Drummers: Wanna show us what you got?

Suggestions for Building a "Drum Room" and/or "Studio" in new home

Hey Everyone,

I am moving into a new semi-detached home in about a month. This is basically a duplex for anyone that doesn't know what semi-detached is. It's new construction and the basement is not finished. My girlfriend and I have been throwing around the idea of possibly building a small room for me to play drums and/or possibly jam with others once in awhile.

I have no experience or understanding if this is even worth while to think about. I know some of you have built drum rooms in your homes and others of you have more studio experience.

Any suggestions on where to start would be great. We don't have a large budget for this but I just want to start looking around for some good ideas. Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Adrian

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Paul Owen on October 20, 2008 at 11:59am: Hi Adrian,
If at all possible you should build a box within the space you want to use. What I mean by that is sound transfers greatly through vibration, so the first thing to do is build a sub floor over top of the concrete and if the hight allows don't connect the studs to the floor above. That is where alot of the sound will come from. When choosing insulation make sure it's for acoustic applications. I did a small space in my house and made the mistake of using just Pink and it was a whoops. There are a few good sites with a lot of this information as well as there was an article in Modern Drummer that specifically dealt with your situation. I have the issue,,,,I'll try and find it and send a copy to you....
The cost of the framing isn't that much more then doing it the standard but it will make a big difference in the sound isolation.......
It's pretty exciting getting your own space........good luck..; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adrian Nadeau on October 20, 2008 at 12:02pm: Cool, thanks for the info Paul... I apprecate it!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rob Hughes on October 20, 2008 at 10:11pm: Hi again Adrian,

Freakin hilarious that you posted this today as it just happens I was just researching this yesterday. I've just finished building a new house (on a lake a few hours from home - more pics on FB) and reserved some space in the basement for a 'jam space/studio'. (The PERFECT day to me is an early morning fishing, wakeboarding throughout the day in the hot sun and then returning to my cottage with some friends, BBQ/cold beers and jamming through the afternoon and into the night!)

The house itself is pretty soundproof (tested this last week with a small kit - in this case, a Pearl Rhythm Traveller "Gig kit") but now I will create a functional space that sounds good for listeners and amateur recording.

Here is some good reading I discovered in my search...
http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

I had several additional outlets installed along the walls on separate breakers (the electrician even labelled them "Guitars" on the breaker board) for guitars, amps, pedals, laptops and lighting. My plan is now to install some carpet, perhaps a couple acoustical boards on the walls (saw these in an ad in Long & McQuade magazine http://www.forwardacoustics.com/ForwardAcousticsBrochure.pdf), and some furniture for listeners. Currently my empty basement has a lot of reverb and is VERY LOUD! I will try to create the perfect balance of 'warmth and reverb' - (but not DEADEN the room completely).

The room is much bigger than it looks here... (and perhaps this isn't the best spot for my kit) but my goal will be to get it feeling (and sounding) much warmer like the home studio I found on the web - see pic top right.

I'd be open to advice from others too since this is my first attempt - but eventually I would like to be able to setup some mics and a MAC laptop with recording software to capture those impromptu jams...

I will post a photo of the space once it's complete - again advice from others welcome!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by James Babcock on December 9, 2008 at 2:08am: Hey Rob and Adrain, how are the room coming along? Any new ideas or photos to share yet?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adrian Nadeau on December 9, 2008 at 8:48am: Hey James,

We've just moved in (last week). So I'm trying to get settled in before we even think about working on the basement :) Hopefully over the next few months we'll get started on it. Thanks for asking though.

Cheers,
Adrian; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rob Hughes on December 13, 2008 at 12:09pm: Hey James - sorry not much progress from my side - the cottage is 3 hours from where I live and don't get there as much in the winter...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Adrian Nadeau on December 13, 2008 at 12:13pm: I just wish I had some money to throw to someone and ask them to build me a studio... do you guys think we could start a fund on here maybe? :)

Cheers; ▶ Reply to This