Garage Band: Lowering noise outside...

[suprarx7nut]

So my new house has provided my buddy and I a place to "jam" regularly. The house backs up directly to a highway, which provides a decent amount of cover noise. While we don't need to soundproof the garage, by any means, I would love to cut down on the noise.

Note: I'm in college and this is NOT a priority, so I will NOT spend much money at all.

Are there any easy/cheap ways to effectively lower noise at all? Our garage door is not insulated so that is a priority right now. I have heard that egg cartons, stacked about 4x will help slightly, but I'm hoping for a better solution.

Oh, and the Supra stays nights in the garage, so nothing permanent is an option.

Anyone have ideas?

Thanks for reading my longhand!!!

-Andy

 

[Poodles]

There are some products that are in the form of boards much like sheetrock that you could layer the garage door with.

Ask at a local home improvement store...

 

[iwannadie]

A friend of mine uses layers of old blankets, its not the best but if you already have some blankets that you dont use. Just layer them as thick as you can and it should help some.

 

[Kckazdude]

The blankets and egg cartons do help some but very little when you consider the effort put into it. Accoustical tile helps the most but is a little pricey and is mounted permanently. The best thing to remember about sound deadening is that air pockets do the most.

 

[johnathan1]

Acoustic foam would be ideal, but kinda expensive...

Try looking at thrift stores for those roll up egg carton foam mattress pad thingys. Other than that...there isn't really much you can do besides just putting blankets all over the walls lol.

 

[JMDigital]

Here it is...
Cant do better then free..

http://www.googobits.com/articles/1355-cheap-attractrive-insulating-soundproofing--its-free.html

 

[MK3Brent]

Get an ostrich, and let it have free reign of the neighborhood.
Your neighbors will be too busy running from the bird to notice noise from your garage.

 

[Quin]

lol

 

[MK3Brent]

I hope IJ doesn't mind me posting a picture of him.

 

[Wills7MGTE]

As long as it isn't pastl ike 10pm I doubt many people will really care or complain

 

[Quin]

I hope IJ doesn't mind me posting a picture of him.

All aboard the lolercoaster

 

[Isphius]

Ive tried hundreds of things and nothing really works good. My friend has a totally "soundproofed" room with funny looking boards all over it and you can still hear a whole drum/bass/2 guitars cranked up from outside on the street. And forget about in the house. Its a lot better than a normal room tho but not worth it to me. But I would say adding something to the doors and windows will cut down a noticeable bit. But anything thats not free really isnt a good idea tho. I have a 350w PA amp running a 2x15 cab and you can hear it from space if i want. It will rumble stuff off the walls esp frets 5-12 on the E string. Nothing can stop the sound! JK goodluck tho (edit: forgot to mention i play bass not running a guitar through that)

 

[suprarx7nut]

Well thanks for the responses guys!!! Even you, Brent.

I like the idea of the dimpled foam pads at a thrift store.

Good point about the whole not past 10pm thing. Especially since we back up to a highway I doubt the neighbors will complain too much if we play between 11 AM and 9PM.

Now if only I could sing a note or two...

 

[suprarx7nut]

Got a visit from the cops tonight for playing at 9:15pm on a Sunday night. I should have figured we were pushing our luck, but I thought the noise ordinances didn't start until 11pm. But, unfortunately any noise exceeding 55 dBs before 7pm or 50dBs after 7pm can earn you a huge fine.

We got a warning and the officer said he, himself, has never actually issued a ticket for a similar circumstance, but that his coworkers wouldn't hesitate.

I'm going to Safeway/King Soopers tomorrow to try to find some produce packaging foam and Radioshack to get a sound level meter to mark our progress.

Freakin neighbors.... ugh.