 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2003-05-09 16:26
I will be moving from my parents house into a townhouse soon. I'm afraid my clarinet playing will bother the neighbors and that i wont be as free to play anytime i want like i do now. my father said if it is a problem, he will sound proof a room, but im really worried about the quality of sound in a sound proof room. What do others do who live in apartments or places where their neighbors are real close? and wont the sound in a sound proof room just die?
Thanks, Janlynn
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Author: Tim2
Date: 2003-05-10 02:19
Sound proofing is best done when building your residence. There is soundproofing dry wall that you can buy special. I put the drywall on the walls and the ceiling. We used this as the dry wall but it can be put over existing dry wall. This special drywall is made so that it attaches at specific places to the 2 by 4's to prevent a lot of physical connections to carry the sound away from the room. A room with in a room is ideal but expensive.
Being in a town house means you may not have anyone living above or below you, yes? I would fix up a room that is not adjacent to any room of another party in your building. The floor should have carpet with a layer (two if you can) of the sheeting under the carpet as well as the carpet backing. There should be a door to the room that can shut. There should be a door jamb at the bottom that seals as it meets with the door so when you shut it, it will shut tight. The door should be sealable on the sides as well as the top as it comes to the jamb. The door should be a solid, I say solid, door. We used a door that was the color of our other doors but was made to be a door to the outside.
Know that windows (which we had) don't keep the sound in too well. My neighbors knew I was a clarinetist but wasn't a problem. Suburbia....
This did a very good job of keeping the sound in. I know this because I taped outside the door before and after the door was put in as well as inside and outside the door after it was put in. While there was some sound, it was minimal. I use past tense because we don't live there anymore. This is extremely unfortunate.
So the special dry wall on walls and ceiling, the carpet and backing and the sheeting (black tar paper) and the door is what you need. Good luck. Anything more you'd like to know, you can post it or just email me.
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Author: Jerry
Date: 2003-05-10 02:32
Sounding proofing a room does not have to make the room sound dead. The object is to keep the sound inside the room. It is not to eliminate all "liveness" of the room. You can have a "dead" sounding room without containing the sound, too.
There are two primary options:
Modify the party walls by adding a dense, thick composite sheeting like MDF or the more expensive dense, closed cell sound deadening sheets like they use in custom car audio sound/vibration deadening installations. Then cover that with drywall or paneling. This would be cost effective if you own and plan to live there a few years and don't just rent the unit,
or
Purchase a sound booth (kit) to install in one of your rooms. This would be best if you're renting or if you might move in a couple of years. You can take it with you.
Here are three links to companies that specialize in acoustical materials, rooms, or soundproofing.
http://soundsuckers.com
http://www.soundroom.net/
http://www.whisperroom.com/hompage.html
Since you live in a townhouse, I assume no one will be living above or below you. And you don't have to worry about sound escaping through windows or doors, which are usually the first to leak out the most sound.
Does the townhouse have a basement? Many are poured concrete or some sort of masonry. This would be the easiest place to soundproof.
And you are only playing the clarinet. It is not as difficult to tame as a trumpet or percussion set. Although there are occasionally neighbors who will be bothered by almost anything.
I would like to hear from others who have tried various soundproofing solutions and learn how effective they were.
Jerry
The Villages, FL
Post Edited (2003-05-10 13:56)
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Author: Jim E.
Date: 2003-05-10 04:28
Will the sound of the clarinet carry any more than a moderately loud television or sound system? (And remember that 500 watt+ surround sustems with sub woffers are available fairly cheaply at consumer outlets now!) Wait until you get in, and I think you might hear your neighbors as much as they hear you.
The sound carrying tendencies of your new townhouse will depend on its construction, and that will depend on its age and your building codes. Anything built since the mid 1970s likely required a firewall between the units. These are either of masonary or layers of extra heavy drywall which should help some.
Rather than investing in soundproofing, the easiest solution may be to do what it sounds like you don't want to do, that is, limit your playing to times when the others are likely to be making noise as well.
Moving from a single family situation to multi-unit definitely requires an adjustment. The first year we were married we lived in an older house that was cut up into 3 apartments. The next unit's bedroom was next to our dining room and the walls seemed to be paper thin. The couple next door had just re-united after a separation and were working hard on their relationship. The first time we had friends over for dinner they had a particularly noisy bedroom session just as we were sitting down to eat. Oh yes, and their bed squeeked as well! A year later we were living in a masonary building with 45 apartments on the Drew U. campus while I was in grad school. The concrete floors transmitted sound quite well. Each night I heard the guy upstairs drop first one shoe, and then the other.
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Author: janlynn
Date: 2003-05-10 14:14
Wow - this is good news ..
no, i dont have anyone living above or below me. the music room would be only on one neighbors wall ..i dont think limiting practice time will work tho. but if sound proofing doesnt kill the sound - than that would work. right now i practice in an open/loft like living room with carpet and the sound is good. but i have tried playing in my bedroom where the carpet is thicker and the sound is awful down there - 'thats' what i was imagining a sound proof room would be like.
Thank you everyone and thanks for the websites!
janlynn
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