Basement Sound Reduction

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Relic1882

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Ok, so here's the story. I already understand that sound-proofing isn't going to happen and I know it's super expensive and difficult. My issue here is that I have a basement of decent size in which I want to take half of it and turn into a studio (type setting). The basement is from an old house and the walls are of probably 3 different kinds of foundation. There are a couple of recessed windows up in the wall too. The worst thing in my opinion is that the ceilings are about 6 foot 2 inches from concrete floor to joists.

The main thing I'm trying to accomplish is to reduce the sound that travels to the outside. You see, I live in a neighborhood that's quieter and nice and I don't want to disturb my neighbors. I play with my band weekly, but a couple of times, someone who is not coming forth and being honest is calling the cops on me. I talked to everyone around me and nobody is admitting it. All I ask is for someone to tell me if I'm too loud, and I'll gladly turn it down. Someone is being a douche. The main reason I say this is because I have gone outside while my band plays and when I stand in the street in front of my house, you can barely hear it. I swear it! Even the cop told us that it wouldn't bother him at all because it was plenty quiet, and whoever is calling him out there is just being a pain in the ass. He only gave me a warning. No citations yet. He's been there twice in the past year.

Anyway, I've confronted ALL of my neighbors about it and being they refuse to admit it, I politely told them all that because nobody is coming forward and being honest with me, I'm going to accept the citation next time I get called on and take it to the magistrate, because around here if I fight it, the accuser has to show up or I don't get fined. :) I haven't had a problem since, but I want to be the nice guy so I never play past 8pm and I want to fix the basement up.

So, I want to take this space of mine and at least reduce the sound as low as I can. The snap of the drums is probably the loudest thing that gets outside. A little bass, but not much. I put some pics here. The basement is an absolute wreck right now just so you know. (Just finished some projects so the stuff that belongs on the other side is all in these pics.)

The area right behind the (crappy) desk is going to be a wall with some kind of access door because where you can see the crap behind the desk is actually a raised up concrete wall a little less than waist high.

So does anyone have any cost effective suggestions for a room such as this? Building walls is no problem, but I can't spend a thousand dollars on a lot of extra things. I just need to reduce the sound enough so it's lowered just enough to be quieter outside of the whole house. The area here is about 14ft wide by 20ft long. I figured posting pics will give people a better idea of what I could do. Also, all of the crap you see lying there, except the amp, computer and drums, will be gone. :)


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How much of the outside walls of the basement are above ground?? How much sound do you think is leaking through the first floor to the outside??

I'm surprised you hear more snare than bass.

How loud is it inside the basement when you're playing? Drums usually dictate how loud the rest of the band has to be. Can you try edrums and everyone turn the volume down?

I just looked at your location on a map; my father is looking for a house in that area. He's not there yet, so he's not the one complaining. :D
 
The walls in the basement are mostly underground. There's less than 2 feet above ground on one side and about 1 foot on the other side. The sound on the first floor isn't as loud as being in the basement, but we have hardwood floors so I'm sure that's not helping at all. :)

We don't play terribly loud. I can't talk to my bandmates when we're playing, but I don't have to yell either. On a 1 to 10 scale where 1 is talking and 10 is playing at a show in a bar, I'd say we practice at a 5. It's louder upstairs when my wife and I watch an action movie with the surround system. (Sony Receiver with 600 watts Polk Audio 7.1 speakers)

I can't afford electronic drums and even if I bought them, my drummer wouldn't use them. It's just not the same. :)

Like I said, I don't need to soundproof everything here. I just need to find a way to at least reduce some of the volume, then I'm sure I'd never have an issue.

P.S. If your dad is looking for a house around here, stay out of Plymouth and Wilkes-Barre. People are turning into murderous ghetto thugs in a lot of parts.
 
