Acoustics of converting a garage to a recording studio

Acoustical factors that need to be considered to convert a garage into a recording studio are given below;

•        Internal surfaces of a recording studio should be covered with sound absorbing materials to achieve hemi-anechoic conditions in the studio. Doors are to be pushed into the studio. Meta-diffusers could be applied to improve the acoustics conditions without making the studio “dead”.

•        Air cavities of 350mm or more could be used to improve low frequency absorption performance in the studio.

•        The floor of recording studio could be isolated with break from nearby structures utilising box in box construction and/or floating floor, which should be built on the existing floor. The floating floor could be made of felt, cork layer or glass fibre supporting a new floor layer of particle board or concrete creed with a gap between the floating floor and the walls to decouple them and allow for expansion.

•        Internal walls and ceiling for the “box-within-box” should avoid opposite faces being parallel, in so doing decreasing flutter echoes and henceforth improving the diffusivity of recording studio.

•        The lights with low ambient noise and light fittings should be preferred for recording studio, so fluorescent strip lights are not suitable.

•        Usually, central heating system is not installed in the garage. Therefore, an air conditioning unit with low noise is recommended to be installed in recording studio.

•        Most of garages are not constructed be thermally isolated and/or water proof. If the owner prefer to mount acoustic felt, fibreglass and/or cork layers, then the garage should be checked prior to installation of them. It is advised to use damp proofing to prevent rotting of materials.

 Director of Ronberks Acoustic