Soundproofing Small Studios: The Essential Guide

What's the best way to go about soundproofing a room? Justin Colletti dives into the details.

Whether you're looking to make money in music or simply get into more fulfilling artistic collaborations, this is what you really need to focus on once you reach competence in audio and music production.

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0:00 Introduction
0:18 What kind of foam for soundproofing
1:50 Why foam doesn't work
3:33 Have you done soundproofing? Share your story!
4:04 Real soundproofing looks like THIS
5:24 Principle 1: Mass
6:57: Principle 2: Air
7:25 Principle 3: Decoupling
11:53 How soundproof walls are built (and ceilings and floors)
17:00 How much does it cost?
19:14 Doing it on the cheap
21:11 Don't forget ventilation!
22:36 Books and resources
23:52 Workarounds on the cheap
25:22 Weak point 1: Windows
31:08 Weak point 2: Doors
34:12 Cheap hack 1: Schedule your sound!
35:23 Cheap hack 2: Shared resources: Outside studios and rehearsal spaces
39:39 My soundproofing story

Check out Wilson's new article on soundproofing here:

Blake's article on building a soundproof room:

My articles on soundproofing:

#soundproofing #mixingengineer #homestudio #listenable #recordingstudio #audioengineer #homestudio #musicproducer #audioengineer #podcast #justincolletti #musicmixing #sonicscoop #musicproduction #mixingmusic

[randverserence]

I did the double wall business as a built my studio, 2x6 base with 2x3 studs on each side of it. Also if you are in Canada Sonopan is a godsent for under your drywall instead of doing double drywall. It decouples and deadens beautifully. Love the podcast, missed it live sadly.

[SonicScoop]

0:00 Introduction
0:18 What kind of foam for soundproofing
1:50 Why foam doesn't work
3:33 Have you done soundproofing? Share your story!
4:04 Real soundproofing looks like THIS
5:24 Principle 1: Mass
6:57: Principle 2: Air
7:25 Principle 3: Decoupling
11:53 How soundproof walls are built (and ceilings and floors)
17:00 How much does it cost?
19:14 Doing it on the cheap
21:11 Don't forget ventilation!
22:36 Books and resources
23:52 Workarounds on the cheap
25:22 Weak point 1: Windows
31:08 Weak point 2: Doors
34:12 Cheap hack 1: Schedule your sound!
35:23 Cheap hack 2: Shared resources: Outside studios and rehearsal spaces
39:39 My soundproofing story

Check out Wilson's new article on soundproofing here:

Blake's article on building a soundproof room:

My articles on soundproofing:

[vougamusicofficial]

I've just finished the construction of a vocal booth in my space to significantly reduce ambient noise coming in from the outside. it's a basic structure that's decoupled from the floor and its walls don't touch the room. I've used two layers of dry wall with glue between them. I banked on the fact that the room it's in is a first barrier to noise (I've made sure everything was air tight (doors, windows) and the vocal booth acts as a second barrier. The results are not 100% obviously, but it has significantly reduced the noise. Now all I get is a low rumble which I can eq out in the case of a vocal or similar. Yeah, this stuff is no easy task!! I obviously had to treat the inside acoustically with 6 inches of rock wool covering more than half the total surface area.The whole thing cost me about $3'000

[aceedmond]

Missed the livestream Justin... I actually built two rooms...small mix room 10x12 and a small drum room same.... both rooms decoupled and both decoupled from my house... 3 sheets of 5/8' drywall on the interior and 2 on the other side... two wall were exterior stucco...also studies show that light weight fiberglass insulation is more effective than expensive rockwool etc... when soundproofing the only thing that works is air and mass and I sealed every crack and seam and I mean everything...all power is surface mount and doors are a weakness so I spent a good amount of time sealing my double doors... control room window is two pieces of 1/2" angled laminate glass on each wall... I researched for probably a year... the goal is " air tight" ... John Brandt is a good resource on YT... I just did a sound test with my neighbors late at night when the noise floor is low.... hitting my drums as hard as I could... and they couldn't hear anything inside their house with their windows open and nothing outside....( approx 35 to 40ft.. I will say this... its not easy but if one decouples, and focuses on mass and air gap between walls you can achieve great results.... additionally I treated all walls and ceiling built my own panels, walls and ceiling ( 29 ) and they look amazing ... I might add I did the ceiling with hat channel and two sheets of 1/2 in ( seal every gap ) I used approx 300 tubes of Sashco Big Stretch... side note... my house is on concrete slab so decoupling floor wasn't necessary ... no floor 2nd side note I did it all myself with some help from my 2 dogs...
I left out a lot but hope this helps someone.

[Syntiont]

did my first real sound proof build in the last several years .. Small room .. Room within a room build .. In a basement spare room . New stud construction completely dethatched from the house except the basement floor . ALot of rockwool, MLV, resilient channel , for air gap between MLV and drywall, green glue, and soundbreak xp drywall . Electrical box puddy, mini split for ac and heat, acoustic sealant around doors ... Custom made doors that are thick AF that do both sound proof and acoustic treat the inside part of the room .. About $15k in a small 9x16x7.5 room with a 10x3 mic booth on the side .. ... NOT CHEAP OR EASY .. 36 DB drop from the door opening and closing outside the studio .. Still got some tweaking to do on the double door entranceway ..

[markhunt]

I live in a 29 foot travel trailer, i need to record vocals and keep the space functional. I can add about 3 inches off the existing wall so im very limited

[carlos-nihn]

Heyyy justin Is the engineer Jason chesse already confirmed for this mix con 2023?