# Who Has A Basement Rehearsal Room/Studio?



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i'm currently house-hunting, with plans to set up a studio in the basement for rehearsal, recording and jam sessions.

does anyone else here have a similar set up?

how is it working for you, in regards to sound levels?

can your neighbours hear the music?

have you found affordable sound absorbing materials to cover the walls and ceiling?

thanks for your help and advice!

david henman


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Used to at a drummer's place. Other than the short walk through his back hall to get to the stairs it was good. He had a small Yamaha P.A., nice, almost soundproofed walls, wide stairs, operable windows for ventilation, handy adjoining storage room large enough for some isolation, lots of floor space for the 3 piece (sometimes 4 piece) band. Forced air heat. Washroom was upstairs, and there was handy street and driveway parking. Very little sound seemed to escape the basement except if windows were open. Walls were insulated, drywalled, floor was carpeted. 

Another former bandmate had a full recording studio in his basement complete with control room and isolation booths, reasonable natural light, and enough space in the control room for an eight piece acoustic band to rehearse. 

The only thing I don't personally like about basements is the lack of natural light, and stairs. Windows are good for my soul, and stairs are not always so good for the back.

Use real sound absorbing insulation and drywall, seal the windows, and open concept space is easier to subdivide than little rooms are to open up, though a couple of isolation booths are handy.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Regarding whether the neighbours could hear us, my wife was quite worried that it would upset he neighbours so I asked her to go outside and listen. She was surprised how low the sound was coming from the basement, even though inside, it was cranked very loud.


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## megadan (Feb 5, 2006)

We jam in our guitarist/keyboardist's basement. It's not soundproofed in anyway, and the neighbours complain sometimes. Keeping the windows shut and keeping practice short is the best option so far. It's not that loud outside, they're just old and cranky


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

hey there...i have a studio/jam space in my basement...ceramic tile flooring...zero sound-proofing...

my one neighbour has a side brick wall with no windows whatsoever facing the side of my house which has windows for the kitchen/bedroom/upper and lower restrooms/laundry room...they claim they hear absolutely no noise coming from my house...

the neighbour on the other side has lots of windows...i get compliments about my playing and invites to go to jam nights around town...

access is either through the front door and down the stairs...or going through the garage directly into the basement level...which is a godsend for hauling gear...

the back of my house faces a court...i imagine they are too far away to hear any music...at least i've never heard any complaints...

i've played at all times...2:00 in the afternoon or 3:30 in the morning...no problems...i think the only time that someone would ever receive a complaint is if they sucked terribly or kept playing the same thing over and over and over....


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## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

I built a rehearsal/recording space in my townhouse about 4 years ago. Took just under a year to construct. being in a townhouse I had serious concerns about my neighbours. Sound transmission was a big issue. FIrstly I prepared the interior walls and offset the studs (double consruction). Next I ran resiliant channels on both wall and ceilings. Installed Roxul safe N sound insulation next. Screwed 1/2 inch drywall into the resilient channels. Used acoustic caulking to seal all joint spaces, electical outlets. Applied a second layer of 1/2 inch drywall over the first layer. Didin't use any floor treatment or raised the floor. Only one wndow in the basement, so I constructed a frame of two layers of drywall that I can easily put in a take out when I need to. Seems to work out fairly well. Installed solid core doors. Made floor to ceiling bass traps for the room corners. No probs with the neighbors. Only issue is some of the lower frequencies still travel through, but my bass player does play a little too loud out of the Marshall. So now he plays through a small wattage amp. If starting from scratch, best way to sound proof a room is to build a room within a room.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Since the previous owners did some mods to the house enabling the washer/dryer to be moved to the main level, the furnace storage room is fairly spacious. Well, once we get our act in gear and clear out all those toys gathering dust it will be.

I have long-term plans to convert part of that space into a small personal studio. There are a few challenges to doing so:

1) Keeping the modest natural light whilst not pestering the neighbours or attracting attention. The one window in the designated space faces the street. I suspect the simplest thing to do is install a triple-glazed insert, so that light comes in but sound doesn't go out.

2) Converting the existing fluorescent illumination in that room to incandescent, or finding some means to successfully shield the room from EMI coming from the light fixtures.

