sound proofing

[peterbright]

good luck in your quest

[pressure]

Move into Lyles house.

[JeffB]

I suspected that mediocre results could probably be expected with anything less than a professional caliber investment. Was hoping to hear something else, obviously, but I appreciate your honest appraisal, especially considering your considerable experience.

 

Out of curiosity, what materials did you use, how much did you spend, and how much undesired sound did you experience outside of the room?

I was only following plans. My part of the contract was the buildings the rooms were contained in. So, framing and cladding etc. The doors were a three man lift and the internal lead sheeting work was done by another contractor I worked in with. The rooms acoustic treatment was another contractor. Other contracts were involved.

When the rooms at the school were complete(gov funded) your voice was in your ears as soon as you spoke. Even whispering your whisper was immediately in your head. It was fatiguing tbh. Every thing seemed loud.

I stole design ideas from the project for my own room but as I said in the previous post my I didnt spend enough and tried cheapo short cuts.

 

Even though I didnt fully achieve what I set out to do because of my cheapness I did get 20yrs out of a room that I could record at reasonable levels at any hour of the night or day and I only use 60-100w amps.

I recently dismantled parts of the room and moved out.

I still use my 100w mesa in my new room but finally understand everyones obsession with wanting volume. I took it for granted for 20yrs.

Rockabilly made a suggestion a few posts a go about hiring a rehearsal space, its a great idea.

[TalismanRich]

Lyle had the right idea.... you need mass and separation. Rockwool, Safe&Sound, and QuietBatt will help deaden the sound. You don't want any way for the sound to transfer through the structural walls.

 

Remember that soundproofing is different from acoustical treatment. Bass traps, Auralex foam and egg cartons are supposed to help break up the standing waves and reflections inside the room, not stop sound from migrating out.

 

For a quick read, check out this article. Its brief but should give you some ideas. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/articles/faqacoustic.htm

 

You might also check out HomeRecording.com forum and John Sayer's Recording Studio forum. Both have lots of conversations on how to build studios, what to use, what NOT to use.

[Guest HRB853370]

Ahh, who needs soundproofing! I want ALL my neighbors to hear what a crappy player I am!! LOL!!

[212Mavguy]

RE: the OP...With respect...Don't waste your money soundproofing someone else's property. it's simply not cost effective.

 

I use a Ceriatone C-lator tube effects buffer in the serial effects loop of a 50 watt Dumble clone. Cranked amp tones down to bedroom levels are achieved by use of a single knob…lower than an acoustic guitar. The out knob becomes the global master volume for the whole rig. 95% of electric guitar players, including our wonderful forum members (and I do mean wonderful) either have no knowledge or experience with this kind of setup. it's brilliant in execution, cost effective, and your assets go towards your own, not someone else's.

 

Marsh amps sells the exact same unit under a slightly different name that is identical, so you don't have to pay for postage from Malaysia. Ceriatone sells a solid state version that works identically, called a Klein-u-lator, around half the C-lator's price. Some folks just tuck the Klein inside the headshell or amp cab, it's not much bigger than a footswitch, the C-lator takes up a single rack space and has rack mount ears. I just perch mine right on top of the amp I'm using, no problem. One or both of these solutions will meet your needs for less than it will cost to soundproof, and be more effective by far.

 

On the attenuator side, I own a Weber Mass 100 watt, I ordered it with all the bells and whistles, including a balanced TRS jack line out with volume, It has treble mid, bass knobs going to the mixing board, it also features a headphone out. Attenuators if used properly do NOT significantly put the power section of an amp at risk, nor do they significantly shorten output tube life. Set master volume low, use the attenuator for a load dump if you want and use the headphone out. Diming an amp wide open and using an attenuator to squish the overall volume down to a whisper or silent output load dump WILL put the amp at risk, just use common sense.

 

i've done the low watt amp as well. This c-lator thang kills everything else I've tried.

 

My Weber MASS has not been used for a while. But for some situations, such as a silent stage with in ear monitors and floor shaker transducers, it's indispensable.

[yoslate]

 

A thoughtful suggestion. Do you recommend 8 or 10 bedrooms?

 

 

Nice! Just a handfull of posts, and you already fit right in. With this crowd, you have to give as well as take.... Not sure if the idea would be aplicable to what you're ultimately doing, but have you considered amp isolation cabinets and some sort of straight forward mic/recording interface? A "real" amp, wound up, in an iso cab, the "capture" comes through the mic, with the headphone or room playback at a much more "tolerable" level. Basically room soundproofing on a much smaller scale. Google "isolation cabinets." Lots of ideas out there. And welcome!

[Blunote]

I'm married to a noise and vibration engineer who's job it is to make cars quieter. It's her view that while wall board itself is a pretty good sound absorbent material, it's the cracks, crevices and holes that allow pathways for sound to travel from one room to another. Some common leaks are around wall switches and outlets. They provide a means for sound to radiate into the wall and perhaps through outlets and switch plates on the other side -particularly ones that share that cavity. Cold air returns for forced air furnace/AC systems are often installed for adjoining rooms in adjacent wall cavities, leaving only a stud and unsealed crevices between the wall board and stud for the sound to travel through. There's also the opportunity for sound to travel through open spaces between floor and ceiling joists in rooms having drop ceilings. Finally, unsealed interior doors provide pathways at the threshold and around their perimeter.

