There are basically two types of music teaching rooms: The typical classroom that is filled with a variety of 20 or so musical instruments and the small teaching cubicle which generally is limited to the teacher and a single student.

Both tend to suffer the same overall problems. Sound reflects off the walls resulting in loud and unpleasant performances. Treatment in these rooms generally comes down to a balance between available budget and maximizing the placement of the panels so that they will do the most good while being out of harms way.

Class rooms
When considering treating a music classroom, you really want to strike a balance so as to not remove the natural ambiance. In concert halls, acousticians will often add reflectors on top of the orchestra in effort to create strong reflections so that the musicians can hear them selves naturally. This 'indicator' tells us that string this balance is important. On the other hand, in smaller rooms, sound has no place to go and 20 instruments all playing together can make for a very uncomfortable mishmash.

The best approach is to apply roughly 25% coverage on the wall. We do not recommend using acoustic foam due to flammability and the simple fact that kids like to pick at foam. You will that fabric covered fiberglass panels like Broadway will provide the durability and the higher density will absorb more in less space. It budget permits, you thicker 3" panels (or 2" panels) as they will provide broadband absorption while thinner 1" panels are really only effective in the upper mid or voice range and do nothing to tame bass.

By laving space around the panels you will allow sufficient energy to reflect back into the room which should produce a relatively balanced result. Placement is easy: spread the panels around the room where space is available. Medium sized 24"x24" or 12" x 48" panels work well as they can be more easily distributed. Mounting is done using Primacoustic Surface Impalers whereby panels are simply hung in place with a dab o construction adhesive added to secure the panels from being dislodged.

As most schools employ T-Bar type ceilings, sound will pass through the thin panels and get lost above in the Plenum. This means that you do not have to treat the ceiling. If on the other hand, you have a hard ceiling such as concrete slab, you may want o add some coverage in critical areas such as above the drum kit!

Small Practice Rooms

Add a loud instrument to any small enclosed place and the results are predictable: the reflections of the walls will make it very loud inside the room! But this is only half the problem: you also have to consider containing the sound from escaping from one proactive room into the adjoining one. So a multi-prong approach is needed.

Acoustic treatment
First and foremost, you need to start by quieting down the room itself. By reducing the echo or powerful reflections in the room, your walls and doors will not have to work as hard to keep the sound contained.

A general rule of thumb is to cover 50% of the wall surfaces. If the ceiling is hard gypsum, then you may consider adding some absorption above - but this is usually only done in rooms where drum teaching is being performed as controlling the cymbal crashing can make for long days if not controlled.

Normally 2" panels are used as they space inside these rooms is limited. These 2" think panels will remove sound from the lower mid-range and up which is important given the various instruments that may be used. Also when placing the panels in the room, keep in mind that chairs and instruments can damage panels, so you do want to try to keep them out of harms way if at all possible.

Acoustic guitar - 25% kept live
Trumpet & brass - 50%
Drums 65%
Piano 35%
Flute 25%
Violin 20%
Electric guitar 40%

Containing Sound

If you plan to have a bunch of cubicles in a row and are concerned that the sound from one room travels through the walls into the next, you sound design your walls using what is know as an off-set stud wall construction. It is also a good idea to increase the mass of the wall by adding a second layer of sheetrock if at all possible.

The use of drop ceilings is ok, but you should extend the walls all the way to the above the drop ceiling to the ceiling structure above. This will reduce sound from traveling up into the Plenum.