I NEED HELP SOUNDPROOFING!!please...

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YoungRecords

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ok..i have my own recording gear, now im getting a new house and i want to make a home studio in my basement, and i need help soundproofing it..
can you guys please help me?

i need to know what to use? how to use it? and where to get it?...


here's my design....please help me with your best knowledge.
 

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It would help if you include your dimensions and explain how much sound you are trying to keep in/out. Where are your problem areas? Celing? Wall behind the furnace? Between drum room and control room? What are your existing walls (if any) made of? Soundproof is a nice concept but very hard to achieve.
 
There are several ways you can treat the room effectively, and it depends on what your after exactly and what you can afford. A trick is the old egg cartons, its cheap and it works. I've heard some people have put them to the surrounding wall, then chucking curtains, or whatnot over the front of them to atleast get a decent look.

Anything thats consistantly bumpy and thick tends to be the way to go. But placement is just as important, you've gotta figure out the areas of the room which require it more than others, etc...

At my university, one of the main rooms i've recorded in is quite large and hall-like so recording tight unreverberated tracks can be hard. But also, the room in specific spots echo's more than others (the old clap test)...
 
hand in glove said:
There are several ways you can treat the room effectively, and it depends on what your after exactly and what you can afford. A trick is the old egg cartons, its cheap and it works. I've heard some people have put them to the surrounding wall, then chucking curtains, or whatnot over the front of them to atleast get a decent look.

Anything thats consistantly bumpy and thick tends to be the way to go. But placement is just as important, you've gotta figure out the areas of the room which require it more than others, etc...

At my university, one of the main rooms i've recorded in is quite large and hall-like so recording tight unreverberated tracks can be hard. But also, the room in specific spots echo's more than others (the old clap test)...
Click to expand...

I disagree. First off, egg cartons....most of them are terribly non-fire resistant. These things catch on fire like crazy and you don't want something like this on your walls. Remember that story about the night club that caught on fire and a bunch of people died trying to escape? It caught on fire because of the "sound treatment" they used that wasn't fire resistant.
Second, egg crates also don't do much for the sound. You need broadband absorbers, which egg cartons are not. They only do little bit, if anything, for the high frequencies. So lows are just going to pass right through them. This is the problem with your clap test...clapping doesn't show you what the low frequencies do in a room, and usually they are the most problematic. Low frequencies travel the furthest so in turn they will be the ones your neighbors are hearing.
You are right in the thickness idea...it takes mass to absorb. But the bumpiness of a material is not going to absorb anything...it just means that you will help break up standing waves that might be present.

YoungRecords, take a read over this. Long but very informative.
 
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If you are serious about building a basement studio, there are books on acoustic design for studios written by very competent people.

Spend $20 and get some real information...
 
"How to Build a Small Budget Recording Studio from Scratch" by F. Alton Everest.

Should be required reading for anyone who records.
 
Ha! That's awesome!

It's surprisingly decent at around 800Hz though...

The funny part (of course) is that I can't remember the last time I was in a room with a problem at 800Hz... :D
 
One other thing I noticed was putting your mixing desk in a corner. You'd be better off, I think, setting up in the center of the wall, acoustic treatment behind the monitors, with bass traps in the corners to your left and right.
my 2c
 
Massive Master said:
The funny part (of course) is that I can't remember the last time I was in a room with a problem at 800Hz... :D
Click to expand...

maybe there was hidden egg crate foam in the walls :D
 
YoungRecords said:
ok..i have my own recording gear, now im getting a new house and i want to make a home studio in my basement, and i need help soundproofing it..
can you guys please help me?

i need to know what to use? how to use it? and where to get it?...


here's my design....please help me with your best knowledge.
Click to expand...


my father built a quarter of our house into a recording studio when i was 8. i still remember the main lesson for sound proofing was layers. He used felt and some kind of brown soft board in layers, and the type of glass he used for the windows had four panes with air spaced out between them. the theory is that the sound has to go through something hard, then it has to penetrate a different density entirely, then another layer of something else. each layer takes something from the soundwaves and the over all mass will take the rest.

he used felt because he got a deal on some rejects from a factory. there are other materials that work as well, the key is in the layers.
 
Dude, that egg carton NRC post is hilarius. I knew they were worthles, but they are way more worthless than I imagined. Under 400hz, where the vast majority of rooms need the most help, they do nothing. You're better off with a pile of Care Bear pillows in the corner.

Take a trip over to www.musicplayer.com and look for the forum. Check out the Ethan Winer section. Also, check out his excellent article here.

In my opinion, there are two major things you need to worry about. Sound proofing to keep the neighbors happy and sound treatment. The latter is treating the room to sound its best.
 
most of them are terribly non-fire resistant. These things catch on fire like crazy and you don't want something like this on your walls.
Click to expand...

That is very true, i did over look that... Woops... I guess theres no real "effective cheap way" to proof a room. I think like anyone, you'd have to definetely research into real acoustic treatment (i know i need to) not just as a product, but when and where to place it, because its not like your going to pad a whole hall if your recording an orchestra, but then again its YOUR personal preference.
 
thanks fellow recorder's

thanks for all the info guy's...also...my wall's are conquet/sement, is that a problem or a good thing?..my floor is also cement/conquet, but my ceiling is wood...some people told me that cement on the walls is a good thing..juss wondering if that is a problem..and the price range, is $5k-$10k..thanks again.
 
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