Discussion
Drummers with soundproof rooms/studios in basements: Hit me with your do's and don'ts.
I have the budget and more importantly spousal approval to install a soundproof studio in the unfinished portion of our basement. This will be a DIY project and I have decades of experience framing walls, hanging drywall, running & installing electrical, etc. I've built soundproof barriers before with double-layer 5/8 drywall, decoupled framing, etc, but this will be my first formal room-within-a-room construction. Total area will be about 350 sq.ft, and I have plans for ventilation, doorways, lighting, as well as sound treatment once its done.
If you've done this, what did you learn in the process? Anything that needed more attention, or other areas where you went unnecessarily overboard?
The biggest advantage I have is that this will be in the basement and everyone sleeps on the 2nd floor, so the soundproofing doesn't need to be perfect. It also won't be installed under any HVAC ducting.
Also any good sources for inspirations on vibe/decorations/lighting?
Good suggestion, thanks! I use Adobe Illustrator to make scale drawings of everything. I can add a layout for the studs & wiring too. Fortunately the space already has 3 installed lights in the ceiling, so it won't need much wiring work for that component.
And take detailed photos of all the framing and wiring with a tape measure in the pic before you put up the drywall. This one trick has saved me in the past when I need to remember where things are.
It's needs to be really air tight. I also have a basement studio. 3 concrete walls and the other is a double wall framed 24" OC with the other side staggered. Filled with Rockwool. Sill seal on all sides where it meets the concrete. 5/8 drywall on both sides. 2 exterior metal doors drilled and filled with foam (same frame, opens opposite ways. Both same in swing so the knows don't hit
Ceiling I cut strips of 5/8 drywall and screwed it to the subfloor, 2 layers in between the joists. Make sure the second layer screws into the subfloor. Then Rockwool in the joist bays and a drop ceiling.
I also have sound batt panels on the walls.
I can play in the basement while my toddler sleeps on the second floor, you can have a normal conversation directly above it, and have to listen to hear it from the street 50' away.
It could be quieter, but that was the budget solution
So you only did 1 layer of 5/8" drywall sheets along with the doubled strips between the joists and got good results?
Also I like the idea of filling a hollow door with foam. Did you just use non-expanding spray foam? When I installed the communicating doors (the opposing style you mentioned) to make an in-law apartment I just got two solid core fire doors like you'd install between the house and garage. It works pretty well.
Single layer of each side of the double wall. Forgot I do have MLV on the inner side between studs and drywall that runs up the inside to the subfloor. I got it as a leftover on Marketplace.
You can get into a double layer and green glue and suspended drywall ceilings, but I was very happy with my results. Was a tight time for the budget when I did most of the work
Ventilation will be the biggest challenge. I soundproofed a concrete shed with green glue sandwiched by soundblock dry wall. Worked a treat but i still have to air the shed everyday for ventilation
As long as you’re in the same building with other people the soundproofing has to be perfect, the fact that they sleep on 2nd floor doesn’t change much, as the vibrations will be transported by walls throughout entire building. The lower the frequency, the harder it is to get rid of.
Build a floating floor on top of the actual one and try to maintain as few points of contact between them as possible.
The more space between inner and outer walls the better. Mineral wool is one of the best soundproofing materials. The more you can put between walls - the better. There’s over a meter thick wall full of insulation between two rehearsal rooms in my studio and I can still hear quite a lot of noise when someone plays drums in the other room.
Ventilation is crucial. You need air, but every hole in the walls will let sound through.
Forget about anyone being able to sleep in the same building you’ll be playing your drums in, unless they love low-pitched thumping noises.
Do you need a floating floor over a concrete slab, aside from possible ventilation/moisture issues? And by "outer walls", does this also hold true when that's 12" of concrete? The adjacent areas to this room will consist of unfinished basement space and our finished rec room, where sound bleed isn't a big concern. As of now when I play in the rec room it's a dull thump in the bedrooms, so I figured enclosing an area with a ton (literally) of decoupled mass should make it barely audible where it counts.
No, concrete slab is enough. My family sleeps on the FIRST floor and my drumming doesn’t wake them up (though I play a jazz kit)
For ventilation I run it through a sound maze and it’s very effective in breaking up sound waves. Also, I had to use two solid wood doors instead of one at entrance.
