Soundproof a rehearsal room
Soundproofing a rehearsal room: What are the advantages of using a soundproof booth and what type of booth is necessary?

If you are looking for a place where you can rehearse with your instrument or your musical group, you may consider the possibility of creating a studio or room where you can carry out these activities without disturbing possible neighbors and at the same time have a quiet space isolated from the outside.

As we commented in other articles related to acoustic insulation, the two options that we mainly have will be to carry out a fixed work or the installation of a soundproof cabin. If you are interested in knowing what are the differentiating points between fixed work and a soundproof booth when it comes to soundproofing a room, askecoWe recommend this other article: “Soundproofing a room: In which cases is it advisable to carry out a fixed work and in which others to use a soundproof booth? “

In this article we will focus on the characteristics that a soundproof booth should have for a rehearsal room or studio, and what advantages it would bring in relation to the creation of a traditional studio.

A rehearsal room or music studio is a place where we will spend many hours practicing, creating, and even recording and editing, using different instruments, amplifiers, electronic devices, etc. In short, it will be a workplace, so we will need it to be adapted to our needs, be pleasant and comfortable, and of course, have good insulation and acoustic conditioning.

Soundproof booth studio


It is important to control all possible aspects to achieve these objectives, so we must take into account:

Size, proportions and height of the room

Materials used (exterior, core and interior)

Floating installation and isolated from the ground

Layers and wall thickness

Weight of the structure

Access and exit

Natural lighting (windows) and LED lighting

Passage of wiring from outside to inside and vice versa

Electric connections

Air renewal and temperature

Soundproof Cabin drums



Size, proportions and height of the room

If we have the measurements of the place of installation (width, length and height), as well as the location of the main access, we can make a plan or sketch with the ideal cabin sizes.
At this point, we can consider the use of internal corridors, or take advantage of all the available space. It is essential that there is no contact between the walls and the cabin, so it is advisable to maintain margins of at least 50-100mm.
The proportions of the room will be marked by the premises or room itself, and in the event that the premises are much larger than the cabin, the proportion will be determined by the use that will be given to the cabin.
Generally for musical rehearsal or practice for several people we will look for a space with square measurements, but depending on the instruments it may be interesting to create more rectangular and elongated shapes, for example, when placing a battery or a piano that will take up a lot of space. Then it will be interesting to seek to "break" the parallelism of the cabin walls with acoustic elements.
In cabins larger than 6-8m2 it is advisable to increase the total height of the cabin, as it will provide better acoustics and achieve an effect of spaciousness even when there are many people inside.
The height of the booth should be an option to choose, since higher heights are highly recommended in larger booths or intended for recording. The larger the room, the more options we will have to achieve good acoustics, since we have more space where the sound waves (primary reflections, eco floating and resonant modes). These three issues are essential to work on and adapt to our needs, and if we do not have more space in width and length, it is a very good idea to gain space towards the top.

Sound isolation booth structure



Materials used (exterior, core and interior)

To achieve good product quality, a soundproof booth must be built with top quality materials. We are not only looking for good insulation, but also stable, robust materials, with great durability and a good final finish.
Outside, it is important that the materials provide durability and resistance to bumps, scratches, dirt, etc., since not only can the pieces suffer these effects during transport, but also once the product is installed. At the same time, they must also provide good acoustics, since we must not forget that they will also work outside on many occasions, when there are positions outside or listening, for example, and recordings are made inside the cabin, or when there are several booths together (rehearsal rooms, control room + recording room, etc).
Inside we will seek to achieve excellent insulation by means of wood, insulating materials in combination with chambers and different layers of materials.
It is important that the material remains stable, firm and straight over the years, and resists very well changes in temperature, humidity, etc. as long as they are within the usual ranges.
Inside, we will seek to create a well-conditioned space at an acoustic level, with a good appearance and comfortable to work in. Generally, a good cabin will include these aspects as standard, and if we need more demanding acoustics for a certain activity, we can add parts such as bass traps, acoustic panels, diffusers, etc...

Felt soundproof booth



Floating installation and isolated from the ground

To control the sound we must not only look at the volume of our voice, instruments, speakers, etc. On many occasions, there are elements that vibrate in such a way that they are transmitted by contact. For example, when playing a drum, the action of the bass drum will not only imply a sound coming from the bass drum itself, but it will also emit a vibration that will be transmitted to the surface or structure that supports said bass drum, in this case, the ground.
Therefore, it is very important that the floor of a soundproof booth has elements that eliminate these vibrations. The elements that are usually used are in addition to the floor of the cabin itself, we place interior platforms, as well as an acoustic carpet of a certain thickness that provides anti-vibration and also a safe environment.eco.
On the outside of the cabin, anti-vibration support pads will be used, which consist of rigid wooden bases between absorbent materials. The thickness of the cabin itself is doubled at each support, in addition to adding a Sylomer foam pad (rubber with a specific density) between the floor and the cabin.
The cabin will remain installed in height, so that under it it will also be possible to pass the wiring. On the other hand, it protects from possible flooding since the pads can get wet (up to 25mm high).

