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Dave Greenslade was a founding member of jazz proggers Colosseum and formed his own band, Greenslade, in 1976

Melding blunt force death metal with hardcore grit and some mighty hooks, Gatecreeper slay Download’s Dogtooth tent

Most noise leaks come through weak points: gaps, thin doors, poor seals, loose frames, and weak windows. 

A small crack around a window or a gap under a door can let in traffic, voices, barking dogs, aircraft, or neighbor noise.

Doors and windows often cause the biggest leaks because they have moving parts, glass, hardware, thresholds, and frame joints. 

Let’s talk about it.

Step #1 – Find Where Noise Is Leaking In

Listen near doors, windows, outlets, vents, shared walls, baseboards, and ceiling or floor joints. 

Also, listen near HVAC vents and duct openings. If noise seems to travel through vents, returns, or ductwork, ask HVAC contractors to inspect duct gaps, airflow issues, loose fittings, and vent connections before adding wall or door upgrades.

Check during the noisiest time of day, such as traffic hours, neighbor activity, construction, aircraft, barking dogs, or late-night street noise.

Prioritize bedrooms, home offices, nurseries, apartments, and rooms facing roads or shared walls.

Look for Visible Gaps and Weak Points

Inspect:

• Door bottoms
• Door frame edges
• Window sash gaps
• Sliding door tracks
• Cracked wall joints
• Trim gaps
• Baseboard gaps
• Letterboxes
• Keyholes
• Thin glass panels
• Loose window hardware
• Rattling window hardware
• Poorly fitted thresholds

Exterior doors can leak sound through seals, thresholds, glazing, letterboxes, keyholes, and frame gaps. 

Hollow-core interior doors often leak noise because they have little mass and wide perimeter gaps.

Test for Air Leaks

Use your hand, a tissue, incense, or a flashlight to find drafts and openings. Air movement usually points to a sound leak.

Check the door bottom carefully because it is often the largest gap. For sliding doors, check worn pile seals, roller alignment, dirty tracks, and gaps where the door fails to close tightly.

Step #2 – Fix Gaps Around Doors

Apply weatherstripping along the jambs, top of the frame, latch side, and hinge side. Compression-style seals and acoustic gasket seals usually block noise better than basic draft seals.

Install seals on a clean frame. Keep the seal continuous, close corner gaps, and make sure the door closes tightly without force.

Add a Door Sweep or Automatic Door Bottom

A door-bottom gap is one of the largest sound leaks in many rooms. Door-bottom options include:

• Rubber door sweep
• Brush sweep
• Acoustic door sweep
• Automatic drop-down seal
• Door threshold seal

Acoustic door sweeps, also called soundproof door bottoms, close the gap at the foot of the door. Full coverage across the door width matters because small leftover gaps can still leak noise.

Automatic drop-down seals work well where a fixed sweep would drag on the floor. Rugs or mats near the door may need adjustment.

Seal the Door Frame

Use acoustic caulk around trim, casing, and frame edges. Flexible acoustic sealant works better than hard-drying caulk where movement occurs.

Frame gaps can reduce the value of heavier doors, acoustic panels, and better weatherstripping. Acoustic door seal kits can create a tighter barrier around the full frame.

Deal With Keyholes, Letterboxes, and Hardware Gaps

Add keyhole covers. Replace or seal loose letterboxes. Tighten hinges, handles, latches, and plates. Add gaskets behind plates when small gaps exist.

After hardware work, check that the door closes evenly against all seals.

Step #3 – Repair or Upgrade Noisy Doors

Door type affects the repair plan. Common types include:

• Hollow-core interior doors
• Solid-core interior doors
• Timber exterior doors
• Steel entry doors
• Glass patio doors
• Sliding glass doors
• French doors
• Hinged glass doors
• Doors with glazed inserts

Main problem areas include low door mass, weak seals, poor thresholds, hardware gaps, and weak glass.

Add Mass to Lightweight Doors

Heavier, denser materials block sound better. Added mass helps a door dampen and reduce sound transfer.

