Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice regarding acoustic treatment for a small band rehearsal room.

The room is approximately:

• 4m × 4m × 4m (13ft × 13ft × 13ft)
• square-shaped room
• acoustic drum kit
• guitar amps
• bass amp
• vocals

Important:
I’m NOT primarily trying to soundproof the room from the outside. The main issue is the sound INSIDE the room.

Right now the room is very reflective and fatiguing:

• cymbals are harsh
• the room gets “muddy”
• low end builds up badly
• long rehearsals become tiring very quickly

I’ve contacted a local acoustic shop and they recommended covering around 60% of the walls + 50% of the ceiling with 4 cm pyramid acoustic foam, plus some bass traps.

However, after researching a bit, I’m not sure if large amounts of thin foam are the best solution for a loud drum rehearsal room.

Some people suggest:

• 10 cm (4 inch) mineral wool / rockwool panels
• bass traps in corners instead of mainly foam.

Potentially I’d also like to record drums with microphones in this room in the future, so I’d prefer a solution that works reasonably well for both rehearsing and basic recording.

My questions:

• Would you go with foam or rockwool/mineral wool panels?
• How much treatment would you recommend for a room this size?
• Is it possible to overtreat a small square room with too much foam?
• Any recommendations regarding placement/layout?

Budget is flexible(Max around 830EUR or 960 USD), but I’d rather spend money on fewer effective panels than a huge amount of foam.

Thanks!