On The Cheap

[JoeVictim]

So, my basement is going to be my music spot. Basement is unfinnished except for a lighbulb and electrical outlet. I need advice on materials to tack on the ceiling (the subfloor of the main level), and ideas for what to put on the walls and possibly windows. I live in a city with a real strict noise ordinance, just to give you an idea, it can't be louder than 55db from 25 feet away. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

[GregP]

My main advice is that it ain't gonna work. Homebrewed sound-treatment solutions are only generally able to help create a more accurate listening space that's free of standing wave reflections. Uneven surfaces and some absorbant materials help bass and other frequencies not be in-phase with each other and thereby ruin your perception of sound. Makes doing a mixdown more accurate and pleasant.

But the majority of those waves will still pass out of your room and into the surrounding environment. You will still have cranky neighbors if you want to turn it up.

The only way to begin a "soundproofing" project is to approach it as a box within a box, with a layer of "air" (not always literally-- the space can be filled with porous material, which will still have a lot of air in it). Soundwaves don't like that. You would build a new "floating" floor (not screwed down or to the walls), and create new walls and ceiling with something--plywood would be fine... drywall isn't quite dense enough, but it might be better than nothing--and perhaps rockwool in between the new layer and the old. You will lose space in your room, but will have a much better chance of soundproofing it.

Anything less, like I mentioned earlier, is a room "treatment" which is still a really great thing for home recordists, but it's not soundproofing and won't save you from your neighbors.

[Prostheta]

What Greg said, but i'd like to add two things:

- decoupling (room within a room as per Greg)

- mass

Decoupling prevent structure-bourne noise being carried through joists, walls, etc. That's the floating floor idea. You can buy all kinds of rubber things to put under joists etc. which will prevent vibrations from the internal room structure being transferred to outer structures.

Mass is simple. The thicker, denser and less resonant something is, the better it works at soundproofing. We're not talking egg cartons! They just help diffuse sound which is a different ball game (sound treatment as per Greg's post). If you have plasterboard walls, glue another layer on. Thickening plasterboard from 1/2" to 1" or even 2" helps a lot. This is why lead used to be used as soundproofing before the health issues. It's limp, heavy and dense.

BTW - here's some trivia. Soundproofing converts sound energy into minute amounts of heat energy. Cool beans!

[Ben]

BTW - here's some trivia. Soundproofing converts sound energy into minute amounts of heat energy. Cool beans!

On the topic of soundproofing, physics and trivia; my universtity is building the ultimate soundproof room just across the road from where I live. I somehow doubt they'll let me use it as a music practice room though.

And this is definitely off topic, since at £7.6 million I doubt it counts as 'on the cheap'

[killemall8]

this is completley random, but when did you become a mod ben?

[Ben]

this is completley random, but when did you become a mod ben?

Yesterday; I tend to be on the forum regularly, and so I've reported a lot of the spam threads... This way I can just delete them myself, which should hopefully save the other mods a bit of extra work; especially considering how much spam there seems to be lately. Rick500 got made a mod too, for similar reasons.

[JoeVictim]

Thanks fellas. Maybe I need to pick up one of those Bob Villa diy books...

From a physics standpoint, wouldn't a floating wood floor make the situation worse?

[GregP]

From a physics standpoint? Nope.

[pmarlin]

You said it was a basement, so is it completely underground? If so that should help alot.

[JoeVictim]

Allright, I know there are a lot of great people here with great advice.

My last post was regarding the same thing that happens on a stage. the bass travels through the stage that becomes its own amplifier of soundwaves. I may not be hitting the technical nail on the head here. But, a lot of the time when you are on a wood stage, the bass will be boomy, hence a lot of bass players use stands, milk crates, and the like.

So Greg, If I am understanding you correctly, I should layer the floor and walls with porous material like that matress foam stuff. Then, build a raised floor and walls so that there is something between the concrete and wood?

And per Prostheta, maybe I could get some dry wall and maybe get some of those rubber floor mat things to go between the drywall or subfloor (depending on if its ceiling or floor)?

So, this would be: concrete, foam material, frame work, rubber stuff, then wall. Does that sound like it would work really well? Probably not as cheap as I was hoping for. I've never had to do anything like this myself and I really appreciate your advice.

Much Thanks,

-Joe

[GregP]

Hi Joe!

You inadvertently found the answer you were seeking-- the reason bass travels through the stage, and the stage becomes an additional "amplifier" is because they are coupled (directly contacting) to one another. If you put the bass amp on a riser (there are commercial foam ones available!), you decouple it to a large extent and reduce this effect. The stage is equivalent to one "wall", the foam riser is the "air", and the bass amp's speaker cab is another "wall".

You seem to have the right ideas and a reasonable approach. It's not cheap, and in some cases might not meet safety requirements. Whether you get inspected or not is another question, but in the event of a tragedy, the insurance company might investigate and conclude that unapproved construction was the cause. Be careful. Each region is different, so you might not require an inspection, but I would at least look into it. You want to protect yourself and your family more than anything else. Creating a fire or ventilation hazard is the last thing you want.

That said, there SHOULD be nothing inherently dangerous about the process if you approach it smart. And by creating the "layers" of wall/air/wall, you will be far more assured of soundproofness than any sort of foam (Auralex or whatever) treatment would provide. The "air" gap doesn't have to be huge... it just has to be enough to decouple one wall from the next.

There should be information on the internet somewhere. I know I've seen it come up in discussions on Gearslutz.com from time to time, and a few people have posted threads with pics on how they soundproofed their studios. It's probably not the most comprehensive resource, but a few minutes of searching around there could be a starting point for you.

Good luck!

Greg