out of 2 layers of t&g with a layer of tecsound 100 in between floated on Auralex U-boats on a 2x2 frame. I am also adding a 2 or 3 mm layer of ac50 after the mass loaded vinyl and on the inside of the frame, with 200mm of Rockwool RWA 45 (as apparently 45 is a little better at absorption than more dense rockwool). I also originally planned the booth to be made from panels as yours now is, however, as my booth is quiet a bit smaller, and I really need a really high level of isolation, I have decided to fit the dry lining to the walls and slice them when I come to move, and create new seals when I re-assemble. Still, really interesting to see your build as the level of isolation you have is pretty good for the money involved. There are acoustic seals that you can add to the doors if you want a better level of isolation which don't cost that much. If I were you I would also consider breaking up the room shape (as standing waves will still be a problem in some areas and adding more rockwool absorption to resolve any low frequency problems when recording sources that contain higher level of low frequencies. You can calculate the wavelength for a frequency using the following formula: Wavelength in M = speed of sound (344) divided by frequency in Hz Lowest frequency in average vocal frequency range = 250 hz therefore 344/250=1.376m so in order to build an absorbers that absorb frequencies of 250 hz build absorbers that can dissipate through absorption 1.376m of 250 hz :-) Your room may also benefit by adding some acoustic pyramid foam to soak up some of the high mids. although not too much, as you may end up with a completely dead recording environment which some will find too disorientating to record in. good luck

[@Isurusofficial]

Hi - Sounds like your project will be pretty successful in terms of soundproofing. What kind of door do you have in mind? Our door has seals built in which perform really well. In terms of acoustics; bear in mind that the more dense types of Rockwool and fibre board have more flat and linear frequency absorption characteristics, meaning that they will absorb more low frequencies than the less dense materials. The risk with using a less dense material is that more of the high frequencies are absorbed resulting in an unbalanced and 'boxy' sound. That is the most difficult and important thing to avoid with small rooms, especially if they are being used to record vocals. Having gone through this process, my advice would be to go for it. I think you'll be happy with the results that you end up with and the floating floor sounds like a great idea. I'm interested to hear how it goes for you.. Cheers, Tom

[@jusroc6353]

Hey, thanks for your advice and reply. However, I have read on the contrary with regards to the density of the Rockwool. I read on JonSayers recording studio forum, that its that lower density rockwool that is more effective because it has more air in it, which means that the sound energy has to change densities more frequently which thus causing more of the energy to dissipate over distance. The higher density is less absorbent and more reflective and it is this that makes the room more reflective and more boxy. For example concrete is really dense and probably one of the best isolator materials on the planet, however, a concrete room does not absorb sound very well as its very reflective which results in a really boxy sound. The recommended density that people such as Philip Newall and other pro studio builders recommend is between 35 and 45 kg. Although the slightly higher density rockwool that you have used shouldn't make a massive difference when using 100mm. Even Sound on Sound got this aspect of their design wrong, but I guess they don't build studios professionally. Also, if you were to install large traps, rather than making the room more boxing (which is caused by an excess of sound energy due to excessive reflections bouncing around the room) what you would get is a more dead sounding room, due to lack of reflections. Which is good for engineering however does not give a very natural "live" sounding reverberant field that performers are used to. Personally, if I had the money, I would build an anechoic chamber for not only recording in but also for mix engineering in, as this will give me only the direct sound from the sound sources which I could then add lush pro lexicon reverbs to. But that's just my preferences, such rooms such as those based on Tom Hidley's non-environmental control rooms are based on this concept. Which were briefly in fashion during the 1970s, but lost their favour because some engineers didn't like the un-natural acoustics or lack of acoustics. Still, I like the idea. Check out Tom Hidley. He's one of the few studio designer genius. Oh. you will get some discolouration if you do not absorb those lower freq. This isn't so bad when tracking, but when mixing, this can be a problem, As when you play back the sound source, you get discolouration due to standing waves and lack of absorbsion etc. Still, something is better than nothing. Perhaps if I make millions I will then be able to do it seriously. :-)

