After the rockstar years are long behind you, reflecting on what you’ve achieved—a house along the Ipswich Great Neck, two wonderful children, a considerate spouse, a great career, you’ve done it all. But what did you sacrifice to earn the life you have, were there dreams or aspirations you left behind? Are you afraid to annoy your family while you dive back into your love of rocking out on the drums?
Everybody needs different outlets, activities that are aligned with their inner compass and desire to express themselves. For the musicians, what’s important is a comfortable space where nobody’s distracting you, while at the same time, you’re never distracting them. You want a space where the outside world fades away and the inside of your music studio shed becomes a personal paradise for you to enjoy.
But the question is how can you create a soundproof music studio in your backyard without disturbing not only your own family, but the entire neighborhood. The answer is to build a sound treated shed, insulated properly and constructed with special sound deadening materials.
What’s The Process Of Soundproofing A Backyard Music Shed?
Like any other home remodeling job, you start the project from the design phase. The plan is simple, draw out the exterior and interior of your shed, confirm where your mixing and mastering setup is located, select your sound deadening materials for the walls, ceiling, and floor, then, once the preparation is complete, we can begin by building the shell of your backyard music studio.
The shell is the frame of your backyard shed, this is before you install windows, doors, siding, etc. The walls inside your music shed are unfinished, at this point in the project the interior design package has not yet been installed.
The Top Four Sound Deadening Insulation Materials
The first step to frame a soundproof shed wall is to place the selected installation between the framing stock. Some desirable sound deadening insulation materials include fiberglass, spray foam, mineral wool, and cotton. We’d highly recommend choosing spray foam insulation when soundproofing a modern shed, as it perfectly fills in even the tiniest gaps within your shed’s framing, giving you the most optimal temperature and decibel control out of the four options.
Apply The First Layer Of Soundproof Drywall
When soundproofing any music studio on a budget, you want to make sure you’re installing multiple layers of sound dampening drywall to the walls and ceiling. Specialty soundproof drywall such as Pabco Quietrock and CertainTeed Silent Fx, have multiple mineral layers sandwiched between strips of paper. The paper acts as a conductor for sound vibrations, reducing the amount being transmitted to gypsum, making it an exceptional sound dampening solution.
Install the Resilient Channels
After the drywall is screwed into the music studio shed’s wall and ceiling frame using cement board screws, you’ll be installing steel resilient channel strips over the drywall into the frame. The resilient channels are used to create an air gap between the first and second layer of sound dampening drywall, similar to the paper between the mineral gypsum, acting as a conductor to absorb excess sound pressure from rattling the sheetrock.
Apply The Green Glue
After securing the resilient channel strips to create your air gap there’s still one more step before applying the final layer of soundproof sheetrock. Ideal for any new construction or renovation, green glue is used to create a sound absorbing barrier between layers of sheetrock.
Green glue is simple to apply and drys fast. Being one of the most cost-effective soundproofing materials on the market, it’s no wonder why professional music studios across north shore Massachusetts love this product.
Apply The Final Layer Of Soundproof Sheetrock
Finally the soundproof framing process comes to the climax, you’ll soon be shredding guitar solos on amps taller than you whenever you want, day or night. Apply the final layer of sound deadening sheetrock to your music studio shed walls and ceiling, installed using appropriately sized drywall screws. Make sure you’re careful when screwing where the resilient channels are placed, you want to make sure you only drill where there’s space for a screw, avoiding the metal at all cost. This is why you should always hire a licensed modern shed contractor who specializes in renovating and designing backyard studios.
Once your music studio shed’s walls and ceiling are finished, you can move on to the floor.
Installing A Soundproof Floor For A Music Studio Shed
When building a backyard music studio pouring the concrete foundation is one of the most critical steps in producing a sound structure. Some different options you can consider include a mono-slab or helical pile foundation, both giving the same results.
A mono-slab foundation is when the footers go into the ground and get poured at the same time as the flat part at the top, which is where the shed’s floor gets installed. On the other hand, Helical piles are large hollow tubes drilled deep into the ground that stabilize the modern shed by anchoring it to the surrounding ground.
Once your studio shed’s foundation is all set, you can begin by measuring and leveling the floor. Find out where the uneven spots are so you can make adjustments before installing the sound deadening flooring materials.
Now install your subfloor and sound deadening underlayments over your floor’s frame, with the goal of creating a floating floor that has an air gap between the flooring material and the underlayments. The flooring material you choose is based on personal preference, you could choose anything from fine hardwoods to recycled vinyl flooring, both great options for modern shed flooring.
Install Your Sound Deadening Door And Windows
You want to install a solid core door, which has multiple layers of sound deadening materials, reinforced with a ½” layer of green glue, creating enough mass to absorb sound vibrations. Make sure the door opens from the outside of your music shed, that way you have more space inside to spread out all your equipment and luxuries.
When choosing windows for your music studio shed always avoid double pane windows, as they’re not a good choice for noise reduction. Laminated or low iron glass is a much better option for absorbing sound from inside and outside your studio shed.
Bang Your Drums, Bump That Bass, And Shred Your Heart Out In Your Soundproof Music Shed
After the walls, ceiling, and flooring are finished and the doors and windows are installed, you finally have a dedicated space to unleash your inner rockstar at any time of day. The goal of soundproofing a music studio shed is to make expressing yourself easy and accessible, you’ll never feel like you’re disturbing the peace in your home or neighborhood.
If you’re interested in looking further into designing a music studio shed, check out our recent podcast on the modern shed trends of 2023. Also, if you have any specific questions you’d like answered, please feel free to call our office at (781)-233-7511 or schedule a no commitment consultation, there’s always somebody at Perry Brothers Construction who wants to inspire and invigorate your passion for a home improvement project.
