Acoustic treatment tiny room

iwade

Junior Member
Hi All.

I have a very small drum room, pretty much just enough space to fit the kit in and play. This is the space I have left after soundproofing it as best as I could - adding rockwool and mass (soundboard) to walls and a floating floor on top of Auralex 'U-boat' mounts.

There is no sound treatment at all in the room, just hard flat walls. I'm not wanting to record in the room but I know it will sound awful. What would your advice be to treat the room so that I can actually 'hear' what I am playing?

Any guidance would be a huge help.

Many thanks,

Ian
 
I have a 6 and 1/2 by 13 rim sheetrock walls concrete floor. I just hung blankets on the wall and things like that and and have a couple on the ceiling that AR hanging down in the middle about 6 or 8 in. The walls and the ceiling are not totally covered. There's no science behind what I did but it sure sounds a whole lot better. Oh yes I have a rug on the concrete floor 2
 
The key is to reduce echoes as much as possible. Anechoic foam is the best option but can be expensive, but if you can get used mattress foam that works really well too. Otherwise towels hanging on the walls, basically anything to 'soften' the hard surfaces. You won't necessarily need to completely eliminate all the echoes as it can make the drums sound dead, but I've personally had a room that had little to no echo and it made practicing for accuracy very easy.
 
I bought a set of these moving blankets, grouped them in pairs, attached three large grommets along an edge of each pair and hung them around the perimeter of my room (6’ high, 12’x12’ brick walls) with velcro straps. It really helped absorb refelctions. I was still audible outside, but not as much.
 
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Good advice all above.
As for what you are hearing when you play in such a small space - ear protection. It will actually be easier to make out sounds of your drums and cymbals with some earplugs or earmuffs on than nothing at all.
 
I use Roxul Rockboard 60 sheets covered in burlap. This absorbs acoustic energy quite well and is easier to work with than fibreglass based products.
 
If you can find a deal on used (but clean) carpets you could hang those on the walls.

Another option is to use acoustic ceiling tiles (the type that are used for suspended ceilings). Just glue or screw them to the wall.

There's an inexpensive product called "ten test" that's used to provide a bit of insulation and fire barrier. It's a soft, fibrous board sold in 4' by 8' sheets. It's usually black because it's been coated in chemicals for exterior use. You don't want that, you want the version that's intended for interior use. If you ask, a building supply store should be able to get a few sheets of the interior version. It's a light brown, sort of creamy colour, and it makes a great acoustic treatment. I was told it's called "ten test" because it takes a fire ten minutes to burn through it in tests.

A more expensive option is a product called Tectum. Most building supply places will have that or could order a few sheets. https://www.armstrongceilings.com/commercial/en-us/commercial-ceilings-walls/tectum-direct-attach-wall-panels.html
 
I use Roxul Rockboard 60 sheets covered in burlap.

I'm not a fan of Roxul. It performs well in tests, but to duplicate those results I think you'd need an absolutely perfect installation, and it's not the easiest stuff to work with.

I also don't like using any material that needs to be covered up. I worry about how many fibres might end up floating around the room. I've seen people staple fibreglass pink to walls and cover that with drop cloths. I have to think they're inhaling fibreglass every time they practice.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.

I have got a few sheets of 100mm rockwool acoustic insulation left over. Could I use this to deaden the sound rather than buying something? If so where should I put it? For example I have seen threads with them cut into triangles and stacked into the corner, but also kept in the rectangle shape and put on wall/ceiling. The room only has two useable wall/wall corners, both on the right hand side.

Cheers,

Ian
 
I have got a few sheets of 100mm rockwool acoustic insulation left over. Could I use this to deaden the sound rather than buying something? If so where should I put it?

That would work. You should put cloth or thin plastic over the insulation to keep the fibres from floating around.

As to where you should put it, that's actually a very complicated topic. You probably don't want to read a textbook about acoustic engineering. Most people prioritize trying to kill the bounce from the corners, especially where the ceiling meets the wall. If you have enough material, you could just cover the walls. If not, you might want to put a band around the top of the wall, butting against the ceiling.

But... you don't want the room to sound too dead, or you might end up removing half the material you installed.
 
I'm not a fan of Roxul. It performs well in tests, but to duplicate those results I think you'd need an absolutely perfect installation, and it's not the easiest stuff to work with.

I also don't like using any material that needs to be covered up. I worry about how many fibres might end up floating around the room. I've seen people staple fibreglass pink to walls and cover that with drop cloths. I have to think they're inhaling fibreglass every time they practice.

Rockboard60 is a pressed board. Covering it is for aesthetics. It is much less irritating than fiberglass. Check with the Roxul website for more data.
 
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