Sound Proofing

[Major_Malice]

Hello all,

 

So I thought it would be a good idea to allow for sound proofing of windows, walls, and doors in the future of PZ considering the fact that generators will make quite a bit of noise and having several survivors in one room talking and what not would make quite the racket as well.

 

It would be make-shift proofing of course, made of egg crates and what not pinned to the walls (doors or barricaded windows) via nails. Grant it, the proofing will not block out all the noise made inside but it could help. I figure it also could be somewhat of a double edged sword as well, reducing sound being emitted outside but also reducing the player's ability to hear things outside of the walls too.

 

Just an idea.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[unsaved_progress]

Yeah i see no reason not to have egg cartons in the game. They could be in fridges with anywhere from 0 (some people are lazy and keep the empty carton in the fridge) to 12 eggs inside and just add a bit of variety to the fridges. Like garbage bags, they then become multi-purpose, allowing you to 'barricade' walls the same way you do windows and doors, but with egg cartons, and you can put up to six (or some arbitrary number) on a wall (and it is visually represented).

 

Cool idea, and yeah with generators probably a must have

 

Plus you could setup an indoor sprinting circuit. Or a shooting range. 

[Asrayl]

Heya, just wanted to contribute a little of the science. I'll be oversimplifying it, but it should prove generally useful to the discussion regardless.

 

Sound exists and propagates in wave form. A low tone is a long wavelength, while a high tone is a very short wavelength. it is for this reason that a low tone has a greater carrying range and penetration power than a high pitch tone (The difference between hearing a car audio bass vibration, and hearing the higher pitched voice of the musician singing, for example.) 

 

To soundproof requires you to create pockets of dead air space. The average wall, a hollow object constructed around framework studs in housing, creates a single large pocket of dead air. This works as a minimal soundproofing barrier. You might hear muffled conversation from the other side, but unless people are close to the wall, loud, or have very deep voices, you're not likely to be able to really listen in from the other room.

 

Wait, though. Being close to the wall makes a difference? 

Yes. Sound radiates outward from the source of its vibration in a sphere of energy. The further you are from the source, the more diffused the sound, and the less energy in db you receive. Thus, standing directly next to a wall and talking increases the ability of that sound to penetrate.

 

So how can we soundproof in the apocalypse?

You aren't likely to find a structural or audio engineer who has all the tools on hand to do a proper job of it, but that doesn't mean you can't do anything at all. The key is to create dead airspace and that's surprisingly easy to do with things you'd have readily available. 

 

Everything from cardboard to pillows could be used to muffle sound, and while not being at all attractive in their construction would certainly reduce the overall noise.  If you are working on a home-built construction, you can consider making rooms within rooms, several barriers of wood with empty space between them to help trap sound and mitigate the noise.

 

The big issue isn't resources, or even knowhow, but rather, how much space are you willing to devote to the project?

 

Egg cartons, for the record, wouldn't make very good soundproofing. Egg crate foam, old mattresses, and things like that on the other hand, would do a much better job, and be more practical in terms of how much work to soundproof one section of wall.

[unsaved_progress]

Yeah a room within a room is a sweet idea. Depends how the sound travelling works in game though as to whether that would work. 

 

I guess egg cartons are the foil hats of soundproofing. 

[ApolloDiaspora]

Nailing mattresses to the walls and windows. It works for blast-induced shrapnel, why not zombie ears?

[Major_Malice]

Lol I didn't say it had to be a good sound proofing job, it just had to reduce the sound in some way. And yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of egg crate foam rather than actual cardboard egg holder..things. Mattresses might be good too, considering there are a lot of houses with spare beds laying around.

 

Any who, some sort of thrown together sound proofing option would make sense considering most folks don't know much about sound proofing other than "put something softer against the walls/whatever. XD

[Daec]

hmmm...and how does the generator get ventilated? i mean...im guessing we're talking about a gasoline generator here right? so you wan't to put a gasoline generator into your soundproofed bedroom and hope to survive the night?

[Major_Malice]

hmmm...and how does the generator get ventilated? i mean...im guessing we're talking about a gasoline generator here right? so you wan't to put a gasoline generator into your soundproofed bedroom and hope to survive the night?

 I don't think anyone would want to sleep next to a noisy generator, but I see what you mean. A player could leave the window open which would allow sound to escape in that direction and reduce the likely hood of carbon monoxide poisoning, but not eliminate the possibility. I would say that if someone wished to run their generator indoors they would have to set up a ventilation system ( like this guy's makeshift one! http://www.inquisition.ca/en/esd/artic/generatrice.htm). Honestly I don't really see how running a generator inside would be a good idea at all unless it is inside an out building like a shed or garage with a fan blowing the fumes out or fresh air in.

 

Buuuut, Now that I think about it, sound proofing would just be something that would help reduce some of the noise for generators in an out building, but would mostly be for survivors... letting them sleep in peace when Zombies and gun shots make noise outside and keep them from attracting too much attention inside.

 

Meh, its an idea.