Soundproof Practise Areas

Anyone got their own? My parents are looking into getting a "shomera" type thing, basically an out house and i've asked them to get it soundproofed so we can practise out there. At the moment they're looking into sizes to get and i was wondering what size do you reckon is sufficent. Rockwool is the soundproofing that i've researched and it looks the busines, not too dear and a worthwile investment.

Or am i looknig at doing this the wrong way? Has anyone got an "outhouse" which they use for practise? Dimensions? Costs? Benefits?

Any help would be appreciated.

Emmet

D!ve^Bomb!

well rockwool alone isn't going to completely soundproof the the outhouse, to do it properly will cost a few grand i would imagine...

as for dimensions, i dunno, i'm guessing 20 square metres would be sufficient but that's probably too big for your budget?

benefits: do you really have to ask????

costs: very dear for good quality, but very cheap in the long run.. i personally would invest in this sort of thing if i had my own house, but alas...

if you can do it then DEFINITELY do it.. it will make your life as a musician soo much more easier and will benefit ANY band that you play in..

well they are defnitely getting the outhouse yoke, i just wanna know if the size they're getting is adequate and if its not then i'll try and persuade them to go bigger, it'll be down the back of the garden about 30 metres from the house and no houses closer, so it dooesn't need to be 100% slient.

D!ve^Bomb!

go for it... what size are they gettin?

they're not sure yet. but it's gonna be bigger than a shed anyway

daram

We practice in a converted shed at the end of the drummers garden. Its small. Very small. About 6 meters squared. Unregardless, we still manage to fit a full drum kit, three guitar amps, keyboard, full mixing desk, the band of four, and up to two specators. We had eight extra people in there once but that was just silly.

In the start, we bought a load of rockwool and soundproofed the room by holding rockwool against the walls using marine ply, we put cork tiles on the floor and built a second door (unhinged) which we slid into the door area when we were practicing. About six months ago, after contastly being told to turn down (sometimes when we werent even playing) by the drummers mother, we decided to redo it because the original job was quite poorly done. We again bought loads of rockwool, but better sound rockwool this time. And batons, and plasterboard, and a shed load of plywood and other handy stuff. Literally finished installing it the other night and the results are sweet, havent tested it with the band yet as Im waiting to buy a new mixer, but initial tests of shouting and stamping on the ground were good.

Things you've got to watch out for when soundproofing are:
1. The door, sound escapes so much around the door.
2. Windows
3. Any little gaps inbetween things. Everything should be crammed with rockwool.
4.The roof and floor.
5. Make sure the rockwool you order isnt hugely thicker than the batons you're using to support it or the plasterboard will bulge

Also, if you can afford it, sheets of compressed solidified rockwool are great. Very easy to work with and can be cut to any shape. We used these on the roof, but couldnt afford any more after that.

Oeneus

Also, something that helps alot is covering the inner walls with fabric. In our practice rooms we've got lots fo random sheets and carpets hanging everywhere. It works a treat. And looks cosy!

bombidol

generally you would put another wall of wood a few inches in from the real concrete wall and fill it wil rockwoll or another sound damping fabric.
then cover the inner wall with drapes. thats probably the cheapest/best way of going about it.

gar

One problem with these solutions guys is that its not going to be a dedicated practise area, so i cant really do most of them, it'll be an office firstly and a practise area secondly.

Mrs_Robinson

we're covering Acoustic Treatment in college at the moment and if ur serious about acoutically treating the "outhouse" and doin a really good job on it then go to http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html
That link will give u everything u need to know about acoustic Treatment as well as settin up ur own studio

Citizen_Erased

Me and my band used to play in the drummers dad's soundproof room. I did suppress the sound a good deal but the kick of the drums still got through but thats beside my point. It was only 3 x 4 metres(myby less). In it it had

3 electric guitars (two of which were on stands on the grouond)
2 acoustic guitars
2 Bass Guitars
2 Huge Guitar Amps (100watt + each)
1 Large Preamp
1 Large bass Amp
1 Microphone Stand
1 PA system
A CD player
with an Amp and other hi-fi stuff
A bench and a load of books and CDs
A 6 way mixer
1 set of drums
and 4 musicians.
Lots of old radios , guitar cases, equip. etc on shelves

Oh - And one LARGE Afro!!!!

And we all had room to move

That is just the large things, you wouldnt believe how little room you actually need. Feedback could pick up at times though.

Sorry to bore you all to death but you kno....

Drum boy

That is alot of stuff for such a small room!

Citizen_Erased

Im not (exagerating?) at all, you really dont need much!