Options include:

• Replace hollow-core doors with solid-core doors
• Replace lightweight exterior doors with steel doors
• Replace lightweight exterior doors with solid timber doors
• Add mass-loaded vinyl
• Add acoustic panels
• Use a dense door cover for temporary noise control
• Use a soundproof blanket for temporary noise control

Soundproof blankets mainly absorb sound and reduce echo. They do not replace an airtight seal. Use them after sealing door gaps.

Replace Hollow-Core Doors When Needed

Hollow-core doors are often weak because they are light and usually have perimeter gaps.

Approximate Rw ranges:

• Internal hollow-core doors: Rw 15 to 20
• Solid wood doors: Rw 25 to 33
• Solid wood exterior doors: Rw 25 to 35
• Laminated acoustic glass doors: Rw 25 to 45
• Acoustic doors: Rw 42 or higher

At lower Rw levels, normal or loud speech may still be easy to hear. At higher Rw levels, loud speech becomes more muffled and may be nearly inaudible, depending on installation quality.

Door upgrades work best with perimeter seals, a bottom seal, and a tight threshold.

Fix Sliding Door Noise Leaks

Inspect tracks, seals, rollers, alignment, and glass. Replace worn pile seals. Adjust rollers so the door closes tightly. Clean tracks so the door can seal properly.

Poorly installed sliding glass doors can have small gaps that let outside noise enter.

Effective sliding-door soundproofing may use:

• Laminated safety glass
• A large air space between existing glass and added glass
• Double weather pile seals
• Airtight acoustic sealing

Secondary glazing can often be fitted to timber sliding doors, aluminum sliding doors, French doors, and hinged glass doors. A large air gap between panes helps reduce airborne noise vibration.

Step #4 – Fix Gaps Around Windows

Window frames can leak sound through failed caulk, cracked joints, loose trim, and installation gaps. Even tiny cracks can let in noticeable noise.

Remove failed caulk, clean the joint, and apply acoustic sealant around the frame. Seal interior and exterior gaps where appropriate.

Acoustic caulk stays flexible and helps close cracks and crevices. Poorly sealed frames can make a room drafty and noisy.

Add Weatherstripping to Operable Windows

Operable windows can leak sound around sashes, meeting rails, casement edges, and sliding tracks. 

Weatherstripping tightens the seal while allowing the window to open and close.

Useful materials include:

• Foam
• Rubber
• Silicone
• V-strip weatherstripping

Focus on sash gaps, meeting rails, casement edges, and sliding tracks. Tilt-and-turn windows can perform well because they close with a tight seal.

Repair Loose or Rattling Windows

Loose sashes and rattling glass create air gaps and vibration points. 

Tighten locks and latches. Replace worn seals. Add sash locks where needed. Repair or replace damaged glazing putty.

Thin single-pane glass is often poor at blocking traffic, aircraft, and construction noise. Repairs can reduce leaks and rattles, but weak glass may still need an added layer or upgrade.

Window inserts can add a transparent noise barrier over existing windows.

Use Curtains as a Supplemental Fix

Dense curtains can absorb some noise and reduce echo, but they do not fully soundproof windows. Heavy curtains work best when they cover the window fully and extend past the edges.

Use curtains after sealing gaps, repairing rattles, and addressing weak glass.

Step #5 – Upgrade Windows When Repairs Are Not Enough

Laminated glass has a plastic damping layer between glass layers. That layer helps reduce sound transmission better than standard glass of similar thickness.

Laminated safety glass is often used in acoustic window and secondary glazing systems. It works best when the frame and edges are sealed well.

Consider Double-Pane or Triple-Pane Windows

Multiple panes and insulated gaps can help absorb sound. Pane count matters, but pane thickness, gap size, glass type, and seal quality also matter.

Double-pane and triple-pane glass with gas insulation can help reduce noise. Poor installation gaps can still reduce performance, so perimeter sealing remains important.

Consider Secondary Glazing

Secondary glazing adds an internal pane without removing the existing window. It creates a larger air gap between the original glass and the added panel.

