Semi-portable room build...

superpenguin79 · Post by **superpenguin79** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:34 am

Hello everyone,

I am back with a new room to work on once again..

This time around, I am going to unfortunately be living in the city in a 3 appt. home and am looking to construct a semi-portable room due to the fact that I will not own the appartment and will not be staying at this location for more than 2-4 years tops.

1. Would I be best off simply purchasing a large vocal booth to plop in the room for this so I do not tear appart the room, annoy the neighbors...etc...?

The loudest I am going to be getting in this particular room is a live acoustic drum kit or 100 watt bass amp/guitar amp for sessions.

What are my best options so the neighbors don't hear a peep and I can still get some work done and not spend a fortune constructing something that I will have to tear out a couple years later?

I know about the Auralex foam, egg crates...etc.. already but I am looking to be what you would call "cheap" on a budget for this room being it is not permanant.

Please let me know your best suggestions. I appreciate any help in advance. I will also post room specs in a few months when I move in and can get proper measurements. I am just trying to tally the list in advance if at all possible..

Thanks

Charlie

superpenguin79 · Post by **superpenguin79** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 6:41 am

p.s. I would preferably like to attempt to keep a budget under $1000 on this so I guess you could say that creativity is key....

AVare · Post by **AVare** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:18 am

What are my best options so the neighbors don't hear a peep and I can still get some work done and not spend a fortune constructing something that I will have to tear out a couple years later?

Sorry, but at that budget, dreams.

Andre

Post by **sharward** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:07 am

First, laugh and cry.

Then, if you still have the strength, make yourself a pot of coffee, take a deep breath, and then dig into this.

Bottom line, you cannot do what you want to do the way you want to do it for as little as you want to spend. Cannot.

P.S.: Cannot.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:28 am

Just a bit more clarification, in case you think you caught two "negative nellies" in a row -

A standard "whisper-room" large enough to put a drum kit in would cost you around $5-6,000 and would not even come CLOSE to allowing you to play drums without neighbors calling the cops, much less not even hearing you - Whisper room make a "high isolation" version, which STILL won't get you quiet enough - it's possible that, IF (big word) your floor is built solid enough to take a LOT more weight, you might be able to isolate drums enough for around the same price as the heavier duty Whisperroom, but it will NOT, repeat NOT, be PORTABLE - if/when you remove it, it will very likely be destroyed.

We've had people using ELECTRONIC drum kits that had downstairs neighbors complain; even the impact noise from the bass beater on the electronic kit was getting through a normal floor.

Consider that the kick drum puts out around 110 dB of sound pressure at very low frequencies - human ears hear anything above about 50 dB at that low frequency, so you would need a transmission loss of about 60 dB at 50 hZ, which translates to around STC 90 or thereabouts, depending on the type of construction.

Sorry, but Andre and Keith gave you the short answer... Steve

superpenguin79 · Post by **superpenguin79** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 5:59 am

no problem guys, thanks much for the honest answers actually. I figured I could not come close with that budget, but wanted to double check and see if anyone had any good idea's...

I take it I am going to be using BFD and Reason a lot more for my drums, and I might as well put the drum kit and amps into storage for a while eh? Either that or I am going to be doing a lot of re-amping with some form of cab to dampen the amp when I record clean eh?

I bettered put the drums, 15 in. bass rig, and 4x12 guitar rig into storage then for a couple years... lol Good thing is that I will be located on the bottom floor though and I do have a basement also in the new place so I might be able to drag a couple of audio snakes down to the basement and do a little bit of something being my place above would dampen things a little... *shrugs*

well, Thanks again for the input.

Sword9 · Post by **Sword9** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:02 am

man those new kits for BFD sound good.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:38 am

"man those new kits for BFD sound good" - I know this may be a bit O.T., but don't care; got a link? Thanks... Steve

Sword9 · Post by **Sword9** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:20 pm

BFD's Main Page

BFD's first Add-on pack

BFD's newest 8-bit kit add-on

Although at first the 8 bit kit sounds like it would just be drum machines from the 70's and 80's, it's actually got a lot of real drums too. Some of the drums have chains hanging from them or they're way detuned or hit with odd objects. Includes some weird drum sounds too, like the lid to a kitchen pot from 1955... Program it yourself, or use a "player" type app like Groove Agent or ever better Stylus RMX. This is the best drum package I've found out there.

The guys that sample these things are really good. You can move room mics and OH mics around the room and change and tune the sound.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 11:59 pm

Thanks Sam, I'm gonna add that to my list of things to check out - looking for something I can tote around on my laptop without extra baggage... Steve

superpenguin79 · Post by **superpenguin79** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 3:10 am

yeah, BFD is awesome for toting around.

The only time I have really messed with live drums in the last year since I had it is to play live with a band, or going into a major studio. Other than that, BFD and Reason are my friends...

btw... here's an on topic question kinda for you guys: Is there much of a difference between Auralex acoustic foams and the stuff that you buy for mattresses in your local convenience store? The reason I ask is caus essentially wouldn't two layers of your local kmart special for $8 a roll be a much more cost effective experience than Auralex for someone in an appartment?

I just wonder really if the stuff would work to disolve some of the sound as a cheap alternative til I get space to build a real room that is..

if you guys have any theories about this, I'd be interested in hearing opinions. Thanks

Charlie

Sword9 · Post by **Sword9** » Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:28 am

most mattress type foams are closed cell, and auralex-type "audio" foams are open cell.

superpenguin79 · Post by **superpenguin79** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:36 am

ahh, so they basically absorb the reflection of the sound path instead of bouncing some of it eh? basically making the room sound dead where there are things going on like flutter echo..etc.. interesting.. I wonder if I took a knife or something and opened up some "cells" in one of those mattress foam things a little how it would work....

I may just give it a shot for cost effectiveness and post back the results.... lol thanks for the info.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Tue Jun 28, 2005 6:21 am

Charlie, there's a LOT more to it than that - the type chemicals used to create the foam are what decides if it's "open cell", not slicing a few places in it - also, FIRE CONTROL - the Auralex stuff will burn when subjected to open flame, but will self-extinguish when it's removed. Most (if not all) the "wanna-be's" will just incinerate you, and quickly - Steve