Makeshift Homestudio Soundproofing

  • Thread starter Thread starter ambi
  • Start date Start date
hmmm

Hmm. ok. so just cover my walls in any foam i can get my hands on, and see what happens?
 
That's not my recommendation. SoundPROOFing would have to involve stopping the mechanical transmission of sound through the floor and ceiling as well. Plus, foam may have a minimal effect on bass frequencies.

The problem is, you may end up covering all your walls with foam, and ending up with a space that is not very sound proof and actually sounds worse for recording purposes than before you started.

I think you might want a more creative approach. Like building a boxes or enclosures you could put your guitar and bass amps into along with a mic. Or using DI boxes.

As far as drums go, unless you use triggered pads, not much you can do, other than constructing moveable panels (gobos) that you can surround the kit with.
 
hmm

welll with much consideration, and from what ive read of your posts, my makeshift approach will do nothing, and actually make the accoustics worse. Keep in mind this isn't really for keeping the noise of recordings down, its for when im using my monitoring speakers. I want as little sound escaping as possible. So ive decided the only option is to kick my family out of the house, and knock down a bunch of walls.
 
Wouldnt it still be worth it to minimalize the sound though? My friends band bought a room and put up "soundwood" and Eggcrate foam on all of the walls, and it is very quiet from the outside, even with 2 amps, miked drums, and vocals, and the acoustics sound fine. I dont get it.
 
The "soundboard" probably did work. I'd never heard of it before you mentioned it, but it's probably glorified plywood... hence, MASS, as we've been saying. The egg carton treatment, as many of us have said, is not effective in keeping low frequencies from exiting a room - only for keeping mids and highs from bouncing around inside.

If you're allowed to modify your bedroom with soundboard and it's not too expensive, I'd go for it, but only after finding out the STC rating vs. less expensive materials like plywood. The STC ratings will tell you how many dB you can expect to kill with the material. Start only with the walls adjoining family members' rooms, and if possible, leave a small air space between the existing walls and new layers.

I can't reiterate enough what many of us have said... "DON'T KILL ALL THE SOUND IN THE ROOM WITH FOAM! Start with small areas and test it out, keeping in mind that soundproofing (mass) and changing the acoustics of the room (foam, eggcrate, etc.) are two very different things.

Ken Rutkowski
Outer Limit Recording Studio
 
your dad was right, an air pocket between walls is the best way to go, and most big studios don't go throwing foam all over the place because they have constructed floating-walls that provide the afformentioned air pocket.

what i'm telling you is stuff that i've seen done in other studios and what i've read in recording magazine. i've putting foam in my control room to deaden some of the reflections, but my room (since it has no height, width, or length multiples) isn't in horrible acoustic shape.

putting up the wood frame and attaching the 'soundboard' wood to that will create an air pocket (not a true pocket since your frame wood will be attached to both your normal walls and your soundboard wood.

then, once you've got your soundboard wood up. put up your acoustic foam such that it gives your mixing position (the triangle between your monitor speakers and your head) the most depth.

take a look at the primacoustic web page (www.primacoustic.com) it has great stuff on it as far as where to put the foam even if you don't want their particular product (i just got it).

you need ultra thick foam (bass traps) for the corners of your room to control the bass boom, and 3" foam to help with the standing waves that make your room sound uneven.

i helped some friends who own a mid-sized recording studio in DC construct a pretty nice vocal booth and mixing room. stuff that i can not do here in my house (it's too small) was quite a kick to do in their studio.
 
Try going to AMFoam.com, email the sales guy. they offer studio foam that is fire retardent, and dense like auralex. but the price is more realistic.

80.00us for two panels 100"x80" now that covers alot of real estate for you. compared to auralex and the others. It only comes in grey though.

there are dozens of bass trap designs on the web as well. you should also try hush board. its used on the sides of houses to keep out the noise. I get it for 6.00 a 4'x8' sheet.
 
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