Sound proofing

glug

Hiya

I'm looking for a BUDGET way of sound proofing my room. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've heard of egg boxes don't know i that works though, and if it does how well does it work.

JoeyBones

A friend told me that thick velvet curtains work well.

AlanRatcliffe

First let me check something: are you talking about soundproofing (stopping sound from getting in or out of the room) or acoustic treatment (making the room sound good)?

Egg boxes don't work for either, BTW. Worse, they create quite a fire hazard.

I have some articles, mostly on the budget side ('cos I'm cheap ?):
Acoustics Part 1 - Soundproofing
Acoustics Part 2 - Acoustic Treatment

Otherwise if you have specific questions, just ask.

Riaan

Hi Gerald
I'm no expert, but I've spent some time reading about this in planning my little hole at home. There are two seperate issues here: soundproofing and acoustic treatment, both different entities. Egg cartons are...for storing eggs in, nothing else.
As far as soundproofing is concerned: any little gap throught which air can flow, can also transmit sound so true soundproofing is almost impossible, and it seems that there is no real cheap way to accomplish reasonable soundproofing. It also depends on whether you want to keep sounds out or in, and different frequencies need different materials. Mass and air spaces inbetween surfaces are what you apparently need, so double doors and windows, thick curtains and ceiling isolation etc. appears to be the minimum. And once you've soundproofed your room, you'll find you can't breathe in there, so the next step is airconditioning ducts... it gets very involved and quite expensive. My impression is that it's one of those things that will only be worthwhile if done properly, otherwise it's money wasted if done improperly. What do you think Alan?

sepheritoh

Gerald

There is no real cheap way of doing it. Alan gave you some links there. Also try the John Sayers forum that specialize in studio design and accoustic treatments, including sound proofing.

http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

Also read up on some background at SAE

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/

When I decided to build a studio about 4 years back I got hold of an architect and we both spent a lot of time on the internet, including John Sayer's forum to design the studio. It is commonly accepted that the best method is the "romm inside a room" method. This entails building a room wooden room inside your existing room, using materials that would be absorbant of sound. There are many tricks you have to considder, e.g. the walls should not be exactly parralel etc. These things does not cost extra. It just cost your time to research. The knowledge is for free on the internet. You can build the room yourself and save a lot of money. Good materials would unfortunatly not come for free, but all in all it will probably cost less than all those egg boxes will cost and it will do a better job.

Riaan

...and not to mention what you would look like after eating all those eggs to get enough boxes... ;D

glug

Thanks guys. I guess its not an easy job to do. I don't want sound going out of my room. So if i turn up my amp the neighbors cant complain. I'll do some research on this. I've that the edenvale library has got lot's of books on guitars, ill check there.

Oh and Riaan lol...I wasn't planning on eating all thoses eggs. hehe

AlanRatcliffe

sepheritoh wrote: http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/

Two great links, BTW - I've spent a lot of time on both. Also if you are interested in this kind of thing, get yourself a copy of The Master Handbook of Acoustics by F. Alton Everest - more than you'll ever need to know.

the walls should not be exactly parralel etc. These things does not cost extra.

Ever try to get a builder to build a straight wall, let alone an angled one? ;D RFZ rooms are a great design, but difficult to build properly . They also have a very narrow "sweet spot", so they are rarely used for small one room studios. A rectangular room with the proper treatment works better for a single room studio - like a LEDE design.

IceCreamMan

Firstly , apologies for dregdging up an old topic. It was the best thread around soundproofing i found.

We looking at sound proofing a mates double garage for practice sessions and the like. Where would one get sound proof material from and at what cost per square metre? WE need some approximate costs at this point.

Thanks

AlanRatcliffe

For the most part "soundproofing material" is regular construction material - bricks, mortar, gypsum, wood, etc. as soundproofing is mostly about construction methods rather than materials.

Too many variables to give you any kind of meaningful figure. You want exact quotes, get an acoustical consultant and a building contractor in for a site visit. However, I can say cost many thousands because you need to at least brick up any windows and garage doors, build in a heavy duty airtight double door (big enough to get things like Kick drums in and out of), seal any air gaps between roof and walls and install a suspended ceiling with rockwool above it. On top of that, add in the cost of a decent air conditioning system (unless you want to suffocate the first time you use the room ?).

IceCreamMan

speding money never stops it seems :'(

Thanks

TomCat

Gerald Humphreys wrote: Thanks guys. I guess its not an easy job to do. I don't want sound going out of my room. So if i turn up my amp the neighbors cant complain. I'll do some research on this. I've that the edenvale library has got lot's of books on guitars, ill check there.

Oh and Riaan lol...I wasn't planning on eating all thoses eggs. hehe

YHPM

Gearhead

One solution not mentioned here (maybe because it does not solve band practice issues as well as playing alone issues) is to sound proof just your amp and mic it up inside the enclosure. The box is smaller than a studio needs to be so soundproofing amps will be cheaper. Your amp also does not need to breathe as long as you make sure it does not overheat. Basically the technique works like an attenuator, but without killing tone at very high attenuation levels.

Skywalker

Check out the auralex site and download Acoustics 101.

http://www.acoustics101.com/ 8)