SOUNDPROOFING QUESTIONS

Reverend G-Money · #1 02-02-2005, 01:01 AM

hey guys, my band is about to lose our studio and i might have the opportunity to use the garage in my backyard. This are is pretty tightly packed, if you are familiar with san diego or the pacific beach area you'll understand. but i need to know about sound proofing.

ok you backyard Macgyver's what do you do? I have a standard 2 car garage, but i need to leave about 6 feet width going front to back. here's a jackass drawing of the space..

I I
I I our space
I I
I I wall>
I I___________________
I
I________________________

how can i do this?? any idea on ventilation?? i just had this idea so i didn't measure anything yet..

**IvanMike** · #2 02-02-2005, 08:50 AM

your drawing looks mysteriously like two collumns of "I"s.

i dunno exactly what you're getting at. so maybe you could elaborate?

lots of stuff will help with soundproofing - think soft material.

the big problem will be bass frequencies as they tend to muscle their way thru and out of structures.

Mon Rominee · #3 02-02-2005, 09:20 AM

The only way to truly soundproof that space is a box within a box design, with even the floor elevated from the concrete...

Then there's the ventilation issue...

But a good way to lessen the blow is to make a set of walls / baffles that free-stand a few inches from the actual structural walls, and line those with sound-board like homasote or whatever. Acoustical foam / and or heavy moving blankets draped over these facing at you (playing side area of the wall) will also help more. The big deals are the sound transmitting upwards thru the roof (need another dummy "roof", maybe) but all in all, if you play with any kind of considerable volume, you're kinda screwed... I'd go to your town reps and see what kind of noise ordinance restrictions you are facing / and are able to exploit within your rights.

And, talk to your neighbors about your situation. Kill them with kindness.

Good luck on that.

Tsal · #4 02-02-2005, 09:56 AM

For a REAL soundproof space, you need to do is to build a "room within a room", a space that has it's own floor, walls and roof.

There are two main reason how sound escapes from the garage. First is via air, as in leaks through all kinds of tiny cracks and such. The second is structural transmission, as in the sound makes the wall vibrate. So, you want to build an "almost airtight" space with muted air exchange routs that stands on something which doesn't transmit vibrations well - you could use rubber or similar material between the garage floor and the bottom of your 'rehearsal cube'. Halves of old car tires or something could be good for cost effective structural insulation.

If you really want to soundproof the space, prepare to spend some cash, at minimum to timber and insulation wool from which to build your new walls and roof.

On ventilation, what you want is a ventilaton tube with 90-degree turn where there's some soft material on the inner surface to muffle the sound(prevents it from reflecting from the hard surface). These should be available in all large hardware stores which cater to private homebuilders et cetera. There also are commercial muffler units for airducts, but I don't know about their cost.

The Golden Boy · #5 02-02-2005, 10:10 AM

Get some foam egg crate stuff. That'll stop any sound right in it's tracks...

Seriously though,

Without spending thousands of dollars- Mon's got the best practical solution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mon Rominee

But a good way to lessen the blow is to make a set of walls / baffles that free-stand a few inches from the actual structural walls, and line those with sound-board like homasote or whatever. Acoustical foam / and or heavy moving blankets draped over these facing at you (playing side area of the wall) will also help more. The big deals are the sound transmitting upwards thru the roof (need another dummy "roof", maybe) but all in all, if you play with any kind of considerable volume, you're kinda screwed... I'd go to your town reps and see what kind of noise ordinance restrictions you are facing / and are able to exploit within your rights.

talk to your neighbors about your situation. Kill them with kindness.

Reverend G-Money · #6 02-02-2005, 10:35 AM

sweet. all of these rock. thanks guys.

The Golden Boy · #7 02-02-2005, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reverend G-Money

sweet. all of these rock.

Even the egg-crate stuff?

Mon Rominee · #8 02-02-2005, 11:02 AM

Thanks GB, the reason I suggested dummy walls / baffles is because they can potentially be MOBILE. You can set them up and make as many as you need for a practical space to rehearse, and at the end, put them up against the wall...and still "pahk a cah".

**Thor** · #9 02-03-2005, 03:43 PM

EVER HEARD OF THE STATION NIGHTCLUB FIRE?

Before your put flammable foam on your walls, be aware the
fire marshal there called it flammable as gasoline.

Read this ...

After 1 minute, there is flashover ...

Quote:

One minute into the fire, there is a "flashover," meaning smoke and flames were instantly everywhere.

"You can see the layer of toxic gases, high temperatures and smoke coming down to the floor, which would make it impossible to survive in this environment even on the floor," Grosshandler explained.

Don't use flammable foam, G. Spend the money and buy
non-flammable sound proofing foam. About twice the cost,
1000 times safer.

Reverend G-Money · #10 02-03-2005, 03:45 PM

yeah egg crates rule all!!!! If you are packing eggs.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm going into this blind so any help is good..