Sound techniques

Hunzinger plays it by ear for Tanner-Monagle

By Jennifer Pfaff

Sound is a tricky thing; it always finds a way to travel.

The design and construction team behind the new Tanner-Monagle studios in the historic 1846 Blatz Brewery Brew House in Milwaukee was determined to control the movement of sound. It did just that through careful engineering and construction.

The facility now provides state-of-the-art music, composition, arranging, lyric writing, sound design, audio recording/editing, video shooting/editing, and post-production services for performance and advertising industries. Owners John Tanner and Bob Monagle wanted to provide high acoustic and visual standards inside a comfortable, but industrial-styled, setting.

"The construction details from an acoustic standpoint were extremely complex," said Kevin O'Toole, executive vice president of general contractor Hunzinger Construction. "To be able to achieve no sound or vibration transfer between the rooms, you have floors that float; everything is floating. The walls float on the studs. Everything is coated in neoprene."

	Project Name: Tanner-Monagle Inc.: Music, Pictures, Post Location: Milwaukee Submitting Company: Hunzinger Construction Company, Brookfield General Contractor: Hunzinger Construction Company Construction Manager: Siegel-Gallagher Construction, West Allis Project Leaders: Jack Hollman, Hunzinger's superintendent; Shem Lemke, Hunzinger's project manager; Kevin O'Toole, Hunzinger's project executive Architect: Woods-Associates Inc., Milwaukee Engineer: Thunder Tone Audio, Mount Prospect, Ill. Owner: Tanner-Monagle Inc. (John Tanner, Bob Monagle, John Shiek), Milwaukee Cost: Confidential Project Size: 3,100 square feet Start Date: July 2006 Completion Date: November 2006

The team couldn't put screws in studs because they'd be avenues for sound to travel from room to room, so Hunzinger fastened the walls with sound-absorbing, neoprene-coated clips and topped it off with two layers of drywall on each side. Ceilings were similarly constructed and covered in acoustical ceiling tile.

"You never give the sound an opportunity to get through the wall," O'Toole said.

Even the electrical system was treated to eliminate sound transfer. Cable was run through the stud walls and ceilings, and each cable was fastened to the studs with neoprene-lined clips. At horizontal electrical runs in the stud walls, each stud hole was filled with expandable foam to eliminate rattling.

The attention to every surface paid off.

"When they close the doors, you can see activity going on through the glass, but you can't hear it," O'Toole said.

But stopping outside noise from infiltrating the recording spaces wasn't the only objective. The voice or instrument being recorded needs to play off the walls and surfaces to maximum advantage.

"The acoustic designer designed each room to certain dimensions that we were required to meet exactly," O'Toole said. "When you are working in an existing space, you are constrained by existing dimensions. It was a challenge."