"My mission was to build the first unique, electronic music, semi anechoic recording space here in Wales."
Anechoic chambers offer a unique and beneficial environment for audio recording, particularly for isolating direct sound and minimizing reflections. This isolation allows for more accurate measurements of speaker and microphone responses and facilitates the creation of virtual acoustic spaces for auralizations.
Mixing in a "dead" or highly absorptive room offers several advantages, particularly for achieving precise and accurate mixes. The primary goal is to minimize the influence of the room's acoustics on the sound, allowing the engineer to make critical decisions based on the direct sound from the speakers rather than the room's reflections.
Getting the floors ready for measuring and markup for the carpet tiles to be laid on the concrete flooring. 
Small sample of the materials which were ordered (in pics). Had to buy in stages due to budget and storage restrictions. Items used included masses of Instasoft acoustic panel insulation, tonnes of Kanuaf acoustic roll (for lagging the ceiling, walls and void above the suspended ceiling.)
Knauf acoustic soundproof plasterboard (3-4 layers per wall) loads of timber, bunch of acoustic sealant cartridges for the walls and corners, mass loaded barrier materials across internal and external surfaces, aluminium foam foil covering (to block any external EMF signals which may affect the equipment.) Boxes and boxes of sound dampening acoustic foam for internal application and lots of boxes with screws, connectors, raw plugs, adhesive, glue etc. Plus, not forgetting loads of water bottles as it was roasting on some of the hotter days we have had recently. 
Well as with all construction projects nothing ever goes 100% to plan. Always twists, turns and sidewinders along the way (budget creep, extra time required for difficult pieces of work, order of new materials, extra tools required, delays in shipping of items etc. It all adds up.) 
Prepping the first round of acoustic roll insulation.
First ceiling layers. Added more roll insulation and acoustic panels between the timber frames fixed within layers of plasterboard. 
More acoustic panel installation and timber frames attachment. 
3 days builder hire was required (as the budget was limited) to help me with the big pieces (thank you for all your help you know who you are.) And support from the family. Much Love.
This was a massive help and unblocked some stoppages and downtime during that period.
First layer of sound plasterboard up. Things are starting to get real now.
First layer of sound plasterboard up. Things are starting to get real now.
Added first layer of mass loaded barrier internally.
Added acoustic sealant to cover up all the corners and joins of the plasterboard floors, walls and ceilings.
Inspecting the thickness of the new insulated walls. I attempted to get as much mass as possible for the actual soundproofing to try and diminish the audio wave energy whilst passing from internal to external and vice versa.
Added another layer of floating external plasterboard on the external wall structure during this period. This last layer of plasterboard was attached to a separate timber frame which allowed some movement almost floating. In theory this should absorb the physical vibrations of the soundwave and also lose some more energy with a small air gap between the two layers.
External and internal mass loaded barrier installed (first fix) 1 layer of aluminium cover also now fitted for EMI protection (2nd fix I will be installing some extra mass loaded barrier on the top of this for the external walls.)
Adding internal acoustic sound dampening panels (for deadening the studio internally whilst reducing the reverberation and echo.) 
Preparation for the 8" ventilation system is now being installed. My aim was to provide a constant flow of air coming from the passive intake pipe (which was created on the door section.) The active egress 8" pipe pictured here sucks air out and into the ceiling void. This provides a steady flow of fresh air via an active, silent fan acoustic baffle fan box which has been positioned high level above the studio.
I over speced the ventilation solution as analogue equipment naturally generates more heat and also wanted to mitigate any risk from overheating, carbon dioxide whilst sitting in the room for long periods (as this can cause stagnant air which can result in mold growth, increased humidity, and the buildup of harmful contaminants, impacting both the environment and the occupants.)
It was a difficult trade off penetrating some vent holes in my newly created sealed room as I wanted it to be as lock tight as possible. However, logic prevailed, and I had to create an airflow.
My solution was to position the ingress passive pipe sound baffled vent positioned up from the floor (pointing down) and the egress pipe sound baffled running into the void. There had to be some allowances, and I made it as quiet as possible whilst still providing a really solid throughput of cool, clean air.
I was happy with the end result as you can hardly hear it. The 8" pipe is also going to be lagged to create some further sound proofing properties.
Well as the dark, lonely months passed progress was being made. Things started slotting into place. Still a lot of work to do and finally and after 5 months I broke the back of it.
Testing out the furniture and stage 1 lighting. Also built a small 2-seater chair out of wood which fits nicely in the rear corner of the studio space for clients. Adding some cushions and office chair will be the cherry on top.
Phase 2 Equipment Installtion - Project Area51 Massive Recording Studios
Finally we have reached the milestone of installing the physical studio equipment. I was confident with that part and itching to spend some quality time redesigning the studio layout (this was a good opportunity to make some improvements and reconfigure everything so the signal flow would be greatly improved.) Racking, stacking, installing cabling, testing was fun and the final soundcheck time had arrived.
Million Dollar Question
Does it work, does it not.... Will the studio equipment come back online after the journey... Does the soundproof room deliver results and actually work???
"Well... I can honestly say it was a resounding success. Better than I expected. Equipment, soundproofing and final layout worked a treat. After that initial breakthrough everything started slotting into place. It was meant to be."
"Still some work to do as always, however this will now be my new home for all things analogue-digital hybrid audio processing."
Phase 3 Handover
Milestones achieved, phases completed and handover ready. Last final touches to the outer room and we are now officially open for business.
"In my honest opinion. blood, sweat and sheer determination are the essential ingredients in creating any custom-built studio. I'm no construction design expert by any stretch. You just need to be openminded, dedicated and follow your musical dreams. Don't ever give up...."
I am now super proud to present to you Area51 Massive Recording Studio.