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How to Soundproof an Apartment to Muffle Your Wife's Drumming

wired.com — My wife is a professional percussionist. After three years of hearing her play marimba, djembe and conga in our living room -- and hearing me fumble around on our upright piano -- our neighbors wanted assurances that we would keep things quiet in our new home.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jun 21, 2007

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  • sonnysavage, on 10/11/2007, -2/+126"How to Soundproof an Apartment to Muffle Your Wife's _______"
  • SpenceMasta, on 10/11/2007, -10/+101how to muffle your wifes drumming?

    give her some laundry to keep her busy, ZING
  • bjornski, on 10/11/2007, -3/+67If you play drums, DO NOT GET A ***** APARTMENT!

    Good god.

    I've lived next to 2 drummers, and I ***** hated them. Didn't give one rats ass about anyone else in the place.

    Get a ***** studio, or a house. NOT A GOD-DAMNED APARTMENT!

  • fober, on 10/11/2007, -8/+45"Our total labor and sheetrock costs were around $4,000, with an additional $3,000 for materials. (We also invested $1,000 to have fiberglass insulation pumped into our walls to give the apartment a smidgen of sound isolation before the real work began.)"

    8,000?!

    At that point, I'd really rather just wife-proof the apartment.
  • bsankr, on 10/11/2007, -2/+33that's a lot of effort for an apartment.
  • spudnic, on 10/11/2007, -5/+35@sonnysavage (#7301806)
    "How to Soundproof an Apartment to Muffle Your Wives"
    /Mormon
  • supernovasky, on 10/11/2007, -0/+24Next in the series...

    How to find a landlord that will even LET you do this much modification to an apartment.
  • fivestarsoul, on 10/11/2007, -1/+25at least his username doesnt say he's single like yours does. seems you're more destined than him :P
  • LordSkywalker, on 10/11/2007, -1/+18Option B: Buy a house.
  • mstoneburner, on 10/11/2007, -1/+16Yes, musicians are often incredibly self-absorbed and inconsiderate of others when it comes to their art.
  • Capta1nA, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15@ fober

    Keyword here being professional. She is getting paid for her playing. I'm sure a decent portion of the money was offset by gigs and/or sessisons.
  • ZeroNeo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13egg cartons makes it sound better inside the room, not soundproof it.
  • Remmiz, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13And after doing all this you only bring your apartment down to 500 square feet!
  • SillyRabbits, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Amen! I love their attitude that it's ok for them to make ridiculous amounts of noise simply because it's their profession - and everybody should just understand that. To hell with them. I don't care if they are saving lives in the apartment. If they are going to be making that much noise they need to go to a real studio or get their own feaking house. I'd love to crank up my really nice surround system when I watch movies, but I don't because it would annoy my neighbors. That's part of the sacrifice you make when you decide to live in close proximity to other people. I really feel so sorry for their neighbors...3+ years of that?
  • zephc, on 10/11/2007, -2/+12Feel glad she doesn't drum for a death metal band (e.g. http://youtube.com/watch?v=MJJHk4hSFB4 )
  • weeeezzll, on 10/11/2007, -5/+15Take the drums our of the kitchen? Hoozah!
  • insomniac8400, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12Are people normally big enough asses that they practice live music in a small apartment? Then are people allowed to completely deface an apartment like that?
  • felchdonkey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8I can't believe the co-op board didn't check her profession before they were approved to move in. "Professional percussionist" sounds like a pretty big red flag to me. He's lucky they weren't kicked out as soon as she started to break out the drums.

    If she's a professional, why can't she get a rehearsal space like any other professional musician?
  • jeffeb3, on 10/11/2007, -5/+12Hilarious...JK
  • demonotaku, on 10/11/2007, -4/+10Or you can do what my dad's friend did when he was a teenager. Coat all the surfaces in the room with egg cartons.
  • insomniac8400, on 10/11/2007, -3/+9Yea, what right do you have to bother a whole building of people. for your dumb hobby.
  • markdr123, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Forget the wife, I'm a drummer myself.
    Some good advice here, but there's really no way to completely sound-proof a room for an acoustic drum kit, short of the 'building a room within a room' technique.
  • Protector, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Live in NY? It is cheaper than trying to drum up 100k to put as a down payment on a condo or house (which requires a greater commute and other crap like having to drive into town just to grab dinner instead of walking out and getting a cab).. maybe even Cash Cab.
  • alexf, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5FTA:

    A Few Last Tips
    Fill any gaps or cracks with flexible, non-hardening caulk.
  • HanSolo69, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6How about: don't be a dick to your neighbors. Instead, since she is a professional, keep the noise out of the apartment and in a professional environment.
  • rheaume, on 10/11/2007, -0/+580hd