[@jusroc6353]

sorry. forgot to mention, Sound Bloc + Mass loaded Vinyl for isolation. Thick Rockwool for low and lower mids Pyramid Foam for Highs and High Mids. These combined should give a fairly well isolated and dry or dead room (although still with some discoloration, as after all, the money we are spending is in the low thousands instead of the hundred of thousands or millions. Still, in terms of mix engineering, these cheap vocal booths should give a good enough source for making basic tracking as any minor problems can be resolved at mix engineering and mastering stage, as long as you get a pro engineer to mix engineer in a pro designed neutral environment. Sorry. forgot to mention. The door I am installing is a thick solid core wood fire door with a threshold door seal and a seal around the edge. Lorient make some reasonably priced and good performing ones. I will also glue some of the tecsound 100 on both sides of the door and am thinking of fixing an absorption box on the inside. That should be pretty good. after this, I am also considering making some reflective panels which I can use to change the acoustics, although, due to the size of the room, it may not be worth bothering and settling for the dead'est environment I can get in the limited space I have. However, I may have to experiment if people who I record cant get their head around the dead environment. :-)

[@Isurusofficial]

Jus Roc - I think if you have 200mm of the RWA 45, you'll be in good shape but that's a lot of space to give up. If you can do that though then it would be ideal. At only 100mm and with no air gap behind the material, the more dense material performs slightly better for low frequency absorption but not as well in the mids and highs. That works quite well because low frequencies are more of a problem in a smaller room and we didn't want too dead of a sound. Check this out, loads of good information: ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html 200mm of RWA45 would likely perform better overall than 100mm of the material that we have used but it's a case of space limitation and as you correctly pointed out, there's a point where you have to draw the line because otherwise you end up building an anechoic chamber and I'm not really sure what they would feel like to work in. They'd probably be quite uncomfortable due to the disorientation effect although I'd love to give it a try. I also agree with what you said about these things being more of an issue when mixing or mastering. Any slight tracking room issues can be corrected using moderate EQ in reality. I think though that if you know the sound of the room you're working in very well and given that there are no major problems with it, you end up compensating for any issues naturally. Personally, I am a huge fan of using my Sennheiser HD800 headphones for really critical listening although something is definitely lost when only using headphones due to not feeling the bass.. There's just something about feeling the music and the natural feeling of listening to music on speakers. We have not used our room for mixing or mastering and we'll be making some pretty major changes before we do that like installing some much thicker and less dense bass traps in the corners and extending the room by 1 meter in 1 direction to give a 3m x 4m room which will reduce standing waves. That's the next project... Thanks for the interesting discussion!

[@jusroc6353]

Hi, Sure. Thanks for your thoughts. Extra Rockwool will make my room much smaller, but as in many working peoples case, we have to do our best within our circumstances. Also, my small vocal booth isn't going to be perfect, I know that much. But hey, its better than nothing and I should still be able to track vocals and acoustic guitar in it without too much trouble. as my room is primarily for recording, and for one or two people max, my priority is more so to get a dead sound than having max space. My design was based more around the idea of how small I could make it with max absorption rather than how little absorption I can use while giving max space for people. I guess the purpose changes the design ethic. In all honesty, I would ideally like to have 2 or 3 m of Rockwool after 3 m floated concrete walls, floating ceiling and floating floor. But the space and money to construct such a studio isn't easy to find in Jersey, an island where real estate is extremely expensive, as expensive as London but with less available properties. Still, being able to get a clean recording free of outside noise is my present objective along with not annoying my neighbour's to the extent that they call the police. As I don't want to get arrested. My room will be a compromise. But still, better than many who have released commercial and successful music. For example, Over the past 20 years, I have read about loads of musicians, in particular pro dance musicians who have tracked the vocals in a lot worse situation. Often in an untreated unsound proofed room with nothing but a duvet taped over a door. And these tracks made it big in the charts! So, sometimes too much emphasis can be placed on having a pro recording space, although, obviously, the more pro you can go the better. and most of these artists likely had a pro engineer with a pro designed studio to mix and master in... In terms of the room shape however, I would read up on this. If I were you I would consider buying Philip Newalls book on Pro recording studio design, as it may help you tailor the shape of your room a little. Philip Newall is another genius. He has been designing pro recording studios since the 60s. Extra tuned broadband absorbers and bass traps fitted in the room to change its shape could help change the acoustics considerably. and you should be able to cure any standing waves and nodal problems you have, as long as you are willing to lose some of the room. If you cant afford to lose the room, as I understand you and your band practice in it, you can still make a basic mix with headphones and then send this with all stem files to a pro engineer who can then mix it to pro standard. This may sound like a cop out from a DIY side, but sometimes it really is the best method. You can still do you own mix and compare the two. However, the pro engineers who are at the top of their field, can really work wonders. I also recommend this for the mastering stage, as although there is now a diy ethic for all aspects of recording, a pro mastering engineer cant be beat for mastering. I went to LIPA, and even the top pro tutors at LIPA who were really good at mix engineering said they wouldn't master themselves, this is partly because its such a specialist job but also because the equipment these guys use are simply very specialist and of such a high quality which is simply out of the normal studio engineers budget range. Still, do as you feel right. From what I have heard on your site, you sound like your doing pretty good with what you have done so far. Cheers for the chat. Jus

