Monday, October 20, 2014
How Not To Soundproof Your Studio
Pro Sound Web: Recently I received a number of questions about home studio soundproofing, and they all seem to revolve around using certain materials like mattresses or carpet to do it. These aren’t very good solutions however,
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"Mass is what is needed" I helped build my dads sound studio back in high school. It was already a sound studio but the last tenant took out all of the wall paneling and took it with him. We did the proper technique and ordered real sound proof panels and installed them ourselves. I remember thought the ADR booth having the most god awfully heavy door Ive ever moved, worse then the man door into the Chosky. We ended up adding a raised floor that hid some foley pits into the ADR Booth. After all was said and done we were doing recording a show and my dad kept picking up the most annoying extra noise and we couldn't figure out what it was. Until we realized it was the high end of him talking to me from the studio. After all of the soundproofing that was built into the ADR booth and all we added to the studio it turned out there was a single air duct that connected the two rooms and so we were picking up everything that was said in the studio. Moral of my story here is that I find it sincerely impressive how so much can be done to isolate a room from excess sound but one little thing like an air duct or opening the Man door to the Chosky can instantly break that barrier.
I wish I knew the exact science behind soundproofing in order to comment on this, but I can say I see certain trends behind these "what not to use" items. Often, they involves increasing surface area and density, and sometimes softness. It seems that you would want something that absorbs sound, and most of these products just seem to reflect it or try to obstruct the path that the sound is taking. I am very curious to find out how sound proofing material works the way it does in order to discover exactly why these materials are not affective.
I don't have much experience in needing to sound-proof a room, but it's great to know what not to use. This article pointed out many things that I would not have thought of with using a certain material like how flammable egg cartons are so flammable. Or how plywood, if installed incorrectly, can create a bigger problem because it vibrates with the sound, and many more. It seems like all these materials are either more expensive than using proper sound proofing materials or just don't work (or, even worse, both). I wish the article on how to soundproof your room was up so I could continue reading about it.
Wait, people actually use these things to sound proof their studios? I don't think that there is really ANY way to effectively sound proof a room. There will always be some frequency or pitch that you didn't cover. Especially when low pitches come into play. Those just vibrate everything and go through the floor. I think cement walls are pretty much your best bet on this, but even those aren't infallible. At my high school we had a "sound proof" band room. It really was just surrounded by thick cement walls and thick doors with a sound lock. They were actually quite effective. Unless the band was playing at full blast and full power, you couldn't really hear them much until you open the second door.
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