Basement Practice Room

Hey everyone! I was told about this site on The Gear Page forum. It's a forum for guitarists. I'm planning on starting construction on a basement practice room for a 4 pc band. It consists of a singer/guitarist, lead guitarist, bassist, and druumer. 3 walls are concrete, and there are no windows in the room I'm going to use. The room will be against a finished part of the basement. I plan to build off of the existing walls about 3" and drop the ceiling via RSIC clips and 5/8 drywall. I guess I'm wondering if this would be sufficient to make watching TV on the first floor bearable. Also I'm wondering specifically what type of insulation to use, and what type of soundproofing "blanket" to put in and how to install. I'm a complete virgin when it comes to stuff like this and I really need some assistance. Fortunately, my father is a long time carpenter and will be here to help me for the duration, so don't fear using techinical terms, as if I don't know them, he will! :) Any assistance would be GREATLY appreciated from this clueless guitarist! :) David

David, "and what type of soundproofing "blanket" What the heck is that? You have a lot to learn yet but RO says this is the place to be...and I agree. See how that rhymes? Good luck, dig into the link in my sig, it's worth the effort.

Decoupling the three inner walls from the foundation as you described is a great start. They can be 2x4 walls with R13 or R19 fiberglass. The 4th wall would be best as a double stud wall. Decoupling the ceiling with clips will do the trick. You could also consider a floating ceiling. Essentially new joists brought in to create a new ceiling framing, disconnected from the original joists. That's a better option if you can accomodate the new joists. If not then clips can be used.

"I guess I'm wondering if this would be sufficient to make watching TV on the first floor bearable. " Typical procedure around here is to add mass to the existing overhead joist area and then install your insulation. This is, or can be, a tedious process but is the main barrier between your band and the upstairs TV. So it is a priority. Using the RISC clips is good for the decoupling benefit, but the additional mass in the overhead joist cavity is still going to make or break your isolation between floors.