[@SebowTube]

Now this is useful ! ;-) Great job. I would have loved more details about the ventilation bit. But I get the picture. I'm actually quite amazed that the ventilation panel was still soundproof even though there is not much rockwool in there. No floating floors though... ? I guess you do not have direct neighbors... lucky you ;-) Is it as effective when a drummer is playing inside the room ? I'm gonna start building my own soundproof cabin soon so... thanks, this video was very helpful. A smile to you ;-)

[@handpan-relaxingmeditation3316]

Wow ! Exactly what I was searching for. Thanks so much!

[@Isurusofficial]

Thankyou!!

[@handpan-relaxingmeditation3316]

@@Isurusofficial Does the Tec 50 has a chemical smell? ... planning gets concrete now ;-)

[@Isurusofficial]

No, the tec50 does not have any smell.

[@handpan-relaxingmeditation3316]

@@Isurusofficial Yippieeh! Thanks a lot!

[@daftdj123]

Amazing work. Thanks for sharing this with us !

[@GigiUK]

Brilliant effort! Well done.

[@innersenseuk2304]

Amazing video, very informative! Thank you

[@Isurusofficial]

+INNERSENSE UK Glad you found it useful! Check out the follow up video on our channel, if you have not already! Cheers!

[@lazmusic1]

Hi, I'm seeing this 6 years after you posted it but it's probably the best video on the subject I've seen so far (especially for UK). May I ask a couple of questions? I didn't quite understand how you finished the ventilation system. Is there a grill on the internal section of the wall for the fresh air to come in and just a grill, without an extractor fan as the out-take vent? Also, you didn't talk much about the flooring. Were you working with concrete flooring and just covered it with carpet and the vinyl strips? Many thanks,

[@Isurusofficial]

Hi, thanks! There are two identical fans, just doing the opposite of each other. One pulls air in and one pulls air out. So one fan unit is mounted on the inside wall, and one outside. The floor is concrete, and the tec50 vinyl strips are on top of the concrete where the walls meet the floor. Then we just used underlay and carpet for the floor inside. Hope that answers your questions!

[@OlegSpb2008]

great job, thanx for posting this video!

[@Isurusofficial]

+Oleg Vorontsov Thanks! You're welcome! :)

[@jambenzman]

great work fellas i love it!

[@Isurusofficial]

+jambenzman Cheers! We love it too! :)

[@alpaltropi]

What a great video! thankyou for fully explaining everything.. can you expansion a little about the floor is it just sat on a concrete floor dies sound not travel through the floor

[@sneakerjoe2103]

Very cool DIY, but I'm still confused how you connected the corners of the walls.

[@martinclayden7028]

Fantastic video, thank you for uploading it. It's been a great help to me in planning my project. Can I ask where you got the door from? Cheers

[@Shez_C]

Great vid! Real inspirational. Nice one!

[@Isurusofficial]

+Shezada C Thanks! It's a lot of work, but worthwhile!

[@GrantWhitehead]

Thanks so much for the video. I'm interested how it's going now? Vents working well? Getting moisture stuck in there? What would you change, if anything?

[@Isurusofficial]

Hi, the studio has been a big success for us. No issues of any kind so far including the ventilation system. We keep that running all the time, day and night, as it requires a very small amount of power and as a result we have had no issues with moisture build up inside the studio.

[@jirecords]

Great Job for music like that you need really good soundproofing.