 

Those are the places I'd focus on first before spending a lot of money on the install of sound absorbing material.

[JMick]

Rockabilly made a suggestion a few posts a go about hiring a rehearsal space, its a great idea.

 

Thanks for all the detailed info. As far as renting rehearsal space goes, I'll keep the idea on the backburner.

 

 

 

 

 

RE: the OP...With respect...Don't waste your money soundproofing someone else's property. it's simply not cost effective.

 

I use a Ceriatone C-lator tube effects buffer in the serial effects loop of a 50 watt Dumble clone. Cranked amp tones down to bedroom levels are achieved by use of a single knob…lower than an acoustic guitar. The out knob becomes the global master volume for the whole rig.

 

This is really interesting. I have no prior knowledge of this C-lator and if I'm honest very limited knowledge of the ins and outs of effects loops in general. Do you happen to have any recordings or videos I could take a look at?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice! Just a handfull of posts, and you already fit right in. With this crowd, you have to give as well as take.... Not sure if the idea would be aplicable to what you're ultimately doing, but have you considered amp isolation cabinets and some sort of straight forward mic/recording interface? A "real" amp, wound up, in an iso cab, the "capture" comes through the mic, with the headphone or room playback at a much more "tolerable" level. Basically room soundproofing on a much smaller scale. Google "isolation cabinets." Lots of ideas out there. And welcome!

Appreciate the welcome. I hadn't considered an isolation cabinet but I really like this idea because it would allow me to buy the amp I want and mic it out to something less powerful whenever necessary... this is a great backup plan. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

Lyle had the right idea.... you need mass and separation. Rockwool, Safe&Sound, and QuietBatt will help deaden the sound. You don't want any way for the sound to transfer through the structural walls.

 

Remember that soundproofing is different from acoustical treatment. Bass traps, Auralex foam and egg cartons are supposed to help break up the standing waves and reflections inside the room, not stop sound from migrating out.

 

For a quick read, check out this article. Its brief but should give you some ideas. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/articles/faqacoustic.htm

 

You might also check out HomeRecording.com forum and John Sayer's Recording Studio forum. Both have lots of conversations on how to build studios, what to use, what NOT to use.

Good info! Thanks.

[212Mavguy]

@Jmick

 

www.ceriatone.com Great parts, build quality, reliability and great tone are found here, all major amp platforms cloned up boutique style. His Marshall style builds are built better than the real deal for less $$.

 

Also, search Marsh amplification on eBay. His FS-X Overlord 50w Dumble clone with Lift Negative Feedback Loop mod and half power switch goes from buttery clean to Marshall scream and all points in between, the single most versatile amp platform I've ever owned. Marsh is well known for doing up some really nice early Fender circuits as well.

 

The C-lator is a copy of a Dumbulator, originally from Howard Dumble, legendary amp builder. Joe Bonamassa's Dumble Overdrive Special is currently on the market for the price of 100,000 dollars. That's the going rate for one. I recently used my c-lator with my new to me Harry Joyce 30w head, it works just like it does with a Dumble circuit. Just a simple interrupt serial effects loop is all that is necessary for the host amp. Search youtube for videos by Marin Debilic.

[JMick]

@Jmick

 

www.ceriatone.com Great parts, build quality, reliability and great tone are found here, all major amp platforms cloned up boutique style. His Marshall style builds are built better than the real deal for less $$.

 

Also, search Marsh amplification on eBay. His FS-X Overlord 50w Dumble clone with Lift Negative Feedback Loop mod and half power switch goes from buttery clean to Marshall scream and all points in between, the single most versatile amp platform I've ever owned. Marsh is well known for doing up some really nice early Fender circuits as well.

 

The C-lator is a copy of a Dumbulator, originally from Howard Dumble, legendary amp builder. Joe Bonamassa's Dumble Overdrive Special is currently on the market for the price of 100,000 dollars. That's the going rate for one. I recently used my c-lator with my new to me Harry Joyce 30w head, it works just like it does with a Dumble circuit. Just a simple interrupt serial effects loop is all that is necessary for the host amp. Search youtube for videos by Marin Debilic.

 

Thanks a lot. I'll definitely take a look.

[Trouble]

Truly soundproof rooms sound horrible, everything seems loud and lifeless at the same time.

 

The best way to keep sound inside a house is an insulated room, inside an insulated room, in other words, a fully enclosed and insulated room that doesn't have an exterior wall.

 

Keeping all the sound in one room so it doesn't bother someone else in the house is much harder to do, and again you'll end up with a room that sounds like crap.

 

If you attempt it one of the hardest things to over come is the door, it's really hard to sound proof a door. About the easiest way to take care of the door would be to force a mattress flush against it, and that won't completely stop loud noise but it will dampen it considerably, other than that you are probably looking at a pretty serious project, just for the door.

 

If you don't at least have a room with insulated interior walls you need to maybe look into another practice space, or practice on a schedule that doesn't bother your partner.

[Trouble]

I should have read further before posting, most everything was covered.

[JMick]

I should have read further before posting, most everything was covered.

 

No worries, seeing a consensus is helpful as well. Thanks for the info.