On drums...

...that this topis should be posted here...

We have a chance to grab a room in the building we live in and turn it into a place to rehears - primarily for me and Marta and maybe our band (we are known to play light music).

I'm open to any advice about sound proofing, but with cheap materials.
Building a room-inside-a-room would cost me money I can't spend. What else I can use to make it work?!?

There are no pipes in the room that will transfer the sound through other apartments. The room is on the top floor, so all I'm woried about is the sound we'll project bellow (vertically).

Any advice would be more than helpful regarding this...


If all works well I'll finally have a chance to store and play the drums very close, which would be great.

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Goki,
your biggest problem is going to be bass sound waves transmitting through the building, especially if you are on the top floor. You need to build up a floor that kills these waves somehow. What we typically do when asked to do this here is build a four inch thick floor out of different thickness materials, typically a mix of 1/2 and 3/4 inch plywood, 1/2 and 1/4 cement board with a layer of rigid insulation on the bottom. On the walls you can use mass loaded vinyl to kill the sound, we use it in home theaters and it cuts the noise by 32-35 db, plenty for a practice room. PM me if you need details, I don't know what kind of stuff you can get over there that is inexpensive but you should be able to get most of it for free from building sites.

Thank you Tim - I've already PM'd you...

It looks that it would be a difficult task to do. As much as I am thrilled that I'll be able to have the drums "where I live", it looks like it might be a problem for the other folks in the building.

I play very soft and the band does the same, but still - I would not like to invade anyone's privacy...

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Goki - short from Goran

Let the good drums roll!!!

Yes, Goki; I can't stand bugging other people with my drums. Wish I could help with this, but I have had enough trouble insulating a band in a basement of a private home from being heard throughout the neighborhood without facing the daunting task of insulating an upper floor. I suspect the effort would outweigh the gain.

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Gregory

Goki,

This might not be the kind of answer that you are looking for, but it might cut to the heart of the issue. It occured to me that no matter how well someone insulates or sound proofs their environment, if they are not on good terms with their neighbors, even the slightest muffled sounds will sabotage the whole project.

Perhaps you can visit your neighbors who live in the two floors below the proposed practice room. Introduce yourselves, both you and Marta, and share your desire to create a rehearsal space. You may even ask them about their ideas of what times they would prefer that you not play. If they are at least considered as part of the process, that is worth more to them than a 50db reduction in sound because they are not being imposed upon without any regard. One of your neighbors may even be pretty good at that kind of project.

The top floor is a major risk so why not minimize the risk where you can on top of sound-proofing. The process may be worth more than several layers of foam and plywood.

Roland

I surely agree with what you have just said, Roland. Spent a while trying to think how to word it, and was drawn off into some other issue, but goes to show it is sometimes best left for others to answer who can do it better than we can.

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Gregory