sound proofing

Hey guys... i'm regularly holding jamming sessions in my attic.
and i think the neighbours are going mad.
although i live in a bunglow, but the surrounding buildings can hear me too.
is there a way to isolate the room, or cut down on the noise thats going out?

whats the cheapest and most effective way?

i've heard alot about using egg crates... but do they really work?
should i just map them over my walls. or put them at strategic places?

i dont think it really work heh , try using those type of thick thick sponge found in studios u know , it'll absorb the sound

yeah.. i've heard people talk about those too... they are around $60/mattress sized column.

so with that. what sound i do with it? place it in slabs over my walls, or place it at strategic places?

The rest have touched on the walls, but I am not sure if you have taken the window openings and doors into account.

There are gaps after we close out door and windows and for those, yuo can try buying sound deadening strips from Car Audio shops. It's pretty cheap at $2.50 per roll, can't remember how long exactly each roll was but it took about 3 rolls to fill up the gaps on my door. (I did it back then not because of recording but because my family is complaining about the bassy music I play)

You can check it out at places like Pin Liang Enterprise (the HDB carpark opposite the road from Zouk - yellow signboard beside the POSB ATM) With a tonne of cars there doing up their sound systems, you can't miss it.

DD

so you just stuff the gaps of the door with it?

That strip is of a sound dampening material. It comes in the form like a tape, just peel off the paper and stick in line to the ledge or whichever gap you wished to fill up. But of course, some window panes gaps are really small. Make sure yur windows or doors can close and open. But once you shut it, the gap should no longer exist or at least kep at the minimum.

DD

sound proofing is a very expensive toy. it is as good as using stack of $50 to paste on your wall to block sound from coming in/out of the room.

you can check out this link for some very useful information.

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=2

no budget ways around it? like sticking matresses all over the place?

the link i posted above pretty much cover all possible ways.

the more creative you are, the lesser money you need to spend. :wink:

Go jam at a jamming studio for your family's sake, mad neighbours don't care who they spit at in the offending household.

Much cheaper anyway, full soundproofing at attic space will cost a bomb by pros. Dunno maybe 40K or more.

Worst place to jam, as the top of the house will be like a broadcast center.

soundproofing, really ive tried many ways, and it works like if u dont cover the gaps then theres no use covering at all. Its really the bass sounds that suk, try putting your amps on a raised platform supported with sound absorbing materials, but i just wrap it in cushion. If u can afford a bungalow, then u could afford building a layer of wall, using wood and filling the gap inbetween with an sound proofing agent.

you can try styrofoam with carpets over as decoration ... it's just an idea .. never tried it before but sound absorption is pretty much the same .. you want to reduce the sound output levels from your room so that it will not reach the ears of your neighbours .. not that loud anyway if not impossible ...

the corners are the danger parts .. those are the corners that reflect the resonance of the low frequencies .. can be very damaging if you are doing studio recording ..

just a small advice .. hope it helps ...

tried styrofoam, not as effective as cloth based material, also quite a poor agent

Ladies and Gents

Sound Proofing and Sound Dampening are not the same.

Sound Proofing: is when you reduce sound transmission in or out relative to a room. The only way, and I say this as a professional, the ONLY way, is to create a room within a room. The costs speculated here are wildly off the mark. Sound travels through a medium, and in the case of the studio is mostly leaked where there is air transmission, or physical transmission. What you need is some stud wall construction, using min. 9mm board, pref. 12mm board, or doubled 9mm board. The insulation really wants to be 100mm thk rockwool to give you at least 35 dB attenuation. You would need doubled doors (solid or insulated better than hollow of course), or doubled windows. If you wish to retain a single window, get them double glazed or triple glazed. Your doors need to be retrofitted so that they seal at the bottom, conventional doors you will see , do not have this. Garden patio doors, in PVC work very well. Any local contractor can do this for you at about SGD$25 - 40 per sq ft. Houses can be built for $150 per sq. foot, so please for the sake of common sense do not speculate wild figures like 40K.

Sound dampening: this merely reduces reflections in the room, and has no contribution to sound proofing.

And once and for all, egg crates are for eggs. Use your common sense, egg crates can dampen some, the same effect of curtains. They cannot sound proof anything any more than tin foil on your head can reduce alien thought broadcasts.

just thought i'll ask here since i've no where else to turn to..

does anybody knoe of any companies who do soundproofing? doesn't have to be studio quality or tip top shape, just good enough on a budget to keep the sound within the room. budget's around a G.

I don;t think you can do isolation for 1K

Treatment yes, but doubt you can have isolation

Regards
Robin

thanks robsg, i would prefer to get a quote from a contractor who does it. do you know of any such contractors? thanks.

i agreed with Ovid on the room within a room method if soundproofing is needed.

if budget is the issue, think of ways that applied the same principle of that. it is basically block off the sound travelling out from the room, and create a air gap between the room and the outside world.

i am presently thinking of ways to reslove some soundproofing problem between two halls with a movable partition installed.
i am considering to put up a heavy curtain, those use for stage a feet from the wall. many think its a good idea.

will let you know if it really work.