How to Soundproof a Drum Room

As you play your drums, the room around you fills with energy — and not only the kind that makes people want to get up and dance. Noise travels around your drum room in energy-charged soundwaves. Soundwaves bounce off your floors, walls, ceilings and doors until they run out of energy. Without correct soundproofing, excess soundwaves can muddle your sick beats and disturb your neighbors.

Continue reading to learn more about the soundproofing methods you can use to keep your music sounding clean and ensure harmonious relationships with your neighbors.

Why Should You Soundproof Your Drum Room?

By soundproofing your drum room, you’ll benefit in the following ways.

• Avoid noise complaints: Drums are a loud instrument. Soundproofing controls the amount of noise that leaves your drum room, limiting the number of noise complaints from neighbors.
• Practice at any time of the day: If you’re a drummer, you’re likely familiar with planning your sessions around the perfect time that won’t disrupt the people living around you. Soundproofing allows you to play whenever the inspiration strikes you.
• Improve sound quality: When you play the drums, you’re creating many soundwaves that bounce around the smooth surfaces in your drum room, like the floors, ceilings, walls and doors. The excess soundwaves create a muddied sound that detracts from your tight beats. Soundproofing tools capture these soundwaves, clearing the space for improved sound quality.

How to Soundproof a Room for Drums

Here are five drum sound-dampening methods you can use in your studio.

1. Soundproofing Foam

Usually, when imagining soundproofing methods, soundproofing foam is the first thing people picture. They’re an acoustic foam for drum rooms, among other rooms, that reduces sound wave reverberation. Reverberation is the source of excess soundwaves, where sound bounces off smooth surfaces and back into the room.

For music studios, consider these products.

• Pyramid acoustic foam: The pyramid acoustic foam consists of polyurethane foam, which contains pores that trap soundwaves and absorb their energy. As its name may suggest, the textured surface is rows of pyramid-shaped foam, creating more surface area for optimal absorption.
• Udderly Quiet™ anechoic acoustic foam: Soundproof Cow’s Udderly Quiet™ anechoic acoustic foam works similarly to the pyramid acoustic foam, except it contains ridges rather than pyramids. This soundproofing foam absorbs high, mid-range and low-frequency sounds.
• Bass wedge acoustic foam: Perhaps the most common soundproofing foam, the bass wedge acoustic foam looks like elongated pyramids made of studio-grade foam. If you’re on a budget, these soundproofing tools are highly cost-effective and provide noticeable results.

Apply the drum soundproofing foam using an acoustic adhesive, like the PL® Premium Construction Adhesive.

2. Acoustic Panels

Drum soundproofing acoustic panels are soundproofing tools usually made of compressed mineral wool or foam. Wool and foam hold tiny fibers that trap soundwaves and absorb their energy. However, it won’t absorb all sound — only unwanted ones like echoes, muffling and reverberation. That way, nothing distracts from your rhythms.

At Soundproof Cow, we offer three types of acoustic panels for drum rooms.

• Art acoustic panels: If you’re looking for an understated soundproofing solution, art acoustic panels are a good solution. You can choose an image or colorful design that complements your drum room’s aesthetic, blending the worlds of artwork and soundproofing.
• Fabric-wrapped acoustic panels: Like art acoustic panels, fabric-wrapped acoustic panels are soundproofing tools wrapped in a decorative fabric. Pick between various sizes, finishes and configurations to match your drum room’s existing furniture and decor.
• Perforated acoustic panels: For a more natural appearance, consider perforated acoustic panels. These wood panels have dents that absorb excess soundwaves. Find perforated acoustic panels in many finishes, carved styles and sizes.

3. Flooring Underlayment

Soundwaves travel more than one way. Flooring, especially smooth flooring, is a frequent culprit of noise pollution because it doesn’t have sound-absorbing properties. Strengthen your floor’s soundproofing abilities using a flooring underlayment.

A flooring underlayment goes under your existing floor. A good recommendation is the Impact Barrier QT flooring underlayment, which looks like a thin sheet of fabric. It consists of 92% recycled tire rubber, great at absorbing impact and airborne noises.

Lay the Impact Barrier QT flooring underlayment under tile, carpet, laminate, hardwood and other floorings. It’s thin, adding less than half an inch of floor height. Once you apply it, you won’t see any exposed soundproofing equipment, but you’ll notice a difference in the way soundwaves travel around your drum room.

4. Hanging Baffles

Soundwaves travel upward, too. If you have tall ceilings, that quality can be a problem for your upstairs neighbors. Control this upward travel using a hanging baffle, like the Udderly Quiet™ Acoustic Baffle.

Hanging baffles suspend from your ceiling using a durable chain. The chain attaches to noise-absorbing panels, which give this soundproofing method all of its power. You can find hanging baffles in a fabric-wrapped foam or one made entirely of foam, such as the Echo Absorber™ hanging baffle. Both are great options when soundproofing your drum room’s ceilings.

5. Door Sweeps and Seals

Doors are responsible for sound loss in drum rooms, along with any other areas where noises can escape from your residential or commercial space. Take a moment to look at your door — do you see the empty spaces around the door frame? If you knock on the center of the door, you may also hear a hollow sound. Both of these qualities allow soundwaves to magnify and leak out of your drum room.

Manage these soundwaves using door sweeps and seals. Door sweeps cover the larger space at the bottom of your door, while door seals take care of the smaller gap around the door frame.

Both options consist of aluminum and silicone. Aluminum gives door sweeps and seals durability, while the silicone forms a tight seal to prevent soundwaves from escaping. Application is quick and easy, requiring a few simple tools and following straightforward instructions.

Shop Reliable Soundproofing Tools at Soundproof Cow

Soundproof Cow can help you soundproof your drum room. We’ve been actively creating innovative soundproofing methods for over two decades, providing our clients with DIY solutions that solve almost all soundproofing problems.

The most significant sound-polluting areas of your drum room you want to address are your floors, ceilings, walls and doors. Soundproof Cow offers solutions for all these areas. And, you don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars for professional soundproofing equipment — get great results on a budget that works for you.

Learn more about what Soundproof Cow can do for you by browsing our products online. Want to talk to a representative about how we can make your beats sound cleaner and crisper? Contact us online via our contact form, or give us a call at 866-949-9269.