VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Mike Sommer]

George-
The Air unit arrived Tuesday, Looks like we will get it in Thursday. Bob Lucas is doing the instal and did Brian Cummings studio too.

I need to post an update on the build but it's been non stop building.
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Diane Maggipinto]

curious what is the final price tag on this project.

is that tacky to ask?
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

[ballenberg]

That is not a tacky question, that's a really good question. And inquiring minds want to know.

I'm thinking one thing is for sure: It ain't cheap.

[Mike Sommer]

It's not really up to me to say how much this booth is costing, that would be for Marc to disclose. I can tell you the doors alone cost $2000.

In our discussions, Marc feels this booth will easily pay for itself before the years end. And considering how long he spends at Books On Tape and the like, I can see this happening.
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Diane Maggipinto]

them's some doors, huh?
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!

www.d3voiceworks.com

[Mike Sommer]

Yes they are. About 200 pounds of door.


I consulted Marc. This booth is coming in around $40 to $45 thousand.
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[Mike Sommer]

Unfortunately I did not get many pictures of some of the detail things
that were done, so I've had to use a few pictures out of order to give a
general sense of what is going on. It's just been a whirlwind of activity
durning the first few days of this project.

Here is how the garage started.


One of the first items to be addressed were the existing walls. Since this
build is in a garage, the exterior wall (the wall on the left in the above
picture) was not insulated and the drywall needed to be remove. So
instead of throwing the dry wall away, we cut the drywall out along the
studs and moved it back to the exterior wall surface between the studs.
This added mass to the exterior side of the wall which we needed anyway
and only cost a few minutes of time.

Upon opening the walls we found two surprises. A huge cavity near the
front door area that was unsealed that need a lot of attention and
fiberglass if we were to get the noise level under control. And a birdnest
of electrical wiring that went everywhere and through the area where the
studio doors are to go.






It may be hard to see but in the cavity area there are 3 structural walls
within it, and was a bit of a head scratcher as to how to deal with it since
some of the upper areas are unreachable. We ended up installing nailers
and drywalled the center wall, and caulked every joint and crack with a non
hardening caulk. Having packed the area between the exterior wall and
center wall with insulation, then we drywalled the center wall and sealing
everything very well with more caulk. Finally we added another layer of
insulation to the cavity.
In this picture we've cleaned up most of the electrical (belive it or not).
Straightening out he electrical took some time and a bit of planing.



Here we routed the electrical around the area where the door to the booth will be.
There was also a bit of electrical that had to be moved for the out door lighting and fountains.

Framing for the two leaf wall structure is of 25ga 3 5/8 metal stud, and
20ga 2x6 for the hardcap ceiling. Overall framing was completed in about 3
days. Since metal stud is easy to work with I was able to make fine
adjustments to the structure. We added another foot to the depth of the
booth after Marc could fully realize the dimensions.



Studs cut out and header and installed for the door.



Here is a small portion of the fiberglass; R13 for the walls and R19 for the ceiling. The EcoBatt material is very nice and fluffy, and almost dust and itch free.
You can see in the background how we moved the drywall back between the studs, and also sealed up the corner.



Electrical is pulled and set in place. All of the electrical boxes in the booth
will sit on the face of the walls to reduce noise infiltration. Metal framing
for the door set, and insulation starts getting installed in both walls. We
used the OSB sheeting to hold the "booth structure" in square while we
added the metal bracing.


You can see we kept a portion to the booth walls open to move material in
and out - especially the the 30 sheets of drywall.



Our bonus picture of the day -The neighbors down the street... on trash day:

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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[CarynClark]

I think I know those doors... very cool. If it's like the one I'm familiar with, it appears to create a vacuum when it shuts. My goal is to have a studio that requires a door like that one day.

This is a very interesting thread... thank you for sharing!

PS: That would be one great neighborhood to troll the night before trash day to see what goodies can be found!
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Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice!

"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

[bobsouer]

Mike,

Interesting that you used metal studs instead of wood. And thank you for all of these photos. Fascinating!
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Be well,
Bob Souer (just think of lemons)
The second nicest guy in voiceover.
+1-724-613-2749
Source Connect, phone patch, pony express

[Deirdre]

Those are some neighbors.

Thanks for these pix! I love seeing projects-in-progress.
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DBCooperVO.com
IMDB

[todd ellis]

mighty impressive!
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

[Mike Sommer]

Thanks one and all I'll have more pictures in a few days.

@ CarynClark It's just a double door system with some very thick and heavy glass.


@ Bob There a couple of really good reasons to use metal stud for studio walls. Sound does not transfer or resonate as much or as well with metal stud as it does with wood stud. These walls offer the same Sound Transmission Class (STC) as a wood frame wall with R1 channel. It's also fire, rot and bug proof. This being such a small space it made for a much easier build.
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The Blog:
http://voiceoveraudio.blogspot.com/

Acoustics are counter-intuitive. If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong.

[mcm]

I love these updates - could you make the project into a movie?? Mike is getting to be MVP in my book

This Ecobatt insulation - how did you choose it? What are its acoustic properties and how do they compare with fiberglass, blown-in cellulose or those big sheets of foam insulation? If Ecobatt is made of sand, it's really basically glass, right? Is it really not itchy?

[Mike Sommer]

[SkinnyJohnny]

Mike,
Thanks for the priceless information!
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John Weeks Voice Overs
www.johnweeksvoiceovers.com