Sheep's wool insulation for soundproofing

[Lanky Wanker]

So I've been wanting to buy myself a drum kit for fuck knows how long, but haven't been able to due to the noise it will create. I'm only 16 and still living at home so all I have to play around with is my bedroom and some basic DIY stuff that any idiot could do. I know I won't be able to "soundproof" it, but I want to cut down the noise enough to not bother the neighbours enough for them to complain. The guy next door doesn't mind playing his Bob Marley CDs loud enough for us to hear them from the living room every once in a while, so he shouldn't be bothered by a small amount of noise. My bedroom was an extension on the bottom half of a house cut into a flat/apartment, so I don't have to worry about people directly above or below me (or even right next to me), but whoever decided the laws of sound didn't end my problems here. Anyway, I've been thinking of doing my window first, which is facing away from any houses and straight into our garden and the houses some distance behind it. I was thinking of doing something like this for it:

http://reviews.diy.com/2191-en_gb/35217/photo.jpg

http://reviews.diy.com/2191-en_gb/35218/photo.jpg

When I stand in the garden outside my room the noise is about 50% of what it is from inside the room itself. Will this actually do much for me or not? I have about 8 inches to play around with (:lol:) where the wall goes in at the window so hopefully I could double the layers up, maybe with something in between.

As for my door, there are quite a lot of gaps where I can see light coming through. What could I use to cover these up well? I've seen those thin little strips, but they don't look like they'd actually do much. If you've seen the School of Rock (which you should have!), I thought something like the pad things they used on the doors of the classroom would be good.

Aaaaand any ideas on the wall facing my Bob Marley neighbour's garden? I don't mind making my room look like an underground sex chamber; as long as I get to put a drum kit in here, I'm happy. At the practice studios me and my band go to there are these thick pads they have the amps and drum kit on, presumably to block out some of the bass or something. Any idea what these are called and if they'd help at all?

[Le Rouge]

Buy an electric drum. Sure, it isn't like a real drum, but at least you won't have to sound proof every wall of your room.

[Lanky Wanker]

Buy an electric drum. Sure, it isn't like a real drum, but at least you won't have to sound proof every wall of your room.

I was thinking about that, but they're expensive as fuck looking for one that doesn't sound like it's obviously from a computer. Plus the feel is nothing like a real kit which I think kinda fucked our drummer over the first time we met up in the studio since he'd only played on a digital before then, though I've never heard others report that problem. I wanna be hitting drums and cymbals, not bouncy rubbery plastic stuff, y'know? I'll get a real kit when I (hopefully) move out in a couple of years anyway, so it'd be a waste of money. I'd honestly rather spend the time and money soundproofing my room a bit to get a real kit.

And on another note, when the hell did you return? NewLeft and I thought you were in prison or something.

[Le Rouge]

And on another note, when the hell did you return? NewLeft and I thought you were in prison or something.

I'm just very occupied. :)

[Lanky Wanker]

I'm just very occupied. :)

Lady friend or occupying your school? Or both? You animal. :D

[Fawkes]

The thing that makes soundproofing difficult is that there's no single "sound", there's a very broad range of frequencies all requiring different levels of insulation to dampen them. I would suggest doing what you suggested to the windows and lining the walls with eggcrates (those yellow foam mattress pads) or a similar material. That should take care of the higher frequencies (cymbals, upper end of the snare) to a degree. However, for the lower frequencies (kick drum, lower end of the snare's spectrum, larger toms), you're far better off trying to mute them at the source. The lower a frequency, the longer its wavelength, making it incredibly difficult to prevent bass frequencies from passing through walls. Try stuffing your kick drum full of pillows and maybe draping a bedsheet over your snare/toms. I know it won't sound as good, but you're never going to soundproof your room to block lower frequencies without using really complex tools like bass traps, and even then, it won't be anywhere near perfect.

Also, the difference that blocking the cracks in the door would make is negligible.

[Lanky Wanker]

The thing that makes soundproofing difficult is that there's no single "sound", there's a very broad range of frequencies all requiring different levels of insulation to dampen them. I would suggest doing what you suggested to the windows and lining the walls with eggcrates (those yellow foam mattress pads) or a similar material. That should take care of the higher frequencies (cymbals, upper end of the snare) to a degree. However, for the lower frequencies (kick drum, lower end of the snare's spectrum, larger toms), you're far better off trying to mute them at the source. The lower a frequency, the longer its wavelength, making it incredibly difficult to prevent bass frequencies from passing through walls. Try stuffing your kick drum full of pillows and maybe draping a bedsheet over your snare/toms. I know it won't sound as good, but you're never going to soundproof your room to block lower frequencies without using really complex tools like bass traps, and even then, it won't be anywhere near perfect.

Also, the difference that blocking the cracks in the door would make is negligible.

Yeah bass is a ***** to hide. Thanks for the pillow in the kick tip, I was actually thinking of making a huge wall out of pillows for the sake of going purely DIY. :lol: As for the door thing, I know it won't make much of a difference, but I know they always talk about making sure no light can get through to ensure it's as tight as possible.