Setting up tha practice space

[Mr. Pants]

I posted this on the bass forum, but I thought I might hit a wider experience base over here.

 

Here's the deal: Our somewhat slightly nicer practice space fell through (not literally) and we're headed back into the drummer's basement.

 

We want to start putting stuff up on the walls to kill some of the sound -- specifically trap some of the bass so we can hear it and stop the cymbals from ricocheting off the walls.

 

Here's the setup: Finished basement, smallish to medium size. Carpeted floors, painted drywall (or something similar) walls.

 

We want to be able to put up something that's both cheap and temporary; we want to be able to tear it down easy so if he throws a party, he wouldn't have insulation stapled to his basement walls.

 

It doesn't need to sound perfect -- we're practicing there, not recording. We just want to mute some stuff so we can turn the vocals up without feedback and so the drummer doesn't hear everything twice.

 

I'm not too worried about sound getting outside; it hasn't been a problem in the past and even next to the house you can hardly tell there's a band inside. It's the sound bouncing off the walls inside that's the biggest problem.

 

Ideas?

 

-b

[abzurd]

We've been practicing in the exact conditions (drummer's small finished basement) for almost 3 years and have never had a problem. The 5 of us are crammed in there prety tight. Easiesst thing to do. Have the drummer play softer and everyone else follow suit. My guess is you are trying to bring everything up to the drummers volume. For practice, our drummer typically uses dowel rods taped together for sticks for a softer touch and doesn't bang the heck out of the cymbals. He understands we are in a tight space and he can make the most noise.

 

We use a 300W @ 4 ohms powered mixer and 2 Yamaha 12" club series monitor wedges. Guitars have Behringer V-Amps and bass plays through a Fender 100W combo. Drummer plays his "backup kit". None of this stuff leaves the basement and is strictly a practice set up, which is nice. We just flip a few switches and we're ready for practice.

[Old Steve]

If you're dealing with a lot of reflections, you could hang up moving blankets over those surfaces to cut it down some. In fact, if you were really motivated, you could build some kind of collapsable frames to hang them, and then take them down when you weren't rehearsing. Seeing as they wouldn't need any more structural integrity other than providing some kind of a sort of "clothes line" to hold the blankets up, I imagine this could be easily accomplished with some scrap lumber.

 

I've also heard good about people having good results using office cubicle walls as isolating baffles. Look for a company going out of business, or look for a used office furniture / salvage company in the phone book...you might get a good deal.

 

Other than that, turn down and be happy you have a rent-free rehearsal space.

[Craig Vecchione]

Traps are not too hard or expensive to build. A simple frame of 2x4's with 1/4" plywood glued to the front is effective for bass. Make a few and hang them about until you find the best locations. Slighly more 'sophisticated' is the same 2x frame with fiberglass batting at the back and perfboard instead of plywood for a front.

 

Make the component sizes consistent, use screws, and you can make these in 'kit' form for easy portability and storage.

[Mr. Pants]

Thanks guys.

 

What we'll probably try doing is hanging curtains or blankets over a few choice walls, and maybe build a baffle or two if we need it. I think from now on I'm going to try putting my amp opposite from where I am so I can at least hear myself better.

 

-b

[rickkreuzer]

In our practice room, we all plug directly into the mixer. We have an electronic drum set for our drummer (he hates it), but it allows us to practice at tolerable volumes so we can catch phrasing and chording and vocals, etc. If it's too loud, you'll miss tons you should be correcting.

 

Rick

[Mr. Pants]

 

Originally posted by rickkreuzer In our practice room, we all plug directly into the mixer. We have an electronic drum set for our drummer (he hates it), but it allows us to practice at tolerable volumes so we can catch phrasing and chording and vocals, etc. If it's too loud, you'll miss tons you should be correcting. Rick

 

 

That'd be nice... but last time I went direct thru the PA I nearly destroyed it. We'd need to pick up some subs first.

 

I will see if I can get the git box players to turn down a little, though. I do think we're playing a bit on the loud side.

 

Another thing we're going to try is putting the PA speakers on the floor, so more of the sound hits the back of the mic instead of coming in over the top.

 

-b