Building a drum cage for my condo studio. Ideas?

[RARStudios]

Heya!

I decided to invest in a sound proof drum cage / isocage so I can record and hour of the night in my house.

This is a basement studio, concrete floors and an 18 ft x 14 ft x 8 ft live room.

I was thinking of using 3-4 inches thick, dense wood to build an octagon, putting a roof on it, and then insulating the entire thing with fibre glass.

I just don't want my kick drum to leak to my neighbors.

Any help would be appreciated

[RARStudios]

Here are pics.

[turtlejon]

Most drummers should be caged!!!

Maybe several layers of sheet rock, and "sheet block" or a similar "limp mass" product. (i think those are the right terms) I would add some absorption, too, so you don't get too many reflections in to the mics.
Dont forget ventilation and heating - cooling either.
Take some before/ after spl measurements, and let us know how it goes!

Good luck!
Rock on!!!

[Syncamorea]

You could consider a floating floor. I've made one out of multiple layers of plywood but if I had it do do over I'd probably use plywood on the top of the sandwich, drywall in the middle and OSB on the bottom and put green glue inbetween each layer. If you go to a store like Home Depot, they sell a tough foam that's meant to to use as a surface to stand on when working on concrete. Buy some of that and cut it into strips and glue it onto the bottom of the OSB as a cushion to hold the floor off of the basement concrete. You'll need about 20% area coverage to get adequate flotation and more is better. Then build your walls onto that floor.

Cage that drummer!

[SRS]

Originally Posted by RARStudios

Heya!

I decided to invest in a sound proof drum cage / isocage so I can record and hour of the night in my house.

This is a basement studio, concrete floors and an 18 ft x 14 ft x 8 ft live room.

I was thinking of using 3-4 inches thick, dense wood to build an octagon, putting a roof on it, and then insulating the entire thing with fibre glass.

I just don't want my kick drum to leak to my neighbors.

Any help would be appreciated

Build a room within that room. You'll lose about a foot on all sides, so you'll end up with about a 16x12 room, with a 7 foot ceiling. Push the ceiling as high as you can. Don't mess with the concrete floor. Use a thin sheet of plywood with thin indoor/outdoor carpet over it as your drum platform. Don't waste valuable vertical height.

Stagger your studs in the walls you build, and use good insulation inside. Seal all seams well as they cause sound leakage. Limp mass and air gaps are key to stopping low frequency sound waves (kick drum).

I've built 2 self-standing drum rooms in the past from scratch.

[Aeolian]

Basement in a condo? I guess things are different where you are. Go to the studio construction part of the forum and read Rod Gervais' book.

For low frequency noise like kick drums. The best thing is a heavy wall softly mounted. Whisper clips and hat channel. I did my ceiling with them and should have done the entire room that way instead of offset studs. No matter what you do, the door will be the weak point. You have an advantage being in an already enclosed basement.

Beware of triple leaf things trying to build a freestanding structure in an existing space. You will be better off stripping drywall from the inside of the existing room and utilizing the additional space between existing walls and the new ones to fill with insulation. It sounds counter intuitive, but extra layers of "wall" only serve to couple the noise better.

[psykostx]

You can make double paned plexiglass panels fairly easily and inexpensively. Thinking about doing it myself. The nice thing is you can fold it up and store it if you aren't using it. Ever hear drums in a plexi-enclosure...they sound AWESOME! Wear earplugs though hahahaha

[SRS]

Originally Posted by psykostx

Ever hear drums in a plexi-enclosure...they sound AWESOME!

Not sure I have... and not sure I want to.

[psykostx]

Originally Posted by SRS

Not sure I have... and not sure I want to.

See it all the time in high end casino lobby's and such... vegas, atlantic city, they're out there... some music stores have them too... they really do rock. And yes I'm picking up your sarcasm... don't care for it ... but don't care about it either

[SRS]

No sarcasm. Those barriers of plexiglass are typically used to make the bulk of the drum sound deflect upward to control the volume from direct sound entering the room. And overpowering the band or destroy the audiences listening pleasure. Usually on one to three sides. I've played behind them and it is a common setup. But that is the primary purpose.


SRS

[psykostx]

Originally Posted by SRS

No sarcasm. Those barriers of plexiglass are typically used to make the bulk of the drum sound deflect upward to control the volume from direct sound entering the room. And overpowering the band or destroy the audiences listening pleasure. Usually on one to three sides. I've played behind them and it is a common setup. But that is the primary purpose.


SRS

True, but isn't that what the OP wanted, to control the projection? They do sound truly awesome by the way and make the kit much easier to mic up... really. I was thinking of building one just for the sound alone. It's a good option for that "wild" drum sound.

[RARStudios]

... I feel like the plexiglass would not help. What about. Plexiglass. Fiber glass. plexiglass? Like a wall, but with plexiglass

[jhbrandt]

RAR,

You have been getting good advice from SRS...

You will need MASS to block the sound of the drums... a MAM system will accomplish your goals - but you need to set your goals first.

How loud is your drumming?? in decibels.

How loud (or quiet) will it need to be next door?

How far are your neighbors? Condo? You'll need to control flanking.

current construction? what is it? and what is the current STL?

Here's an easy test:
-------------------------------------
Noise Survey Test

Equipment required:
1) Digital SPL meter with peak hold function
2) package of 20 good quality balloons

Procedure:
a) inflate balloons tightly so that they are the same size.
b) set a reference level by adjusting the SPL meter to 'C' weighting and peak reading. note: popping a balloon can result in and SPL of 105-110 decibels
set the SPL meter on a stand ONE meter from the balloon and pop it. write down this peak reading. This is your reference.
c) set the SPL meter one meter away from the partition to be measured & pop a balloon on the other side of the partition. All doors and windows must be closed or measurements will be null & void. Measure where desired and write down the results.
d) a static measurement can be made either inside the quiet room to measure sound ingress or place the SPL meter outside while music is played to measure sound egress.
e) peak ambiant sound levels can be recorded by placing the SPL meter outside for a specified length of time.

Subtract the results of 'c' from the reference to see the partition STL.
-------------------------------------

Once you determine what you need (your STL goal), you can then have a look at ir761 or ir586 and find the partition construction that you need to build... and do that. Do what works. You don't need fancy drywall or special floating floors (you can't afford a real floating floor anyway).
- Don't experiment with your own money and/or time when professional organizations with lots of money have already done a great job at it.

I have a link to the above documents on my publications page. Good luck!
Cheers,
John