Sound insulating box - used by musicians while practising!

We are two engineering students at the design & innovation education programme at the Technical University of Denmark. This spring we are working on our bachelor project, with the project title “Flexible Music Shielding”. The aim of the project is to design and develop a product - a type of sound insulating box that can be folded together, or in any other way be flexible – that can be used by musicians while practising at home, and keep them away from disturbing their surroundings e.g. their neighbours. We are both musicians our selves, and the issues related to practising at home, is therefore well known to us. We would highly appreciate to hear opinions about which wishes such a box should fulfil? What would be the preferred solution? And which secondary functions should the design of such a box embody? What would be a reasonable price level for a product that would make it possible for musicians to practice with a clear conscience? We would also like to hear some advises from some who is experienced in building there own sound insulating box, also if this has been for use in other applications. Thank you in advance for any support you can offer! Marinus Nejrup and Peter Nielsen Engineering students - Technical University of Denmark

could you post your requirements for such a design? for instance, why would this be different than using gobos? how portable does it have to be? in general, isolation requires mass. reduction of acoustic problems resulting from boundaries require controls or an opening to allow escape of the sound (which appears to conflict with isolation). so a light-weight, portable, high isolation enclosure which sounds good would seem to be incredibly challenging to design and build. unless headphones are the answer... :?