Bill,

You say that the snare is heard. That means that there are 'air' openings. If you were to seal the windows and doors, you would cut the egress of noise by half. - at least. The next step would be beefing up the mass of any thin partitions.. windows are particularly problematic, especially if they have simple float-glass panes. You may want to build some heavy window plugs to put in from the inside.
Seals and mass is what you need.
Next - on to room treatment.

Cheers,
John
 
Consider yoru room treatment at the same time as plugging up those window openings. Make some 4" or 6" thick bass traps to fit into them (or just cover over them completely with traps). Compressed fiberglass between the floor joists.

Hey, at least your basement is dry! I've got flor joists 6' off the floor, and a big central bean that's 5'6" - with a steam return pipe hanging from it. Spring flooding every few years means no practice area for me down there!
 
I'll look into those options. Any good references for building a window trap? They are small hopper windows that recess over a foot into the foundation wall.
 
Before soundproofing....I would check that basement for dead bodies, looks like there may be some buried in there....you want to be sure in case the cops decide to come in. :D

I don't get the "citation" thing. You playing music that is hardly heard is no different than some guy playing his stereo or his boom-box in the driveway while washing his car.
Just 'cuz someone calls the cops...that doesn't mean you get a citation. Find out what the law states clearly, 'cuz in a lot of areas, if people can run loud, noisy lawnmowers....you can play music.
It's not about the music...it's about the loudness and if it's exceeding the allowed limits, and the time of day/night....if there even are any in your town.

I once was awoken by an idiot running a huge wood-chipper at 7am on a Sunday morning...he woke up the entire neighborhood. I called the cops, and they said there's no "quite zone" laws and that between something like 6am and 10pm...you can set off small nuclear devices and not be violating loudness laws.
Some towns are more strict, and you can't even run a lawn-mower on the weekends, which I wish my town would do, but I'm in a rural area, so it's allowed, and all weekend long SOMEONE is either cutting grass or using a chainsaw in my neighborhood. I pray for rain all the time, so it's quiet and I can record in peace.
Winters are nice....everyone stays inside. :)

Anyway...maybe they just don't like your music....so start taking requests. ;)
 
I will take a quick stab here, as I have a similar basement. Well, not so dungeon looking, but my main level floor joists were above the foundation walls.

You likely have extreme sound transmission (as JHB suggested) above the level of your basement/foundation walls. Closing off the direct openings, would be you first/cheapest step.

I once found a bunch of holes, just by running a fog machine in a basement rehearsal space. Not mine. You could at least call a buddy on your cellphone, and walk around your property, to find the area that transmits the most volume, then deal with that part first.

You may just have a spot that is allowing air/sound to escape, that just needs a bit of 'mass' to solve your neighbor issue.

I myself, have no 'soundproofing', with typical crappy single pane windows in my basement studio. Full on heavy rock rehearsals, are barely loud enough to hear, 30' away.

Maybe your neighbors are just pricks?
 
I had a similar situation and the thing that helped the most (in addition to all the things listed above) was to get two layers of soundproofing in the window recesses with some air between them. Works better than just solid insulation. I cut some Ruxol to fit snuggly against the glass, then made a fabric-covered panel to hang in front of the window, larger than the opening by about 6" in all directions.
 
I'm going to start with the windows and work my way from there. Before I put new walls up I have to replace 2 bad joists. (Old termite damage!) Then over time I'm going to finish it with walls and flooring. Just like you jimmys69, my joists sit on top of the foundation walls. I'll probably have to get some insulation for in between those too. This will be a lot of trial and error. I can see that already. :)
 
jimmy69 +1!

You people who are telling the OP to stuff rock wool in the windows are spreading rumors about things that you know NOTHING about. This is how the internet spreads bullshit and I have to 'take out the trash' every day.

I do this for a living and I know what I'm talking about. See my publications page.

OP, You need to seal up your room. Bottom line. THEN you can go about to put rock wool or whatever around to make the acoustic better in there. But you need to close it up proper with heavy materials like, concrete, thick laminated glass, mdf, gypsum board, etc. THAT will work. -- And don't forget a good non-hardening caulk.

