Portable Sound Booth – 16 Sound Booths for Music Production at LAAMP
Challenge: LAAMP, a music academy, wanted to avoid the limitations of traditional studios. Including difficulty relocating or expanding studios and the high cost and disruption of modifying existing buildings. LAAMP needed a flexible solution to adapt to future growth and changes, combined with professional acoustic performance.
Solution: MECART’s modular and portable sound booths addressed LAAMP’s challenges. This solution offers effortless relocation, scalability, and eliminates the need for costly retrofits. LAAMP could now configure their space efficiently and have a professional recording environment up and running quickly, without compromising on acoustics.
LOCATION
Santa Monica, California
INDUSTRY
Music Production / Music Recording
APPLICATION
Studio Pods for Music Recording Program
SIZE
Type 1: 8′ X 13′ & Type 2: 8′ X 10′
SOUND ISOLATION
STC 50
The Lillehammer Institute of Music Production and Industries (LIMPI) aimed to revolutionize music production education. Their success inspired Grammy-winning producers Stargate, known for hits with Rihanna, Beyoncé, and Neyo, to create the Los Angeles Academy for Artists and Music Production (LAAMP) in Santa Monica, a music production hub.
While LIMPI’s vision was strong, their studios faced the limitations of traditional, “stick-built” construction. Stick-built studios are inflexible.
1 – Relocating means losing the entire investment, as new studios and sound booths would need to be built from scratch. In a leased space, it’s also important to consider the long-term implications when making tenant improvements. While they can customize the space for your business, the financial investment stays with the building owner when the lease ends.
2 – Modifying the layout requires tearing down walls, a disruptive and expensive process, not to mention the complicated construction permitting processes.
3 – Adding to the complexity, LIMPI had to extensively retrofit its existing warehouse before construction could even begin.
To overcome these limitations, Stargate opted for a modular and portable sound booth solution for LAAMP. Discover what Danny Sanchez, Director of Operations & Online had to say about the modular advantages for studio construction.
The modular approach to studios offered several advantages
- Effortless Relocation: Studios could be moved without sacrificing the initial investment
- Scalability Made Simple: Expanding the studio and sound booth setup would be a breeze
- Goodbye Retrofitting: Rented or purchased buildings wouldn’t require costly modifications
- Space Optimization: Studios could be configured to maximize space utilization
- Fast Track to Operation: Modular construction’s speed would significantly reduce setup time
- Uncompromising Acoustics: Professional-grade modular studios and sound booths deliver premium acoustic performance
By choosing MECART modular studio solutions, Stargate ensured LAAMP would have the flexibility, adaptability, and soundproofing needed for long-term success. Join elite company and discover why LAAMP, Technicolor, and SiriusXM rely on MECART for their recording studio construction projects.
Cut the Noise with MECART Sound Recording Studios
Portable Sound Booth: Conquer Relocation, Reconfiguration, and Expansion Challenges with Modular Flexibility
LAAMP craved a recording space that wouldn’t limit their future. Growth, relocation, studio vocation repurposes, or even layout changes – they wanted flexibility for it all.
Modular and portable sound booths deliver exactly that. Unlike traditional, fixed studios, these booths adapt to your evolving needs.
Planned expansions, unforeseen growth, or even a complete change of scenery – modular booths handle it effortlessly. This translates to significant cost savings compared to permanent construction.
No Building Retrofitting Required with Modular Sound Booths
‘’When we built this place, we thought, how can we maybe not necessarily have to do all of that retrofitting for the building? This seemed like an exceptional solution to take into an existing space – we can basically insert the modular solutions and have however many studios we want to build. ‘’
Danny Sanchez, Director of Operations and Online
LAAMP’s new music education program required 16 sound booths. Traditional stick-built booths would have necessitated extensive and costly alterations to their existing warehouse.
These renovations would be a gamble, especially considering LAAMP’s uncertain future occupancy if their needs grow. In the event of a relocation, the retrofitting costs would be a sunk investment.
Modular sound booths offer a smarter solution. Unlike traditional studios, MECART’s modular sound booths are self-supporting structures. They can be easily assembled within your existing space without any permanent modifications.
This “box-in-a-box” design eliminates the need for costly and time-consuming retrofits, saving you money upfront and ensuring your investment follows you in the future.
Modular & Portable Sound Booth: Tackling Construction Permit Obstacles
Modular portable sound booths let you ditch the headaches of traditional construction permits, fast-tracking your project timeline. Not only do they control noise, but these portable booths also save you time and money with their simplified setup.
Many states classify modular sound booths as equipment, not permanent structures. This distinction offers a significant advantage: it bypasses lengthy and complex permitting processes that can stall projects.
Traditional construction also involves multiple inspections throughout the build to ensure compliance with building codes. While crucial, these inspections can add time and cost. Modular portable sound booths, categorized as equipment, often require fewer inspections, streamlining the process.
MECART’s modular portable sound booths proved this in action for LAAMP. California categorized their booths as equipment, allowing LAAMP to avoid the state’s notoriously lengthy permitting process and inspections, keeping their project on schedule.
Studios On the Move with Portable Sound Booths: Disassemble, Move, Reassemble
Danny Sanchez, Director of Operations and Online, highlights the advantages of portable sound booths for music recording: “there’s a lot of beneficial reasons to go with a model like this that is so flexible, so modular”.