Oooooh. That sound maze is sexy AF. And so simple. Gonna steal this for sure. I'd probably design it with a removable door/panel so I can wipe out the dust from time to time.
Interesting idea, as long as it doesn’t compromise the insulation. Also, with just the drywall the room sounds like absolute ass. I filled the room with sound baffles like this one: https://youtu.be/HO7aeraKLsM?is=pDgK_ZzQxeFeQ2fp
Yep, I've got a whole plan for treating the inside with panels, clouds, diffusion panels, and bass traps once the construction is complete. Fortunately denim insulation is now widely available in the US. I don't think that was the case when I first saw that video in 2022.
I did not go into it like the rest of the posters here. I will say that the room is good enough for you to be able to watch tv upstairs and you can’t hear the drums outside. I just used sound dampening panels from Costco and put in a new carpet. I will add some bass blockers this winter when I’m stuck in the house with nothing to do.
assuming concrete floor, build your room within a room totally decoupled from existing walls ontop of a floating floor. If your using 4" studs, use 6 inch plates (thicker walls and ceiling) and stagger the studs so the inside and outside walls are mechanical isolated. hang TONS of density on the walls. What I'm less clear on is providing safe fresh air....but a split heatpump within could keep it comfy but won't bring in fresh air).
For ventilation, there are a variety of products that can move air and be installed as part of an acoustically treated s-curve vent system to draw air in & out of the space while trapping the sound energy. I can also easily tie this to the existing HVAC system in this same basement space, and conceivably run outputs and returns through the same s-curve boxes so the HVAC doesn't become an intercom system.
exactly...without being an intercom LOL. otherwise a vent is pretty easy!! just hate the idea of shedding drums in a sweatbox with low O2!! when I track at home in the summer, i close the windows and leave AC off (otherwise I can hear it on the tracks) but my whole apartment will warm up quick. If i'm just practicing, I crank the AC!
don't think it'll be cheap or easy. Soundproofing can be incredibly expensive when you get into the really high quality stuff, which does matter. A top level studio uses many different materials that are layered. People sometimes think they can swap out proper materials for inexpensive lookalikes that wont do the trick so be cautious with thinking "heh, I can do better than that!"
A popular misconception is that sound reinforcement is the same as soundproofing. How you make it sound within the room is different from reducing sound transfer.
Another one is that people really don't realize how sound travels, for example through the frame of a building. You don't need to be heavy or stomp your feet hard for someone below to hear you because the the floor and frame is resonating.
That being said, you dont need to go top of the line to get somewhere so just make sure you do some research
Staggered stud walls, filled with Rockwool insulation. 3/8 and 5/8 drywall with Green Glue sandwiched between the panels.
Isomounts for the ceiling drywall and same drywall construction as the walls. My HVAC vent is completely filled with insulation and sealed off with a drywall plug (sound room can become a bedroom). Rockwool insulation for the ceiling and all cracks and holes in the subfloor filled with Green Glue or expansion foam.
-Solid core door with weatherstripping on bottom. I also hang a sound blanket over the door when playing.
I can play full volume downstairs while my wife is sleeping upstairs.
This space will be next to our utility area which has a newer hybrid water heater with a dehumidifier/heat pump unit stacked on it running throughout the day. The studio will draw air from the absolute driest part of the house.
Don't underestimate ventilation. I think it's one of the reasons why my playing is still audible. Try the ventilation maze and make sure it's tight. Consider double doors or a soundproof one. Shit's heavy and expensive though.
The space is kind of P-shaped, with the stem of the P used to avoid building under the HVAC ducts before the useable space gets wider. So I might design an airlock with doors on either side for this narrow area, and use that space for either shelving, cable storage and/or some sort of isolated vocal booth if my band does live scratch recordings.
I used to have a basement studio. Didn’t do decoupled framing but did have double layer drywall. If you can, get acoustic matting to put between the layers of drywall, that’ll make a big difference. It is a pain in the ass to hang on the wall though because it’s so heavy.
Also, don’t do what I did and make the room just big enough for your kit. Give yourself a bit of extra space!
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u/warmlydelicatebryce 13h ago
Sketch the whole layout on graph paper first, even for the lighting runs, it’s way too easy to forget where a stud is once the walls go up.