I'v got a summer house at the end of my garden i use for my drums/guitar and recording. I currently have NO acoustic treatment... apart from putting an old carpet down! It is very loud inside the shed, to the point it is getting impossible to play without ear protection for any length of time. there is no clarity when playing drums, toms seem to ring for ages, there's a hell of a lot of 'reverb'! Even clapping or clicking sticks causes the cymbals to ring, and a harsh, high pitched slap-back kind of echo. Outside the shed/summer house it is still exceedingly loud! I know the problem... well part of it: there is a 14x8ft paneled glass wall with nothing covering it!

I'v had enough and have been doing some research, Iv come across the packing blanket method of creating studio booths. This seems a good idea! It'll cost me getting on for £150 at least to cover all four walls completely. Still two problems. There will be a foot or two's gap under the blanket and I'm still concerned that this will only stop the reverb at most, not quieten the noise level at all??

Please can you suggest how to A: deaden the sound. B) reduce the sound level outside the shed slightly?

Further information that may be usefull: There is a triangular shaped roof with a hight of approx.8ft-11ft (from ground level) The floor is 14ftx12ft and the walls themselves are 8ft high. Oh and the glass wall is double glazed.

sorry for the long post, Any Links or buget ideas will be very greatful! P.s I'm not affraid to build my own bass traps or any other DIY work possible

Aaron G

Quote AardvarkG:

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Please can you suggest how to A: deaden the sound. B) reduce the sound level outside the shed slightly?

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A is fairly easy, but you need to decide whether you really want to do B first and if you are prepared for the amount of work entailed.

If this is a wooden summerhouse, your best bet is to take it down and build something more substantial. If you can't do this, then you at least need to build an inner skin which is separate from the outer skin. If you have the space then a single sided stud wall with 2 or 3 layers of different thickness plasterboard with Green Glue between could be used with a ceiling of similar construction. You will also have to beef up the floor in a similar way. If you don't have the space then you may have to look into multiple layers of plasterboard mounted on resilient channel.

Anything less than this won't be much use as the outer skin of your summer house is almost certainly not cutting the sound out much. I had similar problems with my first studio but I was saved by the fact that it was nearly 100 yards to the nearest neighbour.

James.

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JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Hi Aron,

You have two issues of acoustical science to work through. First, you must deal with the sound energy leaving your room and going ?. With drums there will be a lot. Bass or kick drums start at 30 Hz. with toms at 50 Hz. and snares starting to talk around 80 cycles. These are big fat waves moving fast. They are like a 275 pound full or half back runner in football. You will need barrier or sound isolation technology. This involves construction techniques with different material types. Do not attempt without professional consultation and a build plan with construction techniques and a material list. You can make things worse.

Managing the sound in your room is another issue. Since toms and snares can go through 15,000 Hz., you can start with acoustic foam on all the inside wall surfaces. Use a closed celled acoustic foam for this. It will have a smoother frequency response which works well with drums, brass, and vocals. Foam will be good for everything above 100 Hz. but you will need to look towards diaphragmatic absorption for anything below 100 cycles. It is the only absorption technique that has the necessary horsepower to deal with big, fat, fullback type waves.

The window must be covered or filled in. You do not want drum sound hitting glass. You will get "glass sound" every where and the mike will not like it no matter how close it is to the drum. You don't want your room to sound like your car.

Regards,
Mike

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www.acousticfields.com low frequency absorption solutions. Listen to the music without hearing the room!