How to Soundproof Your Home Recording Studio?

Soundproofing should be your priority when designing a home recording studio for use in audio creation: whether for music production, podcasting, or any other purpose. Even if you have the most expensive recording equipment on the market, your listeners will be able to detect if you recorded in an unsuitable space. That’s why it’s so important to master soundproofing techniques for professional results while recording audio. Soundproofing is a standard measure that all recording studios implement. However, if your playback test recording revealed any reverberation or unwelcome noises, you will need to soundproof immediately.

Beginners frequently mix soundproofing and acoustic treatment when learning how to soundproof a room. So, to simplify, soundproofing makes a room quitter by blocking outside noise, whereas acoustic treatment improves the acoustic quality of a room by absorbing excess ambiance. For best results, you should try to achieve both ideally. 

Why do we need to soundproof our studio?

The noises’ nature is intricately layered. On top of that, individuals frequently overestimate the impact of the robust microphone and recording equipment and undervalue the significance of room acoustics. Because of this, it happens frequently that home studio soundproofing preparations are neglected, as well as the importance of room acoustics. Instead, home music producers are overly dependent on the noise-reduction plugins that are built into the robust DAWs. And so, if you want to create a noise-free recording, preventing noises and taking proactive steps to eradicate them before recording them is the proper solution.

The Dos of Soundproofing: 

1. Remove Unwanted External Noise: The door should be the first item you inspect while setting up your home studio. Even though it might seem apparent, it’s important to remember that any entry points into your space also serve as exit points for sound. Therefore, if the room you plan to record in has any doors or windows, you should check them to ensure that there are no holes that could allow internal noise to escape the room while recording. With that, you can add a (very inexpensive) plastic sweep that goes underneath the door to cover any cracks, which you can readily locate at your neighborhood hardware shop.
2. Improve Your Space with Insulation and Dry Wall: To lessen sound transmission, a second layer of drywall should be put on top of the existing walls in the home studio. This is a less expensive option than taking down your current drywall, putting in more insulation, and then putting the walls back together. Therefore, if your budget is limited, you may simply install another layer of drywall on top of the one you already have. Another simple method for soundproofing a room quickly is to place bags of insulation around the room in various locations. It may not be the most attractive solution, but it works. To block out some of the high-end sound frequencies, you can also add cloth paneling.
3. Soundproof Your Ceiling: The same rules apply to your roof as they do to your walls and floors: to block sound, you need to add mass and leave spaces. The ceiling can be one of the hardest parts of a DIY sound-isolation job, if it’s hard enough to hang drywall on the walls, it’s even harder to do the whole roof. The idea is the same as for walls, though. Using Auralex RC8 Resilient Channels, you can make a sandwich of SheetBlok and drywall and hang it from your ceiling. 
4. Deal with the Lingering Sound: You can acquire a noise reduction device that provides a filter that eliminates undesirable sounds from your final recording if you’re still not happy with the room’s audio quality. Do make an effort to keep your recording space quiet. You should muffle any additional sounds. This need not entail considerable building work. The simply soft material will do to muffle the noise. Try covering your head and microphone with a blanket, even though you might initially feel a little funny doing it. The blanket’s softness will aid to muffle any additional or unwelcome sounds in the space.

The Don’ts of Soundproofing: 

1. Don’t try to block out too much noise. You don’t want the whole room to look like it’s made of panels, and if you add too much padding or panels, there won’t be any high-end sound left. Fabric-covered walls don’t just stop the bass sound; they stop all sound. If you want to use cloth pieces instead of insulation, Bob says you should leave space between them. Bob says that if your panels are too close together, the sound you get is like recording “in a box of tissues.” If you only use dampers, a room will sound dull, so you have to avoid it as much as possible.
2. Don’t forget to soundproof your room according to its size. Absorption and diffusion will be less important in smaller areas. A decent rule of thumb is to listen to your audio and determine whether it sounds boring. If this is the case, a fast cure is to place anything with angles on it (such as acoustic panels) in the corners of the room. Make a distinction between the ambiance of the place and the noise level. Open your recording program before you turn on your microphone. Your noise floor should be registered (normally -68 to -70db). The noise floor noise is the usual electrical noise that originates from the signal chain of all recording equipment. When you switch on your microphone, you may notice that the noise levels rise owing to ambient noise.

In the end, knowing how to soundproof a space for music without damaging the surroundings is essential as many artists practice or record at home. Adding bulk to the room’s walls, floor, and ceiling is the most effective method of soundproofing. To preserve the brand-new look, just add another coat of paint and drywall. It’s also important to remember that strong editing software can always fix some of the sounds, so make sure you don’t overdo your soundproofing. With that, have fun customizing your at-home recording space to your acoustical requirements!