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Sound Absorption on the cheap

T

TechBoyJK

Lifer
I'm wanting to hang some material on the walls in my basement to help absorb some sound. It's a music room with a drumkit, guitar amps, etc.

I have a tight budget, so I'm going to start with hanging thick comforters on the walls.

I found these at walmart for about $25 (for a king size). They are decently thick and have different colors. Basement is about 25'x25'. I'm thinking I could hang 4-5 of these and it should really help.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-...-Eyes/13003815

Mainstays Reversible Microfiber Bedding Comforter:
Comforter front: 100% polyester brushed microfiber
Back: 100% polyester brushed microfiber
Fill: 100% polyester
Comforter Size:
King 104" x 92"
 
Instead of wasting money buying new, go to thrift shops. You won't be generating more crap for the planet, you may find something more interesting looking.
 
Have you priced soundboard?

In the early 1990s I was working for a construction company, one project we built was a classroom for a church. To prevent sound from going through the walls, we installed a type of soundboard that muffled any sound that hit the board.
 
I thought about doing that.. well at least calling around the shops to see if they have anything.

Do you think hanging covers/quilts/comforters is a good idea? I can't afford any foam paneling and need something easy to hang.
 
Texashiker said:
Have you priced soundboard?

In the early 1990s I was working for a construction company, one project we built was a classroom for a church. To prevent sound from going through the walls, we installed a type of soundboard that muffled any sound that hit the board.
Click to expand...

Yea.. can't afford it and not going to do an expensive install in this basement. I'm renting and short of hanging a few hooks to hold up up the comforters I can't do much to it.

I can get 4 king size comforters for about $100 and that's going to cover a much bigger space than $100 worth of soundboard will cover.
 
Not sure how the price stacks up, but look into carpeting and carpet padding. Like the giant rolls that they cut to order from Lowe's or wherever.
 
NuclearNed said:
this. if you go to a carpet retailer, you can probably get some remnants for cheap
Click to expand...
Back in my band days we were able to gather carpeting from carpet stores that was torn out of people's homes for free. We used a combination of soundboard, carpeting, and foam eggcrate padding.
 
Check craigslist. Every now and then someone dismantles a studio or something and wants to get rid of their soundproofing material.
 
There are multitudes of things you can use to make your room less live. In my case, furniture worked well. Clever placements of the couches and, like zin said, bookshelves, will stop lots of offending frequencies from bouncing off the walls. IIRC, your room was a square, which are the worst to control. You could spend that $100 on tons of stuff from a thrift shop that would probably do a better job than your comforters.
 
Saint Nick said:
There are multitudes of things you can use to make your room less live. In my case, furniture worked well. Clever placements of the couches and, like zin said, bookshelves, will stop lots of offending frequencies from bouncing off the walls. IIRC, your room was a square, which are the worst to control. You could spend that $100 on tons of stuff from a thrift shop that would probably do a better job than your comforters.
Click to expand...

Yea, the room is square. I just don't have any more room for furniture. Floor is carpet, and the only thing I have room for is hanging stuff on the walls.
 
if you were local to me (rochester, ny) i have a ton of acoustical foam that's about to get trashed. rebuilding the anechoic chamber at work and the old stuff is still in decent shape.
 
When I was young and had a quadraphonic that I liked to play loud, I used egg cartons on the wall and ceiling to absorb the sound. It does a great job and is free with every dozen eggs!
 
A buddy of mine built a sound room in his garage - the room was something like 10X10 with 6 inch studs.

The walls were filled with sand.
 
Eggcrate foam works great 40sq feet of it can cost less than $35.00

It's not going to soundproof the room, but it will help.
 
Yea.. can't afford it and not going to do an expensive install in this basement. I'm renting and short of hanging a few hooks to hold up up the comforters I can't do much to it.
Click to expand...

Then you shouldn't play the drums in there.

Truly and honestly - anything you do short of adding a second wall to the room, not connected to the first wall, will not decrease the level of audio in the rest of the house/apt. It just isn't going to do any good. Layers and layers of carpet will bring down the cymbals a bit, Having an unbroken continuous layer of "something" that reflects or absorbs midrange will help with the snares and drums, but just about nothing that you can put up will handle the bass drum.

It's like throwing a hot dog down a hallway or using a dixie cup to empty the sea.

Case in point - lived with a guy that had the same setup - unfinished basement, just some wood panel walls and a bare piped ceiling. Set up band down there. Put up actual sheets of drywall on the walls and hung a drop ceiling, inside of which he filled with carpet scraps, fiberglass, anything he could. He even hung drywall on the ceiling trying to get the noise level down in the rest of the house. He spent probably a thousand dollars on just filler for the ceiling.

The result:
Instead of his wife and friend having to hold their ears shut and shout at each other, they didn't have to hold their ears shut, but the still had to shout to be heard. TV unwatchable, basically even the neighbors came knocking if he played too late.
 
Yea.. can't afford it and not going to do an expensive install in this basement. I'm renting and short of hanging a few hooks to hold up up the comforters I can't do much to it.
Click to expand...

Then you shouldn't play the drums in there.

Truly and honestly - anything you do short of adding a second wall to the room, not connected to the first wall, will not decrease the level of audio in the rest of the house/apt. It just isn't going to do any good. Layers and layers of carpet will bring down the cymbals a bit, Having an unbroken continuous layer of "something" that reflects or absorbs midrange will help with the snares and drums, but just about nothing that you can put up will handle the bass drum.

It's like throwing a hot dog down a hallway or using a dixie cup to empty the sea.

Case in point - lived with a guy that had the same setup - unfinished basement, just some wood panel walls and a bare piped ceiling. Set up band down there. Put up actual sheets of drywall on the walls and hung a drop ceiling, inside of which he filled with carpet scraps, fiberglass, anything he could. He even hung drywall on the ceiling trying to get the noise level down in the rest of the house. He spent probably a thousand dollars on just filler for the ceiling.

The result:
Instead of his wife and friend having to hold their ears shut and shout at each other, they didn't have to hold their ears shut, but the still had to shout to be heard. TV unwatchable, basically even the neighbors came knocking if he played too late.
 
Texashiker said:
A buddy of mine built a sound room in his garage - the room was something like 10X10 with 6 inch studs.

The walls were filled with sand.
Click to expand...

Now we're talking. To soundproof something - you gotta add MASS. MLV sheets in between 2 layers of sheetrock, or a concrete wall covered and finished as if it were the normal wall are probably the only other options likely to make a difference.
 
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