A typical secondary glazing air gap may be around 70 to 100 mm. That trapped air space helps dampen sound vibrations, especially lower-frequency traffic noise.

Strong secondary glazing systems combine added mass, a wide air gap, laminated glass, and airtight acoustic seals. Some systems are designed to reduce noise by around 50 to 70 percent.

Secondary glazing can be less disruptive than full window replacement because it works with the existing frame.

Step #6 – Repair Sound Leaks in Walls

Wall soundproofing should start with sealing. Small wall openings can reduce the benefit of thicker materials.

Use acoustic caulk for:

• Baseboard gaps
• Crown molding gaps
• Drywall cracks
• Pipe openings
• Cable penetrations
• Trim gaps
• Wall-to-floor joints
• Wall-to-ceiling joints

Close air paths before adding mass. A wall can look solid but still leak sound through edges, outlets, pipes, or trim.

Treat Electrical Outlets and Switches

Outlets and switches can weaken shared walls because they interrupt the wall surface. Back-to-back outlets can be especially noisy.

Use acoustic putty pads around electrical boxes. 

Add foam gaskets behind outlet and switch covers. Hire a professional when wiring is exposed.

Add Mass to Thin Walls

Thin walls often need added mass to block airborne noise.

Options include:

• Extra drywall layer
• Mass-loaded vinyl
• Acoustic plasterboard
• Damping compound
• Filled bookcases
• Dense furniture as a low-cost helper

Acoustic plasterboard is denser than standard plasterboard. 

Double drywall with damping compound can improve performance when edges and penetrations are sealed.

Use Acoustic Panels for Echo, Not Full Sound Blocking

Acoustic panels reduce echo inside a room. They do not fully block outside noise without sealing and mass.

Soft materials such as panels, rugs, carpets, curtains, and furniture absorb sound inside a room. A full bookshelf can add some mass and absorption, but serious sound transfer usually needs sealing, mass, damping, or decoupling.

Step #7 – Fix Noise Coming Through Shared Walls

Airborne noise includes voices, TV, music, barking dogs, traffic, aircraft, and construction noise. It usually needs sealing, mass, and damping.

Impact noise includes footsteps, banging, dropped objects, and vibration. 

It often needs isolation or decoupling because vibration travels through the structure.

Seal Before Adding Layers

Seal weak points before installing drywall, acoustic plasterboard, or damping layers.

Focus on:

• Cracks
• Baseboards
• Wall-to-ceiling joints
• Wall-to-floor joints
• Pipe penetrations
• Cable holes
• Outlets
• Switches

Gaps along the edge of a new wall layer can let sound bypass added mass.

Add a Decoupled or Damped Wall Layer

Serious shared-wall noise may need resilient channels, acoustic insulation, double drywall, damping compound, or an independent stud wall.

Dense layers block airborne sound. Decoupling reduces vibration transfer. Damping compound reduces vibration between rigid layers.

Difficult shared-wall noise often needs a sealed perimeter, added mass, damping, and decoupling.

Step #8 – Don’t Forget Floors, Ceilings, and Interior Absorption

Soft furnishings reduce reflections inside a room. 

Options include rugs, carpet pads, curtains, upholstered furniture, acoustic panels, and bookshelves.

Thick rugs or carpets can reduce echo and some impact noise. Acoustic panels can be installed on walls or ceilings to absorb sound.

Helpful locations include:

• Bedrooms
• Home offices
• Apartments
• Rooms with hard floors
• Rooms with large windows
• Rooms with bare walls

Know the Limits of Soft Materials

Rugs, curtains, and acoustic panels improve comfort and reduce echo, but they do not replace sealing gaps or adding mass.

Best order of work:

• Seal leaks
• Add mass
• Improve glass or doors
• Add soft materials for comfort and echo control

Closing Thoughts

Start by finding and sealing air leaks around doors, windows, walls, outlets, trim, and thresholds. 

Add mass when a door, wall, or glass panel is too thin to block sound.

Focus first on doors and windows. Seal the bottom, sides, and top of doors. Reseal window frames, repair rattling sashes, and replace worn weather stripping.

