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S101 - Acoustics – Studio Design
Part 1 – Intended Use
The studio room that will be designed, modeled and studied during this project is
an actual space located in my hometown in southern Brazil, in the city of Carambeí, state
of Paraná. This room has been built in 2015, in my mother’s house, to serve initially as
a rehearsal room for my band at the time. However, given my lifetime interest in audio
recording and music production, 2 rooms were built: the main room, known as Live
Room, and the Control Room.
Given the lack of knowledge that my 23-year-old myself had at the time, as well
as a shortage of financial resources, the goal of the current project is to renovate and fix
the current design, by replacing materials, adding diffusers, absorbers and improving the
physics of sound propagation inside the two rooms. Therefore, the purpose of the studio
to serve as a place for music recording, mixing and mastering will be kept. It will be
intended to Record, Mix and Master:
1- Full bands playing simultaneously (live in studio recordings)
2- Acoustic instruments (acoustic guitars, woodwind instruments, drums)
3- Vocals (single vocals, trio, quartet)
4- Music mixing
5- Music mastering
Part 2 – Description of Space
The floor plan that follows this document indicates the layout of the two rooms. It
consists of 2 rooms, built in masonry and cement walls. Its structure consists of
reinforced concrete beams and columns. Ceiling was built as a reinforced concrete slab.
The floor was built as a rigid concrete floor. Later, a Vinyl Flooring was installed.
Although some acoustic treatment was planned and installed at the time of the studio
construction, for the intent of this project both rooms will be considered as empty spaces
and the walls considered as purely reflective (low absorption coefficient, given their finish
in cement). The current state of the studio can be seen in pictures from the Appendix
that follows this document.
A wall of fitted stone was built, aiming to provide a wide sound, especially for
drumkits. This wall, which is located towards the street, also consists in 2 layers of
independent masonry, with a layer of air between them. This was planned in order to
assure soundproofing characteristics to the room, given that my band used to practice
from evening, around 8 pm, until midnight. The only standard masonry wall, not doubled,
is the one that divides the studio and the garage.
Double wooden doors have been installed as well, in order to provide a layer of
air in the middle of them and reduce the leakage of sound between the spaces.
A glass window, consisting of two 10.0 mm tempered glass panels, has been built
in order to allow visual contact between the two rooms. There is a layer of air in the
middle of both panels as well.
S101 – Acoustics – Student: Cesar Augusto Los Dias Junior
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The studio is located on the first floor (street level). Excessive vibration has
already been constated, especially the ones originated from the kick drum and bass
guitars. These vibrations can be felt inside my mother’s house, and occur due to flanking
transmission through the concrete flooring and the foundation structures (all built using
reinforced concrete).
The room modes (Axial) for both rooms have been calculated according to the
following formula for the fundamental frequency:
343
𝑓= (𝐻𝑧)
2 × 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
Where distance refers to the distance in meters (m) between parallel surfaces
(walls and floor/ceiling). Therefore:
Room mode – Axial – Live Room (5.30 x 2.70 x 2.66 m)
1 32.36 Hz
2 63.52 Hz
3 64.47 Hz
Room mode – Axial – Control Room (4.35 x 2.70 x 2.66 m)
1 39.43 Hz
2 63.52 Hz
3 64.47 Hz
Flutter echo is likely to happen, given the rectangle shape of both rooms. This
leads to the existence of two pairs of parallel walls in both rooms.
For the calculation of Reverb time in both rooms, using absorption coefficients
and Sabine’s formula, the calculations are shown below (demonstrated algebraically for
a response in 1000 Hz):
Live Room
𝑆𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 = 5.30 × 2.66 × 0.04 + (5.30 × 2.66 − 0.80 × 2.10) × 0.04
+ (2.70 × 2.66 − 0.80 × 2.10 − 0.90 × 0.70) × 0.04 + 2.70 × 2.66 × 0.02
𝑆𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 = 1.40 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠 = 2 × 0.80 × 2.10 × 0.10 = 0.34 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤 = 0.90 × 0.70 × 0.03 = 0.02 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 5.30 × 2.70 × 0.03 = 0.43 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 = 5.30 × 2.70 × 0.05 = 0.72 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 = 1.40 + 0.34 + 0.02 + 0.43 + 0.72 = 2.91 𝑆𝑎
For the volume of the room:
𝑉𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 = 5.30 × 2.70 × 2.66 = 38.06 𝑚³
S101 – Acoustics – Student: Cesar Augusto Los Dias Junior
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Control Room
𝑆𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 = 2 × 4.35 × 2.66 × 0.04 + (2.70 × 2.66 − 0.80 × 2.10 − 0.90 × 0.70) × 0.04
+ (2.70 × 2.66 − 0.60 × 0.60) × 0.04
𝑆𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑠 = 1.40 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟 = 0.80 × 2.10 × 0.10 = 0.17 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠 = (0.9 × 0.7 + 0.6 × 0.6) × 0.03 = 0.03 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 4.35 × 2.70 × 0.03 = 0.35 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 = 4.35 × 2.70 × 0.05 = 0.59 𝑆𝑎
𝑆𝑎𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 = 2.54 𝑆𝑎
For the volume of the room:
𝑉𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 = 4.35 × 2.70 × 2.66 = 31.24 𝑚³
Calculating Reverb Time (RT60) for both rooms:
0.161 × 38.06
𝑅𝑇60𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 = = 2.10 𝑠
2.91
0.161 × 31.24
𝑅𝑇60𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙 𝑅𝑜𝑜𝑚 = = 1.98 𝑠
2.54
S101 – Acoustics – Student: Cesar Augusto Los Dias Junior
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Appendix – Pictures from the actual studio
Picture 1 – Live Room seen from the Control Room
Picture 2 – Control Room
S101 – Acoustics – Student: Cesar Augusto Los Dias Junior
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Picture 3 – Live Room
Picture 4 – Live Room (Detail on the fitted stone wall)
S101 – Acoustics – Student: Cesar Augusto Los Dias Junior
NEIGHBOUR'S ALLEY
1045
24
24
FITTED STONE WALL
THICKNESS ~ 7 cm
175
1
LIVE / REHEARSAL ROOM CONTROL ROOM
309
270
270
270
AREA: 14.31 m² AREA: 11.75 m²
HEIGHT: 2.66 m HEIGHT: 2.66 m
STREET (~ 5 meters away) FLOOR: CONCRETE AND VINYL FLOORING FLOOR: CONCRETE AND VINYL FLOORING BACKYARD
15
1 1
360
2
1
15
15
30 530 1 435
GARAGE
FLOOR PLAN
1 SCALE 1:50
DOORS - WINDOWS MATERIALS - WALLS
CERAMIC BRICKS AND CEMENT
1 WOODEN DOOR - 0.80 x 2.10 m
WALLS (THICKNESS: INDICATED)
DOUBLE GLASS WINDOW - ANGLED FITTED STONE WALL
1 (2 x 10.0 mm TEMPERED GLASS) (THICKNESS ~7 cm)
0.90 X 0.70 m
TILTING WINDOW W/ FABRIC CURTAIN
2 0.60 x 0.60 m
TITLE
FLOOR PLAN - HOME STUDIO (INITIAL)
AUTHOR
CESAR AUGUSTO LOS DIAS JUNIOR
COURSE PAGE
S101 - ACOUSTICS - STUDIO DESIGN PROJECT
DATE
NOVEMBER/2022
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