Soundproofing a recording studio is considered to be one of the basic factors which enable the recording of clean and high-quality musical material. Many problems associated with the resonance and reflection of the sound waves from floors and ceilings can be avoided if the room has a proper acoustic decoration.
In this article, I want to discuss the important topic of sound insulation of a home recording studio. We will also look at the issues that come with the decoration of the room to ensure maximum noise cancellation at the minimum cost. Firstly, you need to select a concrete wall or thick bricks that will ensure that the room has a high level of isolation and is devoid of the external noise.
Now let’s have a look at the issues that arise with the interior decoration of studios. The acoustic decoration of the room is based on the following factor:
The acoustic decoration of the room consists of the following items:
- Wall decoration
- Floor finish
- Ceiling Finish
1. Wall decoration
If you are looking for the best option for wall decoration that does not stretch your budget, then the dense carpet is your best choice. It has a mineral wool layer, which is further wrapped in polyethylene.
When installing it, be sure to wrap mineral wool in the film, which will ensure that its particles are not able to penetrate the room. I want to bring your attention to the fact that the more the insulation material layer is thicker, the more will be the noise cancellation. Instead of using carpet on whole walls, you also have the option to hang carpets along the room’s perimeter. If it is possible somehow, you should try to round the room’s corner. For example, you can also use the wooden bars having a triangular shape in the corner of the room.
For better sound insulation of your home recording studio, it is preferable to install plastic windows. They tend to contribute to the absorption of external noise and avoid glass rattling, which you can experience at low frequencies. The windows also need to be blacked out with curtains. The ideal case would be to make a studio indoors that doesn’t have any windows.
Several music artists and composers make use of the egg trays in the decoration of the wall. They believe that they can lead to reduced absorption and dispersion of the sound. This method of decorating walls, due to its lower cost, is actually very popular. A study done by the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratories (USA), on the sound-absorbing properties of the egg trays found that the coefficient of sound absorption is only NRC ≈ 0.40. A more clear representation of this gives a graph of the sound absorption in response to the frequency. In the light of the experimental results from the experiment mentioned above, I would not recommend using egg trays for soundproofing a recording studio.
2. Floor finish
There is not much difference in the soundproofing of the walls and floors. The most convenient option for you is to use the same carpet. A parquet can also be used, and the carpets can be put upstairs. Moreover, the mineral wool mats can be put along the room’s perimeter.
Such effective measures are mainly targeted at the microphones having high-quality recording when the signal from the guitar combo amplifiers.
3. Ceiling decoration
For having a soundproofed cover for the ceiling, you can use the stretch ceilings or carpet. It should be kept in mind that it is better if the ceiling is not kept flat rather than a little curved. Better sound diffusion can be achieved through this.
It is also worth mentioning here that many other specialized materials tend to make your studio soundproof. These materials include Auralex, but these kinds of materials are very costly. Therefore, considering everything mentioned above, if you are looking for a start, my personal advice would be to use a trusted, proven material that is not very costly.
