Soundproofing a room for practice?

BluesBop Harry

Here's the situation:
-I'm moving to a new apartment and I need to be able to practice and give lessons.
-I'd like to not to get evicted!
-All the playing will be acoustic but... with a very loud and cutting Dupont.
-I plan of only playing at reasonable hours but sometimes neighbors can be difficult
-I've been told to mind the downstairs neighbor especially so stopping sound from traveling through the floor is a priority

Anyhow, I'd appreciate any info you could share to make a room as soundproof as possible for as little money as possible.
Thanks in advance

redblues

Really depends on your floor. Concrete your fine, wooden you'll have work to do. Theres is some really great insulation that goes under floorboards out there now. High density, ~5cm thick. Tell your landlord you have bad circulation and you'll insulate it yourself. Easy enough job, cheap too. ProTip - Check out ceiling insulation too works fine under floorboards as long a the density is reasonably high.

Walls are pretty easy, egg cartons look awful, but those standard office particion boards (usually blue/grey), are a super material for sound insulation. Cut them up, mount them, drape a hippie blanket over them.....Profit!

BluesBop Harry

Thanks RedBlues,
I'm guessing the floors are concrete and they have a wooden laminate on top, I'm thinking maybe a thick carpet with padding underneath could do the trick?
As for the walls, I'm not sure how much of a problem they are. I don't have neighbors on any side of the room just above and below the latter being the main problem.


Thanks for the tip on the cubicle boarding, I'll look into that. The more sound I can stop the later into the night I can practice!

BluesBop Harry

Thanks Jason,
I won't be moving until next week so we'll have to wait and see how much sound actually makes it to my neighbor's... I'll definitely post whatever solution I find

It's not really a home studio so I don't really need total soundproofing, just enough as to be able to play la pompe and high-up-the-neck chord shouts during the day without people complaining.
The thing is my guitar is really loud and one thing I work a lot on is sound projection.
I'm guessing the bass frequencies on a Selmer type are not that pronounced so I might get away with little work done to the room if I can stop the other frequencies from making it across ... fingers crossed...
Still I've been looking at cork, foam and rugs as potential solutions to dampen at least some of the volume...

What about you gypsy jazzers out there living in apartment buildings. What do you do?


EDIT: Jason, after posting this I realized your reply vanished... Anyway I'd appreciate if you'd tell me more of your ideas

Ian Rossiter

I'm not sure how practical it is for your situation,but, I've been renovating a small cabin-styled house over the last few months. I had to replace most of the drywall so while the studs were exposed, I installed R8 Rockbatt sound/fire barrier. This stuff looks like dense, green insulation, but instead of thermal insulation, it absorbs sound, plus it's a fire barrier. Where normal Pink insulation is made from Fiberglass, this stuff is actual made from Rock!!! Before, the wall were so thin,if you had a conversation in one room , you could hear it 2 rooms away. Now, the rooms are way more isolated and private. plus the added benefit of additional Fire protection for my family,should the unexpected/unfortunate happen.
I really like the Office cubicle/divider, idea too.
How practical would it be to take a thick piece of foam, and carve yourself out a soundhole mute? That might help your situation as well.
Just a thought....

BluesBop Harry

Thanks to all who replied.
In the end it was too much trouble, so I ended up finding another place where I can play to my heart's content (hopefully)...

sketch

the matter is actually simple: more heavy materials on your walls, less sound passes through. I knew a person who dismounted the rear metal cage of a truck just to soundproof a room... If you are not willing to do that, then i would go for heavy carpets, or better heavy woods (such as holm, or olive, or exotic woods).

Jazzaferri

If it comes up again the best way to cheaply attentuate sound is to have an absorbent layer such as w-w carpet and underlay on top of heavy dense layer like cement board on top of a light layer such as particle board

All that on top of a wood floor with no fasteners will cheaply reduce sound transmission enough to elimanate complaints.