Whether you have a little one with knack to learn an instrument or you are a seasoned musician yourself, you might be considering changing a spare room into a music space. Even with neighbors and concerns of being too noisy in your own home, there are ways to dampen the sound and set up a music room.
Paying for time in a music space often rushes musicians as they feel the need to get the most out of their paid time. However, with some creative home electrical additions and a few add-ons, you will be able to play nearly whenever you want.
Here are a few tips to help you transform your spare room into a music studio:
Know your room
To start off, you need to know how the sound will travel in the room you decide to transform. For high-pitched attics or dark and damp basements, the sound can change dramatically. Make sure you are careful with larger rooms, as sound will be able to travel and reverberate more frequently, while smaller rooms will bounce the sound.
Plan your equipment
One of the most difficult things for diehard musicians is finding enough space for all of their gear. If you're a musician with a lot of musical equipment, first consider what instruments you will need the most. Once you do this, you can plan more efficiently with what you'll need right away.
"You should measure your equipment before you move it into the room."
Secondly, you should try to draw a blueprint or layout of what equipment can fit where. For those with a keyboard, a drum set and guitar amps, there might not be much space for anything else. However, if you have plenty of space for a single item such as a piano, you have more free-range to set up your music room, but you should still measure your equipment before you move it, so you know the selected instrument fits.
Build up
Another way to increase your space is to build up. You can do this by adding guitar holders in your walls to open up your room. Additionally, you can add shelving or hooks to set guitar pedals, microphones and cables. Doing this could let you put in additional couches, chairs or more equipment in the room.
The less you have laying around the floor, the more space you'll have in your new music room.
Soundproof your walls
Soundproofing your walls is actually much easier than you think. Soundproof material is available at several large hardware stores. This material should be tiled along the walls of your music room to prevent excess sound from escaping. Another way to help soundproof your music room is to put sealing tape along the frame of your door and window to prevent sound from leaking out. Additionally, you can use thick, light-prevention curtains to help keep sound from leaving your window.
To make sure your room is soundproof, clap your hands to see if the sound reverberates, echoes or is instantly absorbed. None of these conditions are ideal, as they can affect the sound of your recordings and equipment.
Increasing your electrical outlets
Most music equipment requires heavy-duty plugs and a lot of electricity to operate. Running all these instruments at the same time puts stress on your electrical outlets. Instead, using a Jasco 12 Outlet Surge Protector gives you plenty of outlets to plug in equipment. Also, this surge protector has four spaced outlets that are ideal for large adaptors.
Adding extra outlets to your music room could help you plan your space much more efficiently.