I am feeling the need to get a soundproofed space together in my basement so that practicing flute and uilleann pipes won’t be a political issue between me and my wife. Anyone done this successfully, such that watching TV or reading on another floor of the house is possible? I’m looking to hear stories about which materials are user-friendly, reasonably priced and accessible off-the-shelf. I’m all (virtual) ears.
Thanks,
j
There are whole books on the subject of soundproofing, and a whole range of expensive, specialist materials. Since you are only dealing with high pitched sounds from flute and UPs, it shouldn’t be a big deal to soundproof a space, but you must make sure to provide yourself some source of fresh air. It gets really expensive when you are trying to shut out (or keep in) deep bass sounds, where you must isolate the building frame of the room from outside surfaces.
You could likely get away with acoustic rock wool batting in the walls and ceiling for soft, high pitched instruments like yours. There are also acoustic gypsum wallboard panels available for cutting down sound transmission, as well.
Personally, I would dump the wife. It would be much cheaper, and if you are that much apart on your music … well, that’s your business.
djm
Standard convoluted foam (also known as “eggcrate foam”) can be attached to the walls and be used in this way. Not too cheap but is a common way to achieve the desired results.
If you line the entire room with straw bales it will be pretty soundproof…oh, wait, you said user friendly.
Sorry.
T
Have you been reading up on straw bale construction, too?
djm
This guy seems to have mistaken egg crate foam for… egg crates. Probably cheaper than the foam, though…
Pricing isn’t too bad, Uline has them: http://www.uline.com/Browse_Listing_863.asp?keywords=convoluted+foam
Would your wife consider earphones for the TV? I’ve seen wireless ones, but don’t know how well they would work.
If, on the other hand, it is the, um, noises you make that annoy her more than interference with TV viewing, I guess you’re back to soundproofing.
Good luck!
This appears to be a good overview of how soundproofing works…
http://www.uhfmag.com/Issue63/soundproofing.html
And this site dispels some myths..
Q I’ve heard that sticking egg boxes or acoustic foam to walls will help soundproof a room. Is this true?
Egg boxes can make a marginal improvement to some aspects of a room’s acoustics by breakingup reflections from hard surfaces, but they are virtually useless for soundproofing. The same is true of lightweight suspended ceilings, acoustic foam and even Rockwool (Rockwool tends to be used for acoustic treatment or for damping out resonances inside partition walls. All these materials have their uses, but they’re mainly for acoustic treatment, not for soundproofing).
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul00/articles/faqacoustic.htm
Thick fabrics also add some soundproofing quality. We’re not talking professional grade, but it couldn’t hurt. A lot of people hang thick drapes around a room and use eggcrate and get a good quality of soundproofing between the two.
If you go with anything that can be bought at a local craft store type place, then be sure to ask when they normally put that product on sale and watch for coupons. Those places often (as in weekly) put out 20-50% off one item coupons.
If you want really cheap, you can go to your local thrift store and pick up blankets or drapes that are inexpensive and use them. You can also check out freecycle.org and ask for whatever you are looking for (thick fabric or drapes, eggcrate, curtain rods, etc) and get it for the price of gas.
I would think so far the hay bales are going to be the cheapest. You can cover them in blankets to mask some of the smell, but I don’t know how that would affect the sound absorption. Your wife won’t hear you, but she will smell you. So you’ll want to shower after practice time.
(Edited to say Brian hadn’t posted yet when I started mine, so I’d go with the experts there before listening to me. I got my advice years ago from some DIY network TV show. Probably good for cheap, but the expert Brian linked to is probably better for effective. 
)
Why is it people are fine and dandy having the TV blaring away night and day at ear-splitting levels (especially when the commercials come on), whether they are even in the room or not, but pull out a flute and they get all nasty on you and banish you to the far corners of the house.
The far corners that is until they decide they’d like to use that part of the house themselves for “important business” at which time you are once again banned from playing the flute because it’s just “too loud”.
Borrow someone’s Highland pipes; tell the S/O you’re going to start to learn them. Play for an hour or two, every day, for a week.
Then abandon them, and go back to the flute.
See what happens.
"Why is it people are fine and dandy having the TV blaring away night and day at ear-splitting levels (especially when the commercials come on), whether they are even in the room or not, but pull out a flute and they get all nasty on you and banish you to the far corners of the house.
The far corners that is until they decide they’d like to use that part of the house themselves for “important business” at which time you are once again banned from playing the flute because it’s just “too loud”."
Simple answer: They aren’t musicians. More complicated answer: Hearing a musical instrument being practiced is, to modern ears at least, far more demanding than all of the manifold white noises that are so common as to be part of the sonic landscape. Listening to someone practice is like listening to someone speak and the less facile they are with their chosen language the less fun it is to listen to. Bottom line is that, for some people, music is a really cathartic and relaxing form of self-expression and for some it isn’t. There’s a long history of the twain never meeting on certain levels. I hate that TV double standard as well, but I did choose to marry someone who does not share my view of music so I can’t bitch. Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone.
J
[quote=“KatieBell”]
If you want really cheap, you can go to your local thrift store and pick up blankets or drapes…for the price of gas.
[quote]
I thought you said cheap, Katie!
Seriously, based on my reading, straw bales are really quite sound proof. That was one of the reasons the pioneers on the great plains made houses out of them (the other being that there was little or no wood with which to build)–the bales blocked out the constant wind noise and thus preserved an amount of sanity. I do fully plan to build a stand-alone, dedicated music studio, wood frame with straw bale infill. I have the space, I can get the straw. Time and money are the only issues…aren’t they always.
None of which helps Josh, I realize. Straw infill on an already existing basement would be unrealistic, to say it very mildly.
I feel your pain. My wife is a musician, a non-addicted TV watcher, and a remarkably patient person, but at times it still causes a bit of tension. My only (serious) suggetions would be either to find another place to practice (churches and office buildings can offer some strong possibilities after-hours), get a quieter whistle such as a small-bore Hoover, or stick to the low D.
Good luck!
Tom[/i]
For soundproofing, you want to add density while cutting down on the transmission of vibrations.
For a basement, I’d consider double-studding the walls, hanging the wallboard (gyproc, likely) from accoustic trac rather than screwing straight into the stud–this cuts down on the wood+screw as atransmission medium, and avoids turning your wallboard into a resonating drumhead.
Fill the space with green accoustic insulation, and do the same for the ceiling if you have the headroom.
If that’s not enough, you can add an inch of a thick material–sort of a cross between fibreboard and felt; I don’t know it’s name. Comes in 4x8 sheets) between the stud and your wallboard.
If the floor is concrete, probably putting something soft like a carpet down in the room you’re practising in will be enough.
Great link, thanks.
I think the concertina sounds a lot better in a reverberant room, and I’m not alone. I’d hate to soundproof a practice room by putting up foam that ruins the reverberant properties.
As your link points out, it doesn’t help to prevent the reflection of sound. Reflection keeps the sound in! You want to stop transmission.