3) Soundproofing the ceiling. The wife likes TV. The TV sits directly above the designated space. That ceiling/floor intersect has to be as inert as they come.

4) Wiring and access to enough outlets.

5) Furnace noise. There are two aspects here: the acoustic noise when it is on (and we have central AC as well), and the line noise when it switches on or off. Not insurmountable, but still a challenge to be dealt with.

6) Adequate ventilation. Letting air in but not sound out is tricky. Haven't figured out how I'm going to do that.

A friend of mine has a fairly busy commercial studio in the basement of his modest semi-detached home, and makes good use of assorted small spaces in his basement: gear


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

My kids' (lead guitar and drums) rehearse here every week, 5 piece hard rock band. They take the roof right off the place, full gig volume - 2 halfstacks and a heavy handed drummer. It can be heard a few houses away. I've told the neighbours that if it's ever a problem talk to me. 5 years later, nobody ever has. They shut down by 11 pm, this is on Friday nights. Nothing special's been done about soundproofing.


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## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

mhammer said:


> 6) Adequate ventilation. Letting air in but not sound out is tricky. Haven't figured out how I'm going to do that.
> gear


Quiet ventilation for soundproof rooms


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks for that. Helpful info, and sort of in line with what I thought would be required.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i believe that communicating with the neighbours and giving them every opportunity to contact me if there is a problem is absolutely paramount.



keto said:


> My kids' (lead guitar and drums) rehearse here every week, 5 piece hard rock band. They take the roof right off the place, full gig volume - 2 halfstacks and a heavy handed drummer. It can be heard a few houses away. I've told the neighbours that if it's ever a problem talk to me. 5 years later, nobody ever has. They shut down by 11 pm, this is on Friday nights. Nothing special's been done about soundproofing.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i hope to not have to go to any great lengths.

it's mainly a rehearsal studio.

i have a korg d3200, but we only record raw, unprocessed tracks, which are then sent to a pro facility for mixing and mastering.

i just want to avoid a situation where we spend half a mil on a house only to discover that we are inhibited by the fact that every time we rehearse we are potentially disturbing someone.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I live in a single family home and my studio occupies half of my basement.. The houses here though are very close to each other, the distance from my wall to the neighbours on both sides are only about maybe 4 meters or probably even less. No sound proofing or insulation whatsoever. I've had problems with one neighbour when we moved in, complained to bylaw about 40 times. Each time (about 3 times) the bylaw officers came we showed them our decibel level reader and tell them "we monitor our levels and we make sure we are within the allowable sound levels.". Which kinda made them think we know what we are doing. hahahaha We never got a ticket though as that neighbour complained about us even when we're not home. And we also never played past 9pm. Anyway, that neighbour as well as the neighbour on the other side of our house, has moved since and we haven't had any issues with the new owners. 

I think outside of living in an isolated house or sound proofing your basement which is expensive, talking to your neighbours is probably the best way of avoiding issues with them. 

Like I said the basement is not soundproofed at all, but if we keep the windows closed, it's not really loud outside of the house. You can hear music when you stand at the door but not much else. The biggest issue I find is the sound of the bass. It is the hardest to contain.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...i hope to not have to go to any great lengths.
> 
> it's mainly a rehearsal studio.
> 
> ...


I think first thing you can do is check out how far the next door house is going to be. If it's at least 5 meters, I won't be too concerned. Another is what sort of folks live beside the house. Normally if they have kids, it shouldn't be an issue altho that's not always the case. Living beside retirees I find are the worse as they don't have much to do except to nitpick on things, including the "noise our neighbour makes".


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

here is an interesting article on soundproofing and studio building, just to add a little to the thread

Building a Home Studio (structure & construction)


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...the consensus here is very positive and highly encouraging.

i probably should have made it clear that i'm not building a pro recording studio, just a place where we won't be inhibited by noise issues.


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## Beatles (Feb 7, 2006)

It's not unusual for some people who have home theatres to have sound treatment done. If you are looking for a property, you may want to mention this to your agent. Just a thought....


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## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Beatles said:


> It's not unusual for some people who have home theatres to have sound treatment done. If you are looking for a property, you may want to mention this to your agent. Just a thought....


