Cheap Sound Dampening?
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- mg33
Any of you that have been in bands or are in bands, have you ever done any kind of cheap sound dampening at your practice space? What type of material is widely available for cheap that you've found?
I'm thinking blankets, egg crate padding (though that's pricey), or some kind of foam.
I've also been thinking about getting a ton of cardboard and a staple gun and just building shapes into the wall to break up the whole square room/wooden walls thing.
Anything creative you can think of?
- ********0
carpet then egg crates work perfectly
- ********0
I use Vinyl records & stuffed animals. Seriously. I big shelfs that cover the walls, full of vinyl records. The top of the shelfs is lined thick with stuffed animals. It catches the shit hitting the top of the room lovely and keeps the space looking fun as all fuck.
- autoflavour0
depends if your just trying to make it quieter or actually stop reflections (ie for recording)
- This. It's a practice space building sound bleed isn't an issue. Want to stop reflectionsmg33
- sikma0
go to a bakery with a truck and ask for egg crates
- JackRyan0
You could mount some homesote(sp?) boards up on the walls before the carpets and egg crates too.
- ********0
those egg things
- ********0
oh right... my setup is for stopping reflections/room reverb, but the neighbors can hear it perfectly. :)
- mg330
morilla,
Yeah, I'd think so, but I'm stuck with the "where to acquire it" "how much will I need" etc. questions on something like that.
Our room is probably at least 20x20, and probably 14 foot ceilings.
- ********0
- autoflavour0
not exactly the cheapest option, but roofing insulation bats are definitely cheaper than proper sound proofing..
- thenuge0
Band used to play in a house in the city in a stone foundation basement. All the houses are like 4 feet apart from each other. We used mattresses we bought on the cheap from goodwill and stuff goodwill sleeping bags in the windows. We got some cheap eggcrate foam from walmart and staple gunned it to the ceiling. Looked ghetto, but the total cost to "soundproof" the room was around $80 bucks. Worked pretty well too. Also, put eggcrate foam inside the drums and a pillow in the kick.
- thenuge0
Band used to play in a house in the city in a stone foundation basement. All the houses are like 4 feet apart from each other. We used mattresses we bought on the cheap from goodwill and stuff goodwill sleeping bags in the windows. We got some cheap eggcrate foam from walmart and staple gunned it to the ceiling. Looked ghetto, but the total cost to "soundproof" the room was around $80 bucks. Worked pretty well too. Also, put eggcrate foam inside the drums and a pillow in the kick.
- autoflavour0
bookshelfs full of books help
also do some research on acoustic treatment.. you dont have to cover the entire room, you just need to have some effective traps and proper placement of equipment
- Corners and such, sure. Floor isn't too carpeted, that would be a good start.mg33
- ********0
We used to go to carpet outlets and ask them if they had scraps. We also would drive by hardware stores, housing developments being built and mattress stores.
You can usually find quite a bit if you are willing to invest the time.
- bulletfactory0
i've seen carpet stretched over wooden frames used - like a canvas
- thenuge0
bulletfactory - did that in a house in seattle once. it didn't work too bad. we also built some gobos. I agree with autoflavor - placement is everything!
- ********0
We came across rubber sheets once about 1/2 inch thick. We nailed those up, put carpet next then the egg crate foam. Flippin' silent.
- acescence0
things like foam and carpet will mostly handle just the higher frequencies.
if you want broad spectrum control all the way down to the lows, you need structures of varying depths to absorb waves of varying lengths.
i suggest building large wood frames, from an inch up to a foot in depth, and a few in between. fill the space inside with rigid fiberglass insulation boards, and cover with stretched fabric.
