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Straw Bale Construction

PostPosted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 3:55 pm
by OzDrum
So what can you tell us about Straw Bale Construction??

We are moving to a larger premises and are seriously looking into this option of construction - among other things the factory will also include 7-10 Rehearsal Studios as well as a Recording Studio / Control Room - mainly recording bands.

We have found a bit of info on the net but would love to check out any Australian studios who have used this construction method - are there any? We are located in Melbourne's South East.
It seems that straw bale construction is a definate alternative to double stud walls with rockwool insulation. - also being eco-friendly! :D

Any info or help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Geoff Mison
PONY MUSIC
www.ponymusic.com.au

strawbale

PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 12:53 pm
by url
i'd say go for it. i'd do the same myself if i had the space. you'll have good density for absorption and sound proofing plus ease of construction and flexibilty in shape. There are plenty of strawbale house plans so just follow them. i was interviewing the owner of this studio which is strawbale.

http://www.alteredstaterecords.com/strawbalestudio.html

but I haven't spoken to him for a few months. look around for recycled hardwood timbers for framing (nice!) and relax in the soulfull feel of knowing you have done well by the earth. good luck.

earth first!

PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 10:48 am
by Adam Dempsey

PostPosted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 8:23 pm
by Martinez
Good call Adam,

looks like a great place to record.

sorta like the studio that I would like to build.

PostPosted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:05 pm
by url
awesome. great use of bottles for windows - excellent. interesting they left it unrendered, more abosorption, less reflection. i wonder how dusty it gets?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:26 am
by miletus
no dust problems, other than regular atmospheric stuff. There was a bit of loose straw fallout at the start, but not now that it has settled in. Great acoustics.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:40 am
by url
off topic slightly but a school down the road has just built a strawbale classroom with students and teachers involved in its construction. saved them heaps of $$$, kids got hands on building skills, the building has soul and pride and ownership has been reunited with education. brings a little tear really. i'll be heading over there in two weekends to help with the render which has been opened to the community.

now audio guys, what are you doing with your e-waste?? since we are big users of electronic products we should form a lobby group to force govt to get electronic recycling in place - i personally cannot stomach it going to land fill - i [b]HATE[/b] that.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:58 pm
by Howard Jones
No audio person has ever been known to part with anything. Certainly not to throw it out (maaate, this is a classic bit of gear, gotta be worth a small fortune!)... but if they decide to do so in future and are based in Sydney, there is a newly opened e-waste recycling depot in St Leonards.

PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:12 pm
by seb
ive still got 10 year old hard drives, 32 meg rams that i cant throw out.
thats sad. as well as broken fx racks, xlr cables, that I will!!! fix one day.
yeh sure

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:01 am
by JulienG
Apart from computers wouldn't any gear with the be!@#$%^& badge on it be considered e-waste?

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 11:12 am
by url
motherboards and the like are salvagable for precious metals. steel and metal alloys can be recycled. we have a pc recycler here in heidelberg (vic) - called hmr - that will take that stuff. they took my old tv - thank + - they have a massive crt crusher, one of the few in australia i think. crt's of course being filled with toxic lead.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:08 pm
by Luke Garfield
Well a little more on topic (not that the previous post aren't interesting - i had never thought about e-waste like that before).

A guy I know was telling me his brother is building a mastering room from bales and he is going to have moving walls so you can change the dimensions of the room (after it is built). Has anyone heard of this before??

I don't know much more about the project except it has been a long term thing.

Luke.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:07 pm
by Adam Dempsey
Not heard of it for mastering rooms & I doubt any pro mastering engineer would condone an adjustable acoustic reference at the mastering stage. I don't (& that's why the nearfields here sit unused on the floor unless requested by a client and that's not happened in years..). You need to know the room & monitoring *that* well.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2005 4:45 pm
by rick
moving the walls After they are built from haybails ?
umm changing the walls to a better spot is a viable option with haybails if you stuff the room geometry but getting the shape right in the first place is a better idea.
the thing about haybails is before you render them you can actually knock them down or up in a day so its possible to see how a wall works and move it if it doesnt sound right
but the thing is after you render them its impossible
a better idea is shoot for a bigger room then make it smaller if you need to.

and i presume we are not talking about moving walls to suit different sessions ...?

how is the sound transmission on that unrendered bail studio in country NSW posted in this thread ?
does the sound leak out without rendering?
what about in the vox over booth ..?