Acoustical Ceiling Tiles
Solving Sound Bleed in a Music Venue: A Guide to Soundproofing Between Floors
For owners of multi-level music venues, sound bleed between floors can present problems when hosting events on multiple different levels at the same time. When too much noise travels from one level to the next, it disrupts gatherings and creates communication issues. If you are experiencing this type of situation and your location is already built and in operation, unfortunately you’re in a tough spot as making steps to achieve an audible reduction from floor to floor (especially for bass / low frequencies) will require significant modification to the structure and which isn’t usually very economical for feasible. But, if you are still in the design and planning phase, there are a number of things to consider when you are planning ways of reducing sound bleed between levels.
Soundproofing between floors can add a level of separation between spaces, improve music venue acoustics to enhance guest experiences, and even increase your revenue. But you’ve got to do it right, so don’t hesitate to hire an acoustical consultant and/or architect that is experienced with this type of building design. Experienced architects and consultants will be sure to suggest the best building practices and products, based on both likely and potential sources of noise.
Step 1 – Diagnosing the Sound Leak
The first step in blocking sound from traveling between one floor and the next is identifying where the bulk of the noise is coming from. By addressing the source of the biggest sound leak, we can often get results without installing any unneeded products. Some of the most common sound leakage points include:
- Stairwells and Doorways – If stairwells and doorways are not blocked by heavy, solid-core doors or sound-barrier acoustic curtains, these locations represent open pathways and a very easy path for sound to travel through the space.
- Walls and Ceilings – When dealing with standard interior wall and ceiling assemblies finished with a single layer of drywall installed directly onto a stud or joist, there is often not sufficient insulation or mass to reduce sound transfer.
- Flanking Paths – Vents, ductwork, and gaps in the structural elements open up flanking paths by which sound will travel between one space and the next.
You can often identify the source of the sound leak by simply walking around and listening critically. When you have music playing in the lower level, and the upper level is unoccupied, you should be able to hear where the majority of sound is coming from. This is tough when the space is occupied, because the sound bleed will be competing with the noise created by the guests inside.
If you are unable to locate the most significant source of your sound leak with your ears alone, you may need to invest in renting a sound meter or decibel meter. Sound meter testing for noise will help pinpoint noise hot spots and give you a good roadmap to reducing your sound bleed. A careful assessment of the unoccupied upstairs space with the sound meter while music is playing loudly downstairs will help you locate these hot spots most effectively.
Step 2 – Addressing Major Sound Leak Sources
Once you have identified your major problem areas and whether you’re dealing with airborne noise vs impact noise, you will need to treat those locations with appropriate soundproofing products. The right products may vary depending on the location being treated.
Soundproofing Stairwells and Doorways
Stairwells and doorways can act like acoustical funnels, carrying noise from one space to the next. Sealing gaps around the doorways with adjustable door seals will help to reduce the amount of sound passing through the gaps under and around the door. Installing high-STC (Sound Transmission Class) soundproof doors that have integrated seal kits and door bottom gaskets will help even more, blocking much of the remaining sound transmission.
Upgrading Wall and Ceiling Insulation Without Demolition
If you want to improve the performance of your wall insulation without getting into a large demolition project, there are some less invasive solutions that will help with soundproofing between floors and reduce sound bleed between spaces on the same level.
- Blown-In Insulation (Cellulose or similar insulation-like products) can be injected into existing walls without removing drywall. This will not stop sound from passing through by itself, but it will reduce reverberation within the wall cavities and help dampen airborne noise.
- Apply additional drywall layers with Green Glue applied to the back of the second sheet and sandwiched between the two. Green Glue greatly helps to deaden the resonance of the wall assembly.
- Adding the RSIC-1 Clip and hat channel system (with a retro-washer between the existing drywall and the clip) is another great way to reduce sound transmission. If you decide to use this system, we strongly recommend cutting holes in the existing layer of drywall between the studs to both expose the insulation in the wall cavity (or add it easily if the wall is hollow) and to avoid creating the triple leaf effect. This is a situation where three barriers separated by an air space actually performs worse than the same wall assembly with only two barriers that comprises the wall assembly.
Step 3 – Soundproofing the Floor and Ceiling to Reduce Sound Bleed
Since music from the room below may seem to come from beneath our feet, it is understandable that our first reaction is often to improve the flooring. Before you start ripping things up to install floating floors across the entire upper level, it’s best to first determine whether or not this is the true issue at all.
