Ableton Forum

I'm interested in DIY soundproofing - I want to build a vocal booth and a drum booth in a 800 square foot space.

Has anyone done this on a budget? How much did it cost? How effective was it compared to getting professional treatment?

Any other suggestions?

quite a long thread, but one of my friends built his own studio, here's the link (with pics)

http://forum.studiotips.com/viewtopic.php?t=107

As you will see, it's definitely educational

First thing is to ask yourself: do you need it to be "soundproof" to the outside world, just provide isolation from the main tracking space or control room, or do you just need it to sound good? Like the link in the first reply points out, stopping sound waves requires mass, Lots of it. This is different than installing acoustic treatment, or getting a bit of isolation.

I'll put in my poll question - IN terms of just minimizing the sound for neighbors' sake - so you can at least play a bit through an amp, what is the best material to use? I'll have an upstairs neighbor in a couple weeks, so I'm thinking just ceiling material would work to at least to dampen the volume?

..and egg cartons would work too, right?

SJ is that you?


Basically you want to construct an isolated room within a room... Now at 800 sq ft I would guess minimum cost would be $5000..

i did it, mines different to those pictures..my room sits on rubber and floats...

i built mine for about £1000- its only 12ft*12ft mind u..i got allot of wood from auction yards...if its tottally soundproof it will be airtight..so dont forget some way to get air in and out! i didnt at first...and it was horrible...i now have tumble tryer tubes in the wall cavitys with 240v fans on the outside pushin and pullin air in.

that little room is sick SJ. nice one.

beatport, on auralex's site there is a link to http://www.acoustics101.com/
it has all that one needs to know to build the sound proof action

Yeah, I was going to suggest the same as above... proper isolation means floating your floor and walls, building walls within the walls(air between spaces, believe it or not is the best sound damper), and then insulation, soundproofing board(similar to drywall but specific to soundproofing), drywall, and then auralex/similar material... seen it done(haven't done it myself), but I'm guessing it could add up in cost...Best of luck to you...let us know how it goes...

BeatPsychic wrote:Yeah, I was going to suggest the same as above... proper isolation means floating your floor and walls, building walls within the walls(air between spaces, believe it or not is the best sound damper), and then insulation, soundproofing board(similar to drywall but specific to soundproofing), drywall, and then auralex/similar material... seen it done(haven't done it myself), but I'm guessing it could add up in cost...Best of luck to you...let us know how it goes...

my rooms on proper acoustic rubber floats.

the floor itself isn't floated, but ive had a full drumkit with percussion kit in here and only the snare drum cut through to the business downstairs.

the way i built my room is ideal for a vocal room or tracking/mixing rooms.

for a drum room you would build two layers of my walls with a gap of about a foot in between them and a nicely done up floor using the same principles or filled in concrete if you dont have anyone in the floor under you

and NO that's not me.. !

dango wrote:that little room is sick SJ. nice one.

beatport, on auralex's site there is a link to http://www.acoustics101.com/
it has all that one needs to know to build the sound proof action

hey thanks

the book from this site is amazing.

for the most part i followed the general guidelines of this book with regards to room shapes and wall angles + ceiling slope etc..

Also google for John L Sayer or something, he has a kickass forum for this kinda stuff.

christ! I wish!

My deal is that this house is supposed to be "transitional" so I can't......I envy (with great jealousy ) those who are set in their dwelling and can do this sort of thing......

the makers of green glue have some excellent documentation on their site
http://www.greengluecompany.com/