Klarinet Archive - Posting 000080.txt from 2009/01

From: "Benjamin Maas" <benmaas@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Soundproofing
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:05:50 -0500

The problem with soundproofing an apartment is that you cannot modify the
floor or the walls. Dampening sound can bring in a host of issues in the
space, but will not soundproof.

To soundproof a room, you must stop the vibrations from going through the
wall/floor- not just lessen them in the room. To do that, you need mass.
In the studio world, this is usually done with multiple layers of sheetrock
with a dampening material between them. This material can be something like
the previously mentioned Mass Loaded Vinyl, Lead sheets or special kinds of
rubber that allow you to decouple the room- literally giving you a room
within a room. Soundproofing is a tough thing to do properly.

Be careful when deadening down a room as it can leave numerous issues and
make the space very uncomfortable to be in. Rugs with a pad under them are
a start, but won't do much in the scheme of things. Placing foam on the
walls will usually reduce the ambience at high frequencies, but not the low.
Sure, removing some of the ambience will help, but it will not solve your
issues. If the room is too dead in any frequency (especially the mid and
high frequencies that foams deal with), it will become very uncomfortable to
play in or even be in.

Your best bet is to make friends with your neighbors and collectively come
up with a set of "rules" that you will live by. When I had my apartments, I
would not work/practice after 10 or 10:30 at night and before about 9 am (10
am on the weekends). Eventually, my neighbors went from worrying about my
music to enjoying listening to it.

--Ben

Benjamin Maas
Fifth Circle Audio
Long Beach, CA
http://www.fifthcircle.com

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