Sound Proofing

[Stoney]

Hi Folks,
New to the Drumming World just wondering if anyone has any tips on Sound Proofing my Shed so I can practice.
Obviously on a very limited budget as i am semi retired.
I have partitioned part of my shed enough to put my kit in was thinking of lining it out with bits of carpet and underlay on the floor, roof and sides ect.
I don't play hard as i'm a begginer just want to practice without annoying the neighbours so looking for cheap ideas to keep the noise down. Thanks in advance.

[Taras]

From spending ages researching about soundproofing and then realising that it wasn't really worth it for my situation, I know that for the best soundproofing you have to build a room within a room. On a budget, that will probably be difficult. Perhaps sound proof blankets hanging around the kit and some panels on the walls? I'm no expert, but it's probably the best one could do without getting technical. Someone please shout at me if ^^^ is wrong. Cheers

[jedi]

What kind of shed ? If it's a wooden shed with 2x4 studs then you need to put something in between the the outside wall and the inside wall , insulation . After that there are unlimited types of sound deadening material you can use on the inside walls . With money being a factor I think carpet would be a great choice .

[Pearl MCX Man]

I was gonna ask the same question the size of the shed. I have a 8x12 shed that I converted into my drum room. I live in the Canada so it had to be insulated for the winter months. The inside is not finished all you see is the vapor barrier and insulation with carpet on the floor. I find the accoustics sound half decent as I do not record or gig in it just a practice place for me to get away when I am bored lol I have a little oil filled heater that I keep at about 40 just enough for it to be comfortable and protecting from freezing. Once I get in there and start practicing it sure get warm. Just sayin you don't have to spend a fortune on it.

[Stoney]

From spending ages researching about soundproofing and then realising that it wasn't really worth it for my situation, I know that for the best soundproofing you have to build a room within a room. On a budget, that will probably be difficult. Perhaps sound proof blankets hanging around the kit and some panels on the walls? I'm no expert, but it's probably the best one could do without getting technical. Someone please shout at me if ^^^ is wrong. Cheers

Thankyou for your reply

[Stoney]

What kind of shed ? If it's a wooden shed with 2x4 studs then you need to put something in between the the outside wall and the inside wall , insulation . After that there are unlimited types of sound deadening material you can use on the inside walls . With money being a factor I think carpet would be a great choice .

Thankyou for your reply. ...it's a old 8x6 shed but decent timber not the crap you get now...i have partitioned enough for my kit and plan to line out the inner walls and then nail carpet and anything i can get my hands on just to deaden as much sound as possible...it's purely to practice don't intend to bash hell out of them just so I can hopefully learn to play

[Ricardo]

Old quilts, heavy drapes thick blankets, etc. for the internal walls.............also make your drums sound better, IMO.
Maybe you can get lucky at a 2nd hand store, Goodwill, etc.

[SpazApproved]

craigslist and garage sales are awesome for lots of old blankets and quilts etc.

Yeah I've been researching to build a sound proof room in the basement.
The price tag is way past what I want to spend.
But it's something I really really want so I may just have to slowly build it myself.
May take a long time to finish this project.

[jedi]

Thankyou for your reply. ...it's a old 8x6 shed but decent timber not the crap you get now...i have partitioned enough for my kit and plan to line out the inner walls and then nail carpet and anything i can get my hands on just to deaden as much sound as possible...it's purely to practice don't intend to bash hell out of them just so I can hopefully learn to play

Beauty ! Packing blankets work very well too . And you can find these very cheaply on Craigslist sometimes .
Good luck with the project .

[marko138]

Short of doing it "right" and building the room within a room, blankets and other similar material are going to do very little to sound proof your room. It will make very very little difference in what your neighbors hear when you play.

I'd get quality insulation and sound deadening dry wall to start, perhaps some green glue on the studs.

Hanging blankets will only effect how the drums sound to you when you are in the room playing them.

[Stoney]

Thanks for the replies folks plenty of ideas to try out.

[carbohydrate kid]

A while back my neighbor started calling the cops every time wed have band rehearsal.we tried turning down and it wasn't enough. We only rehearsed once a week and always finished by 9pm so we didn't think we were being unreasonable , but I had to do something . I ended up hanging sound blankets (like moving blankets but sold for sound) and cut foam and auralex to stuff in the windows. It didn't soundproof the room but it did make us significantly quieter outside the band room and deadened the reverb in our practice space which really helped for recording. Unfortunately my problem neighbor kept calling the cops. In fact, he would call as soon as he saw cars show up in the driveway. After treating the room the cops said they couldn't even tell there was a band playing until they got right up the door.they told us we were no longer a problem and that the neighbor had become a nuisance to them. Luckily for me the neighbors moved out. I went over to introduce myself to the new neighbors and the guy was wearing an iron maiden shirt and told me we dint play loud enough! That's my story


I agree with others here.to do it right you need to build a room within a room.if you can't do that, hang blankets or carpet on the walls to deaden the sound.that will at least help.

