How to Create a Sound Isolation Booth

With some basic carpentry skills, you can build your own isolation booth.

A sound isolation booth provides a quiet environment for recording audio tracks. There are two primary considerations when building a sound isolation booth: Blocking noise and preventing "dead" or "flat" space. A booth that is "dead" or "flat" sounding is not of much use when recording vocals or instruments, even if all outside noise is eliminated.

Things You'll Need

• 2X4 lumber
• Screws
• Drill
• Plywood, MDF, chipboard or drywall
• Door
• High-density foam
• Window
• Silicone or acoustic sealant
• Acoustic insulation
• Acoustic foam

Instructions

1. Map out an area where you want to build your booth. Determine how much available space you have. Draw or sketch a blueprint for your booth. Avoid building a perfectly square booth, if possible. It is difficult to obtain optimal sound quality in a perfectly square room.

2. Build a floor out of 2X4 lumber to fit your determined surface area. Use your screwdriver and screws to hold the frame together. Place the floor joists on 12-inch centers. Screw down a floor made of either 3/4-inch plywood or medium-density fiberboard, MDF.

3. Build walls for your booth. Build a top and bottom plate with 2X4 lumber cut to the length required for the wall, based on your blueprints. Place 2X 4 studs on 12- or 16-inch centers. Use 2X4 lumber to frame an area for your door in the front wall. Decide if you want a window in the booth. If so, frame in an area for the window in one of the walls. Cover the outside of the walls with MDF, 1/2-inch plywood or drywall.

4. Attach the walls to the floor using decking screws. For best results, fill the airspace between the floor and the wall base plates. Lay a thin strip of high-density foam between the floor and the wall plate, and then screw down the wall. This sandwiches the foam between the two parts of the structure. Silicone the joints between the walls and the floor to maximize sound isolation.

5. Build a ceiling frame and cover it with 1/4-inch plywood. Attach it to the walls using the same methods you used for attaching the walls to the floor.

6. Cut holes in the wall for your ventilation system and cable pass-through.

7. Fill the inside walls with sound-deadening insulation. Ask a building supply store employee to suggest the best product currently on the market.

8. Cover the inside walls with your choice of plywood, drywall or MDF. Cut holes for your vents and pass-through.

9. Install your door and window. If you buy a commercial door or window, they will come with instructions which you can follow for installation. Install a rubber kick plate to a heavy-type door to minimize any sound that can penetrate the door. Do not use a hollow-core household interior door.

10. Install a ventilation system and wire pass-through. Sound booth ventilation systems can be purchased from studio suppliers and installed into one your booth walls. The ventilation system comes with installation instructions. Run the vent hoses through the holes you drilled in Step 8. The pass-through is a small metal box that you need to anchor in place. Seal the edges with acoustic sealant or silicone. Plug in your microphone cables from the outside, and connect another cable from inside the booth with no sound leakage.

11. Insulate your booth with acoustic foam. Insulate the interior of the door as well. Use an industrial-strength hook and loop fastener to hold it in place in case you later decide to upgrade your foam. If you glue it in place, this becomes less of an option.

12. Finish the outside of your booth to taste. Cover it with a thin layer of carpet to provide further sound insulation.

Tips & Warnings

• Install a silent and cool lighting source in your booth. It can be very dark inside a booth, but because of space constraints, avoid a light source that gives off significant heat.

• Seal every space, crack or joint during your construction with silicone sealant. For an upgrade, opt for specially designed acoustic sealant.

• Instead of MDF or plywood, drywall also is an option for wall construction, especially on exteriors. If using lightweight chipboard for your walls, use two layers for additional sound isolation. Double-layer, staggered drywall is recommended if using drywall on the interior walls.

• Provide adequate ventilation in your booth. While it is all but impossible to build a completely air-tight booth, you want your booth as air tight as possible. A silent ventilation system is one of the most important parts of a sound isolation booth.

References

• Sound on Sound: How Should I build a Vocal Booth
• Humbucker Music: Building a Home Studio
• "UHF Magazine": How to Soundproof a Room
• Super Soundproofing Co.: Soundproofing Tips for Music Practice

Resources

• Repair Home: Soundproofing a Room
• Tweakheads Lab: How to Build a Quiet Studio Environment