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Practice Room
So you want to build a (mostly) soundproof practice studio.
Right off the bat, you're probably wondering: How much will it cost? Is it effective? Can it completely remove noise to the outside? Well, this article is to answer all of those questions and to show you how I, a current New York City apartment resident, managed to make it work and have received zero complaints from my neighbors.
Cost
Since this practice room was built more for a New York City apartment, the cost was not ideal, but is actually cheaper than most effective practice rooms. After purchasing the cheapest, most effective materials via Amazon, hardware stores, and other online websites, I have totaled my cost to just about $1,000. Since I live with two other trumpet players, we all agreed to split the cost, so each of us had to pay $333, which clearly is more ideal per person.
Materials
Planks:
8 1x2 Planks, length should be over 70 inches
4 1.5x1.5 Planks, length should be between 70-80 inches
Blankets:
6-7 Moving Blankets of your choice. I recommend 4 of those blankets have grommets, more specifically Vocal Booth to Go blankets, then the other 2-3 are to be used as the roof and floor. The bigger the blanket, the better. The thicker the blanket, the more soundproof it will be.
Floor Materials:
Audimute Peacemaker Sound Barrier, either a 2x25 or 4x25 will work well, depending on your size of the practice studio. If it's larger than 60"x60" in the base, then maybe consider 4x25.
Thick felt carpet/rug pad, get one large enough for your base and then some extra length on the outside of the base.
Other necessary materials:
Acoustic Foam Sound Absorbing panels. Make sure to get standard ones as well as bass panels.
Auralex Foamtak to glue the foam panels on the walls of your room you're building the practice box in.
Metal clamps, and a lot of them. These are to secure the blankets and make it more air-tight, which is where you will get the best results for soudproofing.
Curtain Track to hang the blankets on. I got mine on amazon, but IKEA has some good ones as well.
A good Saw to saw the wooden planks down (or get them cut at Home Depot or Lowes if they offer those services).
Plastic flooring to catch all of the sawdust if you saw at home.
Screws, drill bits, and a power drill to ensure the screws are tightened and secured.
L-Shaped Metal Brackets
A fan (preferably one off of Vocalboothtogo.com, they sell soundproof fans that work extremely well) and a flexible plastic tubing, maybe a draining pipe or anything along those lines.
Optional materials:
Green screen
LED Lights/Lamp
Table
Chair
Stand
First steps
I would recommend a friend or family member to help you for the entire building process. Saw your wood to the dimensions you seek. It all depends on the size of your room you're building it in as well as the size of your instrument. If you play something like a flute or clarinet, I would recommend a 56"x56"x70-80" base frame. If you play something like a trombone/bass trombone or tuba, I would recommend a 70-76"x56"x70-80" base frame. The first number stands for length, the second number stands for width, the last number stands for height. My base is a 74"x56"x80" because I am someone who enjoys larger spaces. After you've cut all of your wooden planks, clean up the sawdust and lay down your flooring (if you live in a hardwood floor house/apartment). There is not much need to lay down anything on the floor if there is carpet or rug on your floor already, as it captures sound. I've laid down my felt carpet pad, then Audimute Peacemaker barrier, and one of my moving blankets on the floor. As you can see, I've folded over my Audimute sound barrier to make sure it covers the area of my practice box.
Building the Frame
After laying down the flooring and measuring your planks of wood, it's time to put it in a box frame. Align your planks correctly, build from the bottom up. Drill holes in your wood using a drill bit and make sure you align the holes with your L-shaped metal brackets. The brackets will help keep the box sturdy. Drill in your screws in the holes you made and after you're finished, you have a box frame!
(In this picture, you see just the felt pad, This is due to me not thinking ahead of time, so my paragraph above is what I wish I had done when I was building this, as it would make it easier.)
Installing the Curtain Rails
Again, grab your power drill and make holes for your curtain rails as noted by the instruction manual you will receive with any curtain railing. I used KXLIFE Flexible 20ft Ceiling Curtain Railing. After following instructions of the installation, carefully place your blankets on the hooks using the grommets in the blankets.
The Roof/Ceiling
Next, You're going to definitely need a friend or family member for this one. Take your remaining blankets and put them over as a roof. I would recommend putting two over to ensure you cover over the entire roof plus the holes from the top of blankets that are acting as walls. I would recommend using a lot of metal clamps at this point to secure these blankets and to make sure they stay draped over the sides to create the air-tight environment we are wanting. As you can see in the picture, having just one blanket is not enough for the size box I built.
Ventilation
"How hot is it in there?" Well, not that hot because I've installed a soundproof ventilation system. On the end where I am sitting, I put the fan below me but it's also sitting in the base of the frame. The fan itself is actually on the outside of the box while the air blows inside (see the picture). Since this room is ideally air-tight, we don't want pressure from the air to build up. The other plastic tube is to allow the air to escape into a cardboard box (cut a hole in the box big enough for the plastic tube to fit in). In this cardboard box, poke a couple of holes so that the air can escape and allow minimal sound to escape. Tape the blankets around the pipes to make sure it stays air tight in the room.
Lights and Green Screen
You can either put a lamp in here or LED lights. Either way, you'll need some form of light. You can also set up your green screen at this moment too since you have everything set up! (Say hi to my roommate Chris)
Finishing touches
The last things you need to put in here are your optional items, such as a chair, stand, and table, or even your recording equipment if you plan on using this as a recording space. I would highly recommend it as a recording space, as it definitely blocks out a lot of sound coming from the outside as well.
In the bigger room, make sure you place your soundproof foam panels accordingly. The way I placed them was by clapping in my room at different angles and figuring out where there was a lot of reverb in the room. Those are the points where the sound is captured the easiest in the room and can bleed through the walls. The more foam you have, the better. Make sure when placing your bass soundproof foam, they are in the corners of the room. You want them to be in every corner.
Final Remarks
Some things to know, these blankets block a lot of airborne sound particles, not impact sound particles. Do not make the blankets tight or tense, as this will make it a sound reflective studio instead of sound absorbent/soundproof. This does not guarantee complete soundproofing, BUT it does make the neighbors happy because the sound will not bleed into their apartments. Lastly, have fun with it and enjoy! You will not regret it if you decide to build this. This article is purely based off of how I built the practice studio and what my experiences are as a New York City musician and resident. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via my contact page. Happy practicing!