acoustic drapes and the guitar

[rinoa0587]

hello all!
My husband and I are looking into ways that we can dim the sound of his acoustic guitar when he decides to practice later in the evening. I've looked up a lot of information on the web and we've decided to build a secondary wall with lots of insulation on our bedroom side of the wall, but I'm wondering if maybe hanging acoustic drapes along the music room wall will help dim the sound even more. see the bedroom and spare room that we keep our instruments in are right next to each other, and he plays relativly softly but the sound still leaks through, so I'm thinking putting up the drapes (while we have no secondary wall) will help block the sound more so, but before I invest $400 into some used acoustic drapes I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this and has it worked? other suggestions are appreciated. though I can't reconfigure the wall, anything we do has to do as little damage as possible to the wall. we're renting, and the landlord said no extensive damage when trying to block out some of the extra sounds coming through the wall.
Thanks much!
*ash

 

[XLR]

I've had the same problem. I tend to wake up very early and like to play guitar while my wife is sleeping. Even in a room at the other end of the house my guitar would wake her up. I tried muting the strings with a foam wedge between the strings and soundboard at the bridge, even a sock stuffed there too, but it was still too percussive and the sound carried. In the end the only workable solution I found was this. It worked out perfectly for me, and is an excellent travel guitar also.

Tim

 

[solo.guitar]

I've hung a "down" blanket infront of my door before when my little sister came over, so me and a friend could record.

My little sister is real loud... screaming, laughing, etc. Actually my whole family is loud.

I couldn't hear any of it.

I would at least try this before buying expensive treatment. Just make sure it is a pretty thick/heavy "down" blanket.

 

[bennychico11]

Wet condoms??
You sick, sick man.

rinoa0587,
Do a search around this site, specifically in the Studio Building section. You may try posting this over there.
Ideally, the second wall would be the best option. Drapes aren't going to do much for the low frequencies on the guitar. For actual soundproofing (which is what you are asking about)...decoupling and mass is what is needed. In other words, separating the room from everything else; a room inside a room. The building of a second wall with insulation inside of it will greatly help as opposed to the drapes. However, there is also the other walls to worry about. Not to mention most land lords aren't keen on the idea of you building more walls in your place.

But go talk to the guys over at the Studio Building section.

 

[musicstew]

I've hung a "down" blanket infront of my door before when my little sister came over, so me and a friend could record.

My little sister is real loud... screaming, laughing, etc. Actually my whole family is loud.

I couldn't hear any of it.

I would at least try this before buying expensive treatment. Just make sure it is a pretty thick/heavy "down" blanket.

You can also use shipping blankets that they use in trucks to cover the walls.
These blankets are affordable and block sound very well.

 

[rinoa0587]

thanks much for everyones help! Between hearing what other people have tried, and reading other posts around here and some other sites I have a few ideas that will be worth trying.

 

[studiomaster]

I heard wet condoms help absorb sound sonically. Is this true? Won't there be any odour problems?

WTF? Where did THAT come from??

 

[XLR]

WTF? Where did THAT come from??

So you haven't seen any of his posts before, huh? He had a pretty funny thread in the mic forum.

Tim