The Truth About Soundproofing
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2023
- Soundproofing is more involved than some realize. The principles are simple. But the reality isn't always easy to hear.
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When I was 19 my band and I “soundproofed” a small cabin by stapling insulation to the walls and then stapling carpet on top of that. Not only did we lose about 80 sq ft but the neighbors still complained about band practice.
And it sounded AWFUL in there. I could scream and it felt muffled and dead. We ultimately took it all down because of how terrible the room sounded.
Yep, you are not alone! That kind of approach can dramatically transform the way things sound inside a room, while having very little impact on what gets in or out.
It’s counterintuitive, but that’s how the physics of it works.
It feels weird, because inside the space, your screaming will probably sound quieter than it did before, as you are not hearing it reflected back at you anymore. But most of what was getting out of the room is still getting out.
You are not going to be the last 19 year old to have learned this the hard way! :-)
-Justin
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The price of these acoustic treatments and stuff like that is absolutely insane. I’ve built my own shit for such a tiny fraction of what they are sold for.
I use the term "sound Isolating" vs "sound proofing" because absolute soundproofing is almost impossible.
In 2017 I converted a 12 x 18 living room into a sound isolated recording/mixing space.
Gavin Haverstick helped design the plans, a local contractor did the work.
My goal was to achieve a STC (sound transmission rating" of 50 to 60.
That allows for loud electric guitar amps in the space without disturbing anyone in the other rooms.
It also blocks most outside noises from leaking into my recordings.
Installed 4 layers of 5/8 drywall, seperated by channel strips and isolation clips plus rockwool safe and sound insolatioin in the cavaties.
The windows were replaced with laminated glass, the door was replaces with a special solid core door that weighs over 300lbs.
The HVAC vents where repositioned and lined with sound blocking liner plus additional room ventaltion was installed.
As I recall the total cost was approx. $20K for construction.
Acoustical treatment within the room was an additional several thousand $
Thanks alot for the insights
In my previous house, I installed 'soundproof windows' (double glazed window panes) to block out traffic noise from outside and to prevent disturbing the neighbours at night when I do my recordings. Unfortunately, the windows only blocked out around 40% of sound.
40% is a big improvement! Unfortunately, there are many situations in which a big improvement is not enough, and you need a huge one instead :-)
A double set of windows may have helped, in the form on an additional fixed window on either side.
But at a certain point studios in heavily trafficked areas may reduce the size of their windows, or decided to remove them completely, covering them with drywall.
You don’t see a lot of windows to the outside in New York City studios for example!
-Justin
I got auralex room kit and was so excited to have good vocals and mix better. My room sounded like a coffin. But the mids and lows were running wild like there was no foam. You need 6in thick at least to even get near the bass frequencies. Most can never effectively block under 40oz because you will need sound pads the size of the room itself lol. So hopefully no one makes this mistake. You can buy diffusers and acoustic frames with rock wool in it. I got those after the pads and they helped and the room still felt alive and not dead because all the frequencies were being blocked not just the top half which is so weird especially for mixing. The vocals all sounded horrible because it attenuated the upper mids and killed the sheen. And the boom was really present even more plus the mic wasn’t the best. You mix and you learn
Well sound proofing is something different. You only need it for the booth unless you really have issues where you mix with noise. But soundproofing requires insulation inside the walls basically. What musicians do is acoustic treatment which means controlling the reverb and sounds bouncing around in the room that make it hard to record or mix. Sometimes sounds hit each other and multiply or divide or cancel out. Sometimes sounds get trapped in parts of the room. So when you want to mix reverb on your vocal you might not put enough because you are hearing the rooms reverb and not the actual song for example. Or you don’t hear the kick well because 80hz is cancelling itself out when it bounces off the walls and hits itself where you sit. Or you cut too much mids out because there are a lot of mid range sound waves combining and boosting themselves where you listen making you think it’s the song. But this is all extra. Never think you need it to be good. Experience is what you need . These tips help but work is the only way to get there. These guys are good not because they have every plugin but because they know what sounds good and can it happen in the mix. They also know when it’s not possible. Remember that many can mix these days on good headphones and check the final in different places to be sure. You don’t need to spend money you don’t have but it’s just nice to when you can. But any good mixer will always beat an inexperienced one regardless if he has an untreated room or stock plugins.
I built two rooms...small mix room 10x12 and a small drum room same....( all the space I had to work with) both rooms decoupled and both decoupled from my house... 3 sheets of 5/8' drywall on the interior and 2 on the other side... two walls were exterior stucco...also studies show that light weight fiberglass insulation is more effective than expensive rockwool etc... when soundproofing the only thing that works is air and mass....airtight..... I sealed every crack and seam and I mean everything...all electrical is surface mount and because doors are a weakness I spent a good amount of time sealing my double doors( total of 4)... control room window is two pieces of 1/2" angled laminate glass on each wall... the goal is " air tight" ... John Brandt is a good resource on YT... I just did a sound test with my nearest neighbors late at night when the noise floor is low.... hitting my drums as hard as I could... and they couldn't hear anything inside their house with their windows open and nothing standing outside....( approx 35 to 40ft.. I will say this... its not easy but if one decouples, and focuses on mass and air gap between walls you can achieve great results.... additionally I treated all walls and ceiling... I built my own panels, walls and ceiling ( 29 ) and they look amazing and not difficult ... I might add I did the ceiling with hat channel with two sheets of 1/2 in drywall..... ( seal every gap ) I used approx 300 tubes of Sashco Big Stretch... side note... my house is on concrete slab so decoupling of the floor wasn't necessary ... 2nd side note I did it all myself with some help from my 2 dogs... 2 plus years... With help I probably could've done it in probably around 8 months.
I left out a lot but hope this helps someone...
Thanks so much for sharing your story Ace! Very helpful to know.
-Justin
I could pay for it this year , How much does it take to cover the cost?
Heyyy justin Is the engineer Jason chesse already confirmed for this mix con 2023?
Not yet. He's definitely into it. If we can't make it happen for 2023, he's top of the list for 2024.
Very best,
Justin
What is needed to make it possible for this 2023?
We need a sponsor on board whose stuff Jason genuinely loves who can help cover thousands of dollars in production costs.
That seems likely for 2024, but not for 2023 so far.
-Justin
I saw a video on the Warm Audio studio. Thats the only place ive seen sound proofed and ill never have that kind of money or space to make it happen. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Theres treatment even underground.
If folks have the space, it might be less expensive to purchase a vocal booth. Just a thought.
Unfortunately, because the majority of the costs are from labor associated with framing walls, hanging and finishing drywall, cutting the size of the project may not cut costs nearly as much as you might hope.
Just doing a portion of the room can actually add some costs, as you are not just adding to existing walls, but building new ones.
Sorry to break more hearts on this! More details on costs in the full episode.
-Justin