Stop Spill from a Garage on a Budget

LeBash

I got a drum kit and want to put it in the garage without terrorising the neighbours.

The garage is 2.5 meters by 5 meters.

Anything I can do to reduce the spill out into the surrounding area without spending a fortune?. Any advice would be much appreciated.

krd

When you're learning to play, VERY HEAVILY DAMP THE KIT - AND I MEAN VERY HEAVILY.

There's only one thing worse than hearing a neighbour bashing on a drum kit, is if the neighbour can't play.

LeBash

krd wrote: »

When you're learning to play, VERY HEAVILY DAMP THE KIT - AND I MEAN VERY HEAVILY.

There's only one thing worse than hearing a neighbour bashing on a drum kit, is if the neighbour can't play.

Sorry might not have made it clear, I'm looking to do something to the room to reduce the spill of noise from the drums.

nua domhan

Big heavy curtains (like the ones your granny used to have) and carpet (like aunty joans) should dampen it a fair bit.

krd

LeBash wrote: »

Sorry might not have made it clear, I'm looking to do something to the room to reduce the spill of noise from the drums.

Without going the whole hog and getting a professional to sound proof the garage, there's not a huge amount you can do to stop the sound travelling to the neighbours.

Drums are loud. They tend to make the garage reverberate which makes the sound travel even further. Wooden garden sheds can be better - they tend to dampen and trap the sound in the shed.

If you want to play with an undamped kit - unless you get full sound proofing, you're going to annoy your neighbours. Hanging curtains or carpet, is not going to cut it.

What's meant by "spill" is usually something else. It's if you're trying to record several musicians at once - and you want to stop the "spill" from one source going into the mic from another. It's also called bleed. To cut down a bleed you can use a baffle - which can be literally a sheet of wood/cardboard.

ZV Yoda

LeBash wrote: »

I got a drum kit and want to put it in the garage without terrorising the neighbours.

The garage is 2.5 meters by 5 meters.

Anything I can do to reduce the spill out into the surrounding area without spending a fortune?. Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you're set on using a full acoustic kit with cymbals, then you only have 2 options:

1. Reduce the noise of the source (i.e. the kit itself). As krd says, this means damping the drums. You can buy rubber pads for drums & cymbals or even just tape sponges/cloths/towels to them. This is by far the quickest/cheapest and most effective option. Down side is the kit doesn't sound like a real kit anymore. You do have the option of removing the damping during the day if/when the neighbours are out.

2. Contain the sound of the source. Even with a concrete/block garage, this will be expensive. Ignore any nonsense about egg cartons, woolly carpets or cardboard boxes. They're just old wives tales. You need to build a room within a room. Think of it as putting your kit onto a raised wooden floor in your concrete garage. Then you build a room around the kit, so the sound has to travel through 2 walls/floors/ceilings before it escapes outside. All doors need to be tightly fitting & you'll need 4 panes of glass on any windows (vs. the double glazing most people have).

I went with option 2 a few years ago. It worked, but I spent a lot of time & money to do it properly. Even then it still wasn't 100% soundproof.

I use my room for recording, so in the end I changed to a vKit and have never looked back since.

Seriously, take if from somebody who's been there. Option 1 is your only man unless you want to start learning the science behind soundproofing. If so, Google is your friend...

LeBash

ZV Yoda wrote: »

LeBash wrote: »

I got a drum kit and want to put it in the garage without terrorising the neighbours.

The garage is 2.5 meters by 5 meters.

Anything I can do to reduce the spill out into the surrounding area without spending a fortune?. Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you're set on using a full acoustic kit with cymbals, then you only have 2 options:

1. Reduce the noise of the source (i.e. the kit itself). As krd says, this means damping the drums. You can buy rubber pads for drums & cymbals or even just tape sponges/cloths/towels to them. This is by far the quickest/cheapest and most effective option. Down side is the kit doesn't sound like a real kit anymore. You do have the option of removing the damping during the day if/when the neighbours are out.

2. Contain the sound of the source. Even with a concrete/block garage, this will be expensive. Ignore any nonsense about egg cartons, woolly carpets or cardboard boxes. They're just old wives tales. You need to build a room within a room. Think of it as putting your kit onto a raised wooden floor in your concrete garage. Then you build a room around the kit, so the sound has to travel through 2 walls/floors/ceilings before it escapes outside. All doors need to be tightly fitting & you'll need 4 panes of glass on any windows (vs. the double glazing most people have).

I went with option 2 a few years ago. It worked, but I spent a lot of time & money to do it properly. Even then it still wasn't 100% soundproof.

I use my room for recording, so in the end I changed to a vKit and have never looked back since.

Seriously, take if from somebody who's been there. Option 1 is your only man unless you want to start learning the science behind soundproofing. If so, Google is your friend...

I had an idea or would be a room within a room but we just don't have the space.

No harm, guess the neighbours will have to get earplugs.

i57dwun4yb1pt8

lol
good luck that decision