Help Soundproofing / Deadening a Jam Space

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MrWTF

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Please forgive the ignorance here - I'm a longtime musician but new to acoustics. I have a back house/finished garage space that's 11.5 feet wide and 13 feet long. I want to convert it into a jam space - so an acoustic drum set in there, a couple of guitar amps or a bass and a guitar amp, etc. I have neighbors that are close. I'm in the process of measuring how much the existing construction deadens things, but I figure I need to kill a little less than 100db (I figure a drummer is 100db, and my neighbors will tolerate a little sound, but please tell me if that's wildly off).

I don't care (at the moment) about room acoustics, I just want it to be as quiet as possible outside the space. There are french doors to it and 1 window - and to complicate things, the back wall is blocked by a sliding glass mirror, but behind that is just old wood planks...thin and terrible for this purpose. I need new french doors anyway, but would like to keep that style if it's even possible to keep sound out of them. If not I can replace them with solid double doors that are hung/seal well. I like the double doors to get gear in and out of. The window faces inward toward my property so I don't think it'll be too bad.

Ok...again sorry for the ignorance, but any suggestions are welcome as I get educated here..thanks. photo 3.webpphoto 2.webp
 
..and the pictures are upside down. Apparently I suck at that as well..
 
:laughings:
Welcome to the site. Nice way to break the ice. :)

What you're looking for is sound transmission loss. The higher the loss, the better. Plain and simple: It is difficult and expensive to rebuild a structure that wasn't originally designed for sound isolation. It's not like you can just staple egg cartons to the wall or hang moving blankets. I'm no expert, but I'd say you're best bet is to build a room within a room.

Just so you know, you're looking at a pretty big project. Hopefully some of our experts will drop by with their thoughts.
 
What's going to come THROUGH the walls is the bass and bass drums, no matter how much insulation you stuff in the walls, bass traps you hang up, or the high-tech 3-layer french doors. With a room that small, 'room-within-a-room' would leave you something unusable.
 
I couldn't agree more with what mjb says.

The biggest problem you face is the small size of the room already. Anything you add starts to eat up precious real estate for your jam room.
I have had to suffer with small spaces to play/practice in with my bandmates. But it's not impossible with a few small changes.

First. Get some bass traps up in your corners. the bass flutters will make you want to puke if you don't treat the room for that.
Second, get your drummer to learn to play softer. or get him some lighter sticks, or brushes. That will do ALOT to make the space more useable and to not annoy your neighbors too much.
Third, now that you've got your drummer volume under control, get the guitar volumes down. It can all be turned down and still sound good in a small space, without destroying your ears, or your relationships with your neighbors.

And if all that doesn't work for you, how about a Jamhub? Something to consider anyways. if everyone has open back headphones, you will still hear the acoustic drums and be able to control each players volume independently. JamHub - What's a JamHub for?
 
All - thanks for all of the insight so far. Especially Pegger.

Let me phrase the question a little different, if you had a room like this and $10k-$20k to throw at it - what would be the best way to spend the money to quiet the sound for neighbors?

Thanks again for the input..getting more and more educated on this daily.
 
$10-20K? Got any alternative locations? Basement, unused garage? A new french door that offers double glaze and rubber gasket is going to be over $1000 by itself, $2000 maybe installed - closing it in (with maybe just a standard solid door) would be better. Then you've got that one window in the picture, plus getting rid of that mirrored wall and putting in studs, insulation and sheetrock on that wall.
The only way to 'soundproof' is to build a 'room within a room' and you need space for that. 11.5' x 13' is just too small to make a good sounding room soundproof - you'll end up with a claustrophobic room that's filled with your equipment and traps. E-drums, Jamhub are your best bet if you want virtually no sound getting out, otherwise all you can do is put bass traps in all corners, a cloud, etc. You do need to consider room acoustics - a tiny room with drums and amps all playing at normal practice volume will be deafening, and not be conducive to fatigue-free playing.
How close are your neighbors?
 
mjb - thanks - neighbors are pretty close, maybe 20' to the closest part of their house, more like 50' through some walls probably.

I can certainly spend more if it's warranted or effective. There is another 4' or so behind that mirror where I could extend the back wall to - I have to put studs and drywall back there and anything else. So the room would move to about 17' by 11.5' - unfortunately I can't really do much about the width.

That window is the only window, and I could take it out.

sounds like those soundproof french doors aren't worth the investment (the light / looks are nice) so I am better off just putting up double doors or a larger door of some kind..

One last question - does the room within a room concept eat about 1' off of each side or more?
 
MrWTF said:
, if you had a room like this and $10k-$20k to throw at it - what would be the best way to spend the money to quiet the sound for neighbors?
Click to expand...

Money to spend on room:
- coat of paint $50
- Bass Traps/Ceiling Cloud (DIY) $300

Money to spend on good gear to be able to have fun in confined space:
- $19,650

Seriously...don't waste such a generous budget on things that won't do anything to help you have fun. My preference, if given a budget like that would be a couple good guitar amps with line outs, a bass amp with line out, an electronic drum kit, 3 mics, 5 pairs of headphones, and a JamHub. And you'd still have money left over for a well stocked beer fridge! :drunk:

Trying to build the room within a room is going to leave you with about as much space as a large bathroom to play in!
 
Definitely expand out that mirrored wall. yes, a room within a room could eat a foot off of each dimension, or more - considering entrances, and don't forget making quiet vented heat/ac and electrical connections to this room. Your budget will plummet fast and you'll end up with a small loud room that no on will want to 'jam' in. The biggest volume issue with a band is acoustic drums. If you can commit to e-drums, even plugged into a small amp/combo, then volume is much more controllable.
If you want a 'go forward' plan at this point:
1) Remove the mirrored wall, expand the room, making sure you insulate the outer wall.
2) Replace the french doors with 1 standard or two heavy duty solid (no hollow core or hollow metal) doors.
3) If the window is double glazed, leave it, if not, replace it with a double or triple-glazed unit.
4) Make bass traps for all corners, cloud panels for the ceiling. 4" thick for the traps, 2" or 4" for the cloud - you can find all sorts of guides on how to make these for yourself using OC703 or 705 or Roxul rockwool insulation.

Once you've done all that, throw a couple of guitar amps in there, hook up an MP3 player to them and crank them up to 'normal' jam volume. Go outside and walk around and decide how noisy it is to the neightbors at that point.
I've got a neighbor who plays drums, house is about 140 feet from mine, I can't hear him at all if his windows are closed. If I walk by his house, 25 feet out in the road I can hear the drums, but not excessively loud. Add in a couple of amps, it would be another story.

I've been in bands where rehearsal had to stop around 9pm because of the neighbors - maybe your jam spot will only be good for certain times of the day.
 
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