How to vaguely soundproof a shed?

[Fender_Bender]

Inch thick lead panels should suffice .

 

[fourstr00]

Menards sells insulation made from recycled denim that’s specifically designed to muffle acoustics. You can touch it with your hands and has little dust so installation is easy.

My whole basement is insulated with it and the kids can sleep right through rehearsal, just one floor up.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Drop a larger shed over it.

That is one strategy to make announce booths.
A booth inside a larger booth.

 

[greenduke]

If it's about the surrounding residence complaining about the music and calling the cops on you:
Maybe, give all your adjacent neighbors a pair of noise cancelling headphones?

 

[basted]

I know from bitter experience that building a frame inside the room and hanging mattresses from it doesnt work!

 

[rufus.K]

Electric drums and IEMs

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Typically steelwool + sheetrock which will also make your shed smaller

 

[slagheap]

2x Sheetrock works wonders

agreed. density is what stops sound waves.

 

[ashtray]

In my old band days in a steel storage unit, we hung carpets on the walls and put down on the floor. I think what helped the most was there was no air circulation from outside the unit. That said, especially in the hot Summer, there was no air circulating in the unit!

(We used a gas heater in the winters - which were 20 degree F days - we nearly killed ourselves, again, due to zero ventilation.)

So moving blankets and carpet store scraps helped - but in reality, that’s not how you soundproof a room. It probably cut a lot of highs though, from escaping.

More recently we played in a garage. The paper thin garage door did almost nothing to change the volume outside. We added unsulation and then hung moving blankets in front, inside. Again, I think this cut down on the highs that could no longer beam straight through, but bass frequencies were still near full volume.

I do suggest that when practicing, turn the bass knob down on your amp. Push more mids and less bass. You’ll hear yourself better, and the lows won’t travel as far.

 

[EatS1stBassist]

you don't say that you aired up the mattresses, but you also don't say that you didn't...

its sposta be vague, not pacific.

Lol Yes I do put air in the mattresses!

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Depends on your neighbors and how "vaguely" you want to soundproof, but cutting dBs takes mass, isolation, and/or distance. And if you have significant air gaps to outside the structure (useful if—like me—you're fond of breathing), sound will get out.

That said, if near neighbors are a problem, a few approaches:

1. Edrums. keys-->DI. Bass and 'tars to DI (via Helix, Amplitube, etc). IEMs or headphones.
2. Build a platform and iso booth around the acoustic drums. (It'll be easier and less expensive than building a room within a room for the whole space.) Bass, gtr, and keys to DI as above.
3. Edrums (or isolated drums), w/ keys via DI, and bass and guitars through very small amps. If gits must have tube amps, think Fender Champ at most instead of Twin or even Deluxe Reverb. Even a 5-10 watt tube amp will get surprisingly loud when you get the tubes glowing.

So ironic how we spend time and money to make music, and then spend even more to make it unheard.

 

[two fingers]

So ironic how we spend time and money to make music, and then spend even more to make it unheard.

My neighbor spends lots of time and money on fully-automatic machine guns. I do not want to hear them at all.... ever.

It stands to reason that your neighbors wouldn't give a rat's behind how much time and money you spent to get where you are in your music career.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

So ironic how we spend time and money to make music, and then spend even more to make it unheard.

If we made “good” music it might not be a problem.