Soundproofing

[dentos]

Hi there, has anyone had any experience of buying and fitting acoustic foam or similiar soundproofing? We're looking into soundproofing our band's practice space (pub basement and the landlord has had some complaints about a loud band who did a gig upstairs there, and is keen to avoid environmental health, we want to keep him sweet as it's a very cushy arrangement for practicing!)

 

The only access to the outside world is the hatch that the kegs come through, and the door to the stairwell up to the bar. So perhaps construct some sort of soundproof gobo, or hang a heavy drape or the stairs door could probably have foam stuck straight to it.

 

Please let me learn from your experiences as I'm not quite sure where to start tackling this project!

[James]

the stairs door could probably have foam stuck straight to it.

 

I'm not quite sure where to start tackling this project!

 

Please be careful.

 

A Nightclub in Rhode Island called The Station just "stuck some foam to the walls." once.

 

 

James

[Andrew C]

For the proper stuff have a look at acoustics link. Prices seem scary, but it's pukka stuff.

[andy_s]

Studiosparesstock all sorts of soundproofing and accoustic treatments, and should certainly be able to give advice about fire hazards etc (see above about American Nightclubs)

[IanG]

has anyone had any experience of buying and fitting acoustic foam or similiar soundproofing?

 

I'm not sure if you've got soundproofing and acoustic treatments mixed up here. Soundproofing tends to involved lots of heavy materials, air gaps, insulation etc, whereas acoustic treatment is usually the tiles, bass traps etc.

[Andrew C]

I would suspect that he will need both!

[Brian]

has anyone had any experience of buying and fitting acoustic foam or similiar soundproofing?

 

I'm not sure if you've got soundproofing and acoustic treatments mixed up here. Soundproofing tends to involved lots of heavy materials, air gaps, insulation etc, whereas acoustic treatment is usually the tiles, bass traps etc.

He has. Lightweight materials, eg foam, curtains etc, do not stop sound very well, especially the bass frequencies. To stop sound transmission you need mass.

[sticks]

just to elaborate on what others have said,

 

there are 2 reasons for wanting to change the acoustic properties of a room, 1) so it sounds better inside (removing flutter echoes, room modes etc.) and 2) to stop sound leaking outside of the room.

 

The majority of tiles and treatments sold in studiospares and other similar places are useful for the first reason, they are intended to make the room 'sound' better.

 

Unfortunately sound proofing tends to be a little more structural and is more difficult to retrofit. Soundproofing works by absorping the energy in the sound wave so it no longer can be heard, as brian stated due to the energy contained in different frequency wavelengths the greater the mass of an object the lower the frequency it can absorp.

 

Applying this to your situation, drapes and/or foam may absorp some of the higher frequencies eg. hi-hat, snare drum, top end of the guitars but will have very little effect on bass and kick drum and make it more pleasent to practice in. How well built is the basement? if the walls are thick and the nearby buildings aren't too close you will probably be ok providing you are responsible about the levels you rehearse at. With regards to the hatch up to the pub, the heavier you can make it the better.

 

hope that helps a bit.

[paulears]

I've done quite a few studio installations - both pro and home and many of the posts are talking real sense. If you want to play loud music upstairs thats a major snag, but you're in the cellar so it is a bit better. As has been said, MASS is the only way to stop the low frequencies leaking out - and they, of course, are the ones that annoy everyone. There isn't a cheap way that will work, but you can do it yourself with only modest building skills.

 

I just noticed that an article is still on the sound on sound website after 9 years

mission impossible

12mm plasterboard, then a layer of insulation board, then a surface layer of 12 or 18mm MDF on 50 x 75 studwork with the airgap filled with rockwool will help. make sure you also raise the floor on battens with something like neoprene strip under them. this will help reduce structure mounted noise from the kick and bass. wall treatment will do bugger all to stop the bass end leaking out. I've recently done a small 2 room studio about 3m x 10m overall. The cost for plasterboard, ins board, mdf and flooring came to over £1000 - timber merchant trade, not B&Q. so before you waste money check it is going to be worth it.

[Brian]

Paul's suggestion of 12mm plasterboard followed by 12mm insulation board followed by 18mm of MDF will give an average reduction of 28dB.

[Paul J Need]

Our studio which we knocked down last year sadly consisted of a floating floor using 3 inchs of sand, double of MDF flouring, accoustic matting then wooden floor covering. This reduced the bass penetration from 115db inside the studio to approx 30 db outside.

 

Each wall used 4 inchs of Rockwool, and double plaster board, treble glazed windows too the outside, and a patio door ( double glazed ) for the main entrance.

 

Ceiling, 4inchs of Rockwall, double plaster board and partial foam accoustic tiles as to get some natural reflections inside the space.

 

On this note - do not cover all the wall space with tiles, or you will flaten then sound so much you hear something VERY different in rehearsal to what will be heard when you gig.

[dentos]

Cheers for the advice guys, basically although the sound down there is pretty rubbish it's tolerable, our main concern is cutting noise leakage, as we want to up the number of practices we have a week - but the landlord isn't too keen in light of recent complaints after another band performed upstairs.. so we're looking at reducing the amount of noise leaving the hatch.

 

Having stood outside there isn't too much bass being heard outside - mainly high end (snare, cymbals, lead guitar) that we need to bring under control. So, we're considering making some sort of gobo to go in front of the hatch, as obviously the hatch is in fairly regular use.

 

PS We're a band and so quite poor and like to do stuff on the cheap!!

[Brian]

If it's HF leakage then it is probably due to gaps around the hatch.

 

A gap of 300mm x 6mm will reduce isolation by 7dB.

 

One of the best lightweight wall constructions for isolation is the BBC designed 'Camden Walling'.

[dentos]

Please be careful.

 

A Nightclub in Rhode Island called The Station just "stuck some foam to the walls." once.

 

 

James

Our situation just a bit different from The Station's....

 

- First off it's not a wooden building!

- Secondly we're not going to be setting off pyrotechnics down there!

- Thirdly there's only ever going to be 4 or 5 of us down there at a time, gigs happen upstairs in the actual bar

[Ike]

If its only HF then I would have thought a heavy, fire retardent drape would provide a fair bit of attenuation however there are a few H&S 'problems' to think about.

Most pub cellars are confined spaces and no matter how carefully cylinders are changed and systems are looked after some gas will leak out, this can lead to problems if people are spending extended periods of time down there. There are also rarely any fire exits or maintained lighting. Im not saying there will be problems in you case but its worth a thought, especially if you are reducing ventilation and blocking possible exit routes.