Sound Proofing an Apartment

[5th Sequence]

What up ya'll..

I'm moving into an apartment with my bro over the summer. I've had the luxury of having my studio in the basement but that'll be over in the next 2 months as my older brother and i are gettin a place together.

Thing is, I can't just limit myself to mixing on headphones and shit. fuck that!! i gotta be able to play my music and test it for mixing purposes at least. I dont mix with the monitors on that loud at all anyways, but everyonce in a while i have to check out that bass area and make sure things are sounding tight with the music turned up decent.

Point is, I wanna actually sound proof the room in my apartment so i dont have problems with my bro and all my new neighbors lol..

I figure i need to get it done right so i'm willing to spend upwards of about $500 to get it done and have that freedom of bein able to make music without disturbing people.

ALL of you who are in apartments now, what do you do? Any suggestions? I dont think the landlord would allow me to build a wall lol but i'm thinkin of gettin a lot of those acoustic panels or really dense acoustic mats and covering the walls with them.

Not sure if i can get under the carpet without fucking up my deposit, but i'd imagine having to soundproof at LEAST above or below me. Probably not both at the same time, but it depends on the apartment.

And i've got to get all of this figured out before we make the move so I can sound proof my room, then move into it.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Is there anyone that lives in an apartment and has soundproofed their room successfully?

 

[Wizdom]

Wish I could help you bro. I'm going to be in the same position in a couple of months. I have a house now with the basement deal but me and my wife are moving to an apartment for about 6 months and I don't think my neighbors will enjoy my KRK's bangin @ 98 BPM!

 

[Lazy Eyes]

Yo i'm moving too.. so i want to know how u guys do this too, i'm gonna move to the centre of Amsterdam within 2 weeks, and there is a lot noise outside too, but the folks outthere they won't like the boom and the bap straight jumpin for 3 hours straigth hehe..

Oh and by the way..: VOTE IN THE 2 GOOD AND LAZY EYES BATTLE we want to get that shit over with..

 

[Relic]

I have done this for years. Truth is there aint no way to keep that bass from traveling that I know of.
I have the booth in the closet and its padded with studio foam panels. That means its hot or cold in there depending on the season.
My only solution has always been to hope I live near younger people and when I move in I introduce myself and tell them what I do with music and that it shouldnt get too loud but if it does to let me know and Ill turn it down.
In the past 3-4 years I havent had but 2 complaints.
When the people underneath me moved out I went into the room beneath the equipment and had my stuff turned up upstairs. The only thing that they are gonna hear is the bass cuz it travels through the wood and walls.
There are ways to fix this but Id rather see how it goes with the neighbars first.
Dont listen to your mother she'll just keep telling you that you cant have a studio in your apartment, lord knows I just look at mine and say ....Really?

 

[LonChainy]

Sup 5th aint spoke to you in a minute hope all is good. But anyway, yes Relic is right..there is NO way that i know of to totally soundproof your apt. Im in one now and believe me ive spent money and time trying. Your best bet is what he said speak to your neighbors, get to know them, tell em your situation. They will either be like "cool, ill let you know if its a problem" or they will roll their eyes, and you'll almost be able to read their thoughts..."good god there goes the neighborhood with that jungle music" LOLOL But what i do is try to schedule my mixing sessions during the day when people are at work. Or maybe early day during the weekend, people tend to be a lil more lieniant at that time. I myself wasnt so lucky..my nextdoor neighbors, and my downstairs neighbors are both in their 50's so....feel my pain..lolol, i still get the occasional "broomstick on the walls and ceiling". Just something your gonna have to deal with. Now recording vocals has never been a problem. Cuz i "control room" with headphones and or course the MC has headphones, and voice never carries...you'll work it out bro......get at me

Lon

 

[DopeTrax]

i say fuck the neighbors, they've never said nothin to me, so until they do fuck em

 

[Relic]

OH YEAH AND I SHUT DOWN AROUND TEN OR MAKE SURE MY SHIT IS DOWN LOW PAST 10 THAT HELPS ALOT.
Damn sorry bout the shoutin.. Anyway unless its on the weekends then you know I keep it down a little later but not much.
You dont need it loud at 2am in an apt anyway , your brother will kick your ass.
Believe me I had those fights, last fight I had with my brother in fact, a real knock down drag out...lol

 

[afriquedeluxe]

back home am trying to get my stuff up in a garage. i think getting speaker stands and having the speakers off the floor might help with reducing the lows penetrating the walls. getting sound proofing material i hear is very very expensive so dont know if that route could be taken so easily.

 

[5th Sequence]

thanks for the responses guys. Yeah i was looking at some prices online for some heavy density acoustic vinyl matting... all i gotta say is damn. Its like $400 bucks for a 4 by 20 foot roll.

I'm gonna have to try and find an ideal room it looks like. A room off to the side, preferably where my bro isnt next door to me, or there arent more than one neighbors next to me. I can put my speakers facing away from them and then put the heavy density mats facing whatever direction my neighbors are. This is gonna be a bitch!!

I wanted to put the vinyl matting up on all sides of my walls and lay it on the floor, but that is easily going to cost over a grand. Maybe eventually lol, but not anytime soon.

Not to mention putting my vocal booth in the apartment.... gotta take that shit apart.. i'm dreading that for sure. I hate taking my equipment down in general and then setting it back up.

I'm definitely gonna introduce myself to my neighbors and give them all my cell phone #. Let them call me anytime they need it turned down.