How to Control Noise in a Home Studio: A Guide for All

Combining internal acoustic treatment and external soundproofing measures is the first step you can take when it comes to controlling noise. Isolating speakers and instruments, using headphones and setting up your studio strategically will all pay dividends in the quest for a zero-noise studio. 

This post delves into effective strategies and techniques to keep noise levels down in a home studio, ensuring a harmonious coexistence with neighbours and household members.

Maintaining Harmony: Strategies for Noise Control in Home Studios

Creating a home studio is a dream come true for many individuals passionate about music production, podcasting, or other forms of audio creation. However, the very nature of these activities can sometimes lead to noise-related challenges, especially in shared living spaces or built-up areas. 

Investing in noise control for both inside and outside the studio can pay-off big time in the long run. If you’re a budding artist or producer getting the right gear early in your career means you have assets to take with you when you’re ready to upgrade. For hobbyists, professional grade noise control can keep your household happy and stop the neighbours from making noise complaints.  

Soundproofing

Soundproofing measures are essential to contain noise within the confines of your home studio. This can include using heavy curtains, and sealing gaps and cracks and adding insulation to walls, ceilings, and floors.

Let’s be clear though - sound “proofing” is a misnomer. We need to accept that there is no way, on earth, of entirely isolating a home studio from its surroundings. 

Eventually you will get to a point where the investment you make in isolating a home studio will mean that you need to re-coup said investment by becoming a professional studio or you will just run out of space and have no studio at all. 

The goal is to create a barrier that prevents as much sound as possible from travelling outside the studio space, minimising disturbances for those in proximity.

This “barrier” however might not be as clear-cut as you think. Heavy curtains - easy. Sealing gaps and cracks - no problem. Adding insulation to walls, ceilings and floors..this is where things get a bit…odd. 

I used to think that there needed to be as much insulation in the gaps between the walls as I could physically jam in them, before the plasterboard starts to bulge. 

Well, that’s not quite right.

One of the most effective barriers for stopping noise leaving your studio - believe it or not - is empty space. Vacuum’s are best, but I’m wouldn’t be surprised if many of you didn’t have a “vacuum-between-the-walls-cielings-and-floor” making machine lying around in the garage. 

Why empty space?

Many of you will already have a very good understanding of how sound waves work. For those who don’t - in essence, sound waves are pressure waves that move stuff like air particles, jelly and the little bones inside our ears. 

Considering they move all of those things, it stands to reason that they’re going to move things like plasterboard and (ironically) insulation. As the pressure waves push up against the wall in your studio, they will move that wall, the insulation behind it and then the wall on the opposite side. 

Most wall insulation is made to regulate temperature within a building, not to regulate sound. By stuffing as much insulation into a wall cavity as you can, you may end up making the room nice and toasty warm, while inadvertently turning the other side of the wall into a giant, flat speaker cone - perfect for moving long wavelengths like…bass…you know…the wavelengths that are most likely to bother people who are both near and far away from your studio. 

Some plasterboard and wall insulation brands make their materials with acoustics in mind. If you’re planning your own build, have a look into these materials. Then, once you’ve looked, you’ll probably realise that these materials are designed to be used in conjunction with myriad other materials and techniques that are usually only affordable on a professional studio basis. 

If you can afford the space and the materials, one of the most effective solutions is the “room-within-a-room” technique. 

Building an internal pod surrounded by a cavity gives you the empty space that prevents the pressure waves from pushing on the walls on the opposing sides of your studio. 

You can do this with generic plasterboard and timber. The trick is to be clever with where you place the studs and where the studs fix to the original internal wall. The goal is to make as little connection to the original wall as possible. 

If you’re handy enough and you’ve got the space, give it a go. Personally, I’ll leave that sort of work to a trusted builder.

No doubt, sound ”proofing” is by far the most challenging aspect of a home studio, but with a little knowledge and understanding (and a lot of space) it can be done. 

It’s not for everyone though, so what can you do if soundproofing isn’t an option for your home recording studio?

Acoustic Treatment:

Acoustic treatment is primarily designed to help you hear more of what is coming directly out of your speakers and less of what is being reflected off your walls. This ultimately helps you improve the quality of your music and audio.  

