Getting complaints about music noise from your flatmates, parents, or neighbors?
Don’t panic, you are not alone, this is a hugely common issue that all DJs encounter at some point in their DJ careers.
Here we look at how to soundproof a DJ home studio and reduce those annoying complaints!
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The Challenge: Soundproofing a Room for DJing
DJ home studios are an incredibly useful tool for any DJ looking to improve their DJing skills on a more regular basis.
They offer a DJ the ability to not only put together various beats and mixes at home before a gig or performance, but they also can help a DJ understand exactly what a crowd hears while in the club or venue.
While not necessarily essential, DJ home studios are something most professional DJs have and use almost daily when not on stage.
The challenge that comes from a home DJ setup, however, is that they can generally be quite loud.
Not only is this problematic for those that may also live in your home, but it may also become a problem for outside neighbors and your local community, especially if your sound hits a certain level.
The solution to this is soundproofing. In this review, we’ll get into what soundproofing is, how it compares with sound acoustics, and lastly, what step-by-step methods you can use to effectively soundproof your studio space.
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What Is Soundproofing?
Soundproofing, as the name implies, deals with the specific process of blocking out sound in a particular area and preventing it from escaping.
I must out that a soundproof room is different from a room that has altered its sound acoustics.
Whereas soundproofing requires extensive work to capture the sound and prevent it from leaking out of the room, sound acoustics within a room can be used to alter how the sound quality bounces off the walls and ultimately is heard.
Many of the methods a person may initially consider, when it comes to soundproofing, are used instead for handling acoustics.
Things like posting egg cartons and crates to the existing wall, adding rubber padding, or adjusting the angles of corners all affect the sound acoustics while offering very little in the way of soundproofing a room or otherwise reducing the amount of sound waves leakage happening.
In reality, the process of insulating an area is pretty difficult as well as expensive.
This is because you’re essentially required to build a room with in a room to capture all of that escaped sound. Still, it can be done if you know what you’re looking for and what you need.
Below, we’re going to go over some of the easy steps you can perform to immediately start reducing as much sound energy as possible in your home studio, ultimately making it soundproof.
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How To Soundproof Your DJ Room
Quick Tip #1. Speaker Stands & Modifications
One of the first ways you can reduce the amount of sound that bleeds out of your room is by suspending your monitor speakers on some sort of standing waves.
These stands should ideally be spiked and separate from any wall-touched structure.
This reduces the amount of vibration that is transmitted to either the floor or the wall.
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Quick Tip #2. Locate and Seal Air Gaps
Here, you’ll first need to locate any areas where sound can escape.
One of the easiest and most common methods you can apply is simply cutting off the lights and making the room as dark as possible.
If you can find some small areas where there is light entering the room, that also lets you know where there is sound bleeding out of the room.
Once you’ve located the air gaps, now it’s time to seal them off.
You can do that by using acoustical materials to block off any air gaps or small cracks in the walls, or doorway. and windows.
This is a great step to dramatically improve the level of soundproofing your room has compared to standard acoustic caulk or any other dense material.
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Quick Tip #3. Dry Wall Paneling
Lastly, you’ll want to make a point of adding some attach drywall panels to the front of your walls.
These rigid panels should typically be 5/8″ thick and are generally quite affordable, especially when compared to other walled structural materials.
Drywall panels can be fitted as a double layer around the floors, walls and ceilings of your studio.
It is by making this two layers setup that you can effectively create a two-pronged barrier through which the sound must push before finally leaving the room.
By using a product like Green Glue noise proofing compound.
Green Glue is a highly effective material that gives you much of the same soundproofing benefits when done by a professional while at a fraction of the cost.
This makes it incredibly valuable for any DJ looking to quickly and cheaply put a room together.
How To Soundproof A DJ Home Studio: Takeaway
If you plan to regularly use your DJ home studio, taking the time to have it soundproofed is a wise decision that will have tremendous benefits over the long run.
Getting constant noise complaints firstly creates a negative atmosphere with the people around you and secondly, it can distract you when you are practicing as you are always wondering if you are playing too loudly!
Creating an environment where you don’t have to worry too much about background noise level has so many positives.
Definitely, an area to think and play smart about!