[@Isurusofficial]

NEW FOLLOW UP Q&A VIDEO! Your questions answered! After writing and recording an album in the studio we give you our opinions on how it turned out, and answer some of the questions we have got here on KZbin and via email etc. Feel free to ask any further questions also! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn6VpYyGma19jNk

[@frederf69]

well done, deals with airborne noise from a recording very well, but what about impact noise, say from a drumkit?

[@Isurusofficial]

Some will be dealt with, the building it is inside will make a difference. Ours was in an outdoor shed.. not great. But inside a proper brick building I think it would do a good job. Depends how close you are to other houses etc..

[@VictorOrlandoNieto]

One more comment thanking you guys should be OK. So thank you very much for sharing your build in a video.

[@Isurusofficial]

You're welcome! :)

[@alpaltropi]

that would be a great help thanks mate

[@Isurusofficial]

+alpaltropi gikacoustics.co.uk/product/camira-fabrics-by-the-metre/

[@TheJupiterGiant]

Hi guys, cheers for the good work. can i ask how much did it cost and what kind of door did you used? thanks

[@FUNPUBQUIZcom]

Fantastic video boys! One question, did you bolt down the floor to the unit floor? If so what did you use,?

[@Isurusofficial]

Nope. The modules sit on top of the floor with no attachments. You could use anchor bolts and that could be an improvement over what we did.

[@talongregory4375]

Great video, I subscribed

[@Isurusofficial]

+Talon Gregory Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the build!

[@decomueblecr]

NICE I HOPE TO DO SOMETHING SIMILAR HERE IN COSTA RICA, WISH ME LUCK!!! THANKS FOR THE INFO...

[@Isurusofficial]

+Decomueble Jimenez Good luck!

[@adolfohernandez8908]

Really good idea, maybe I missed something, but what if you make the panels the same size as the sound blocks (8'x4')? that way you can make bigger panels and save time and money... Just an idea

[@Isurusofficial]

+Adolfo Hernández You could, but they would be very heavy... Also the Tec 50 rolls are not that wide.

[@alpaltropi]

brilliant mate my studio will be finished on Saturday I have been doing the ventilation system today and the doors are going on tomorrow really pleased so far where did you get the material from for your walls?

[@Isurusofficial]

+alpaltropi Do you mean the acoustic cloth? Or rockwool?

[@nickunderwood8592]

Hello. Great video: easily the most useful and convincing soundbooth-build video. Have watched follow-up video but I still have two questions re the materials used. One is this: I phoned Rockwool.co.uk who I gather are the Roxul equivalent for the UK. What you refer to as RXL 40. . . .I've been informed by Rockwool.co.uk that the UK equivalent is RWA45 (thickness 100mm)? But I'm slightly skeptical because you Isurus guys are British. . .so how come you refer to it as RXL 40? The other question regards the fan: did you simply buy two of the same fans and are they the Eco dMEV standard fan? They must be incredibly quiet? Can you confirm that? I want to use the booth for voice recording - I'm concerned my good microphone will pick up even a low fan sound . Any answers from anyone would be very welcome. Thank you! Nick

[@clementcaltot1059]

NICE !!! LOVE IT !!!

[@ivandimov1568]

Hello congratulations on the good idea and performance! Since I would like to do something like this I was wondering about the first two layers of plasterboard. Are they bound in advance in some way or are they screwed together only when the third layer of plasterboard appears? Тhank you!

[@Isurusofficial]

+Ivan Dimov Hi, they are screwed together with the Tec 50 rubber sheeting between them. Just screwed straight through into the wood frame. Cheers!

[@roberth5373]

Hello, good job guys, what he is referring to is that you put 3 layers plasterboard in total, and is not it true? there are only 2, frame, plasterboard, Tec 50 and other plasterboard

[@Isurusofficial]

+RADOSLAV HRISTOV Hi, no there are only two layers of plasterboard, apart from the ventilation module which has three. You could definitely use three for more sound reduction, and screwing straight through would probably work ok with enough screws.

[@roberth5373]

thanks man

[@sebastianwilliam4617]

How would the soundprofing hold up with a drum set?

[@jgwalker71]

Great video, really useful. moving into a place with a basement and I want to be able to play & record drums there. A slightly smaller version of this could work well I think, the isolation levels you achieved on this budget are very impressive! Did you need to do anything special to get power / signal cables into the room? Thanks, James

[@gabriel_santana_86]

Hi you guys, that's really impressive! Would you consider coming to Sweden and help me build one? 🙂

[@Isurusofficial]

Ha ha! Sorry, no. Go for it, it's not that difficult, just a lot of work/time.

