A "curious" drum room build...

[Soundman2020]

I'm just throwing this out there for comments and insight. The intention is not to diss anybody, or rain on their parade, but rather to just comment on what was, and what could have been.

It's a paper from a building journal, about the design and construction of a "drum studio" that didn't actually achieve its design isolation goal, but they still thought it was a success. However, the numbers are not very encouraging, and the conclusions are incorrect, as are many of the design parameters.

On reading through that paper, see if you can figure out what they did wrong, and why it did not perform as it could have, if it would have been designed and built better. (Hint: the reasons they give for the less-than-desirable outcome ,are not the real reasons...)

To put the results in perspective, compare this paper with Tom's build: ( viewtopic.php?f=6&t=32 ). His place is already getting better isolation than this, and he hasn't even put the doors on yet!

Design_and_Acoustic_Performance_of_a_Drum-studio.pdf

(660.16 KiB) Downloaded 1319 times

Design_and_Acoustic_Performance_of_a_Drum-studio.pdf

(660.16 KiB) Downloaded 1319 times

The paper isn't that old either: from 2009.


- Stuart -

[Starlight]

Source of the post... see if you can figure out what they did wrong, and why it did not perform as it could have, if it would have been designed and built better.

A quick glance through the PDF reveals a few things I would have avoided if that was my build:
- building a room with two of the three dimensions almost exactly the same,
- the not really floating floor on a slab on grade,
- triple glazing,
- three leaves,
- applying Green Glue to only 2 walls and at only a fraction of the recommended quantity,
- using unfaced Rockwool instead of duct liner,
- having a gap between the walls of only 2cm.

It will be interesting to see what else people find and then what Stuart has to say.

[SoWhat]

To add to Starlight's observations:

The use of compressed fiberglass for damping.

[Soundman2020]

Right! You guys pretty much nailed it, with the same issues I noticed. The only thing I'd add to that, is the very high density of the insulation they used: I suspect that it has very little low-end absorption.

It's unfortunate that they didn't do a little more in-depth research, and identity these issues. They would have been able to meet their design goals, and probably exceed them, with some small changes to the materials and plans.

- Stuart -