Real dB Sound Test: How Loud Are Heavy Drums Outside My Soundproof Drum Studio?

I built my soundproof drum studio to contain my heavy-handed drum playing in a suburban detached house neighbourhood.

It needed to be able to contain full-volume, heavy-handed drum playing — which meant the room and studio needed to be built with professional recording studio level sound isolation methods.

Meaning: a floating structure — aka a room-within-a-room build.

My studio is built inside a pre-existing standard detached garage with a concrete slab.

Since I made a course about my soundproof studio build, I felt like I needed to make a concrete real-world test with measured decibels to show how well my soundproof build performs.

How people perceive sound is subjective, but dBs are quantifiable numbers that can be measured and can show how much sound volume comes out from the build.

dB(A) measuring used in this test is the standard for neighbourhood noise level metering and reflects best what’s actually perceived outside by the average human ear.

Why This Sound Test Is Different

I wanted to put my soundproof studio build to the test to show how much sound actually gets out in a quantifiable dB form.

Most “drum room soundproof meter tests” online use:

• Speakers to test the sound volumes
• Soft drums playing with basic beats — no double bass patterns at background that really put the structure to its maximal test

This test uses:

• Loud metal snare
• 2 × 22” kick drums
• Busy, yet maximum heavy-handed patterns played on top of double bass drumming played with maximal realistic volume
• Test done in the neighbourhood’s most quiet outdoor conditions

In other words: this is closer to the worst-case conditions — with the most extreme drum playing example that the build and its sound isolation realistically needs to be able to handle.

Test Conditions

To keep results meaningful:

• Tests were done when traffic and wind were minimal
• Same drum pattern played repeatedly
• Multiple outdoor perimeters tested
• Multiple distances measured

The goal was to understand:

• How much sound actually passes through in each position
• How audible drums are outside at different distances in terms of raised dB level (aka how much sound gets out from the studio)
• How environment affects perception of sound leakage

Watch the Full Sound Test Video

🎬 Real dB Sound Test: How Loud Are Heavy Drums Outside a Soundproof Studio?

Succesful Soundproofing is a complete system

Succesfull soundproofing comes from the sum of all of its numerous parts.

Meaning: the entire outer structure as well as the decoupled room-within-a-room build needs to work from all of its aspects.

Simply saying the room has this many layers of drywall as a decoupled structure tells part of it — but the end result is affected by all the components of the entire build, which has several intricate details, layers and how they've been assembled together - all playing a role in how the build works soundproofing-wise.

My build has air ventilation, two windows, one outdoor door, and a bathroom — which means plumbing and water inserts to the studio.

In addition to performing well soundproofing-wise, the other equally important aspect of a soundproof build like this is that it’s done in a way that’s code-eligible and maintains the building’s structural integrity.

These factors need to be met for the property — and the sound isolation — to be long lasting, and also to get a permit. Permits matter if you plan to someday sell your property.

This is what the soundproof studio build course walks through, and shows in detail across all aspects of the build.

Want to Build Something Similar?

If you’re planning your own soundproof drum room or studio, I’ve documented this entire garage-to-studio soundproof build step by step in my course — getting the course will save money, stress and time in your own upcoming build as it's something you can use as a baseline for your upcoming build.

The build course also shows how the build approach can be extended if your environment happens to require even more isolation — you don’t want to underbuild or overbuild.

This sound isolation test was made to give you more reference of the level the way I built my studio (within its structural constraints) can give you — and how you can extend it, or adapt parts of it to your build. Watching the course shows it all.

The course also includes an extended version of the sound test, showing tests from even more angles and distances, and also of different drums individually — giving you a real world example reference to base your decisions more informed, on how different frequencies and impacts get passed through different types of partitions in the build.