We began construction yesterday on our new band room in the basement of guitar player 2's house.

We have found a couple of semi-useful web sites on the subject, but I thought I would throw this out for some discussion.

Is there anything we could do to soundproof that we might not have thought of?

Thanks.

Staple some kittens to the wall and bathe the entrance in lamb's blood.

I was thinking about the occasional case of beer for the neighbors. And lamb's blood. That's on the list.

do you have enough of a ceiling to build a room within the room?

like frame out walls and a ceiling and suspend a floor?

b/c that's the kickass way to do it

my basement, i don't have that kind of room

i replaced the regular windows with glass block, and that helped a ton with the noise to my neighbors

i am just finishing a basement build-out. hear me roar. but i'm no authority, so read with caution..........

before i start up with my bush-league ideas, i should mention that i found a useful article on the auralex site somewhere that i wish i had seen before the building started, and not while i was midway through the process. not comprehensive, some common sense stuff, and some sort of a 'soundproofing for dummies,' but not so dumb. and they don't really try and sell you their wares, either (but some auralex or other true sound absorption and diffusion materials seem like a good idea after reading what joe auralex-guy has to say. go figure).

tim is very right about the room within a room bit. if the ceilings are too low to raise the floor (maybe not AS crucial in a basement with a concrete foundation anyway? anyone?), dropping a seperate, isolated ceiling off of isolated walls will help. even hanging joists just a half inch or so below the current joists (off of DIFFERENT beams than the original joists) to put up the new ceiling. barring that, the jay ryan and i had a funny idea that saved me from buying (expensive) neoprene: i went to the hippie bike shop around the corner and collected all of the used inner tubes they had every day for a week, and stapled those (two or three tubes thick) to the existing joists before i put the (two layers) of drywall on the ceiling. though the drywall was still mechanically attached to the joists (and therefore the upstairs floor, ductwork, windows, etc.....), it had to do something (right? right? it wasnt' a total waste of time? right?), and it was free (minus the staples). all of these scenarios should also involve insulating the shit out of everything.

ask wherever you get drywall about soundboard sheets. 4'x8' full sheet stuff. can't remember the manufacturer's name. but the auralex site has some things to say about this stuff and a surface layer of drywall vs. 2 layers of drywall.

tim is also very right about glass block, but if that's not in your budget or know-how quiver, you can build some insulated boxes, with foam strips between them and the walls/ceiling around the windows, and hang them or fasten them over the windows. again, insulated shitless, with maybe some sound absorbers or diffusers on the exterior (playing room side) of the box too. no light vs. trapping sound. that's the fight. but if you rig it right, you can remove them for whatever you'd want to remove them for (to put in glass block, or escape the "i was too cheap and bought egg crate foam and now i'm fucked because the shit burns quick and the svt is in front of our only door" fire, for example).

this is total soft science here, but i think the linoleum tile i put down on the bare concrete made a difference too. not much, but maybe a wee bit? anyone? at the very least, it makes the space feel less like a basement and more like a split level, half basement 'rec room.' for recreation, not recording.

everything takes longer than you think it will. without fail. if you don't do this stuff day in/day out, be prepared to wonder why it wasn't done last week/month/year when you reach the midway point. but doing it right far exceeds doing it quick, which often involves suckering others in to help out at crucial times. remind the bandmates of this often. but if the bandmate is your girlfriend/wife/lover, don't hang it over their head the first week of construction, even in jest, or you're on your own for the duration. like me. fuck.

and buying beer for the neighbors will just get them nosier. before your first practice is over, you'll have drunk college hippies asking you to give them guitar lessons, and sucking up for free recording time, in your home, which was never intended to be a commercial studio in the first place. this is my current situation, but i never gave her any beer. she just got drunk and nosey on her own. crap. my lady looks murderous when she sees this hippie. it's amazing. i wish this was a joke.

i know a few people that have made appearances in this forum who have built out basements, garages, homes, studios, etc. to great success. i'm curious to hear what others have to say about this too.........

good luck. post any insights you have along the way that might be useful to others, eh?
mc

a quick addendum (or a few) that i remembered while bathing-

insulate around the doors; i mean the roll-type, adhesive backed, foamy insulation that you might put around the jamb of an exterior door in inclement climates(cheap!). you know? the grey stuff. and maybe put down a threshold or rubbery door sweep under the door(s) (again, like you would an exterior door; this is a cheap aid too). and use heavy doors, no foam/hollow core. even the $90 pine solid doors at menards or wherever should be better than foamy doors. mass is important sometimes. and if you can put up double doors (open one door, find another door, open it, enter the room and close both doors, you know?), then you're PRO, as air is a damn fine insulator.

yeah..... and depending on what you're trying to get out of the room, put rugs under everything. maybe. i dunno.

still wishing you good luck, but i have to go back to my life for a little while now,
mc

hey nick, how's things? room inside of a room is definately the way to go. just make sure there are no wholes or gaps that would let sound out of the room. and look at what everyone else has said about having some sort of shock absorbers, if your walls touch any of the other structure of the house. hope things are going well with you guys.
-eric

R-11 is good roll type insulation that is made for sound absorption. Home Depot and the like carry it.

matt clark mentioned auralex

i have a bunch of auralex stuff in our basement room

it helps clean things up quite a bit

they have some useful tips for placing it on their site....

i would advise that you don't bother with their adhesive, which is pretty expensive

i used liquid nails, and it (they??) worked fine

Mayfair wrote:R-11 is good roll type insulation that is made for sound absorption. Home Depot and the like carry it.

There was one of these web site thingys that said that fiberglass roll-type insulation might actually conduct the sound.

Luckily we don't have a bass amp to deal with. Makes things a little easier.

You're right about giving beer to the neighbors. I was sort of half joking, but the wild neighborhood teens are probably more of a worry. Big locks. One two three lock box.

Thanks for the tips. Appreciate it.