Soundproofing!

spookymuffin

I have a 10'x10' room that I'm going to try and soundproof, or just reduce noise output. I live in a building with stone walls, and there isn't any insulation. My main concern is that I'm trying to play my drums (electronic kit), but the sounds and vibrations are getting through the walls and kind of disturbing my landlord. She called the first time I played, and asked if I was hammering things into the walls. Of course, I'm not looking to spend $Texas on the project, and have done a little research on the project. I'm looking at using sound dampening sheets/blankets or egg crate foam, since they appear the be the cheapest way to go. Does anyone have any experience in this area? I don't want to spend money on something that isn't going to work.

Noisymunk

Being a drummer is a pain in the ass.

Before you even begin room treatments, can you work out something with your neighbor? Explain that you have an electronic drum set and would like to practice for an hour a day, and come up with a time that would work for both of you.

Egg crate foam will not work. It will only stop sound waves from bouncing around in the room, it won't stop the vibrations from being transmitted through the wall. There are a few different rubber and rock wool insulation products that might work and might not be too expensive if you only need to treat one wall.

schuss

The first thing that comes to mind is putting your entire setup on a rubber mat to isolate any hardpoints from the floor?

djmitchella

Two layers of drywall and http://www.greengluecompany.com/ between them; not particularly cheap, but we did this when building a new bedroom in our basement and the walls were then pretty much soundproof. Of course, sound still leaked through/around the door, so it was not as useful as we'd hoped, but..

Donovan Puppyfucker

Solid wooden door instead of those terrible hollow-core doors will help, as will draft sealing the door all around on both sides.

spookymuffin

I feel like I need to add that I'm a renter, so construction wouldn't be allowed. I do like the rubber mat idea, I'll definitely throw down for that. I am going to continue playing, but I would like to be a good neighbor and not subject her to my currently terrible drumming if I can help it at all.

dlinfiniti

edit: oh nm you are electronic, that's much harder, your subwoofer should be raised up off the floor

Donovan Puppyfucker

spookymuffin wrote: »

I feel like I need to add that I'm a renter, so construction wouldn't be allowed. I do like the rubber mat idea, I'll definitely throw down for that. I am going to continue playing, but I would like to be a good neighbor and not subject her to my currently terrible drumming if I can help it at all.

If you're electronic, can't you just plug in some headphones?

spookymuffin

Even with headphones, electric kits aren't silent. My house has the added benefit of zero wall insulation, so the taps on my pads (kickpad especially) is audible through the wall. Imagine someone banging their fist against the wall.

I did some research on matting, and it looks like a few people in my situation have used insulated floor tiles. That (or a couple yoga mats between a couple of rugs) should do the trick for my kick pedal. The pads might be tricky.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Man that fucking sucks if she can hear your pads through the walls. It also sucks because hey, that's not really that big of a thing for her to have to deal with, she should lighten up and appreciate that you at least do it sane hours. Imagine if you played the tuba at 6:00 every morning!