[SpazApproved]

^now that is an awesome story!!

Rock on!

[Pearl MCX Man]

Agre, e neighbours can be a pain. I have had them in the past but no more since I moved up here. I am lucky cause the nearest neighbour is 1 mile away and I am surrounded by a forest.

[marko138]

A while back my neighbor started calling the cops every time wed have band rehearsal.we tried turning down and it wasn't enough. We only rehearsed once a week and always finished by 9pm so we didn't think we were being unreasonable , but I had to do something . I ended up hanging sound blankets (like moving blankets but sold for sound) and cut foam and auralex to stuff in the windows. It didn't soundproof the room but it did make us significantly quieter outside the band room and deadened the reverb in our practice space which really helped for recording. Unfortunately my problem neighbor kept calling the cops. In fact, he would call as soon as he saw cars show up in the driveway. After treating the room the cops said they couldn't even tell there was a band playing until they got right up the door.they told us we were no longer a problem and that the neighbor had become a nuisance to them. Luckily for me the neighbors moved out. I went over to introduce myself to the new neighbors and the guy was wearing an iron maiden shirt and told me we dint play loud enough! That's my story


I agree with others here.to do it right you need to build a room within a room.if you can't do that, hang blankets or carpet on the walls to deaden the sound.that will at least help.

LOL awesome story.

[wired]

Totally agree about the room within a room comment. Seems dead space between the walls really cuts down the sound.
Rockwool is good stuff too,it's sold as sound proofing. For folks that are really hard up for cash I've heard of layers upon layers of carpet on the wall and they also use wonderboard it's sort of like part sheetrock/ part masonry board that's used where your gonna mount tile.

But I don't think carpet and wonderboard would be nowhere as good as the other options just an ideal for broke folks.

[dangermoney]

I have a book on how to build soundproof rooms to accommodate drums and other musical instruments. The kick drum is the hardest because of the low end vibrations, which is one of the main reasons you need to build a room within a room. To do it right is indeed a very expensive undertaking ...

[Stoney]

Hi Folks thanks for all the replies some good ideas that I will take on board

[SpazApproved]

I have a book on how to build soundproof rooms to accommodate drums and other musical instruments. The kick drum is the hardest because of the low end vibrations, which is one of the main reasons you need to build a room within a room. To do it right is indeed a very expensive undertaking ...

what book is this?
I'd love to check it out

[dangermoney]

what book is this?
I'd love to check it out

Keep The Peace! The Musician's Guide To Soundproofing by Mark Parsons

This is a pretty good book with simple stuff geared towards drummers. I have a couple of others that are very technical and mainly geared towards studios, advanced sound rooms, and such but this is a good place to start.

[marko138]

Keep The Peace! The Musician's Guide To Soundproofing by Mark Parsons

This is a pretty good book with simple stuff geared towards drummers. I have a couple of others that are very technical and mainly geared towards studios, advanced sound rooms, and such but this is a good place to start.

I've had that in my Amazon cart for years. Never purchased though.

[SpazApproved]

Keep The Peace! The Musician's Guide To Soundproofing by Mark Parsons

This is a pretty good book with simple stuff geared towards drummers. I have a couple of others that are very technical and mainly geared towards studios, advanced sound rooms, and such but this is a good place to start.

Thank you!
I'll add it to my Christmas wish haha

[Icetech]

Great story.. and yeah some neighbors are ****s just to be ****s no matter what you do I'm lucky and have a basement.. i play til 3am and they say they have never heard a sound.. BUT i also hung moving blankets (they are sold as producer blankets or something like that and are heavy as hell) Anyway.. hung them all around my drum area and no more echo's or weird noises.. very nice And now i don't worry bout being heard. I am way self conscious so if a neighbor said they could hear me at all it would eat at me.. but the blankets were money well spent.. although i did buy too many :(

A while back my neighbor started calling the cops every time wed have band rehearsal.we tried turning down and it wasn't enough. We only rehearsed once a week and always finished by 9pm so we didn't think we were being unreasonable , but I had to do something . I ended up hanging sound blankets (like moving blankets but sold for sound) and cut foam and auralex to stuff in the windows. It didn't soundproof the room but it did make us significantly quieter outside the band room and deadened the reverb in our practice space which really helped for recording. Unfortunately my problem neighbor kept calling the cops. In fact, he would call as soon as he saw cars show up in the driveway. After treating the room the cops said they couldn't even tell there was a band playing until they got right up the door.they told us we were no longer a problem and that the neighbor had become a nuisance to them. Luckily for me the neighbors moved out. I went over to introduce myself to the new neighbors and the guy was wearing an iron maiden shirt and told me we dint play loud enough! That's my story


I agree with others here.to do it right you need to build a room within a room.if you can't do that, hang blankets or carpet on the walls to deaden the sound.that will at least help.

[dangermoney]

Thank you!
I'll add it to my Christmas wish haha

You're quite welcome sir ...

[itchie]

a couch in front of the kick drum and lots of gaff on everything