Least noise-leakage room

[Randy_Orton1]

i was just wondering, what room would i have to put the drumset in to leak the least amount of sound to outside the house? Basement? Living Room? etc etc... thanks for any help.

[stevensonmat2]

All depends on what the walls are made of, and insulation. I f you have thin floors the sound might go from the basement to all your rooms in the house.

[Chippy569]

All depends on what the walls are made of, and insulation. I f you have thin floors the sound might go from the basement to all your rooms in the house.

well said....


Sound is the transfer of vibrations through a material... there are two ways to stop sound.

1. no material -- like a "vaccuum"
2. LOTS of material -- like a brick wall.



usually it'd be the smallest, thickest-walled room possible (so one with exteriour walls)

[Ellx]

smallest? I thought it would be the biggest, thickest-walled room possible.

[Chippy569]

well, from my experience, my drums in the corner exterior basement room has been quieter than in a corner of my family room.

[Smike313]

very rarely are your walls a big part of the noise problem... windows and doors on the other hand can cause major leekage.

[GooseFilms.net]

i was just wondering, what room would i have to put the drumset in to leak the least amount of sound to outside the house? Basement? Living Room? etc etc... thanks for any help.

yes, living rooms are notorious for their superb sound insulation... :confused:

like chippy said, basement is your best bet. vacuums insulate better than anything else, but good luck building an isolated practice room in your house. basement is the most logical place

[stevensonmat2]

We played in my friends living room the other day. Not sure on how well it was insulated, but the acoustics were awsome.

[Aaron]

The room which is in the middle surrounded by other rooms.

[Tillmon]

Living room in most houses is actually pretty good insulation, because you've got the whole rest of the house blocking the noise. Assuming the living room is pretty far back in the house.

[pitchfork]

Basement (if you have one) is probably best.

[donteatpieontuesday]

you could go to a carpet dealer and just get alot of cutoffs and scrap bits for cheap and attach that to the wall because that will catch alot of the sound

[pitchfork]

Not really, it'll improve acoustics but the carpet on walls is a myth like eggboxes.

[Marky_Mark]

Not really, it'll improve acoustics but the carpet on walls is a myth like eggboxes.

Yep it is...Someone posted a link a while back which spoke of the myths and the proper ways to soundproofing a room.

I have my drums in my basement and I still haven't received a complaint, except from my sister.

[MisurCanavi]

Not really, it'll improve acoustics but the carpet on walls is a myth like eggboxes.

I want to see proof.

My decibel meter says otherwise.

[Chippy569]

and your moldmeter?


you're getting the illusion of it being quieter because carpet semi-absorbs sound (As opposed to reflecting it). but that's like saying a music track without reverb is quieter than a music track with reverb...

[pitchfork]

I want to see proof.

My decibel meter says otherwise.

I suggest you get it checked because its full of ****, or you are.

[Carn]

carpets/eggboxes only affect internal acoustics and will hardly stop the leaking of sound.

[Happy_Squirrel]

Basement, for sure.

Garage is the worst. The garage doors are so thin that you might as well leave them open, it'd be about the same.

[Damo]

very rarely are your walls a big part of the noise problem... windows and doors on the other hand can cause major leekage.
The biggest contributor to outside noise is actually the roof cavity. Extra thick insulation batts is a good start. The other big contributor is windows. Many studios are now opting for those glass bricks instead of openable windows. Light gets in, but sound doesnt get out.

I want to see proof.

My decibel meter says otherwise.
Carpet is half an inch thick. Physically, it could never do the job well. The surface of carpet is irregular and therefore it is able to absorb/scatter higher frequency soundwaves, making it good for controlling reflection. However, reflection constitutes only a few dB of the total overall volume and from the outside of the walls Id doubt you see any significant difference.

[Hunted By a Freak]

in my house i want a room with ****in spaces between the walls

or just play drums in space

[Motleyguy]

Not really, it'll improve acoustics but the carpet on walls is a myth like eggboxes.

actually
eggboxes in large quantities would work
because they act as diffusion panels and break up the sound waves. But egg cartons are small, so that being said, you would need quite a few of them in order for them to have any effect. A more practical use for them would be to prevent standing waves in a room, but again you would need them in large quantities.

[pitchfork]

Yeah but you'd need about 10 eggboxes thick to get any knid of noticable sound reduction.

[Motleyguy]

hence, large quantities, lol. Your best bet would be to get some sheets of plywood, lets say 6' x 6' approx. and some 2 x 4's build 3 frames from the 2 x 4's, with some feet on them, possibly wheels, put carpet the plywood and put the plywood in the frames, probably 2 sheets thick, and voila, you have very functional baffles, that will probably greatly reduce noise leakage.

So as supplies go for 3 baffles, (left, right and front of the kit) you will need:

6 sheets of plywood (6' x 6')

12- 15 2 x 4's (depends what you're using for the feet, they gotta be stable)

and some old carpet scraps

carpet the plywood on one side each, and put 2 back to back, then build a frame around them. Put some feet, even wheels on them, and you'll be good to go. I'm no carpenter, but it should probably produce some good quality baffles. For even more noise reduction you could even put a thin sheet of insulation in between, the foam or whatever.

[skidrumbum]

mines in my basement. but once the band comes over it doesnt rly matter where you put it because your gunna hear it for a long way

[Voodoo]

Motley, where are you buying your 6'x6' ply from? lol

Secondly, I can't see how that woul stop any sound from leaving the room and pissing off the neighbors.

As for playing in your house, just put your set wherever you can fit them in. If you really wanted to you could try to put them opposite of your neighbor that complains.

[Damo]

Lower frequencies are only blocked by denser materials . Porous materials like batts, carpet, eggcartons have a degree of effectiveness for blocking higher frequencies, but generally these arent the frequencies that are disturbing the neighbours.

[Motleyguy]

Motley, where are you buying your 6'x6' ply from? lol

Secondly, I can't see how that woul stop any sound from leaving the room and pissing off the neighbors.

As for playing in your house, just put your set wherever you can fit them in. If you really wanted to you could try to put them opposite of your neighbor that complains.

Build some baffles, you don't need 6 x 6 sheets, it just needs to fit into a frame at about 6 x 6, as I said, I'm no carpenter. And you'd be surprised how much sound it kills, I use them in the studio's live room at school, and it prevents so much bleed through when the band is laying down the bed tracks, so it would also work to prevent noise leakage, as that is exactly what they are doing in the studio.

Lower frequencies are only blocked by denser materials . Porous materials like batts, carpet, eggcartons have a degree of effectiveness for blocking higher frequencies, but generally these arent the frequencies that are disturbing the neighbours.

Damo is right, it is in fact the lower frequencies that tend to bother the neighbors, as they are the ones have the ability to get out and snake around corners and what not (if you're thinking of it as a physical waveform)

[DrummingBen]

I know that from where I play my kit, our house is divided into 3 parts
my room-door-hallway-door-kitchen-door-living room.
In the living room only the bass annoys them.