Why the Floor Sometimes Isn’t the Biggest Issue
When soundproofing a multi-story building, many people believe the floor to be the main source of their sound bleed, but this may not be the case. For instance, if your music venue is located in an existing structure with multiple inches of concrete and a layer of tongue-and-groove subflooring and a finished floor, that assembly is likely to already provide some solid sound isolation. You may feel some low-frequency noise coming through as vibrations, but the noise should be minimal. A better option, if this is the case, is to treat the ceiling of the room below.
Adding Ceiling Treatment to Reduce Airborne Noise Transfer
One possible way to reduce airborne noise transfer in multi-level music venues is to add ceiling sound barrier products. Some frequencies (like those from playing guitar and other mid-range frequencies) can possibly carry upstairs. Doing what you can to reduce sound from getting upstairs often involves installing product or building materials onto the ceiling. The best approach will depend on the existing ceiling condition in the space so if you have questions as to what to do, feel free to give us a call to discuss.
Step 4 – Flanking Paths – The Hidden Sound Leaks
Flanking paths are indirect routes by which sound travels to get around barriers like walls, floors, or ceilings, without passing directly through them.
Some common flanking paths include ductwork and vents, which are open channels that allow for sound to travel from space to space, but some of the overlooked flanking paths are gaps and cracks between structural beams and other building materials and brick walls that have gaps or cracks between bricks. Sound energy can transmit through the air gaps within these solid materials, so multiple sound isolation techniques may be required to solve your issues, depending on the specific space. Here are some great options.
- Use acoustic duct liners or in-line duct silencers for a reduction in the amount of sound that passes through ductwork and vents. Both of these solutions involve placing absorptive materials into the ductwork. These absorptive materials help absorb sound waves as they travel along the ductwork without restricting airflow.
- Consider isolating I-beams with vibration dampeners or other vibration damping solutions. This helps to reduce the transmission of structure-borne sound through the building’s framework. However, depending on the accessibility of the beams and how the building is constructed, this solution may require demolition, so it may not be a DIY venue soundproofing solution.
- If your sound bleed is due to an improperly sealed wall or ceiling assembly, applying acoustical sealant will help by sealing gaps and providing additional mass over something like caulk. Sealing sound leaks is an absolutely critical step in any and all sound reducing measures, so look and listen carefully.
Step 5: Final Soundproofing Enhancements
There are some final soundproofing enhancements that are great for improving acoustics, reducing some sound bleed, and enhancing the overall aesthetics of the space. These are noise reduction strategies that you can implement yourself, so they are both effective and efficient.
Adding Acoustical Panels to Reduce Sound Pressure
Acoustic panel placement in either inconspicuous and hidden spaces throughout a room or as a decorative visual element in the space can be a great acoustic treatment for music venues. They reduce reverberation and can sometimes slow down sound movement, contributing to a quieter space with less sound migration. Choosing panels that are effective at reducing the sound waves you are experiencing in your space is always a better idea than tossing in something found online and hoping for the best.
Extra Paneling in Stairwells – Does It Help?
Hard stairwell walls reflect and amplify sound upstairs, and adding acoustic panels along these walls is one of the echo reduction strategies that can sometimes work incredibly well. They reduce amplification by absorbing and damping sound reflections, preventing a buildup of sound waves in the stairwell.
The Best Approach to Soundproofing Between Floors in a Music Venue
Sound bleed between floors is a nuisance that can be mitigated with a thoughtful approach to soundproofing and acoustic treatments. Soundproofing between floors in a music venue adds tremendous value to upstairs rooms and is best tackled by addressing the biggest sound leaks first. You can often locate them simply by walking around and listening.
Some treatments that will provide the biggest benefits include stairwell and doorway upgrades, ceiling sound absorption, and improved wall insulation. Each may be doable as a DIY project and will deliver noticeable results.
If you have questions at any step, from tackling bass frequency control to brick wall soundproofing, reach out to one of our amazing team members for a phone or video call consultation. We’re always here to help.
3 Comments
Ted W
Cmitch47,
First, I would like to welcome you as our first registered user. WELCOME!!!
After reading through your description of the situation, I can understand if you have a feeling of being a bit lost – as it is going to be a bit of a complicated issue to explore. Certainly not impossible, just complicated.