    They could ***** off to Jersey for all we care
  • ZPWeeks, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Walls mean everything.
    I play drums in a 40-50 year old house now, and I get occasional calls from the neighbors.
    When I was in the college dorms, they were concrete floors and cinder block / brick walls. People couldn't hear me from two doors over.
  • techweenie1, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7LOL!! I really wished the girl next door at my old place would have invested in some sound proofing while getting her muff drummed...I always kept my headphones on...it was bad.
  • krewemaynard, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7You've obviously never met with an attorney.
  • bremstrong, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4The same ideas can be used for a home theater, a listening room, a garage workshop, to block outside noise, etc. From the sounds of it, drywall and the damping glue isn't all that expensive.
  • SillyRabbits, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Because then it would cost them money. They'd just rather be cheap and annoy the hell out of all their neighbors. What's shocking is it doesn't even occur to them what inconsiderate ***** they are being. And now, after THREE YEARS, they act like they are being such great people by trying to reduce the noise (and that's only because they might not get the apartment they want). Notice how they only act when it's doing something for them.
  • felchdonkey, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4He's not a home owner, he's a co-op owner.

  • spootmonkey, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5Ha..Drumming..so thats what their calling it now.
  • ElbridgeGerry, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4This is a really specific ***** story.

    550+ people have drumming wives?
  • verse101, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Too bad this story isn't about drumming your wife's muff.
  • gimmeslack12, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3This is an interesting read considering I'm reading it from my desk at my Acoustics Firm www.mei-wu.com.
    For the most part everything checks out fine here. But sound isolating an apartment is expensive (and not permanently yours!).
  • splott, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3For better results, try Homasote instead of drywall. Tends to be cheaper and is designed to be sound absorbent.
  • bimtott, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Actually, Homosote is just wood by-product. It's a little more absorbent than drywall, but it's mostly rubbish for mids and low frequencies. It can't even absorb below the average human voice.

    You can use Homosote instead of drywall, but you should still do what they suggest: polymer membrane between double layer sheetrock.
  • zugzub, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3This is why I live in the sticks, no ***** up neighbors to listen to, and wife can scream her lungs out.
  • Recluse, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Could the font in this article be any smaller?
  • rhabd0mancer, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Must be nice to live in an apartment that allows major construction projects.

    I get fined if I put a nail in the wall to hang a picture.
  • optigon, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Yes... She would be really quiet after she suffocates!
  • girlinseattle, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5He said he lived in a co-op in NYC. In New York, a "co-op" is a like a condo... ie. he bought and owns the place. He can deface is all he wants... it's his peice of property and he owns it. As long as he consults with other co-op members and the board, it defacing your home to this extreme is totally possible if they all come to an agreement and allow him to do this sort of thing.

    Seems like in NYC, they call everything that is not a detached home an "apartment"... unlike the rest of the US... which calls apartments something that you are renting.

    He wrote: "Last year, when my wife and I had to beg permission from our co-op board in Jackson Heights, Queens, to swap our one-bedroom apartment for a two-bedroom unit..."
  • inactive, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2"Remember, more mass means less sound transmission. And at densities of up to 2lbs. per square foot, MLV is the next best thing to lead." This is really all you need to know. Sound is blocked by dense materials, period. People who think that the eggfoam will do squat to block sound don't have a clue.
  • cbre88x, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Finding a place to practice as a percussionist is a lot easier said than done. If you bother with wanting to practice on your equipment only and you want to practice marimba..not to mention being a professional, you're saying you want to move a piece of musical equipment that is as long as and probably longer than a standard jeep cherokee. Marimbas are in no way, shape, or form fun to take apart either. Drumsets are easier as well as hand drums, but why would want to go to a rehearsal site just to practice Djembe? Hey if they have the say so to build a sound proof apartment..let them do it. And as a percussionist, I appreciate that there are people out there who are willing to give some room for us musicians.
  • rhabd0mancer, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4"How to Soundproof an Apartment to Muffle Your Wife's _______"

    Sounds like a Match Game question.

    I miss Gene Rayburn.
  • nullmind, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Okay, I was posting this comment and then the comment system changed to allow replies on replies!

    Maybe she's getting a tax write-off for the $8,000 ?
  • frankietears, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Great point. The key to sound proofing is in layers on all sides.

    Adding multiple layers on all 6 sides of a room with things like polyurethane foam, fiberglass, sheet rock, and other insulation will dampen the sound tremendously. The different mediums sound will have to vibrate through will weaken in the process. It will always cost you, but there are some work arounds and alternatives that are useful, too. Using simple things like hockey pucks strategically placed under wood beams floating over the original floor instead of neoprene (an expensive rubber used for soundproofing in studios) will be just as effective.
  • kilpack, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2The thing that always bothered me about articles on soundproofing techniques is the lack of information about Ventilation/Air-conditioning. Every time I think about soundproofing one of my rooms, I just imagine the heat stoke and CO2 poisoning. Any soundproofers out there dealt with this issue?
  • bubbazanetti, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I would also vote for the electronic drums...I use a nice Roland set...wife doesn't complain even if I am thrashing away during her soap operas.
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