DIY baffle advice (asking for), best acoustic foam tiles, placement ...

Hi gang. The good news is that I'm moving into my new studio office suite today! And I'm going to have a mega cool, vibey Würlitzer Studio piano. And none of my walls are common (no adjacent neighbors. And nobody above me, either. But one of my walls is on the stairwell and another is the common hallway wall. So ... I'm thinking of ways to insulate my room from sound (escaping). Here's what I have so far:

• thick, plush Persian rug for the floor (hardwood; there is a tenant below me)

• carpet over plywood? between the piano and the wall - any advice on this? better baffle methods?

• I have heard people put cork over their doors ... does this work? better methods? waste of time? My door is a really heavy, solid hardwood carpenter-style door (actually the prettiest feature of the room next to the giant, vintage 1950s window).

Welcoming any and all advice and comments. I lived in an apartment in college, but never had any sound issues. So this is all very new to me. Thanks ~Nick

PS: I have had FOH engineers use plexiglass / polymer baffles at some of my gigs, and in recording studios the carpeted divider walls for isolating mics, but I've never built one ... so tips please

Nobody? really?

Put another way ....

How did you isolate your apartment's jam room from the neighbors?

I'd love a good DIY solution myself.

I once soundproofed a room for rehearsals in a duplex that my band rented to live in... getting it truly soundproofed to a level that was acceptable to the landlord (who was also my neighbor was very difficult. The drums and amplifiers wound up on risers covered with the kind of foam you can buy at home depot to reduce noise between offices in big buildings, the walls were covered in carpet and auralex and then we built gobos to act as 'inner-walls' and arranged them to create a room within a room.

It was a nightmare, rent a space.

UPDATE: First, thanks Jimbo for a helpful reply.

It seems I gave out the wrong impression in my initial post. I am leasing a commercial studio office space (renting, in a way) so it's not like this is an apartment or surrounded by residential living quarters. And, I moved in late August, so I'm already there now with Persian rug on the floor and piano in the corner. Guitar amps under the window along the wall. It's coming along ... slowly but surely I'll get there. For the past two years, I had been renting a lessons studio at a local guitar shop (in which I taught lessons twice weekly). I decided at the end of July that I couldn't put up with the owner any longer, so I left and opened my own spot down the street. So it's not like this was an optional transition; I needed a new place to teach those lessons. The upside is huge, and I can use the space for whatever (and whenever) I want. The primary concern upon moving in was "how do I teach piano and guitar lessons in here without disturbing the businesses next door." But as it turns out, they don't care. Either they are vacant during my teaching hours, or they can't hear it, or it just doesn't bother them. But it's been over a month and I have had ZERO complaints. And since most of them go home around 5 PM, evening band practices are in theory totally fine. I doubt that will happen though. More likely, I'll do my recording in the evenings when there's no ambient noise (my room shares walls with the hallway and stairs so during the day there's actually a bit of noise pollution coming IN ... which can be frustrating).

wow, that's a cool situation

Yeah, it's pretty fortunate. And I recently learned that there's an overhaul of the downtown area (which is already kinda great) in the works, so this could really blow up into something big. For now though it's just a humble little space where I work on songwriting, booking gigs, teaching some lessons, practicing scales and etudes.

You are welcomed to visit any time! :)

I want to think you're down south, in like Atlanta or somewhere? I don't find myself out of the PA/NJ/NY region much now that I am approaching middle age, but if I find myself in your neck of the woods I might just take you up on that! I'll bring the beer.

Well, I got some Auralex foam on the walls now. Looking like an actual musician's lair.

Vox is pretty great, but they do not "rule" haha ;)

um, how are those cables coming? I ended up doing my main pedalboard with cables I had already, tweaking them and the connectors a bit. Too many gigs were upcoming and I just couldn't wait. Which is totally fine. Secondary pedal board still needs some TLC though so ... ETA?

Well, I got some Auralex foam on the walls now. Looking like an actual musician's lair.

Vox is pretty great, but they do not "rule" haha ;)

um, how are those cables coming? I ended up doing my main pedalboard with cables I had already, tweaking them and the connectors a bit. Too many gigs were upcoming and I just couldn't wait. Which is totally fine. Secondary pedal board still needs some TLC though so ... ETA?

I got all the jacks in and just got another spool of good cable from my buddy in a big spare pickup/cab trade last month so no shortage of supplies now. , so I can get them out before the holiday. I have been tied up with my son quite a bit since we talked about them. You didn't want me to do your pedalboard cables anyway, those should be cut to precise sizes and I would need he board for that. I thought I was just making x-mas gift cables. And vox does rule.

he was just talking about keeping the sound from getting out, dude

in my experience its so much easier to book studio time at a quality, purpose built facility to do anything beyond demoing even in this age of readily available and cheap digial recording equipment.... although tracking in a space built for another purpose but with good acoustics can also be fun sometimes, I once tracked ana capella group in a colonial era stone church with really positive results, but that was a long time ago.... not sure if I would try to track any pop/rock music in that space... anyway

yep, which is isolation.. but everything he mentioned is room treatment, hence why I'm trying to point out the difference getting true isolation is difficult and expensive which is my point and also leads back to what you say here.. real studios cost money to build for a reason

you can keep the sound in fine for his purposes with treatments and maybe just a riser to isolate guitar amps from the floor... what, did you just buy your first cope of "the master handbook of acoustics" ?

my hair is a bird, your point is irrelevant, this is a necro thread anyway, Nick's room is working fine for him, no neighbor issues

"all you really need to make a record is some magnetic tape and a microphone and maybe, just maybe, some bad reverb"

Sorry I let this thread go necro. That was not my intent. I am aware of the difference between isolation and conditioning ... but thanks for posting as I'm sure other readers may not be aware and it's an important distinction to make!

There are some acoustic ceiling tiles, for drop ceilings, and other products, that are for isolation purposes, but for true soundproofing you do need structural changes. I thought I had already clarified that my goal is not soundproofing. I believe my original post called for "insulating" ... and baffling ... in other words, sound muffling / dampening / volume lowering.

The room is working for me as Jimbo said. The Auralex tiles, to be quite honest, are more for appearance than anything else. The room sounded fine before, but having foam tiles on the walls makes it look "like a real studio" instead of well, you know, a regular room. That and all the music gear helps, too :P

Also worth reminding, as previously mentioned, this studio is more of a lessons studio and less of a recording studio. Demo recordings, some light rehearsals maybe, but mostly lessons and even some administrative work on the computer. I may do some mixing work. Definitely a ton of charts, arrangements, etc. Never going to be multi-tracking or even attempting a commercial-quality production.

Regarding the rental of space versus having your own, when it comes to lessons (and I've taught in many lessons studios over the years) this place is just as good if not better. Most lesson studios are the back room of a store, or a hallway of rooms, or both, and have zero isolation. At least my room has some isolation. Honestly, it's kinda perfect for what I need.

Current short-term goals:

• build a shelf to get cases off the floor/out of the corner
• unpack and display various action figures, chatchkeys, and other stuff to make the space more personal