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Thread: Practice room sound treatment help

  1. #1

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    Red face Practice room sound treatment help

    I just moved to anew house, and i am going to use a large shed in my back yard for a practice room for my band. Right now, there is no soundproofing and its considerably loud from the outside. I need to know what i can use to reduce the decibels from the practice room cheaply. Im also curious is carpet on the walls or bed foam can do the job well. Nothing i find on youtube helps at all. I dont have much money to spend on this

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    I remember playing in a garage studio with carpet on the walls and floor and about 10 feet away on the outside I could barely hear music. From the street, about 30 feet away I couldn't hear any music.

  3. #3

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    There are many ways to reduce sound transmission. Some are very simple and economical and others not.

    First I would say get some insulation in the walls. For a 2x6 frame an R-21 is fine and for 2x4 framing R-19 is about all that will fit nicely. You don't want to stuff theh insulation in the walls it needs to be "fluffy" to work effectively for climate control and acoustical purposes.

    Quiet Rock is a brand of drywall used for applications where sound control is necessary. It is a little more expensive than regular drywall.

    MLV- mass loaded viny (1# or 2#) over the insulation attached to only the top of the studs (close to the top plate) and let it hang. Optimum results can be achieved it you use mlv on both sides of the wall but the inside is a great start. Then you can finish the walls with whatever you desire; dry wall, quiet rock wood planks, paneling, whatever you feel like.

    Or for a very economical way there are a few other "tricks". For instance go to your local discount store and puck up some king size memory foam mattress pad toppers. It's an economical alternative to the expensive acoustical, open-cell foam being sold. If you don't like the off-white color get some spray paint and paint it.

    Or, take some old comforters/blankets and hang them on the walls.

    Then there is the remnant idea with carpet padding under it to offer a little more sound diffusion and a vapor barrier between the subfloor and carpet. The padding also adds a little thermal property to help with climate control.

    You can get carpet remnants for the walls also, which will help a little. Some guys have even taken old mattresses and placed them against the walls (although this is a bit dirty when you think about it...yuck!)
    For the floor there are a few options.

    The most economical is to get a carpet remnant and put it down.

    Next would be a laminate floor with a 3/4" underlayment (which is what I'm in my newly built music room). The laminate offers no sound diffusion but, the underlayment offers a few things. First, because of the thickness it offers great vapor barrier properties and thermal properties. Next, it is designed to significantly reduce sound transmission from both ambient sound and impact noise (like walking/foot noise or in this case bass and HH pedal noise along with the noise created by the set touching the floor).

    So there are my suggestions for the walls and floor in various budgets.

    The ceiling is like any of the above. Insulation, mlv, wood planks (like 1x6 or 1x8), Quiet Rock, or regular drywall.

    But there is also another alternative for the ceiling that can be used in addition to the above mentioned ceiling alternatives (which is what I did in my room). Ceiling tiles- specifically microfiber tiles. You can choose from hundreds of designs, sizes, and few different thicknesses. The tiles offer thermal and acoustical properties and can be aesthetically pleasing. I chose a 3/8" (thick) by 6"Wx48"L tile and with a woodgrain pattern on them so it looks like there is wood planking on the ceiling. These tiles are tongue-and-groove. You should still use insulation in the ceiling though. The tiles can be installed in one of four ways. 1- directly attach to the rafters/trusses with adhesive (I like power grab) but be careful. Some tiles are not ridged enough to do this and will sag in a short period of time . 2- using clips/fasteners designed specifically for the ceiling tiles to attach to. 3- put up the drywall and attach the tiles directly to the drywall with adhesive (which is the rout I took) and last, a traditional drop ceiling using a grid. The tiles, drywall, and insulation in the ceiling really cut down on the noise escaping.

    Taking one of the many suggestions will dramatically reduce (or virtually eliminate) the high frequencies, effectively reduce the mids and slightly tame the lows.

    Hope this helps. I know other drummers will have some other suggestions as well.

    Best of luck with your drum room.

    P.S. The only way to completely eliminate the transmission of sound is to build a room within a room... in this case to build a structure over and around the shed AND acoustically treat both structure's walls, ceilings, and the floor.
    Last edited by drumsetsnide; 10-27-2013 at 07:41 AM.
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  4. #4

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    My drum room is in a 12x8 bunkie. I insulated and vapor barriered the inside and put carpet on the floor. You cannnot hear the drums from 50 feet away. I found the drums sound good. Like mentioned all you see on the inside in vapor barrier and insulation. Someday I hope of finishing the inside but for now it works great and economicaly cheap.

  5. #5

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    well because i just moved in, i have a ton of carpet i removed. I guess i can just nail that all over the wall while getting some of those weather blocks for doors and window plugs?..

  6. #6

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    There's another good trick used for sound insulation of interior walls. Since sound travels through solid objects, make sure that the drywall on one side of the wall is not touching or attached to the same studs as the drywall on the other side. For example, you would use 2x6 for the header and footer, but 2x4's for the studs on 8" centers. The 2x4 studs would alternate being flush with opposite edges of the 2x6 header and footer. Basically, the drywall on one side does not share the same studs as the drywall from the opposite side. You could adapt the same concept to your shed...assuming it is unfinished on the inside. You could add studs between the existing wall studs but bring them out about an inch from the existing wall studs. Then attach your drywall only to the new studs, so it's not touching the old ones. That way, the sound vibrations from the inside will not be transmitted directly through the studs to the siding on the outside.
    -Brian

    "Too many crappy used drum stuff to list"

    Play the SONG......not the DRUMS!!!

    "I think that feeling is a lot more important than technique. It's all very well doing a triple paradiddle - but who's going to know you've done it? If you play technically you sound like everybody else. It's being original that counts." ~ John Bonham

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    Quote Originally Posted by N2Bluz View Post
    There's another good trick used for sound insulation of interior walls. Since sound travels through solid objects, make sure that the drywall on one side of the wall is not touching or attached to the same studs as the drywall on the other side. For example, you would use 2x6 for the header and footer, but 2x4's for the studs on 8" centers. The 2x4 studs would alternate being flush with opposite edges of the 2x6 header and footer. Basically, the drywall on one side does not share the same studs as the drywall from the opposite side. You could adapt the same concept to your shed...assuming it is unfinished on the inside. You could add studs between the existing wall studs but bring them out about an inch from the existing wall studs. Then attach your drywall only to the new studs, so it's not touching the old ones. That way, the sound vibrations from the inside will not be transmitted directly through the studs to the siding on the outside.
    I would do that, but the shed is finished completely, has outlets along the wall and a heater and the whole nine yards.

  8. #8

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    I already nailed carpet to the door and windows and i hear no difference... is that bad?

  9. #9

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    Add furniture and people

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Practice room sound treatment help

    This might be a problem that a couple pieces of carpet is not going to fix. Is your shed insulated? OR is it basically a frame with 3/4" walls?

    I would say that you should go get a bunch of carpet samples and go to town.

    Maybe go to a carpet store and ask if you can buy the scrap carpet padding and carpet.
    -Steven

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