Sound treatment (absorbing and diffusing standing waves and unwanted reflections to insure no nulls or peaks over the full spectrum) and sound proofing (keeping sound waves from entering or escaping a defined space) require entirely different approaches. Some rooms accomplish both, but must be specifically designed or treated to achieve this.

The "room within a room" concept is the best approach to keeping sound inside your space. You will need to make sure that no air escapes and that you use as much mass as possible in the walls/floor/ceilin to absorb the acoustic energy. If you research and execute carefully it shouldn't be any more difficult or much more expensive than building a nice basement rec room. 

Nothing zaps creative energy like the wait for the knock on the door from a disturbed neighbour....

...or you could move to a quiet little rural area in NS and wail to your hearts content.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Most laces I've lived had something set up in the basement--including three basement suites...
Never had much in the way of sound proofing, but very few complaints.
But not all of those were used for jamming or band practices--those usually happened elsewhere.
One basement suite had a guitar player living above me.

I tended to plug in when they went out--but sometimes they'd come home while I was still playing and the guy upstairs would plug in & play along upstairs.


One place had a great space and a roommate who was storing a friend's drums (who didn't mind if someone else played them--so there were some jams there--until the friend moved and had space for his drums.)
I had space for a friend's drums at another place, and he had an open invitation to come by at any time I was awake and play them.

Lots of arrangements, but never anything formal or soundproofed.

Lots of fun though.


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

I jam in my basement - full band setup. My biggest recommendations are: CARPETED FLOORS & SOFT CEILING. Before I gutted the basement and rebuilt it from scratch, it had drywalled ceilings and holy CRAP it was loud down there. I put in good carpets and used a suspended ceiling instead of drywall. That made a world of difference. I insulated the walls as you normally would for thermal use (R24 all around). Outside, if the windows are closed you really can't hear anything until you walk up to the house. Neither neighbor has complained or said anything to me about noise. I installed insulation between the floor joists before I put the ceiling in - it made some difference - but it's loud upstairs no matter what. 

Just follow the rule that if you can't hear the kick drum (unmiced) then you need to turn down.


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

we have jammed in my basement before.....the bass - that's what killed it for us....it just boomed through the ground into the surrounding houses...I don' tknow what it is about the soil in this neighborhood - but even if someone is walking down the path between our houses - you can feel the thumping.....I have acoustic insulation in the walls and ceiling and carpet on the floors - but it doesn't matter - the sound just booms even at relatively low volume


we practic ein our keyboardist / frontman's basement studio.....no insulation - indoor/outdoor carpet right on the concrete....its VERY quiet outside even if we're just givin 'er

his neighbors complain if they can't hear us......nice people!

we practiced in his garage with the garage door open - so in his driveway really for a few sessions while his studio was getting renovated....most neighbors came over to listen.....one came over to complain - but then the next day apologized and asked to play with us sometime 

so - I guess its hit and miss in suburbia with these basement studios.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I bought a house 5 years ago and having a useable jam room was one of my main wants/needs. So I looked for a house that would suit that purpose as a primary consideration. Had to have a basement, hopefully somewhat below grade (unusual where I was looking) and had to have reasonable distance to any neighbors' bedrooms. I found a corner house that met all my requirements, with only 3 neighbors to worry about, since there's a park across one of the streets from me. 

I went into it expecting to do some soundproofing and have been pleasantly surprised at how little it has required so far. I think one of the key elements is good communications with the neighbors. I have kept the 3 neighbors I could potential annoy in the loop. I initially checked with them after evening/night jams, making sure everything was OK. Even with my initial minimal soundproofing (just covering up 2 of 3 windows with acoustic foam) I've had no complaints. I've gone outside during jams and, while I can hear the music on the street, by the time it filters to my neighbors backyards and bedroom windows it has dissipated to nearly nothing. I could still do more insulating, but will probably do it more to give me isolation inside for recording than stopping the sound from leaking outside.

I also started off for the first 6 months jamming quieter than I would like and didn't go too late. I slowly increased both the level and the lateness of the jams, to the point where I am going as loud and as late as I want to. But I still keep asking the neighbors if everything is OK. They seem more annoyed with the noise everyone makes while they are leaving at 2 AM (have to work on that one next, I guess).




Powdered Toast Man said:


> Just follow the rule that if you can't hear the kick drum (unmiced) then you need to turn down.


