Making a Soundproof Room

Question

I started playing sax. I need to find me place to practice before being killed by my neighbors. I am thinking to soundproof my small room. It does not need to be 100% soundproof, but it's enough if it does not disturb people next door a lot. I can not invest a lot.

• Are there any inexpensive materials / methods you can suggest?

Answer 1

You need things which will absorb as much sound as possible - things like sofas, carpets and curtains will all cut down the amount of noise which escapes the room; similarly, having things over the walls - like drapes or curtains, or covering them with egg boxes - will dampen down the sound outside the room.

The heavier the material you use in the room the better - my music teacher built a sand-filled partition around his practice room to soundproof it!

You might want to look at things like doors and windows which have gaps around them - these are another source of sound escaping. Putting a draught excluder or similar at the foot of the door would help a little.

Finally, you could look into practice mutes - I have one for my trumpet which reduces the noise significantly (although it does change the tone) - presumably they exist for saxes as well.