Sound Proofing Follow-up...

[Paan]

A while back I remember somebody asking about sound proofing their recroom for music playing... and there were several suggestions made. I have done some looking into it, and realize that unless you want to spend a pile of money and basically renovate your recroom, it is pretty tough to accomplish.

However, (I can't remember who it was), did you try anything and did it work?

One thing I am thinking of is placing hooks all around the room, then buying quilited fabrics made for sound proofing all around the room. I would probably have to treat the cielling somehow as well, just not sure on that one yet. I wouldn't have a problem installing something on the ceilling, I just don't want ot have to renovate the rest of the room. I am hoping that a couple of layers of these sound proofing curtains will work.

I obviously don't expect to fully sound proof, but I am hoping to dampen the sound enough to not be getting visits by the police.

[geomouse]

Hey Paan,

I remember talking about this with tungsten a while back. What I did in my addition basement (I think you've been over once or twice) was to try and dampen the sound as you say. Total sound proofing is near impossible especially for a bass player huh? I know what you mean about the cost factor. Any sort of special rubber matting is pricey so I used rolled roofing. I don't recommend it now though. Its very messy to work with and you need to completely cover it afterwords with some other type of barrier like those 2' by 4' drop ceiling panels. These panels act to catch the mid to highs.

The idea behind the roofing is that you need something with a very high density (weight), yet porosity (like those pricey mats) to absorb the low end frequencies. This kind of barrier traps them from getting out of the room. Another factor is always how much sound gets into the room from outside, when you go to record and the neighbors dog starts barking incessantly every time you hit the rec button.

There are some resources availble through a quick search under 'soundproofing' that detail haow to build secondary interior walls with this stuff built in to it. This idea is that you leave a dead air space between the walls wich will capture the waves and disprse with in the gap.

good luck and let me know how it goes dude!

[livingstoned]

I think aromatherapy and her old roomies soundproofed a basement jamroom

boiler rat or aroma can you confirm I could be completely off but I thought that room at the Concord house had something done.

Cost wise I have no idea but again could be completely off but I would think it wasn`t too pricy yet it was effective.

Oh why do I have such a bad memory?

[Tungsten Gruvsten]

whew...biggee that's for sure. Depends on the extent you want it soundproofed and the amount of dollars you want to put on the line.

Now that the age of home theatres and large stereo systems being commonplace is here, construction materials manufacturers are taking notice and offering new products and construction techniques to achieve much higher STC ratings( http://www.sota.ca/stc_info.htm )

Basically any material like blankets/panels/foam etc.. that you put -in- a room do nothing for soundproofing - all they do is absorb a certain spectrum to alter the sound within the room and help control room nodes, slap-back echoes and reverberations. More like sound-conditioning. Bass frequencies tend to couple through building materials and transmit easily through homes because it's not a consideration when houses are built.

Here is one of the best resources i've seen, not just because it's a novel product but it explains the reasoning behind the soundproofing and has extensive documentation and construction techniques to suit almost any situation....good luck!

http://www.greengluecompany.com/

[Paan]

Thanks for the info guys... very much appreciated. I will look through this in much more detail... and let you know how it turns out.

[boiler]

I don't think they sound proofed that room livingstoned. I might be wrong.

My brother soundproofed a room when he renovated his basement for his hi-fi listening room. HE sells hi-fi equiment so he tailored the room for this purpose shamless plug Arcadia Audio

We used special soundproof insulation in the walls before hanging the drywall. I don't remember exactly about the ceiling. I think we just insulated it also before hanging the drywall. I'm going to email him right now and find out.

[boiler]

This is the insulation: Roxul Safe and Sound.

[Tungsten Gruvsten]

yeah my house has that in every interior wall but again the word 'soundproof' doesn't belong anywhere near it. It dampens high frequencies but more importantly helps stop the sympathetic vibrations in the drywall...check out the green glue link and read through some of the articles, especially this one:

http://www.greengluecompany.com/soundAbsorption.php

I can assure you that roxul has little or no effect on stopping any low frequency sounds...

Edited April 19, 2007 by Guest

[Paan]

I talked with somebody from Acoustiguard today, and yeah, it sounds futile to attempt anything than isn't going to cost some money. He said to look into my ceilling because if it's hollow and not insulated, it doesn't matter what he puts on top of it. I would first have to get that insulated. So basically, I think I have to wait a bit and see if this is going to be a permanent thing, and determine if I want to invest in doing this.

I am going to check out their facility tomorrow to see what materials they have, how much they cost, and determine if I can do it myself (with help of course because I am a do-it-yourself spaz).

He said he just finished a recroom for the drummer from the Spoons, with separate rooms for guitar, bass and drums. It costed about $10,000.

Hmmm... maybe I'll just poison all of my neighbours with a toxin that attacks the hearing... sounds like that would be alot less trouble.

[\/\/illy]

...because I am a do-it-yourself spaz).

Now that's the funniest thing I've ever read on Jambands. If I recall, you don't know side-cutters from pliers.

[Paan]

Sadly, I can't argue with that.