Material

M

mechie

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Does anybody know any material i could use to put on my ceiling to keep the sound from going upstairs to the living room(my parents dont want to here me down in my basement)

if anyone has any ideas on how to keep the sound in the basement and not going upstairs, please help, im desperate
 
sort of...i can afford like 300 bucks...i dont want to do anything fancy..and it doesnt have to be completely SOUNDPROOF or nething...just so they dont hear my VOICE...cuz there is no instruments or loud music involved
 
More mass is better. You can find sheets of interior concrete wall board (used as bathroom tile substrate) at your local building supply. It works just like drywall, but it’s a lot heavier. Suspending it is probably too complicated and overkill for your purposes. Also, if there is a door leading upstairs, install a tight weather strip seal around all the gaps. Finally, make your basement more cozy. Drapes, pillows, books, etc. will help absorb sound before it gets upstairs. This will also make it more comfortable for you and your ‘friend’ who are making all those noises.;)
 
You have the worst case scenario. The direct and reflected sound from the basement floor are going strait up through the cracks in the living room floor boards.

Heck, even finishing the ceiling with regular gypsum wallboard will make a BIG difference. Use 5/8” drywall and tape and seal all of the joints including the corners where it meets the walls. Don’t leave any cracks. Use the concrete wall board I mentioned only if you want to be extra sure.

Someone at the building supply store should be able to instruct you, if you don’t know how to do this stuff. Also, there is plenty of instruction online. It's pretty easy, especially if it doesn't have to look great. Then get a padded carpet, or at least some rugs. Your folks won’t hear a peep.
 
Thanks barefoot - but I suspect you know a fair bit about the dark witchcraft known as acoustics from the quality of your posts?? Welcome to HR :D

Cheers
John
 
Yes, I concentrated in acoustics while studying physics as an undergraduate. Spent about 5 years trying to make a living building loudspeakers, but found that too difficult with no industry connections or capital to speak of.

Went back to school to study surface physics, now I’m in charge of acousto-optic measurements for that giant chip maker 80% of us have inside our computers. It might sound cool, “acousto-optic”, but it’s just a fancy measuring stick for the very thin metal and insulating films which make up computer chips. Not interesting to me at all, and I never get to do any real acoustics. Every day I wish I was back in audio. It’s just a hobby these days, but hopefully not for long.

Thanks for the welcome!
 
You guys give some great info!!! Here's a question for you Acoustic GURUs...I have an unfinished loft(750 sq ft) above my garage. There is sheetrock (5/8" fire-resistant)on the ceiling and the walls. I was thinking about blocking off a part of it (7.5ft x 5.5ft x 6ft high) for a control room. The noise sources are 1) family room above & 2) outside noise thru the wall on the front on the house.

I'm just starting out so I didn't want to go too crazy on the expenses. So I thought I would buy sheets of SoundBoard (2" thick, very dense fiber board from Home Depot)and nail them on top of the existing sheetrock on the ceilings and walls. The HomeDepot guy - who's probably not an acoustic expert - says it works well. Do you think it will work?
 
John,
Thanks for the reply! I checked out the site. Actually, it gave me some ideas for using the rest of the space. I have a separate L-shaped area (albeit relatively small) under the stairs for vocal/ acoustic instru. recording...so for now I was looking to get a control room started quickly. I just had the floor put in so I'm going to run all cabling under the floor - so sealing off the walls shouldn't be an issue.

I was looking at the advice you & barefoot were giving to somebody...

John Sayers said:
to add to what barefoot said

if you are going to line the ceiling hang the drywall off a flexible channel as per this STC chart, check out the flexible channel and then scroll down to ceilings

http://www.lis.net.au/~johnsay/Acoustics/Pages/STC Chart.htm

cheers
John :)
Click to expand...

...& thought the replacing the cementboard w\ a lighter but dense fiberboard in conjunction w\ the flexshaft - actually a Z Channel - might be a pretty decent "quick & dirty" solution. Think it will work, or am I taking too big of a short-cut???

I've also got some Event 20/20bas near field monitors, so hopefully to room acoustics won't be as critical anyway, but i would like to quiet down the garbage trucks, airplanes and the kiddies running around!

p.s. I'll be sure to send pics to your site once I get going!
 
and the paupers alternative...

I'm no engineer and tend to do things in ways that don't always work out, but I'll tell you what worked for me with very little investment.

Go to a local supplier of floor mats for businesses and ask them for some old mats. Make sure they're backed with rubber. They throw these things out, so don't take no for an answer. Keep going back until you find someone to give you a load of them. Then, I suggest you introduce them to a steam-cleaner.

Go to a home improvement store and buy enough Styrofoam sheets to cover the problem area. Buy a staple gun while you’re there, and use it to help put this stuff up. Sandwich the foam in between two layers of the mats.

No, this in no way provides a high percentage of soundproofing, but if you’re only doing vocals like you said, it could be a cheap and easy fix.

-Adam
 
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