Yep, good rule to follow. It seems those master volumes just keep inching up through the evening. Suddenly singers want me to turn up the PA. Which is unnecessary once I get the guitars, bass and keys to turn down a bit.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...a high level of communication with the neighbours is the key, no question.

my girlfriend and i are now actively looking. two viewings yesterday - many more to come.

i wish there was a way to "test" the environment other than having my bass player set up his amp and crank it. but, we may do exactly that if there is any doubt in our minds.



High/Deaf said:


> I bought a house 5 years ago and having a useable jam room was one of my main wants/needs. So I looked for a house that would suit that purpose as a primary consideration. Had to have a basement, hopefully somewhat below grade (unusual where I was looking) and had to have reasonable distance to any neighbors' bedrooms. I found a corner house that met all my requirements, with only 3 neighbors to worry about, since there's a park across one of the streets from me.
> 
> I went into it expecting to do some soundproofing and have been pleasantly surprised at how little it has required so far. I think one of the key elements is good communications with the neighbors. I have kept the 3 neighbors I could potential annoy in the loop. I initially checked with them after evening/night jams, making sure everything was OK. Even with my initial minimal soundproofing (just covering up 2 of 3 windows with acoustic foam) I've had no complaints. I've gone outside during jams and, while I can hear the music on the street, by the time it filters to my neighbors backyards and bedroom windows it has dissipated to nearly nothing. I could still do more insulating, but will probably do it more to give me isolation inside for recording than stopping the sound from leaking outside.
> 
> ...


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

jimihendrix said:


> i think the only time that someone would ever receive a complaint is if they sucked terribly or kept playing the same thing over and over and over....


So, me then...


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

more on my previous post about how my one neighbor (the wife) was upset about the noise our band made....well since then she's moved out and the 65 year old sicillian guy just got himself a young hottie who likes to karaoke....really loud........every night......with their windows open........and she don't sing too well......

looks like I'll be inviting the band back her to play some more


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

david henman said:


> ...a high level of communication with the neighbours is the key, no question.
> 
> my girlfriend and i are now actively looking. two viewings yesterday - many more to come.
> 
> i wish there was a way to "test" the environment other than having my bass player set up his amp and crank it. but, we may do exactly that if there is any doubt in our minds.


It felt like I was taking a leap of faith when we offered/bought. We just hoped it would work out.

But I do think if you get the fundamentals as good as possible (like not having a neighbor's bedroom window 10 feet from the jam room) you can always insulate as required over time. I have a couple of friends with houses that are only about 5 feet from their neighbors and it seems like they will never be able to go later than 11PM (10 on weekdays) even with lots of insulation. A combination of above-ground room and that kinda of closeness means too much is getting through, no matter what they do (short of building a room inside of a room, anyways).


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## bzrkrage (Mar 20, 2011)

Back! From. The. Dead!!!! (Necro-thread!)
So, after the deep freeze, and cause I can't jam with people more that 2 meters from each other, I have started to reserect the garage jam space! Bring on summer!


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Wow and this one was started by David Henman. By the time he left this forum, he already had a studio in his basement as he posted pictures of it.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

David's facebook page says he'd now living in Irkutsk, Russia. Or, maybe that's a joke?


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

jimsz said:


> David's facebook page says he'd now living in Irkutsk, Russia. Or, maybe that's a joke?


lol. he was playing Risk the board game and lost a bet


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

DH is a friend of a friend. He's around and gigging, C-19 notwithstanding, not in Russia. 

Cool old thread here. Hope it continues.


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

I used to have an attached garage I turned into a rehearsal room/studio. I built the room inside room w 18” of airspace all the way around, sealed off the garage door on outer space, fully finished the outer space with drywall as well. I used landscaping cloth over the drywall and some strategically(amateur)placed Reflectors/dampeners around the space. It was budget so not much air movement inside and it would hot box like a mother, but it did more than a good job.

I had two young children at the time both under 7. Our master bedroom was right beside the garage. My wife said the most she could hear was muffled voices from the mic and a small amount of bass, nothing that kept her from sleeping and we played all hours of the night never w any complaints. Recording 3 or 4 albums in it, had parties and after parties all the time because I was putting on lots of shows back then.

I think I have some pics on my phone- NVMND only pic in can find doesn’t show much of room just my ugly mug


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