Soundproofing a drum room doesn’t have to be hard. I played the drums in my younger years, but as I grew up and listened to someone else playing the drums, I started to understand the need to soundproof the drum room.
The tips and strategies in this article will greatly help to reduce noise from a drum room, but you will never achieve 100% soundproofing. Anyone that tells you this is lying!
The only way to completely block noise from a drum room would be to build in a concrete cube… and I’m assuming that’s not an option.
IN THIS ARTICLE
5 Steps to Soundproof a Room for Drums
Nevertheless, the 5 steps below will take you on your way to reducing drum room noise, so let me know how you get on!
1. Check for Gaps
As we know, the easiest way for sound to escape a room is through gaps. These can be gaps in the floorboards, the walls or the windows. Finding these gaps, and then filling them in, is the easiest and fastest way to start soundproofing a drum room.
Start by buying a high quality (thick) foam seal. You’ve probably seen these on windows before. Fill gaps, and especially one’s you can feel air flowing through.
The steps below expand on this and cover more in-depth soundproofing techniques, but if you find (and fill in) gaps then you’re well on your way.
2. Soundproof the Door
Upgrade the Door
Most household doors are hollow, meaning they are thinner. The thinner the door the easier it is for airborne noise to travel through. Investing in a solid wood door would be a big upgrade and would muffle a lot of drum noise.
Install Soundproof Panels
Soundproof panels are a common theme in this article, so I won’t go into too much detail, but gluing two or three panels onto your door will reduce echo, but also help to stop sound escaping the room. These are cheap and easy to install.
Door Sweep
A door sweep (sometimes called a draught excluder) and be picked up cheaply and ties in with my first point of “check for gaps“. Most doors have a gap at the bottom so installing something to fill this gap is essential.
Usually door sweeps are used to stop draughts moving around a house, but work just as well to block sound.
3. Pay Attention for the Floor
Soundproofing the floor is the next step and an important one. A drum room is usually on the first (or higher) floor so it’s essential to block both airborne and impact noise from the floors below.
Carpet and Soundproof Underlay
Using thick carpet with high quality underlay is the easiest way to soundproof the floor. Being a lot better than laminate, a carpet will work to stop airborne and impact noise. Using carpet along with a drum rug will ensure optimal soundproofing.
Mass Loaded Vinyl can also be installed depending on your budget and DIY skills, simply needing cut into shape and secured with nails or glue. MLV can be used along with acoustic underlay and is specifically used for soundproofing.
MLV is very heavy and dense, so works well to stop any airborne or impact noise travelling. If you’re looking for results, I definitely recommend MLV.
Drum Rug
If carpet isn’t an option, or even if it is, placing a specialised drum rug under the set and work wonders in muffling airborne noise.
Primarily used for grip, these rugs are made with thick rubber and work well with other soundproofing techniques to add an extra layer of protection.
4. Soundproof the Walls
I explained ways to soundproof a wall from noisy neighbours before, and the techniques when soundproofing a drum room are largely the same.
The classic method is using acoustic panels. These are recommended due to their sound blocking properties, they reduce echo in music rooms, are cheap and easy to install.
Mass Loaded Vinyl can also be used as discussed in Step 3 and can be used along with all other recommendations. This is similar to soundproof plasterboard which can be applied to your existing wall to thicken it and add soundproof qualities. Plasterboard could cost a little more than acoustic panels or MLV as you might have to pay a contractor to do it for you.
The final option to soundproof a drum room wall is to install a fake one. This is creating a wall in front of your existing one and filling with insulation. This works very similar to a fake ceiling which we’ll get on to later.
Remember:
This method is expensive, so I’d advise trying panels, MLV and plasterboard beforehand.
5. Use Acoustic Panels on the Ceiling
Soundproofing ceilings is the hardest thing to do when soundproofing a drum room. And depending which road you take, can also be the most expensive. As I touched on in a previous article, there are three main things you can do.
- False ceiling
- Insulate the joists
- Acoustic panels
A false ceiling involves adding an extra ceiling below your current one. This allows not only an extra layer but also added insulation to muffle and stop airborne noise escaping the room.
This method will set you back around £1,500, so I’d only recommend this in extreme circumstances.
Usually a drum room is at the top of the house, so sound escaping through the ceiling isn’t as big a deal as the floor or the door.
Insulating joists also means taking the existing ceiling down, adding insulation between the joists then rebuilding the ceiling. I also wouldn’t recommend this method as this is mainly for impact noise from above, like footsteps or banging.
Preferred Method for a Drum Room Ceiling
The third options for ceilings is installing acoustic panels. This is my preferred method for a few reasons.
Acoustic panels are cheap, so you can pick them up for under £10 per panel. This is night and day from a false ceiling cost of £1,500.
Panels are very easy to install so there won’t be any wasted money on contractors for installation. These can be secured to the ceiling using your preferred method like glue or nails.
As acoustic panels are cheap and easy to install, you’re not wasting time and money on the ceiling when other areas are more important.
Rounding up Drum Room Soundproofing
There’s a lot that goes into soundproofing a drum room, but none of it’s hard. Dedicate a day to working through the 5 steps laid out above and you’ll be on your way to drastically reducing drum room noise.
In terms of work, use the following order:
- Gaps
- Door
- Floor
- Walls
- Ceiling