Strategically placing acoustic panels, bass traps, and diffusers will absorb, diffuse, and control sound reflections within the room.

Not all acoustic treatment is made equal and it is important to budget carefully. Low budget acoustic treatment won’t offer very good acoustic properties, and those egg-boxes you’ve got on the wall…I hate to break it to you, but they ain’t doing sh*t.

Well-designed acoustic treatment does all of the absorbing, diffusing and controlling of the sound within the room and can prevent excessive sound from escaping into adjacent areas.

We’ve had all our acoustic treatment recommended and provided by experts in the field, Giraffe Audio - check out their array of acoustic treatment. 

Investing in Isolation:

Isolating equipment within your studio is another effective strategy. Place studio monitors on isolation pads to reduce vibrations transmitted to surfaces. 

For instruments like drums or guitar amplifiers, you might want to consider using isolation platforms or booths to contain and absorb sound. 

Isolating equipment at the source minimises the impact on surrounding areas and there are tonnes of solutions to help you do this. 

One of my favourite solutions are these isoAcoustics Pucks. Resting speakers and amps on top of them minimises the isolates the speaker, reducing the resonance and vibration of surfaces speakers are placed on. 

The Pucks offer a mix and match approach, perfect for wobbly floors or a variety of different speaker cabinets. 

Strategic Studio Setup:

The layout of your home studio plays a crucial role in noise control. 

Positioning equipment, such as amplifiers or speakers, facing away from shared walls or floors can help reduce sound transmission. You could also choose a room that is further away from others in your household, or one that is away from a neighbour's adjoining wall. 

Garage and shed conversions are ideal little spaces to keep noise at a distance from those who may be bothered by it. This might be an opportunity to try the room-within-a-room” technique from earlier. 

Keep in mind that there is always a trade-off. A room outdoors might transfer noise to neighbours more easily, whereas a room indoors is likely to transfer to other rooms within your household. 

I guess the question to ask is “Would I prefer to make my neighbour’s happier or my partner/parents/kids happier.”  I went with the latter and built a project studio in my garden. 

Establishing Studio Hours:

Establishing clear and reasonable studio hours is a considerate way to manage noise concerns. 

If you want to prevent your neighbours from making noise complaints then put your big-kid pants on and go and talk to them. You have to be prepared that they might not want a recording studio next to them, but ultimately that’s tough. 

You’ve done your bit, you’ve communicated what’s happening within your household, you do not need their permission. At least they are aware of your studio hours so they can plan accordingly.

Housemates, partners and kids might be a different story, but the same applies. If you communicate what is happening and they get annoyed - providing it’s all reasonable - then that’s up to them and they could plan to do something else when you’re on studio time. 

A problem I had with this was consistency in adhering to these hours. While staying consistent can foster understanding and cooperation within your living community, you’re a creative, who works with other creatives. 

Inspiration doesn’t adhere to predetermined studio hours. 

So what do you do if you’re struck by inspiration outside of those hours? 

Use of Headphones:

Using headphones during studio time is, bar none, the most effective way to contain sound within your home studio space. 

By eliminating the “loud” aspect of a loudspeaker, you have little to no noise to contain, thus an easy noise free life for everyone in your vicinity. 

Quality headphones can provide an immersive experience and act like a magnifying glass for your audio production. You can get really detailed, for long periods of time - without disturbing others. 

If you’re looking for a recommendation, check out these Sennheiser HD 559. 

While it’s not practical to run a home studio using headphones alone, using them in combination with the other techniques above will go a long way to reducing noise that affects other people and ultimately allow you to feel comfortable working at any time of day or night.  

Main Take Away

Building and maintaining a home studio can be a fulfilling endeavour, but it comes with the responsibility of managing noise to create a positive living environment for yourself and those around you. 

By implementing acoustic treatment, soundproofing measures, isolation techniques, and establishing clear studio hours, you can strike a balance between pursuing your creative passions and respecting the peace and quiet of your living space. 

Through thoughtful planning and consideration, you can create a home studio that enhances your creative process without disrupting the harmony of your home.

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