Key considerations for soundproofing events

Here at Rubber Box we supply our rubber boxes and electrical distribution equipment to clients producing and managing events of all sizes and scales, from small local festivals to huge global celebrations. Small pop up events in particular are often held in built-up urban or residential centres, which means that soundproofing occasionally becomes a requirement. If this is something you’re considering for your own event, here are a couple of key points you’ll need to bear in mind.

What are you trying to achieve?

First and foremost – this might sound like an obvious question with an obvious answer, but it’s not always as straightforward as you might think. Before you get started on a task that’s as involved as soundproofing often is, you’ll need to consider what you’re trying to do, and what are your standards for success. Basically your underlying reasons for soundproofing are going to affect the methods and materials you use.

Reducing environmental noise is different on a number of levels to adjusting room acoustics. Environmental noise often involves attempting to limit the transmission of sound outside an event space, so as not to unduly impact surrounding residents or anyone else in the immediate vicinity. Limiting the transmission of sound in this way is quite trying to reduce the amount of audio reflections within an enclosed space. This is often required in warehouses or any other buildings with hard reflective walls – these can cause echoes and other reverberations that significantly interfere with the overall sound quality.

Other key considerations

Don’t forget that ‘true’ soundproofing is almost impossible – basically, if the source sound is loud enough, even the most sophisticated of sound proofing techniques will struggle to completely contain it. Most types of soundproofing don’t aim to be impervious, in much the same way that cleaning products can’t claim to kill 100% of bacteria. Instead, soundproofing measures are simply designed to contain the most disruptive sound levels, and reduce the output to an acceptable level.

So what is an acceptable level, you might ask? Well, that’s something else to consider! Depending on your environment and the event in question, you’ll need to consult with the relevant authorities or resources to find out what the local definition is for an acceptable level of sound. As you’re doing that, you’ll also need to determine what the most problematic frequencies will be. Often it’s the lower bass frequencies which are the most controversial for surrounding residents or buildings, as these are the ones which can vibrate through walls and make windows judder in their frames.

Once you have all this information to hand, you’ll need to adapt your materials and methods according to what you’re trying to achieve. This is where you’ll need to consider the most efficient and reliable ways to install your materials, so that you can be sure of the results.

That’s where we can help. While we don’t supply specialised sound equipment here at Rubber Box, we’re proud that our electrical power distribution equipment often plays a vital role in the power infrastructure for small and large events alike. As well as our range of standard rubber boxes, we also offer the option for bespoke power distros – so if you can think of it, we can build it! Give us a call on 01282 677 910, and we’ll be happy to see how we can help!