johnmsteel

Before you do anything . . .

. . . You have to ask yourself some questions and answer them honestly and accurately. What do I want to do in my studio – record music, mix music, practice with a band/ individually or all of these things? How loud will you be doing this – don’t guess, buy a good quality soundContinue reading “Before you do anything . . .”

Getting Started

There is no ‘one size fits all’ method of designing a sound insulated space. To quote the great Steveland Morris (Stevie Wonder to you and me), ” . . . you gots to work with what you gots to work with.” This could be a specifically designed and constructed new build (the ideal solution) orContinue reading “Getting Started”

My Design

The first thing I should say is that I’m currently up to the 60 or 70th iteration of this design (and it’s still changing). Of the three years I have been planning, most of my time and effort was put into learning to use a 3D design tool called ‘SketchUp’. I would urge you toContinue reading “My Design”

Mass Law, Resonance and coincidence

The Mass Law of sound insulation provides a guide by which the level of transmission loss (TL) of a structure (how much sound energy it inhibits) can be predicted. It tells us that, in a single leaf wall or partition, TL increases by 6dB with every doubling of mass at a given frequency (this isContinue reading “Mass Law, Resonance and coincidence”

HVAC

(Heating, ventilation, air conditioning) As I have already mentioned, this is the aspect of studio design that is most complex and time consuming (at least for me). I recently realised the way I have been thinking about it is mostly wrong!! More about that in a paragraph or two but this is a subject thatContinue reading “HVAC”

Starting to build

By February 2020 I was finally ready to start building. There was a fair amount of tedious preparation work such as removing rawl plugs, screws, nails and other fixings from the brickwork / woodwork. I was careful to mark where I need to back fill holes with chalk circles as they’re not that easy toContinue reading “Starting to build”

Build 2

It’s been a fair while since I updated my build diary, so here’s what I did this Summer. I continued framing between the rafters up to the level of the joists on the N.W. & S.E. facing walls. This was trickier than the gables because the framing has to be contoured to the same angleContinue reading “Build 2”

Build 3

I must confess that the rate of progress slowed down quite a bit over the Autumn and Winter months. This was partly due to the fact that when it’s cold, damp, freezing or windy, it’s not that much fun to work in the garage. Also, I have found it difficult to source certain materials recently.Continue reading “Build 3”