In summary, LAAMP values the portability and modularity of MECART sound booths, which are designed with prefabricated panels that enable easy disassembly, movement, and reassembly, making them an ideal solution for their recording needs.
- Easy Expansion: If there comes a time where LAAMP is ready to expand its educational program capacity to receive more students, they can easily add more booths to their warehouse studio space. The modular system uses prefabricated panels that allow for quick and clean installation with minimal disruption. Existing booths can even be expanded for more space by adding additional panels.
- Smooth Reconfiguration: For any reason, if LAAMP would want to change their floor layout, and move the studios to create a new revamped setup, the portable sound booths could be relocated somewhere else in the warehouse with the help of an install team.
- Cost-Saving Relocation: If LAAMP ever moves to a new city or building, they don’t have to leave their studios (or their investment) behind. The portable sound booths can be disassembled and brought to the new location.
These advantages stem from MECART’s modular system. Our soundproofed prefabricated steel panels are designed for easy disassembly and reassembly with a special Cam Lock system. Think of it like building blocks for soundproof studios. LAAMP, unlike LIMPI, won’t be limited by fixed studios. MECART’s portable sound booths not only deliver exceptional acoustic performance for music production but also grant the freedom LAAMP craved.
If there comes a time where LAAMP is ready to expand and we want to move from Santa Monica to Hollywood, or we want to build something in another location, a bigger warehouse, we can always disassemble all of our studios and take them with us
Portable Sound Booths: Mobile Studios Without Sacrificing Soundproofing
LAAMP is a recording academy, they strive to be the premier institution for aspiring music producers. To achieve this, their facilities need to reflect that commitment with professional-grade acoustics and soundproofing.
Portable sound booths don’t mean compromising on quality or sound isolation. MECART Studios proves that a modular panel system can deliver exceptional results:
- High-Level Soundproofing: Our studios and sound booths meet the demanding acoustic requirements of professional studios
- Fully Sealed, No Leaks: 100% sealed booths and a well-thought acoustic design prevent sound bleeding from impacting other recording sessions
Soundproof Booths That Delivers Professional-Grade Acoustics
With thousands of acoustic projects successfully delivered and a fully dedicated team of seasoned acoustic experts, MECART has developed expertise in acoustics which reflects on the products we developed over the years.
The soundproofing capabilities and the engineering behind MECART’s studio solutions and sound booths impressed Danny Sanchez, Director of Operations and Online at LAAMP, and their entire team.
‘’The pods themselves are already built in such a way that cuts out so much of the sound’’, said Sanchez. ‘’I mean, the sound isolation that we get is so impressive. The records that we’re able to make here are radio ready.’’
LAAMP’s sound booths are all built with prefabricated panels that provide an STC 50 rating, ensuring complete soundproofing and preventing noise from bleeding between studios. This is precisely what LAAMP desired, according to Sanchez.
‘’You’re walking by the pods and you see people singing at full volume, but you don’t hear them. You can just see them through the window like a perfect isolation experience. It’s really impressive, and it’s exactly what we need for a facility like this.’’
Explore Our Modular Studio Solutions
Solving Sound Bleed Concerns with Great Acoustic Design & Premium Quality Materials
The main risk of having multiple sound booths next to each other is sound bleed, sound from one booth could leak into another, especially if the walls and door aren’t properly soundproofed.
This can be particularly problematic for a music production school, which requires top-notch acoustic performances for their students and recording/production sessions.
There are ways of mitigating sound bleeding risks, reducing them to offer a premium acoustic environment. Here is what MECART provided to solve LAAMP’s acoustic concerns.
- Construction Materials: Using high-quality soundproofing materials for the walls, ceiling, and door of each booth such as MECART studio wall panels that offer soundproofing up to STC 62, and up to STC 72 with a double-wall configuration.
- Air Gaps: Leaving a small air gap between the walls of the booths and the surrounding booth. This can help to further isolate sound. In its studio design for LAAMP, MECART left 3 inches of space between the sound booths to create air gaps that prevent sound bleeding.
- Consistent Quality: The slightest breach in a sound booth can compromise its acoustic performance. MECART solutions are meticulously designed and constructed to be completely sealed, creating a 100% isolated studio environment that eliminates any noise leakage
- Ventilation (HVAC): A proper ventilation system with silencers is crucial to ensure fresh air without compromising soundproofing
Just like LAAMP, leverage MECART’s expertise to design your dream studio and achieve optimal sound quality. Our team of acousticians can help you solve any acoustic problems you encounter. If you feel confused about soundproofing, understanding STC ratings will shed light on how well materials block sound.
About LAAMP
LAAMP, based in Venice Beach, Los Angeles, is a music education program for budding artists, songwriters, and producers who wish to find their artistic voice and create music without judgment – founded by Grammy-winning producers StarGate.
LAAMP aims to change how pop music creation is taught – not through classrooms, curriculum, and theory, but through studio sessions and guidance from some of the most influential people in music. Their program includes on-site mentors from the industry who work one-on-one with the exceptionally talented students who are accepted into the academy. Music is produced on an ongoing basis in their 16 sound booths, creating a vibrant work environment buzzing with creativity.