I would first like to just point out a few things to set the stage for a possible solution or solutions. First, it is a truth of physics that the lower the frequency, the easier it is for a sound to penetrate a structure. The deep and mid bass sounds are always going to be the most offensive simply because of the type of sound pressure wave that you’re dealing with. Also, if the upstairs is now vacant, and there is no ambient noise in the room, you are probably going to notice more sound than you would if the room were filled with people attending a wedding reception or party.
Sound is always going to travel via the path of least resistance, so the rental of a sound level meter may not be a bad investment for you. This “should” tell you where the weakest link in the construction may be. I would, however, advise you to trust your ear before you go out and spend any money. You should be able to walk around the room and determine where a significant amount of sound may be leaking in. The people upstairs using the room won’t be walking around with sound level meters, so my suggestion would be to use the meter as a last resort.
To address the three questions that you wrote near the end of your post, I want to briefly explain a few things about sound and acoustics. It is an extremely common misconception that insulation is a “soundproof” material, and this simply isn’t the case. The intent of filling a wall cavity with insulation is to eliminate the standing wave inside the wall. Insulation will stop a sound from bouncing around inside the wall – it will not block it from passing through.
If you are trying to stop sound, you want to do one of two things. Assuming that there are no open air gaps between the rooms the first would be to increase the amount of mass/density you have between one space and the next. For instance, a wall made from six inches of lead is going to block more sound than a wall made from one piece of sheet rock. The more mass the better. The other way to stop sound is to stop the hard surface contact from one side of the wall/ceiling to the other. Sound travels through a structure as a vibration. Like electricity, sound will pass from one hard surface to any other hard surface that touches it as a vibration. Eliminating these points of contact is an extremely efficient way to stop sound transmission.
Ok, now that that’s understood (or hopefully anyway) I will address your questions.
There are companies that blow insulation into walls, but we do not. This is usually an intrusive and dirty undertaking that MAY only give you one or two STC points due to the elimination of the standing wave inside of the wall. Insulation is mostly air (light and fluffy) and air does not stop sound.
It may help to add some paneling on the ceiling, but again, I doubt this will give you much of an audible difference upstairs. The only thing that this will do is to improve the sound quality of the room downstairs. Most acoustical panels do not stop sound – they only absorb the reflective sound of the room into which they are installed.
The answer to this depends on the seals around the two fire doors – which are generally quite minimal. You might have a standing wave holding in the stairwell that could be absorbed by introducing some acoustical panels, but I can’t really say for sure.
My suggestion would be to go upstairs and simply listen. Try to find the area or areas that the sound is the strongest. You should be able to fairly easily locate these areas with your ears. If/when you find those areas, let me know and I will do my best to offer suggestions and products to help. If the amount of outside noise is significantly constant around the room, you are most likely have to alter the construction of either the floor upstairs or the ceiling downstairs.
I sincerely hope I have not confused you. I will probably have to read through this a couple times and do some editing to make sure that I’m not talking (typing) all over myself. If you want to call and discuss the problem, or send me some pictures of both spaces, I would be happy to explore this further.
Thanks,
Ted
cmitch47
No, this helped. I think I hear you saying: First see if I can determine if most of the sound is coming up stairways and under/around walls. If sound is even thoughout room it is probably coming through floor and might have to add more floor barrier (right).
If sound is coming up/around walls and stairs then work to seal doors/walls with some of your products… and/or absorb some of that sound (on the way up) by making the stairwell more sound absorbent.
I understand about base penetrating most anything thanks.
Not sure I understand about ‘stop the hard surface contact from one side of the wall/ceiling to the other’ where on your website would I learn more about that?
Thanks
Ted W
The hard-surface contact idea was more so you understood the two most effective way to stop the sound. This approach does not usually present itself as a feasible option when dealing with a retro-fit. It is more common to see in new construction. There really isn’t a “tutorial” section of our website, but if you want the link to the most effective product to this approach, the RSIC-1 Clip system is worth looking at.
If you scroll down to see the illustrations at the bottom of the page, you will see how the rubber “puck” stands the sheet rock off of the stud. This allows the entire wall to “float” and transform the airborne sound wave into heat energy by vibrating the sheet rock wall. It’s kind of like a little shock absorber.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thank you,
Ted