Sound Proofing

[aostudios]

I have a large size room. About the size of a one car garage, but a little taller. On one side we have a 4 foot wide area where we have our desk and mixer. On the other is where we will be recording. That side needs to be sound proofed for these reasons.

1) To keep sound from the rest of the house
2) To eliminate the echo in the room
3) To keep sound from and out of the control room

We have a pretty low budget, I was thinking something like egg crate things. If you have any ideas and can help me in any way please do. Keep in mind we have a low budget, but we do want the best sound we can get from it.

Thanks,
Ben.

-ao-Studios

[y2ray]

hey I hear your having problems....well hopefully I can help.
first you need to get some heavy curtains that reach from the roof all the way down to the ground...set the curtain up so it goes entirely around the entire area that you want sound proofed make sure the curtains have the wavy (like this ^^^^ ) type of design this will trap alot of the sound waves. next get some cardboard and place it underneath the carpet and if you don't have carpet just place it on the ground....cover the entire ground that you want sound proofed with cardboard this will stop any sound waves from going into the ground and travelling up the wall. and the last step is to get the egg cartons not the ones with the top but the other ones. get some double sided tape and tape it onto the roof...cover the entire roof area that you want sound proofed. we do this because the design of the carton will trap the sound waves similar to the curtain effect. If you're really loud then you might want to throw some dirty or clean clothes around the area this will also trap some sound waves.

hope this was helpful to you. if you still need more help ask.

[Tomi M.]

This was a joke, right?

You really can't soundproof a room like this. It can make it sound better acoustically but really not soundproof. I've been reading and listening here carefully and what I can say is go to : http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html and study there. You can't make it really cheap really good... actually more soundproof = more $$$. Mass and airtight are the key words here.

Hope you'll find your answers from the above link and reading through posts here. Just searc for soundproof...



tomi

[Rochey]

Y2Ray -

I'd rethink what you wrote...

Heavy curtains do nothing but absorb the very high end, and as for cardboard on the ground.... hahahahahahhahah... thats the most rediculous think i ever heard.

Look, I don't wanna flame you on this one, so I'll give you 10 out of 10 for effort, and having the guts on your first post...

but...

Things like heavy curtains and eggboxes are a total waste of time. The thickness of the material means it will only absorb the high endfrequencies within your room. Which will leave your mixing area bottom heavy, with muddy bass and mids.

aostudios:

What you really should consider doing is making your own sound proofing stuff. Some carpentry skills and brains is usually whats required.

When we talk about sound in terms of sound leaking in or out of a space, we must consider is as changes in pressure, not as waves. Tomi M is completely right when he says that things must be airtight, because when things are airtight, these changes in pressure will not escape the room (ideally...)

So,
The first step would be to put a seal on any doors, effectively making the door completely airtight when it is closed. That means the floor too. This can usually be done with a peice of rubber around the door frame and the door. When the door is shut, VOILA, the whole space around the door should be airtight.

Depending on how much permanent change you want to do to the room, you may want to consider adding some acoustic treatments too, such as bass absorbers and low-mid absorbers.

John Sayer's work on a 'bedroom' studio type acoustic treatment should make a great start. http://www.locall.aunz.com/~johnsay/HR/index1.htm

I don't know if you spent a lot of time lurking here before you started posting, but John is an accomplished studio designer, with many Pro establishments to his name.

Thankfully, he also wrote a Free guide to acoustic treatments and studio design, which you can find here: http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

This should be standard reading before asking any questions, as i'm sure once you've read it, most of the questions you have will be answered.

Welcome to the board (to both of you, y2ray and aostudios)

Rochey

[Barometer]

Not flaming here, but I certainly hope Y2ray was joking because as Rochey said curtains MAY absorb some of the high end, but will do nothing for the rest and eggcrates are USELESS. Sounds to me like you are not actually trying to sound proof, but to give it an acoustic treatment and have more control over your sound. This can be done without too much expense. I would suggest some reading, but it looks like the others already covered that. Good Luck and welcome to the board

[Ginzoo]