With all this, we guarantee that the vibrations caused by low frequencies or by impact will not be transmitted through the structure of our building, reaching very reduced spaces or adjoining rooms.

soundproof booth installation



Layers and wall thickness

As we said previously, the materials used must be of the highest quality, but they must also be presented in the right proportions to achieve the best results. It is a combination of them that will strike a balance between weight, space and level of insulation. Of course, the number of layers also influences, which are levels that are considered independent of each other. With each layer, the vibrations are lost and are not transmitted between layers since they are not in firm contact. (They are joined by means of Silentblock and floating systems). So in addition to the thickness, it is also important to know the number of layers, and the thickness of each one of them. (a 3 layer booth is not necessarily 33% better than a 2 layer booth, this will depend on the total thickness of all the layers and how they interact with each other).

soundproof booth modules



Weight of the structure

A very interesting piece of information when assessing the insulation of a cabinet is its weight, especially when we seek to see the effectiveness at low or medium frequencies. Actually, these frequencies are the most difficult to control, and they are the ones that can disrupt the workflow the most because they are transmitted through the structures of the buildings. So first of all we must isolate and combat the passage of sound and vibrations through our walls as much as possible, in addition to “separating” the cabin from the floor and walls, and trying to make it “float” as we mentioned with the support pads.

The more mass and density, the better a material will work against vibrations, since it will slow them down to a great extent. As we commented in our article “Soundproofing a room: In which cases is it advisable to carry out a fixed work and in which others to use a soundproof booth? “The best material we have in the world to isolate sound and its vibrations is lead, since it is very dense and malleable.



Access and exit

From here we will talk about the elements that we can use in a soundproof booth, which will allow us to install it to our liking and make it practical. The first thing we will see will be the access to the cabin: this area is used whenever we use the cabin, and we need it to be located in the right place. The cabin should allow us to position said access in an ideal area to coincide with the main access to our room.

Aspects such as the size of the door, opening side, interior/exterior opening, or adding a full glass door, special width, disabled access, etc. are very important to take into account. We can also assess whether we want to maintain a space or corridor between the door of our room and the door or access to our cabin. Several doors could be considered for different accesses and exits, especially in large cabins.



Natural lighting (windows) and LED lighting

Another very practical element is the window. Using this element can bring natural light to the interior of our cabin, and a feeling of spaciousness. Logically, the cabin must allow the placement of said windows in areas close to the windows of the building. The ideal is to be able to have various sizes of windows, create a window in the front door, or have large or panoramic windows for rooms or recording studios. As for lighting, it must be sufficiently powerful and directable. LED lights are an excellent option since they also offer different color temperatures and power regulation, as well as RGB LED lights that offer a wide variety of selectable colors.

Sound isolation booth acoustic



Passage of wiring from outside to inside and vice versa

If we have a closed and hermetic space, how can we bring inside the different cables necessary for the use of the cabin? The solution is a watertight cable gland. This special hatch has a snap-open lid that can be opened to access a large opening for all necessary wiring to pass through.

Once the cables are placed, we can close said lid by means of a pressure system, leaving the access airtight. This piece must be practical and easy to handle, since the wiring of a cabin may need to be modified very often depending on the activity carried out.



Electric connections

The electrical system of the cabin must adapt to the voltage and plug type of any country in the world, have everything necessary to provide power to lighting and ventilation, and also have several internal outlets to be able to offer power to the devices or machines that we need to use.

 



Air renewal and temperature

This element is of vital importance in a soundproof booth. The air renewal will guarantee that the interior remains ventilated and fresh, allowing the correct development of the activity. The ducts must be differentiated, one being an inlet duct and the other an outlet duct. The ventilation must be forced, by means of a silent motor that introduces air inside the cabin. To control the hermetic aspect of the cabin at the insulation level, each ventilation panel (inlet and outlet) has a series of internal labyrinths where the air recirculates within each module. The process consists of an external box with a silent motor, separate and independent from the cabin, by means of a corrugated hose of approximately 2 meters. This motor propels the air through the hose and it will reach the outer inlet mouth of the inlet ventilation module. The air will enter said module and will make a complete 360 ​​degree turn before entering the interior of the cabin through the interior inlet mouth. During the turn, the air will run into irregular structures that will dissuade outside sound, as well as curb the intensity and noise of the air flow. Once inside the cabin, the used air will be expelled from the cabin by pressure (the door remains closed and the space is airtight) through the inner outlet mouth, it returns to run another 360 degrees through uneven materials before reach the external mouth and get out of the cabin through the external exit mouth. On many occasions it is necessary to be able to control the speed of the ventilation motor, as well as the possibility of turning the ventilation on or off at any time. Of course, an air conditioner can be connected to the suction port of the engine, which will provide air conditioning inside the cabin.

soundproof cabin ventilation



Although these are some of the main aspects to take into account, there are many more possible situations on which we can give you our answers.ecomentions. And just as we commented in the article “Soundproofing a room: In which cases is it advisable to carry out a fixed work and in which others to use a soundproof booth?”, in a rehearsal room we have the same advantages with respect to the traditional work, which are very interesting:

Adaptation available space

Speed ​​of installation to have the study finished in a few days or even hours. (not weeks on construction jobs)

Portability and readjustment to new spaces

Great after-sales service (transfers between cities, adaptations)

Large second-hand market worldwide, recovering the great totality of the investment made initially.

Readaptation of new clients to new sizes and needs.

If you have any doubt or question, we invite you to contact us. contact and we will answer you with pleasure!



DEMVOX Sound Isolation Booths
Calle La Venta, 2.
P.I. Neinor Henares. Edificio 1, Nave 6.
CP 28880 Meco. Madrid. España
Tel: +34 918307209
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