Sound proofing panels for singing high notes?

[FiftyTifty]

A bit different from needing help with speakers, I need help with stopping my singing leaking through and bothering the neighbours!

So far what I've done is buy these thick 2" foam panels off Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knightsaco...bsorbing-Soundproof-Cancelling/dp/B0DP214VNC?) and got 2/3rds of a wall covered. They're pretty cool as they definitely work on lower notes. But when I get about halfway into my second octave, they don't do much. There's a bunch of different designs of these panels, and from what I've read, I need something denser with a different surface shape to absorb high frequencies.

What should I get for stopping my high notes from leaking through the walls?

Google and Reddit have not shared anything relevant. Just a lot of threads asking about soundproofing, but nothing that distinguished the frequencies or types of sounds to be reduced. So it's not really apparent on what to get.

 

[DVDdoug]

It should absorb a lot of high-frequencies but the fundamental notes aren't THAT high. And our ears are most-sensitive in these mid-ranges. The highest frequencies are harmonics & overtones. Some quick research says the soprano range is from C4 (261 Hz) to C6 (1046 Hz). The good acoustics treatment companies will publish specs showing the absorption at different frequencies.

As a general rule sound treatment and absorption is related to what you hear inside the room and it's completely different from soundproofing which reduces the sounds getting in-and-out. Soundproofing requires dense materials and sealing of air leaks so it involves "construction" (or reconstruction).

...In both cases, bass is harder to deal with.

 

[Curvature]

Panels you hang on the walls absorb reflected sound. They do zero soundproofing.

Soundproofing (in acoustics called isolation) is about closing paths to other spaces. One method of doing this in studio design is a room within a room. Totally isolated other than carefully designed HVAC and structural supports. Use this as a mental reference.

In an existing building you will not be able to do much. At minimum the first effort is to plug holes:

• Seal doorways using weatherproofing strips. The bottom of the door is hard, so you could use a less permanent solution like a towel or something similar.
• Seal outlets. This is probably not worth doing since it involves buying putty and shoving it between the drywall and electrical outlets.
• Seal windows. Might even help with the heating bill. Feasibility depends on the kind of window. Beyond sealing existing windows, another thing to consider is buying a transparent plastic sheet to serve as another layer of glass and sealing that. This is done even outside of acoustics as a way of improving heating/cooling in older buildings.
• Sealing vents. Good luck breathing.

Vents, adjoining walls and shared supports are the hardest to deal with. Typically acoustic assessments seek concerning frequencies and then design for them. Leaking bass is impossible to isolate without a structural redesign. Midrange and high frequencies can be addressed using the list above, but if the main line of flight between your space and your neighbours', once you've sealed doorways, is an adjoining wall or a vent, you will not be able to accomplish much.

Another option is to buy a singing booth like the kind studios use to record. It will be tight, enclosed, uncomfortable and hot, but it will do the job. Fully ready booths are fairly expensive.

 

[raindance]

What @Curvature said. The thing that I find so annoying is many of these companies that make acoustic panels advertise them as being for sound proofing when in actual fact they are for acoustic treatment for the room they are installed in and not at all for sound proofing.

 

[DVDdoug]

Panels you hang on the walls absorb reflected sound. They do zero soundproofing.

They aren't effective soundproofing but they can help a little... Any sound that's absorbed (acoustic energy converted to heat energy) is gone so it's not going through the wall.

 

[Curvature]

They aren't effective soundproofing but they can help a little... Any sound that's absorbed (acoustic energy converted to heat energy) is gone so it's not going through the wall.

That's a spurious observation. The issue is an open or conductive path for direct sound between source and receiver, not the relative strength of reflected sound. It's the difference between an open door and a closed one.

In architectural acoustics the relevant measurement is sound transmission class (STC). STC does not change at all with a few foam panels. It barely changes with an entire wall of foam panels. Sealing a door, on the other hand, is far more effective.

 

[Timcognito]

Some stuff here in the first part of the video

Let's have fun. Help me plan a dedicated audioroom.

If you are going to use drywall be careful and get some good advice and think through the instalation details. In my room drywall is the limiting factor for LF. I have some large subs that go flat and high SPL to 17 Hz but starting around 20 Hz the drywall starts banging against the studs and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[bachatero]

Why make it so complicated? If you just want to sing then this microphone shield does everything in one tiny package: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...ialized-portable-acoustic-control-environment There's cheaper versions too!

 

[Curvature]

Why make it so complicated? If you just want to sing then this microphone shield does everything in one tiny package: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...ialized-portable-acoustic-control-environment There's cheaper versions too!

You understand sound moves in all directions?

 

[bachatero]

You understand sound moves in all directions?

I have one and it works really well to block sound coming in front of your mouth which is where the directivity is highly concentrated

 

[FiftyTifty]

Panels you hang on the walls absorb reflected sound. They do zero soundproofing.

Soundproofing (in acoustics called isolation) is about closing paths to other spaces. One method of doing this in studio design is a room within a room. Totally isolated other than carefully designed HVAC and structural supports. Use this as a mental reference.

In an existing building you will not be able to do much. At minimum the first effort is to plug holes:

• Seal doorways using weatherproofing strips. The bottom of the door is hard, so you could use a less permanent solution like a towel or something similar.
• Seal outlets. This is probably not worth doing since it involves buying putty and shoving it between the drywall and electrical outlets.
• Seal windows. Might even help with the heating bill. Feasibility depends on the kind of window. Beyond sealing existing windows, another thing to consider is buying a transparent plastic sheet to serve as another layer of glass and sealing that. This is done even outside of acoustics as a way of improving heating/cooling in older buildings.
• Sealing vents. Good luck breathing.

