John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum Archive

Howdy everyone.

I'm a drummer who can't play drums above a certain level in my home due to angry neighbours, i have a pretty small spare room at the top of the house which i'm hoping to treat as much as possible to cut the sound carrying to the next house. It's those darn low frequencies. I've attached a (very amateur) drawing of the room layout, hopefully it does the job. Ignore the fact that some of the dimensions don't add up for now.

The main problem is that behind that left wall are the neighbours, and obviously the low frequencies will carry through their house (i'm not worried about it carrying through mine). The part of that wall you can see protruding in the overhead view is pretty damn thick and solid as you like. I'm hoping this will help.

So i'm thinking a raised floor and double walls will be the way forward, perhaps some bass traps too. Is this realistic? I appreciate the details are a little thin on the ground, i'm looking to learn some of the principles to determine if this project is worth a shot.



Edit - all dimensions in mm as i'm sure you guessed.

Edit 2 - I'm aware that cost is a BIG issue with these things, but i have access to very cheap timber, does this make any difference?

davenhurst wrote:I'm a drummer who can't play drums above a certain level in my home due to angry neighbours...

I feel your pain, brother -- I'm in the same boat. Well, kind of -- my neighbors don't even know that I play drums yet, which is why I'm going to great lengths to build a rehearsal studio in my garage that will not bother anyone... Perhaps you've already seen my thread.

...I've attached a (very amateur) drawing of the room layout, hopefully it does the job...

Pretty nice drawings, actually. Unfortunately, though, they don't indicate some of the most critical aspects of your existing space which will dictate your options. (More on that below.)

So i'm thinking a raised floor and double walls will be the way forward, perhaps some bass traps too. Is this realistic?

That will depend, I am sure, on how much weight the floor of this existing room will support. Knowing all the anatomy details of how that floor is built (dimensions of joists, spacing of joists, orientation of joists, what's attached to them underneath, and I'm sure much more) are critical to knowing what is possible so that whatever you build does not cause the floor to collapse into the room below it. Obviously that's not something you'd want to happen, but it's also something you can't afford to assume won't happen.

Any chance you can post back with those details?

If any of the "real experts" (I'm just an imposter ) wants to chime in with suggestions or requests for more info, please do.

I haven't seen your post, but i will check it out. I only found this forum today after a recommendation over on the homerecording.com forums.

Interesting, i hadn't even considered the weight issue. I'll get on the case, some serious floor-ripping-up is needed.

To be honest, i'm hoping that my circumstances mean that i don't need to strive for a totally soundproof room, i only work 3 days a week and can get away with some noise in the day when i'm off work, i just need to cut some low frequencies and overall noise levels. It's so frustrating not being able to practice one's art in one's own home. (How English was that sentence?). It sounds like you know the frustration i'm talking about Sharward.

Anyway, i'll check out the floor situation, and i guess more importantly, check out the neighbours daily activities, and get back to you.

davenhurst wrote:...i'll check out the floor situation, and i guess more importantly, check out the neighbours daily activities...

You may want to add to your homework assignment, "investigate the noise ordinances (laws) that apply in my town."

For example, my municipality has an objective standard which gives specific decibel levels that must be maintained, as well as a subjective standard, which uses language such as "unnecessary or unusual" and "reasonable person of normal sensitiveness." If your town has a similar double-edged sword, you are held accountable to both standards. That means that even though you might be under the decibel level on the objective side, you still may be violating (in the eyes of a judge or officer) the subjective side.

Here in California we have a basic speed law that is similar in principle... It means you can be cited for driving too fast even though you may be driving below the posted speed limit under certain conditions.

I don't mean to bore you with citations of law (which may or may not apply to your situation), but I did want to point out that knowing what the laws are will help you come up with a solution to stay within them. I would hate to see someone develop a solution that they thought was good enough, yet the law disagreed, and then based on the reactions of an affected neighbor, it all becomes a wasted effort.

Figuring out how I can be in violation of the law only during times of day when there's not likely to be a victim (a neighbour to complain) was not a sufficient solution in my case.