Cheers,
John
 
If you are looking for something cost effective your best bet is to add some fluffy insulation in the cavities. You can get some regular insulation from home depot that may help you reduce the sound coming from the basement a good bit.
 
Man, there is some anger on this forum. I've been here for two weeks and this is the second time I've been harshly and personally attacked for expressing a pretty vanilla opinion in an effort to help a guy out. I said what I said from personal experience. When we brought home my 3-day old adopted daughter, I had two days notice to soundproof my music room before the next rehearsal. I did a bunch of stuff, it worked, now I'm trying to help this guy. Gimme a break, wouldja? Geez.
 
JohnWatkins said:
Man, there is some anger on this forum. I've been here for two weeks and this is the second time I've been harshly and personally attacked for expressing a pretty vanilla opinion in an effort to help a guy out. I said what I said from personal experience. When we brought home my 3-day old adopted daughter, I had two days notice to soundproof my music room before the next rehearsal. I did a bunch of stuff, it worked, now I'm trying to help this guy. Gimme a break, wouldja? Geez.
Click to expand...

Where did you get personally attacked? I don't see anything in this thread that looks like you were. Did you post ^this^ in the right thread?

Peace. :)
 
I think he's taking John Brandt's comments as a personal shot.

I don't think JB is someone who does that stuff....he was just being frank about the amount of misinformation that permeates the web about acoustic treatments and soundproofing...and he's absolutely right about rock wool in window cavities not doing a damn thing for "soundproofing"...so he's actually trying to set the OP in the right direction.

I do see why John Watkins may have thought the comments were specifically aimed at him....since he did exactly what JB was saying is wrong. :)

Not sure who else attacked JW on the forums....or where???
This place is getting dangerous after dark..... ;)
 
JohnWatkins said:
Man, there is some anger on this forum. I've been here for two weeks and this is the second time I've been harshly and personally attacked for expressing a pretty vanilla opinion in an effort to help a guy out. I said what I said from personal experience. When we brought home my 3-day old adopted daughter, I had two days notice to soundproof my music room before the next rehearsal. I did a bunch of stuff, it worked, now I'm trying to help this guy. Gimme a break, wouldja? Geez.
Click to expand...

John,

so sorry. Nothing personal! But I am trying to counter myths with facts. What I stated are facts. If you would like some data or more information (facts), please visit my website, download whatever you need from my publications page.. and have a enjoyable look at my VooDoo page.

All you guys that post on here and everywhere else have my thumbs-ups for your efforts and great helpful attitude.

I'm just trying to 'guide' along the lines of facts and evidence. No myths. No opinions (unless I say IMO or IMHO). No bullshit. ;)
(make sure that you are correct -as far as you know- before spreading something that you heard or the salesman told you, or this or that site said - before you recommend it to someone)

Cheers,
John
 
That's all well and good; I'm not a fan of the parroting of misinformation either. I'm in the guitar business, which I believe has more myth surrounding it than possibly any other endeavor, so I get it.
But not every single person is an idiot, and just because someone has a different opinion does not mean they are completely devoid of first-hand knowledge, even if it's on a subject that you are an expert in. Things that shouldn't work do work sometimes.
 
LOL.. "Things that shouldn't work do work sometimes." True, very true. And to quote James Moir, "If one thing is certain about acoustics, it is that if anything seems obvious it is probably wrong."

I believe that, like K said in the movie 'Men in Black', "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it...."

Cheers,
John
 
Yep, MLV too. For sound-proofing walls, it is NOT cost effective.

The amount of sound proofing that one would get from MLV vs gypsum board works out to about 1:10 - MLV is about 10 times the cost of gypsum board for the same amount of noise blocking. I am writing a paper about these things that will be available soon, entitled, "Soundproofing - The Quest". I should be finished this week and have it available on my publications page. (It will include references and supporting data.)

Cheers,
John
 
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