For projects in Brazil
Recording studio acoustics and soundproofing in Brazil
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later. A deep music and production culture works out of rooms inside apartment blocks and commercial floors.
- Isolation
- A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
- Low frequency
- Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
- Early reflections
- Controlled at the mix position, and only there.
- Quote
- From a plan and a section, within 48 hours
01 / Start here
What you are buying, and what it fixes in Brazil
Two jobs that must not be confused: keeping the building out, and making the room honest inside. The first is mass and decoupling and has to be built first. The second is absorption and diffusion and can be tuned later.
A deep music and production culture works out of rooms inside apartment blocks and commercial floors.
Work reaching us from Brazil is mostly offices and corporate towers, apartments, hotels, schools, hospitals, studios.
- Concrete and block, hard inside The structure blocks well. The rooms are tile, glass and plaster with nothing to absorb anything, so speech carries and lecture rooms fail.
- Impact through slabs Hard flooring over concrete passes footfall straight down between apartments. A resilient underlay before the finish is the fix.
- A long sea leg and a real import process Transit is long and customs takes time. We quote the full window and give you the documentation package up front rather than after the container sails.
- Isolation A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought.
Full specification
Thickness, density, NRC by frequency, fire class, standard sizes and build-up detail for studio soundproofing are on the main product page. This page covers what that means for a project in Brazil.
02 / The build-up
The build-up, layer by layer
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Layer 1
SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl
A limp, high density sheet that adds mass to a partition, floor or duct without adding depth. In Brazil, split units and VRF, with condensers in light wells and on facades close to bedrooms.
Floor, floating. Membrane under a resilient layer and a floating deck, so impact energy is broken before it reaches the slab.
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Layer 2
Acoustic panels
The full absorber range rather than one product: plain PET felt, printed felt, grooved panels and fabric finishes, chosen by how the room is used and how it has to look. In Brazil, churches, event halls and auditoriums are large hard rooms carrying amplified music at high level.
Ceiling first. In most rooms the ceiling is the largest untreated surface and the cheapest square metre of result.
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Layer 3
Soundproof curtains
A layered curtain with a mass loaded vinyl core, used where an opening has to stay an opening. In Brazil, classrooms are concrete and tile with high ceilings and hard floors, and covered play areas amplify everything.
Double layer at a doorway. Two curtains with an air gap where a single layer will not reach the target.
If you are specifying for a Brazil project, we can give you a section, a BOQ and the honest limits of each layer. See how we support architects.
03 / In this market
The Brazil conditions that change the answer
- Concrete and block, hard inside
The structure blocks well. The rooms are tile, glass and plaster with nothing to absorb anything, so speech carries and lecture rooms fail.
- Impact through slabs
Hard flooring over concrete passes footfall straight down between apartments. A resilient underlay before the finish is the fix.
- A long sea leg and a real import process
Transit is long and customs takes time. We quote the full window and give you the documentation package up front rather than after the container sails.
- Humid in most of the country
PET felt does not absorb moisture, shed fibre or feed mould, which matters where mineral products sag within a few seasons.
- The housing stock
Concrete frame with block infill and hard floors. Apartment towers share slabs and walls, and impact noise between floors is the common complaint.
- The studio and content scene
A deep music and production culture works out of rooms inside apartment blocks and commercial floors.
04 / Room by room
What each space in a Brazil project needs
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Isolation
A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. The structure blocks well. The rooms are tile, glass and plaster with nothing to absorb anything, so speech carries and lecture rooms fail.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 1800 x 900 mm
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
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Low frequency
Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam. Hard flooring over concrete passes footfall straight down between apartments. A resilient underlay before the finish is the fix.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 20 mm
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, ASTM E90 for the barrier, ASTM C423 for the absorber
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Early reflections
Controlled at the mix position, and only there. Transit is long and customs takes time. We quote the full window and give you the documentation package up front rather than after the container sails.
- Acoustic foam and BassBloc, 100 kg per cubic metre
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 12.6 kg per sq m, STC on request
- Soundproofing materials, 2100 kg per cubic metre. 2.5 mm STC 30 at 5.25 kg per sq m, 4 mm STC 34 at 8.4, 6 mm at 12.6
Interior designers tend to arrive with the look already decided. We will tell you which finish gets there without losing the acoustics. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Climate
What the Brazil climate rules in and rules out
Brazil is warm and humid through most of the year, with a long wet season, and that narrows the material list before acoustics is discussed.
Humidity is the deciding factor. PET felt does not absorb moisture, shed fibre or feed mould, which is why it outlasts fabric-wrapped mineral wool in this climate. Wood wool and timber need a ventilated cavity behind them.
The failure we design against here is mould, sagging fabric finishes and swelling in timber.
Where a consultant is already engaged on a Brazil project, we supply to their specification and send the test reports rather than describing them. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Before you buy
The six errors that cost the most
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Buying foam to solve an isolation problem
This is the one that comes back as a second fit-out rather than a snag.
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Treating the room before the shell is isolated
It sounds like a small detail until the room is finished and the complaint arrives.
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Killing the room completely and calling it controlled
A room can be over-treated. Past the target it stops sounding controlled and starts sounding dead, and you paid for that.
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Treating it as a generic Brazil job
The structure blocks well. The rooms are tile, glass and plaster with nothing to absorb anything, so speech carries and lecture rooms fail.
05 / Supply
How material reaches a Brazil site
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Santos or Paranaguá, then road to site |
| Dispatch | 4 to 7 working days |
| Freight | Sea via Santos |
| Support | Drawings, build-ups, BOQ and material that arrives complete |
Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
Sea freight into Santos or Paranaguá, then road to site. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Brazil projects
What makes recording studio acoustics and soundproofing different in Brazil?
A deep music and production culture works out of rooms inside apartment blocks and commercial floors. The structure blocks well. The rooms are tile, glass and plaster with nothing to absorb anything, so speech carries and lecture rooms fail.
Where should the budget go first on a Brazil project?
Isolation. A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Low frequency. Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam.
Do you have an office or installation team in Brazil?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Brazil. We give you drawings, build-ups, a BOQ and material that arrives complete, and we will tell you plainly when a job needs a local contractor we cannot be.
How does material get to a Brazil site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Santos or Paranaguá, then road to site, dispatch: 4 to 7 working days. Standard items dispatch in 4 to 7 working days. The sea leg from India is long, so plan the full door to door window into the programme. We give real dates, not optimistic ones.
What goes wrong most often on this kind of project?
Buying foam to solve an isolation problem. Treating the room before the shell is isolated.
What do you need from us to quote?
A plan, a section through the critical partition or ceiling, and what the room is for. From that we can give a build-up and a BOQ rather than a price per square foot.
Next step
Tell us the room, we will tell you the build-up
Send what you have. We will give you a layer by layer build-up, a bill of quantities and a date material lands, and we will flag anything in the brief that will not achieve what you want.