For projects in Sao Paulo
Recording studio acoustics and soundproofing in Sao Paulo
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 / The material
What you are buying, and what it fixes in Sao Paulo
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 Sao Paulo is mostly corporate towers, apartments, restaurants, hotels, clinics, studios, schools.
- Towers block, interiors ring Concrete frames handle airborne transfer. The complaint is nearly always that the room itself is too live.
- Traffic and helicopters Street noise and rotor noise reach upper floors through glazing rather than structure, so the facade is where the money goes.
- Impact between apartments Hard floors over slabs pass footfall down. The underlay has to go in before the finish, not after the complaint.
- 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 Sao Paulo.
02 / The build-up
What goes where, from the structure in
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Layer 1
Acoustic foam and BassBloc
Open cell foam shapes for high frequency control, and BassBloc, a high density absorber built for the low mid range where ordinary foam does nothing. In Sao Paulo, split units and VRF, with condensers in light wells and on facades close to bedrooms.
Corner loading. Low frequency energy collects in corners, so absorber in the corners does more than the same area spread across a wall.
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Layer 2
Soundproofing materials
The blocking side of the range taken together: mass loaded vinyl, resilient layers, cavity absorption and the build-ups they belong in. In Sao Paulo, churches, event halls and auditoriums are large hard rooms carrying amplified music at high level.
Floating floor. Resilient layer and deck, to break impact energy before it reaches the structure.
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Layer 3
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 Sao Paulo, classrooms are concrete and tile with high ceilings and hard floors, and covered play areas amplify everything.
Mixed finish. Plain felt where it is out of eye line, printed or grooved where it is seen.
We would rather argue about the build-up at design stage than on site. See how we support architects.
03 / Local conditions
The Sao Paulo conditions that change the answer
- Towers block, interiors ring
Concrete frames handle airborne transfer. The complaint is nearly always that the room itself is too live.
- Traffic and helicopters
Street noise and rotor noise reach upper floors through glazing rather than structure, so the facade is where the money goes.
- Impact between apartments
Hard floors over slabs pass footfall down. The underlay has to go in before the finish, not after the complaint.
- Santos, then the climb inland
The port leg and the road leg are separate costs and separate time. We quote both rather than one.
- 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
Space by space, for Sao Paulo briefs
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Isolation
A measured background level, agreed before anything is bought. Concrete frames handle airborne transfer. The complaint is nearly always that the room itself is too live.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, 2100 kg per cubic metre
- Soundproofing materials, 1800 x 900 x 20 mm, 100 kg per cubic metre, NRC 0.85
- Soundproof curtains, 5.5 kg per sq m
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Low frequency
Corner and boundary absorption with real depth, not surface foam. Street noise and rotor noise reach upper floors through glazing rather than structure, so the facade is where the money goes.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 30, 5.25 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, Mass, then decoupling, then cavity absorption, then sealing
- Soundproof curtains, Up to 30 dB
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Early reflections
Controlled at the mix position, and only there. Hard floors over slabs pass footfall down. The underlay has to go in before the finish, not after the complaint.
- SoundBlanket mass loaded vinyl, STC 34, 8.4 kg per sq m
- Soundproofing materials, ASTM E90 for the barrier, ASTM C423 for the absorber
- Soundproof curtains, 30
If the visual is fixed and the room still has to perform, that is a solvable problem and a conversation worth having early. See how we work with interior designers.
04 / Conditions
The Sao Paulo climate decides the material list
Sao Paulo 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 Sao Paulo project, we supply to their specification and send the test reports rather than describing them. More on working with acoustic consultants.
06 / Read this first
What we watch go wrong on jobs like this
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Buying foam to solve an isolation problem
Small on the drawing, expensive on site, and almost always found after handover.
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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 Sao Paulo job
Concrete frames handle airborne transfer. The complaint is nearly always that the room itself is too live.
05 / Logistics
Getting it to Sao Paulo, with real dates
| Ships from | Palwal, Haryana, India |
|---|---|
| Arrives at | Santos, then road up to Sao Paulo |
| 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, then road up to Sao Paulo. Air freight for samples and urgent quantities.
Questions from Sao Paulo projects
What makes recording studio acoustics and soundproofing different in Sao Paulo?
A deep music and production culture works out of rooms inside apartment blocks and commercial floors. Concrete frames handle airborne transfer. The complaint is nearly always that the room itself is too live.
Where should the budget go first on a Sao Paulo 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 Sao Paulo?
No. We manufacture in India and supply into Sao Paulo. 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 Sao Paulo site?
ships from: Palwal, Haryana, India, arrives at: Santos, then road up to Sao Paulo, 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
Send a plan and a section, get a real build-up
A plan and a section is enough. We will come back with a build-up, a BOQ and a delivered date, and we will say so if what you are asking for will not work.