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Sound management in a garage- Help please
- Thread starter wraub
- Start date
I would think that a lot of sound goes right up/out thru the ceiling .... I know my attic area over my garage has soffits down the sides and a ridge vent ... all to let the hot air out , which will let the sound out very well ...
I would suggest headphones for 'every day ' type rehearsals ... then maybe a couple 'full gear' rehearsals right before a gig ...
I don't think you really need to entertain or annoy the whole neighborhood to learn or write songs ...!!??
save your ears .... !!
I would suggest headphones for 'every day ' type rehearsals ... then maybe a couple 'full gear' rehearsals right before a gig ...
I don't think you really need to entertain or annoy the whole neighborhood to learn or write songs ...!!??
save your ears .... !!
I'm kind of amazed by the amount of hopelessness put forward by my TB brethren already. A few years back, I finished my detached garage (20x20') with the bare minimum in insulation and drywall. My buddies and I cheaply and quickly lined the ENTIRE thing with carpet remnants and set up a five-piece metal band in there and my neighbors who were not more than 50' away insisted that they could not hear us when they were inside their house. Even outside, it was barely audible from the road, less than 100' away. That was just a couple of dudes working with no budget to soundproof. It is doable.
I keep thinking if doing proper soundproofing and filling all the gaps, and then no one hearing the band slowly suffocate.
Fill the garage with helium. It'll raise the frequencies to a level which doesn't make the construction materials resonate. 
get some old mattresses and put them everywhere. decorate them with the carpet remnants.
lots of sound comes out the top, so if you have something to build a makeshift roof for your insane asylum fortress, all the better.
lots of sound comes out the top, so if you have something to build a makeshift roof for your insane asylum fortress, all the better.
I have seen it. Had a guitar friend who did a lot of home recording. Mattresses lining the walls. Makeshift vocal booths with bookshelves lined with mattresses and topped with mattresses. Worked ok, mass is good for soundproofing. Messy, unhygenic and a fire hazard.
Helped him move once and managed to damage a $3000 guitar as I wasn't told there were pieces of wood stored above the mattresses on top of the vocal booth.
My wife and I put up insulated, framed and finished walls inside our unfinished barn. We knew nothing about it when we started. its not too hard to do, except for framing around existing windows.
Will sound nicer, look nicer, and provide better isolation than concrete walls alone.
A friend of mine has a really nice basement setup for jamming. He lined the walls with carpet padding and covered it all with black fabric stapled up somehow. Looks classy enough that it doubles as his wifes yoga studio!
Will sound nicer, look nicer, and provide better isolation than concrete walls alone.
A friend of mine has a really nice basement setup for jamming. He lined the walls with carpet padding and covered it all with black fabric stapled up somehow. Looks classy enough that it doubles as his wifes yoga studio!
So... First rehearsal last night in the new place.
Got an 8 ft x 8 ft grid behind the drums on the wall, and covered the inside of the garage door.
Outside transmission or not, the space sounds better. Like, from a wash of noise to clearly delineated instruments in a mix waiting to happen better. No noise complaints, plus, an enthusiastic thumbs-us from the next door neighbor.
Still have foam and MuteX to mount. Was thinking of cutting the MuteX into equal length sections and running them across the ceiling, and placing random foam panels on doors and open wall spaces. More foam is inbound.
More to follow, if anyone is interested.
Got an 8 ft x 8 ft grid behind the drums on the wall, and covered the inside of the garage door.
Outside transmission or not, the space sounds better. Like, from a wash of noise to clearly delineated instruments in a mix waiting to happen better. No noise complaints, plus, an enthusiastic thumbs-us from the next door neighbor.
Still have foam and MuteX to mount. Was thinking of cutting the MuteX into equal length sections and running them across the ceiling, and placing random foam panels on doors and open wall spaces. More foam is inbound.
More to follow, if anyone is interested.
What did you do with the floor?So... First rehearsal last night in the new place.
