Home Recording Studio Build It Like the Pros Second Edition
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FINAL Home Recording Studio Build It Like the Pros Second Edition Rod Gervais FINAL Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States Home Recording Studio: Build It Like the Pros © 2011 Rod Gervais. Second Edition Rod Gervais ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, Publisher and General Manager, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, Course Technology PTR: except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without Stacy L. Hiquet the prior written permission of the publisher. Associate Director of Marketing: For product information and technology assistance, contact us at Sarah Panella Cengage Learning Customer & Sales Support, 1-800-354-9706. Manager of Editorial Services: For permission to use material from this text or product, Heather Talbot submit all requests online at cengage.com/permissions. Further permissions questions can be e-mailed to [email protected]. Marketing Manager: Mark Hughes Executive Editor: Mark Garvey All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Project and Copy Editor: Marta Justak All images © Rod Gervais unless otherwise noted. Library of Congress Control Number: 2010932780 Technical Reviewer: Gino Robair ISBN-13: 978-1-4354-5717-1 Interior Layout: Jill Flores ISBN-10: 1-4354-5717-X eISBN-10: 1-4354-5718-8 Cover Designer: Luke Fletcher Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning 20 Channel Center Street Indexer: Sharon Shock Boston, MA 02210 USA Proofreader: Michael Beady Cengage Learning is a leading provider of customized learning solutions with office locations around the globe, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. Locate your local office at: international.cengage.com/region. Cengage Learning products are represented in Canada by Nelson Education, Ltd. For your lifelong learning solutions, visit courseptr.com. Visit our corporate Web site at cengage.com. FINAL Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 11 10 To all five of my children, I want you to know that I am proud at the sense of drive and ethics you have brought with you into adulthood, and to see you raising your children with those same values (well, those three of you who have children anyway). I would ask you all to remember that your dreams should not be set aside and forgotten, gathering dust in some chest in your attic, but are meant to be embraced, fed with fuel for their fires, so that you attain (in your lives) any and everything you could ever desire. The only possible obstacle in achieving this is you. Don’t ever let that be the case. FINAL Acknowledgments I wish to acknowledge the following people for their assistance with this book: Executive Editor Mark Garvey, for putting together everything it took to make this happen. My editor, Marta Justak, who again put up with me while we put this together. Marta, you truly are an angel. Technical editor, Gino Robair, your efforts have made this edition of the book much more than it would have been otherwise. To the compositor of the book, Jill Flores, I know you jumped through a lot of hoops making it from A to B in this edition; I appreciate this more than you could ever know. Doug Plumb of Acousti Soft Inc., thanks for your assistance with Chapter 8. Jeff D. Szymanski, PE, special thanks for your assistance in general, as well as providing review for technical accuracy. Brian Ravnaas, thanks for your assistance and contributions to Chapter 3. To my brother Paul, the photographer, for providing my photo. You did a great job of making me look much better than I do in real life. A special thanks to my readers, the people who made the first edition such a success that we actually had a reason for releasing the second edition. It amazes me the support you have provided to me—both from your warm reception of the book to your recommendation to people that they purchase it. Without you, this edi- tion really would have never happened. And finally, last but certainly not least, again, to my brother Marc. You have been a source of strength to me ever since we were kids—a shining light I could follow. I notice even this late in life that nothing has changed. FINAL About the Author Rod Gervais is a multi-disciplined engineer located in northeast Connecticut. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America, the Audio Engineering Society, and the National Fire Protection Association. His background in con- struction is wide ranging, from national museums to recording and movie studios. It was his involvement in recording studio construction that first fired his need for knowledge in the field of acoustics, a fire that still burns today. His quest for knowledge is a never-ending part of his life. Rod is also an accomplished musician, with over 40 years of experience in percussion, as well as playing guitar, bass guitar, and keyboards. His musical experiences run the gamut from classical to jazz, although the musical love of his life is the blues. It is this combination of the analytical engineer coupled with the artistic musician that has led him to write this book—one more step on his journey through life. FINAL Contents Introduction . xii Chapter 1 Getting Started . 1 A Variety of Equipment Options. 1 The Room’s Design . 2 Power Station—the “A” Room . 3 Hit Productions—the “H” Room . 10 Dark Pine Studios . 12 Sound Isolation. 15 What Sets This Book Apart from All the Rest. 16 Easy Explanations . 16 Thirty-Five Years of Construction Expertise . 17 The Devil Is in the Details . 18 Ensuring Quality Control Protection . 19 Doing the Job Yourself . 19 Hiring the Job Out . 20 Chapter 2 Modes, Nodes, and Other Terms of Confusion . 22 Sound . 22 Amplitude . 23 Frequency . 23 Wavelength . 23 Room Modes. 24 Modal Waves . 25 Non-Modal Waves. 28 Other Reflective Problems. 29 Flutter Echo . 29 Comb Filtering . FINAL. 30 Early Reflections and Stereo Imaging . 31 Mode Analysis. 32 Room Sizes . 33 Large Rooms . 33 Medium Rooms . 33 Small Rooms . 33 Contents Types of Room Modes. 34 Axial Modes . 34 Tangential Modes . 35 Oblique Modes . 35 Room Ratios . 36 Mode Calculators . 37 Chapter 3 Isolation Techniques—Understanding the Concepts . 41 Mass, Mass, and More Mass . 43 Airtight Construction . 46 Eliminate Transmissions Through the Building Structure. 46 What to Avoid. 47 Chapter 4 Floor, Wall, and Ceiling Construction Details . 48 Floor Construction . 48 Simple Concrete Slabs . 48 Isolated Concrete Slabs . 49 Floating Concrete Slabs. 52 Description of Test Specimen . 56 Test Methods . 56 Test Configuration . 57 Test Results . 58 Floating Wood Decks . 60 Sand-Filled Wooden Decks . 62 Wall Construction . 62 Existing Walls . 64 Wood Walls . ..