[@Crazen2]

How did I miss this video? Great explanation of everything. How would acoustic drums sound and could you get away with them?

[@Isurusofficial]

Thanks a lot! Regarding acoustic drums, if it was built in a proper brick building you would probably get away with it, depending on how close any neighbor's are..!

[@jasquer]

@@Isurusofficial I'm thinking of building this in a basement room - the building is brick and the ceiling is concrete, but the neighbors are just upstairs. How viable would you say acoustic drums would be in this case?

[@Isurusofficial]

It’s really difficult to tell for sure. It would partly depend on the concrete floor above and more specifically, how thick is it and are there any gaps around the edges or anywhere else for electrics, plumbing, etc. Also, there may be small air gaps at connection points which would cause flanking noise. If I were you, I’d eliminate any such possibility as much as possible and make sure the existing walls are air tight before doing anything else. We were very impressed and surprised by how effective our studio has been but we’ve never played acoustic drums in the room. If I was forced to guess, I’d think that you would reduce the drum sound down to 40-50db combining the 2 rooms so it would be audible but not at all loud directly upstairs. That’s a guess though.

[@Isurusofficial]

What I can say is that our studio inside a terrible shed like building resulted in 110db noise being hardly audible directly outside. Another element that you should be thinking about is low frequency noise (kick drum) which we never had a huge amount of. The concrete floor would help with that a fair bit for you though.

[@DrummerCAS]

@@Isurusofficial Hey guys, this video is great and I want to make a room like it. I too play acoustic drums and thinking of doing a room within a room - within my livingroom. Hopefully it can kill the sound enough. Double floors, walls and roofs. I live on the second floor. I can see that you only plasterboard on the outside of the room. Do you know what effect it will have to put in on the inside too? I really hope my room will work out with the double walls and all ;) Thank you for the great inspiration.

[@zoweythepirate]

Hello Guys. First off thank you for sharing this with all of us. I was able to build a booth in my basement of similar design by using this video as a guideline. I can play loud music in my booth while my baby sleeps up-stairs. I did run into some difficulty with getting materials due to living in Canada. Some materials where just not available in North America. If it's ok with you guys I would like to link in the comments a Video I did that is supplemental to yours, but with North American materials and measurements used. Cheers

[@Isurusofficial]

+zoweythepirate Sounds great. Happy to hear the video was useful. Post the link as it might be helpful for others.

[@ricwbooth]

Hi there, that's a really useful video, thankyou. I've been looking online at the cost of some of the materials and hoping there might be a slightly better prices out there somewhere that I haven't discovered yet. I just wondered if you're able to say where you got the following materials from and how much they were per square meter or unit?1) the tech 50 2) the soundbloc plasterboard 3) the timber And then if you've got it in you to answer any more questions whether you know if there are alternative, but cheaper products that might do nearly as good a job? I'm hoping to make a spare room soundproof enough to practice trumpet in without annoying the neighbours, so it probably doesn't need to be quite as effective as your build, but I do want to feel comfortable playing for hours on end without worrying .Cheers again, great video.

[@Isurusofficial]

Glad the video was useful! We plan to make a follow up video shortly answering the multitude of questions we have had about the studio build and our thoughts after having time using it - as we have got many questions and a lot of people are asking the same things. There are some product links in the description (the Tec50 is there) but not for the timber and plasterboard - for those check any builders supply merchant, lots of places will stock that stuff. Also there is now also a link to the thread on our band forum where we documented the build as it went along, it has lots more photographs and detail about the build. I will put that here too: isurusband.freeforums.org/new-studio-build-started-sept-2011-t89.html Feel free to shoot us any more questions - we are going to get going on a follow up video soon, and will answer as much as we can! Cheers!

[@ricwbooth]

Great, I'll look out for the new video. Thanks again.

[@juanreyes1017]

Genius !

[@1rcproductions]

Was there a sub woofer on your sound system when you did the example showing how your room can suppress the loudness? Harder to suppress low frequencies. On the video I am just hearing mid range to high frequencies from your speaker.

[@Isurusofficial]

No subwoofer.

