# Cheap ways to sound proof



## The Grin

Admin is welcome to delete this if its a repetitive thread but please leave a reference.

So the deal is this. My band is paying less then $100 for a jam space thats available for one day a week only. We were looking for others around here but they estimate $400 a month. We offered this dude $150 for 2 times a week with no answer so far.

So Im spit balling the idea of jamming in my sans insulation garage. With a little bit of electrical work, it can be done but I worry about the sounds that leak out and pissing off the neighborhood (a classic problem). I figure thick blankets over the doors and window. Egg cartons somewhere. Even getting some old pillows, placing them in milk crates and hanging them from the roofs 2x4s.. 

Any other suggestions?


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## ILIKEDRUMZZZ

Styrofoam, Egg Cartons, Blankets, Curtains, More Blankets, Carpet or put rugs on the floors... or you could try this
Inexpensive Ways to Soundproof Walls, How to Soundproof a Wall with Peacemaker Acoustic Insulation - Audimute Soundproofing


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## ronmac

There is no simple answer. To do the job right you have to first seal the room to be airtight (with the proper intake/ventilation for air exchange) and then add as much mass to the walls/ceiling/floor as possible to absorb the acoustic energy. Not cheap.


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## keeperofthegood

These also suck a lot of energy. Get them from farmers co-ops at I thing around 100 bucks a 4 x 8

http://www.polymax.co.uk/Horse_Stable_Matting_Stall_Mat/ (fixed the link, I know, a UK company, but the farmers co-ops here carry this. A small example can be found at Canadian Tire as Ice Skate rubber slabs)

Egg crates and all the rest are good only for sound diffusion not absorption or elimination. You start off with industrial vibration mounts, and you build a floor on that, then walls up from there, and a new ceiling. Then, inside that you begin with your sound channels and floor matting, then your sound barrier cloths, then you apply the other foams/crates/pillows to shape the sound in your room.


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## david henman

...a better solution is a below-grade basement, if that is feasible for you. soundproof the basement windows and doors, and you're there.


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## ezcomes

JamHub - GreenRoom

bam...

but other than that...no idea...besides what has already been listed above


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## hollowbody

ezcomes said:


> JamHub - GreenRoom
> 
> bam...
> 
> but other than that...no idea...besides what has already been listed above


Yup, that's what we use and it's awesome!

Don't bother with egg cartons, it just plain doesn't work, I don't care what anyone tells you about their basement full of egg cartons. Also, it's a fire hazard.

Find some large, heavy blankets and hang them from the ceiling, don't staple them directly to the wall, because that won't really help. You need to create a buffer between where you're at and the outside walls. 

Ideally, you'd build a room-within-a-room. A raised floor on isolation pucks (any kind of rubbery stuff that will decouple the two floors from one another and not transfer vibration), then walls a little ways in from each outside wall and a drop ceiling. Some insulation or batting or what have you in between the interior walls and the outside walls will help too.

edit: oops, looks like Keeps said the exact same thing. guess I should have read the whole thread first!


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## keeperofthegood

HAHAHA Saro!! It is all good, saw my link to the rubber matting was broken, gave me a chance to fix that.

Yup and vibration mounting. Probably get decent 4" x 4" ones from Princess Auto. No idea off hand how to calculate mass distribution on them though, would need to know the specs specifically to the ones you get, but at 4/4 they should handle up to the big compressors they sell, so probably good on a 24 inch grid on the floor. Would be better to get bigger but costs can go up fast too like these:


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## david henman

...does anyone know what the best sound-deadening/absorbing materials are?


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## hollowbody

keeperofthegood said:


> HAHAHA Saro!! It is all good, saw my link to the rubber matting was broken, gave me a chance to fix that.


Those rubber mats look pretty awesome! I'll have to remember those for when I'm doing a room in my (future) house.



david henman said:


> ...does anyone know what the best sound-deadening/absorbing materials are?


You'll want something with mass and that isn't too hard. The denser the material, the more the likelihood that it will end up just transferring the sound instead of absorbing it. Soft, porous materials do better at absorption, especially if they're also not flat, because then it will also reduce echoes. Heavy shipping/moving blankets like these draped to leave a barrier between it and the walls will absorb sound pretty well, but also not reflect it as much. Not expensive either - that site lists 9 pads at $70. Each pad is 36+ square feet, so it won't take too many to do a smallish room.


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