Guitar Room Sound Dampening, Humidity temperature and the like....

[FoonkySteve]

Howdy Gents!

 

Long time no speak! I've been a busy geezer recently, moved house last weekend, a deal that's been cooking since october last year. Stressed? Yes sir!

 

Anyhoo.......

 

With the new house comes my new guitar/teaching room/studio/mancave.

 

I have a few queries, maybe y'all can chip in with your experiences/adviceses?

 

1. Sound dampening. Not sound proofing, although sound proofing would be great, that's not what im after today. My new mancave is part of an extention, which at the moment has a bit of natural reverb going on just a little bit less that you would expect to hear playing in a bathroom.

 

I don't have the funds/time or means unfortunately to do a proper job, like insulating behind the plasterboard, or on top and what not. The room is carpeted so i imagine this is a bit of a help, what else can i do on the cheap? I am yet to put the curtains up so i hope that helps? I also am going to have some spare leftover thick foam gym mats, that i thought about sticking to the walls? Could that work? Egg cartons? Sheets on the walls? Anything else?? Nice and cheap and nasty is what were after

 

2. Before i get the ol geetars up on the wall, i want to make sure they are going to be in the right enviroment. We have a draught coming in the back door which is just adjacent to the ol man cave, (our spare cash is going on a new upvc back door) also there has been previous damp problems in the extention area which are currently being looked at. So temperature, whats good/bad for mainly solidbody electrics.

 

Humidity, i might need to get a dehumidifier? how do i keep tabs on the moisture in the air?

 

As always, any ideas, advice, flames, experiences, saga's more than welcome!

 

Thanking you in advance

 

FoonkySteve

[WRGKMC]

Hang drapes on two of the walls so you have some reflective sound and some dampened.

One wll at one end would have the drapes and the oposite wont need it.

Do this on two walls and you're good. Drapes are good for recording because you can adjust

how much reflectivity you have. They are easily installed and cheap.

 

You can also use studio foam in a checkerboard pattern, the white of the checkerboard being the wall

and the black the foam.

 

As a cheap substitute you can use Foam undermatting for rugs. The stuff is cheap like a buck or two a square yard.

 

In my studio I sound proofed as well as sound treated.

You arent going to sound proof normal inside walls easily. In my case I hired a company to come in with a truck and blow

cellulose into the walls. This packes the walls fairly solid and did wonders for sound and temp control.

I then put up 1X4" spacers on the studs between the existing drywall and floated a second layer of drywall so there was an air

barrier between the inner and outer wall. Over that I used compressed fiberglass ceiling panels followed by rug undermatting.

The out side of the building is brickface.

 

You can set a bomb off in there and you cant hear it outside. I also added a second wall between the houuse and garage

so the family doesnt have to deal with the low frequency bass. I did have to add reflective panels over the undermatting foam

because the room was just too dead. It was like like being in a coffin. The sound came at you from one direction and had no reflectivity.

You need about 50% reflectivity to sound good. Bass traps in corners help too.

[Reverse Entropy]

I'd advise against any foam type stuff on the walls, just because it's an amazingly fire-friendly thing. I agree the heavy drapes on two walls are a good idea, if put on a traveling-type rod you can also change the position to allow / dampen certain reflections.

 

The second most important thing is to build your own corner bass traps. This will significantly reduce the "boomprint' heard in other rooms. Look at the photo here : http://www.oldhousestudio.com/OHImages/OHLiveRoom-1.jpg

 

Note the bass traps along the ceiling edges, and in the room corners. They're trying to soak up a LOT of bass. Notice the relatively small panels on the wall for damping & diffusing the mid/hi frequencies, and that the floor and most of the walls are fairly reflective.

 

Here's another good example : http://www.factorystreet.co.uk/images/189.jpg Simple diffusers on the walls, and a nice big corner bass trap to soak up the bump.

[jpnyc]

If you have bookshelves, put them in the room, parallel to the speakers. Make sure the books are not arranged by size. The irregular pattern of angles created by the spines keeps the sounds from just bouncing back and forth reverberating.

[jaxn slim]

Get a thermometer/hygrometer that tracks the max and min of the temp and humidity. That will give you a good idea of whether you need additional temp or humidity control.

 

As far as sound dampening, there are the Auralex foam thingies that work pretty well. And you can also build your own panels with fiberglass, like corning 703 or 702. I put some together a few years ago, and they're holding up great.

 

[FoonkySteve]

Major apologies guys!

 

Thank y'all for the advice and tips, gave me plenty to think about. Im still busy as hell getting this new/old house sorted, and i abandoned the thread (sorry) Hopefully ill be back to regular posting soon

[mistersully]

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