[@Isurusofficial]

But also, you are hearing the speakers through a camera's microphone though obviously...

[@1rcproductions]

@@Isurusofficial Yes, true. So there would be some bass from those speakers. Perhaps down to 60 Hz? I have a finished basement that I want to leave the existing walls and ceiling as is, but I would like it to be more sound proof. My band rehearses in this space using headphones as I am playing a Roland e-kit. Your solution may work for me since it is the singing voices that are travelling through the house during these rehearsals.

[@joeprice4490]

Hi, this video has been really informative, really like the idea that its portable. i am currently building a music room in my garden for teaching/practice etc. What can you tell me about the exterior room? you mention that its a shed? any info would be great, thanks

[@Isurusofficial]

Joe Price - Hi, thanks for your comment and happy to hear that you found the video useful. The exterior building is a very poorly insulated outbuilding with breeze block walls up to around 4ft high and then plywood above that. It is quite run down with single pane windows which do not close well at all. The most important element of the exterior building is the concrete floor. We had to level the concrete floor slightly using a floor levelling compound. More details can be found here: isurusband.freeforums.org/new-studio-build-started-sept-2011-t89.html

[@joeprice4490]

+IsurusOfficial Thanks for the info. i am just deciding what to use between the two layers of plasterboard on my inner walls, could you tell me the reason you picked tec50 over other products? was green glue an option for you? Thanks, Joe

[@joeprice4490]

+IsurusOfficial Also what Db reduction did you end up with? in your blog it says that the inner room would give you 50db while the outer was 30db what was the actual result when finished? thanks

[@Isurusofficial]

+Joe Price We do not have any way of accurately measuring the db levels right now I am afraid.. Sorry!

[@Isurusofficial]

+Joe Price Tec50 was an easy way of adding a lot of mass and density to the walls, and has a good frequency absorbtion crossover with the two layers of acoustic plasterboard - giving the walls a pretty broad spectrum of frequency reduction. Also it provides a decoupling effect between the plasterboard sheets, which cuts down on the transfer of vibration and sound-energy.

[@deal2live]

great video. can I ask about details of ventilation units

[@carlw]

Great job, I love the idea for the ventilation too. Thanks for sharing. I may have missed you saying so, but did you simply white wash the inside?

[@Isurusofficial]

Yes, just a couple of layers of paint.

[@IsurusDrums]

+Carl Williams - Although we did white wash the walls, we then put a 100mm layer of RXL 40 rock wool on the walls. This rock wool is for acoustic absorption and it is covered by an acoustically transparent cloth. I start talking about this at 18:25 in the video.

[@carlw]

+IsurusOfficial Thanks!

[@carlw]

+IsurusDrums Thanks! Good luck with your double flam ratamacues. I'll be using mine for French horn practise.

[@FlyOnTheMoon.]

Well done! Do you know the weight of your final product?

[@Isurusofficial]

Sorry, no not really. Pretty damn heavy...!

[@unusualmuse]

The first link in the description is dead; is the detailed build information still available somewhere?

[@Isurusofficial]

www.tapatalk.com/groups/isurusband/new-studio-build-started-sept-2011-t89.html

[@phylumgrinder277]

Great build! I am going to do a version of this myself based on your idea! One question... did you have to screw in the corners instead of use bolts due to going through the 4 inch part of the wood as opposed to 2 2" pieces like on the walls? Thanks a lot!!!

[@Isurusofficial]

Hi! For the corners we used large self driving coach screws to kind of pull the corners into each other, as opposed to the way we bolted the panels together.

[@phylumgrinder277]

IsurusOfficial great, thanks! Do you happen to remember what length you used? And what length bolts by chance? Thanks!!!

[@Isurusofficial]

I think they were about 5", and the bolts were about 5.5" or 6".

[@phylumgrinder277]

IsurusOfficial cool thanks. Also, how did you get the 4" duct to fit in the wall cavity flush like that? Isn't the wood 3.5" deep? Thanks!!!

[@Isurusofficial]

The ducting just compressed a little after putting the covering layer on - so inside they are more oval shaped than perfectly round!

[@coldrolled1]

Appreciate the video as I am looking at building one myself. Although how you didn't do an "after" video of the sound is beyond me.

