Although they may be played quietly the drums themselves have never been considered to be a subtle instrument. It’s hard to imagine how many great drummers there are that never came into being because their parents didn’t want to listen to the racket, or they never had a place they could practice without meeting the police on a regular basis. Since man became domesticated and started living amongst others this ancient instrument, once used as a means of communication from village to village has become much like a caged beast in a house or apartment. And when you cage the beast…the neighbors get angry.

If you’ve played the drums long enough you can relate to this article. You’re at home jamming along to your favorite groove and all of a sudden you get the banging on walls, ceilings, obscene phone calls, and dirty looks ONLY if you’re lucky. Most of the time it’s a knock on the door from your favorite local law enforcement officer.  Usually the best you can hope for then is that he’s a music fan and he/she lets you off with just a warning. So how do you overcome this? Earlier in the week I received some good advice from a fellow friend and Drummer Connection member Jon Nieman.  Here he is jamming on his 6 – piece Tama Superstar.

Drummer Connection Members - Jon Nieman

Jon lives here in Orlando, FL and has been playing drums for about 18 years. Some of his influences include Abe Cunningham (Deftones), Chad Sexton (311), Danny Carey (Tool), and Dave Weckl (Chic Corea).  Upon moving into his new home recently Jon had the idea of turning his garage into a drum studio where he could practice. The fact that it was a completely separate room which stood about 15 feet from the house was a good start, but due to the walls being made of concrete block the room still had to be insulated. Not being very experienced in this area I figured the concrete would be a good sound barrier due to its porous material and the air spaces between the block would be a very good decoupler, but I was wrong.

When sound strikes a surface, some of it is absorbed, some of it is reflected and some of it is transmitted through the surface. Dense surfaces, for the most part, will isolate sound well, but reflect sound back into the room. Porous surfaces, for the most part, will absorb sound well, but will not isolate. Our problem with concrete is that it is a reflective surface that just bounces the sound all over the room which in some cases, it actually amplifies the sound of the drums. So how do you overcome this while remaining cost effective?

What Jon was able to do was insulate the inside walls with R-13 and R-19 insulation which is available at your local hardware store. Afterwards, he insulated the door with blankets to prevent any additional sound leakage. Although not completely soundproof, he was able to insulate the room to the point that practice is no longer an issue. Check out the vid below.

Drummer Connection Members - Jon Nieman Part 2

Jon can now feel free to play his drums in peace without paying fines or going to war with the neighbors. Just goes to show that you don’t have to be a sound engineer to create a simple solution to a major problem. Thanks for the tip! For more info check out the Auralex website http://www.acoustics101.com/ for a free book on how to overcome sound issues and build the perfect room, or improve an existing one. Sources: http://www.auralex.com/