Got an 8 ft x 8 ft grid behind the drums on the wall, and covered the inside of the garage door.
Outside transmission or not, the space sounds better. Like, from a wash of noise to clearly delineated instruments in a mix waiting to happen better. No noise complaints, plus, an enthusiastic thumbs-us from the next door neighbor.
Still have foam and MuteX to mount. Was thinking of cutting the MuteX into equal length sections and running them across the ceiling, and placing random foam panels on doors and open wall spaces. More foam is inbound.
More to follow, if anyone is interested.
If you have a bare concrete floor and a sheetrock ceiling, that's going to be a big problem, perhaps a bigger one than all the walls combined.
I missed what amps and PA you are using in the space. A garage isnt usually large - unless it is a 2-3-4 car.
That all said - are you trying to quite down gear that is WAY too much to be there to begin with?
Just curious
That all said - are you trying to quite down gear that is WAY too much to be there to begin with?
Just curious
You probably already have everything installed at this point but what the hell...
That mutex would do next to nothing on the ceiling. The best place for that would be the door. I'm surprised you put 2" foam on the back of the door, doesn't that impede it going up and down? And/or didn't you have to cut up the squares to get them to fit? The sections on most garage doors aren't anywhere close to 2' tall.
What I would have done is take the walls and from the top down to any "obstructions" (tool chests, etc...), do a checkerboard pattern, with foam on one wall match by exposed wall on the other side and vice versa (ie "white" directly across from "black"). That should cut down most of the parallel reflections in the horizontal realm, without making the space too stuff and dead. Since you would probably have to pick and choose, focus on the areas that will be in a direct line with speakers first and expand from there. If you have any left, do another checkerboard on the ceiling.
But wait, that assumes the garage is already drywalled. You live in AZ so with cold not being a factor, if your garage is just basic plywood on a 2x4 frame with nothing inside, that will make a huge difference. Just adding drywall to that would make a big difference, especially if you double layer it and use green glue in between. But I'll assume it's already drywalled.
The biggest thing is that concrete floor. First of all, FFS, don't put expensive acoustic foam on the garage floor, unless you want to waste money and kill your usable space. But do get some thick carpet laid down, with pad underneath (clean the floor first of course, it might seem like a small thing but it will make the space a lot nicer to be in). if you can cover all or most of your floor, you should notice a huge improvement in the sound. And with the more intelligible sound, you guys won't be fighting each other as much volume wise.
Bass traps could also help. There are tons of DIY projects online for that stuff.
That mutex would do next to nothing on the ceiling. The best place for that would be the door. I'm surprised you put 2" foam on the back of the door, doesn't that impede it going up and down? And/or didn't you have to cut up the squares to get them to fit? The sections on most garage doors aren't anywhere close to 2' tall.
What I would have done is take the walls and from the top down to any "obstructions" (tool chests, etc...), do a checkerboard pattern, with foam on one wall match by exposed wall on the other side and vice versa (ie "white" directly across from "black"). That should cut down most of the parallel reflections in the horizontal realm, without making the space too stuff and dead. Since you would probably have to pick and choose, focus on the areas that will be in a direct line with speakers first and expand from there. If you have any left, do another checkerboard on the ceiling.
But wait, that assumes the garage is already drywalled. You live in AZ so with cold not being a factor, if your garage is just basic plywood on a 2x4 frame with nothing inside, that will make a huge difference. Just adding drywall to that would make a big difference, especially if you double layer it and use green glue in between. But I'll assume it's already drywalled.
The biggest thing is that concrete floor. First of all, FFS, don't put expensive acoustic foam on the garage floor, unless you want to waste money and kill your usable space. But do get some thick carpet laid down, with pad underneath (clean the floor first of course, it might seem like a small thing but it will make the space a lot nicer to be in). if you can cover all or most of your floor, you should notice a huge improvement in the sound. And with the more intelligible sound, you guys won't be fighting each other as much volume wise.
Bass traps could also help. There are tons of DIY projects online for that stuff.