[@jkj10]

I'm trying to figure out if that roof isn't leaking much sound, I don't see how they isolated that part of the studio.

[@natdanaijaronjitstian5731]

Is it can detect acoustic drums sound?

[@DiorlandRippRBLX]

Finally! I can silence the screams in my basement now, thanks!

[@rickyr7007]

Great video 👍🏼 do you think this system would work in a timber shed with a decent karaoke system and a singer who practically murders every song, but sings with passion and if no one is listening? Or do I need a higher level of soundproofing?

[@deal2live]

Great, I want make a smaller version. May be steel surviving doors may be to heavy. Suppose I can use normal doors with sound resistant material added like you added to the steel doors?

[@Isurusofficial]

There's no reason that you couldn't use wooden doors but for sound proofing, mass is important so if they are going to be effective, they will need to be heavy either way. The TEC50 or equivalent mass loaded vinyl product is going to be heavy so even wooden doors would not be light once completed. The important things as far as doors go are using good hinges to support the weight, ensuring a good seal and making sure that you use the equivalent mass of soundproofing to match one of the walls. Doors and ventilation are the most difficult parts to get right.

[@Isurusofficial]

Also bear in mind that we're not acoustical engineers. We just figured it out as well as we could and went for it.

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

Did you use the great stuff foam for gaps and cracks edition? I want to buy the same one.

[@Isurusofficial]

I don't remember what we used.. there should be a picture in the video I imagine. If I can find out what we used I will reply again here.

[@chansjuiceytarot4979]

Hi what products did you use for this project?

[@Isurusofficial]

It's all explained in the video, but acoustic plasterboard, rockwool, Tec50 Soundblock, acoustic sealant are the main things aside from the timber.

[@joesified]

How much would you charge to write me detailed, step-by-step plans on how to accomplish this same build, just scaled down to fit a small room? Something like 6ft x 6ft.

[@CasadiCeKO]

great job guys! I saw the link of the fans ... how do I buy them in Italy, the web site does online sales?

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

Did you use bolts for the connection between the top module and the side module?

[@Isurusofficial]

We used large self driving coach screws with a bolt head, which pull the elements that are being connected together.

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

Thanks.

[@drummer94]

How well would this work on the main floor of a home to block sound/vibrations from people who are living in the basement below me? I have a spot in my home but have tenants living below. Mine would be much smaller just able to fit me and a drum kit

[@Isurusofficial]

Our build was designed for being on a concrete ground floor. If you need to stop sound going down you would need to have further soundproofing on your floor. You should look into floating floors as a way of doing that.

[@alpaltropi]

brill thanks

[@Isurusofficial]

No problem!

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

You only attached two sheets of fabric upon the rockwool. Is it okay? Doesn't rockwool make any dust when any vibration occurs? Is it a stupid idea to attach one more layer with a kind of fancy wooden material upon the fabric? It's gonna disturb the absorbing process? I'm thinking about it for the health.

[@Isurusofficial]

It depends what you are trying to achieve. If you only want sound proofing, you can completely cover the rockwool with another layer of plasterboard or wood etc and have it sealed in. We were using it as acoustic treatment as well, so for that you need a porous layer on top so the rockwool absorbs as well as blocks the sound.

[@Isurusofficial]

Health wise, modern rockwool is pretty safe, and is designed not to break down or release particles into the air. Although, I guess there will always be some risk.

[@Jeremy-su3xy]

Thanks. I think I'll use only fabric like you did since I also need acoustic treatment. This will be the biggest DIY ever.

[@Isurusofficial]

Good luck with it, and yes it is a big job! Well worth it though.

[@frankfeud]

Cooool!!

[@ReviewHollywood]

I got a question. Is the finished booth soundproofed in the sense that no one outside the booth can hear anything or soundproof recording?

[@Isurusofficial]

+Rabee Maqbool Hi, it is designed to stop sound leaving the studio and that also works the other way, sound getting into the room and being captured by microphones. I think you are refering to acoustic treatment in the room also, meaning reducing reflections and frequency build up issues? In that respect the rockwool inside the room helps to treat and balance the room, reducing reflections and stopping bass build up etc. Check out our follow up video uploaded to our channel recently where we answer a lot of questions about the studio build. Thanks!

[@grazulukgm3969]

is it attached to the ground at all?

[@Isurusofficial]

It is not.