Partial soundproofing of a room?

[jangoux]

Guys,

Like I said a couple weeks, I am going to move to a apartment in the next month. I just talked to the building admin and he warned me that the person tht lives BELOW my apartment is an old lady that lives there for like 20 years and is a somewhat annoying person. So, I want to use the place mostly for mixing/editing stuff but I will need to track bass/vocals/guitar. The later, is worrying the most. I remember that a few years ago a saw on the internet some plans for a 'guitar cab booth', where the guy used drywall between two layers of plywood. Anyone ever tried those kinds of things or know how do the sound and if they do really work?

Also, I thought of doing using drywall to make a 2nd wall through the whole room. This will be a little bit more expensive, but it is another option.

Any thoughts?

 

[Pot]

"an old lady that lives there for like 20 years and is a somewhat annoying person."

lol

good luck

 

[sprack]

I'm interested in this too.

 

[jangoux]

"an old lady that lives there for like 20 years and is a somewhat annoying person."

lol

good luck

hahaha Yeah.

I was thinking of a kinda big Iso booth thing, like the size of a vocal booth, but horizontal instead of vertical. Wood, drywall, wood, rockwool. Anyone?

 

[KHE]

can`t really help you with soundproofing a room.
but look at the situation from another view. maybe this old lady isn`t that annoying. when you move to your appartement, visit your neighbours and introduce you and explain them what you are doing. invite them to coffee and cookies and talk about the situation. if the old lady knows the guy who lives above her, maybe she act a bit more tollerant than under "anonyme" circumstances.
but yes, recording a guitaramp at proper volume could be on the borderline...

regards, markus (sorry for the bad english)

 

[Trevoire520]

If I was in an apartment I don't think I'd be bothering with any kind of cab mic'ing. Even if you do manage to get it sufficiently isolated (unlikely) you're probably going to end up struggling with a boxy sound from the iso booth anyway.

Probably best off to use a dummy load/preamp/modeller into impulses, will be much less of a headache in that situation.

 

[Soundlurker]

^ Exactly.

 

[jangoux]

and less expensive...gotta put a fx loop on my amp, then

 

[Fbarre]

Just what k.h.e said. Annoying people are usually annoying because they feel that people don't care or respect them, which makes them feel like they are rejected or not worth anything. Just be nice to her and even if she might not be easy to speak with, if you can't keep a positive mind about her be at least neutral to her, regardless of what she says. Chances are she might not have any problems with what you're doing because you took the time to ask her not for her approval but because of the respect you have for your neighbors. In most cases just a little bit of communication can prevent or even take care of lots of problems.

 

[arv_foh]

I think you're pretty much fucked since you're on the 2nd floor. Even if you make some sort of iso booth the low frequency vibrations are going to be transferred through the floor unless you rip up the floor and have a floating floor installed, which since you're renting I doubt you'd want to do.

 

[jangoux]

I am renting but I am kinda free to do whatever I want, as it is my owned by my wife's family. But the guys are right, I am mostly screwed lol

 

[TheDriller]

The problem is there is no such thing as "partial" in sound isolation,
either the environment is isolated (almost) entirely or its not,
It's all or nothing really.
building an extra layer of wall will still leave sound leaking through the floor, and vice versa, unfortunately.

 

[LosingReality]

Id say it aint gonna happen if you are arent on the ground floor. I live below people and i can hear EVERYTHING, and they dont track guitars. lol

 

[drew_drummer]

I live above a guy. When we moved in, I spoke to him, told him I was a working musician and explained my job and stuff. He's been pretty cool about it. It does help that my monitors are not incredibly bassy (NS10 clones) but I basically have a deal with him that I wont make loud noise after 10pm. I can play my tube amp at loud volumes without him moaning at me.

Some people ARE understanding when it comes to living near musicians and engineers. You just have to treat them with respect and have a mutual understanding of the rules.

 

[bartoneblaze]

Used drywall between two layers of plywood does not create any problem. One of the easiest ways to soundproof a room is by reducing the airflow into the room. Sound travels through air and by cutting down the airflow in the room, you can make your room soundproof. Look for gaps under doors, between outlet boxes, and the drywall. You need to also check for gaps in your window panes as well. Blocking these gaps by using insulating materials can soundproof your room to a considerable degree.