Vents, adjoining walls and shared supports are the hardest to deal with. Typically acoustic assessments seek concerning frequencies and then design for them. Leaking bass is impossible to isolate without a structural redesign. Midrange and high frequencies can be addressed using the list above, but if the main line of flight between your space and your neighbours', once you've sealed doorways, is an adjoining wall or a vent, you will not be able to accomplish much.

Another option is to buy a singing booth like the kind studios use to record. It will be tight, enclosed, uncomfortable and hot, but it will do the job. Fully ready booths are fairly expensive.

Yeah I saw those booths and they looked really cool. There were a couple problems with them though! 1. Yeah a good one that actually seals the sound inside the booth is 2.5k: https://www.thomann.co.uk/t.akustik_isolation_booth.htm
2. They're like 300kg, I'd be worried about my office floor caving in from the weight
3. They're expensive and I'm low income, so it'll take about two years to save up the cash for one. Being poor sucks.

What @Curvature said. The thing that I find so annoying is many of these companies that make acoustic panels advertise them as being for sound proofing when in actual fact they are for acoustic treatment for the room they are installed in and not at all for sound proofing.

Yeah and lots of people who are meant to be pros reiterate it. Eugh. At least the music from my speakers sounds clearer...But I want to sing damnit!

Some stuff here in the first part of the video

Let's have fun. Help me plan a dedicated audioroom.

If you are going to use drywall be careful and get some good advice and think through the instalation details. In my room drywall is the limiting factor for LF. I have some large subs that go flat and high SPL to 17 Hz but starting around 20 Hz the drywall starts banging against the studs and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Okay this is the sort of thing I was looking for but didn't come up in all of my digging! So MLV for the wall, then some curtains around the weird wardrobe sliding door separator that's in my office (meant to be a bedroom but well...). Any brands that are known to be good instead of picking at random and hoping that they didn't cheap out?

 

[FiftyTifty]

Why make it so complicated? If you just want to sing then this microphone shield does everything in one tiny package: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...ialized-portable-acoustic-control-environment There's cheaper versions too!

These looked a bit dodgy I'll be honest. It would need to cover my whole head to block the voice since it comes out in a bunch of directions. It looks like another reflection absorber rather than noise blocker?

 

[Timcognito]

Okay this is the sort of thing I was looking for but didn't come up in all of my digging! So MLV for the wall, then some curtains around the weird wardrobe sliding door separator that's in my office (meant to be a bedroom but well...). Any brands that are known to be good instead of picking at random and hoping that they didn't cheap out?

No sorry, I know a little, but mostly about the architectural (drywall) stuff that requires taking it down to the studs. The internet and AI are your friends.

 

[FiftyTifty]

No sorry, I know a little, but mostly about the architectural (drywall) stuff that requires taking it down to the studs. The internet and AI are your friends.

The internet told me to buy acoustic foam panels, and I have [redacted] tier feelings about AI lmao

 

[Timcognito]

Try Perplexity.AI and keep honing your followup questions with help at the the bottom of your answer

 

[FiftyTifty]

And Moondream are a respectable brand that will definitely work that folk here have used and can stand behind?

Try Perplexity.AI and keep honing your followup questions with help at the the bottom of your answer
View attachment 460472

 

[KaiS]

Additional to making your room as free from leakage openings as possible:
A lot of musicians are practicing at home by opening their wardrobe and playing just in front.

A stuffed wardrobe, very close to the source, absorbs a multiple of sound compared to more distant wall-mount acoustics panels that don’t do much (if at all) to stop sound emanating your room.
It even absorbs much lower frequencies than 5 cm thin acoustic foam.

Cost: nothing!

 

[Curvature]

And Moondream are a respectable brand that will definitely work that folk here have used and can stand behind?

Hard to say. They state:

• Noise insulation: Sound energy is divided by eight, reaching a drop of up to 9 decibels (1). Reverberation of sound in the room is also reduced and creates a quieter atmosphere, e.g. for a surface area of approximately 215 ft² the reverberation time is reduced by 0.4 seconds (2).
• (1) Test performed by the CEBTP laboratory in accordance with European EN ISO standard 717-1, report no. BEB2.F.6011-2 dated 04/27/2015
• (2) Test by the Experimental Center for Building and Public Works Research and Studies (CEBTP), experimental report no. BEB2.E.6039-1

I would only buy acoustic products after seeing the test results. The claims need backup. How many curtains? How was the test configured? 9dB of what? NC? STC?

Curtains are honestly a good suggestion. Well-made acoustic curtains like the kind used in concert halls are effective well into the midrange. You could install them on each wall and then draw and undraw them as you need. It has to be floor-to ceiling kind of coverage, though, with miniscule gaps at the top and bottom to allow travel.

 

[Curvature]

I would suggest Rose Brand curtains: https://www.rosebrand.com/

 

[kemmler3D]

What @Curvature said. The thing that I find so annoying is many of these companies that make acoustic panels advertise them as being for sound proofing when in actual fact they are for acoustic treatment for the room they are installed in and not at all for sound proofing.

Speaking from direct experience, (I used to sell acoustic foam online) the acoustics companies know this, but most people search for "soundproofing" because they don't know this, so the acoustics companies follow suit so they don't go out of business. Educating the consumer is secondary to making the sale, and you can't do it if you don't get them to click your site in the first place...