Soundproofing and Sound absorbtion help

[greyline]

Looks like my band classroom next year will be in a former dance studio. One whole wall is floor-to-ceiling windows. Every other wall is cement. The floors are shiny hard wood like a dance studio. Sound echoes like crazy and I'm worried for everyone's ear health, myself included

Comments

[ceilidh]

Before you start buying rugs and maybe fabric for the windows, I would check and see if the fire marshal in your area, or your district's fire insurance policy, will have a fit. I made some cute curtains and things for my music room and the inspector made me take them down because they were against the district's fire insurance policy (soooooooooooooooooooooo stupid) and were not allowed. BLAH.

[caitsings]

Call up some stores and see if they have any styrofoam from packing they aren't using? Apple stores usually have a ton from parts being shipped in, if you have one nearby. Looks just like the foam you see on recording studio walls.

[rebelowl42]

A few ideas off the top of my head...

1st thing I would do is try to explain to your administrators that the floors in the room were not designed for chairs, stands, instruments, or even regular shoes and that the floors should be padded and carpeted in order to protect the facility (and student/teacher ears).

For sound proofing you can use cheap rugs hung on the wall (get a long wooden dowel, tack the carpet to the dowel, roll the carpet around the dowel once or twice, then mount the dowel on the wall). Also see if the school/district can get you some carpeted shelves for instruments (place them in an asymmetric pattern so the sound diffuses as it hits them).

Do you have access to the ceiling? A couple of cheap hanging tapestries (or make your own out of thick felt in the school colors) placed in a few spots can significantly reduce the ambient sound in the room.