Use laminated glass, double-pane glass, triple-pane glass, or secondary glazing when glass is the weak point. 

Seal wall penetrations before adding drywall, acoustic plasterboard, damping compound, or decoupled layers.

Following a commanding and emotional main stage performance at Download Festival 2026 this past weekend, alternative rock force Røry has revealed details for her biggest headline run to date. Sneakily first announced via the stage banner behind her during the festival set, “The Bloodletting UK Tour” will storm through the country in January and February … Continue reading Røry announces biggest ever headline UK tour and sophomore album ‘Bloodletting’

Every once in a while, we all have moments when we need some soulful music to get through

Fashioned From Bone returns with their second EP, Burbach. The trio remains fully committed to their DIY ethos: songwriting, recording, and artwork are all handled independently.

Their new single, Black Steam, is dedicated “To all the broken dreamers and the ones who felt pressure to be something”. I love the riffs (what a sound!) and the band’s attitude. The rhythm section is powerful and precise and the vocals are intense but catchy at the same time. It’s a very cool song, amazingly written and performed by the band.

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It’s a magical corner of the musical world where a band can combine an infectious nature with extreme oddness, and it’s in that corner that Idaho’s Seven Chains makes their home. Make no mistake about it, third album Swollen, In Flux is one for the oddballs, but it’s impossible to escape how catchy, how downright irresistible their riffcraft often is, and how it’s likely to draw in listeners that might not always like things so strange.

Seven Chains finds the roots of their sound in a couple of extreme metal’s great innovators of the avant-garde: Portal and Ved Buens Ende. The Portal influence is immediate and obvious: grinding, rough-edged and dissonant riffs that often hide melody in plain sight, but Seven Chains’ riffs are less rattly and abstract (so it’s a little like Portal-by-way-of-Immolation). The extremely deep, guttural vocals of Noah Lane Coleman also pull from Portal in their somewhat freeform, barely rhythmic delivery, adding to the more nightmarish aspects of the record. The VBE influence, meanwhile, comes across through the deliberate blackened aspects (slower tremolo harmonies), and a slightly nauseating quality of certain riff passages (so think VBE-by-way-of-Krallice at times).

On top of that, the band occasionally layers synths and passages of haunting female vocals either to accentuate the riffier passages or to inject sections of overt eccentricity right into a song. Take all these influences and elements, add in a dynamic rhythm section performance, and you have a deeply nuanced, layered record that on paper seems to want to be grating and uncomfortable to the listener.

But here’s the kicker: none of it ever feels off-putting or overly abrasive because the riffs and rhythms are so frequently irresistibly catchy, whether they’re spiraling up into some unholy vortex or simply chugging along in a more direct drive. Yes, they might be dissonant and allergic to major keys, but they’re still the types of riffs that make you want to dust off your guitar and jam. In this way – that magical weirdly catchy quality – there’s a certain affinity to Voivod on this record. No, it doesn’t really sound like Voivod, but it’s pretty impossible to imagine Seven Chains not being fans, and like Voivod, there’s a sense of deep artistry and a progressive nature here, but shit still rocks.

These songs are also impeccably written, flowing with almost narrative ease while using key big moments to anchor each track. “Whence Blood No Longer Flows,” for example, seems to build to a stark passage of just blast beats and female vocals, but it uses this detour to build an even stronger, more determined finish to the song. “Every Flame Structured, Every Face Ablaze” similarly uses an unconventional method – this time a passage that constantly slows down – to add further emphasis to its finish. “Gestating Ash (The Thickest Darkness),” meanwhile, ups the almost covert melody, both in the rhythm guitar passages and a neat, atmospheric lead that is more chords and strumming than it is a typical solo. Finally, monster closer “The Earth’s Tentacular Cross” gets downright danceable with some bass and synth action to cut through the general maelstrom of the metal.

The only real downside of Swollen, In Flux is that it’s not the most efficient record on the planet. Right in the middle is a 5-minute synth and spoken word track that somewhat stalls the momentum. Add in an intro and interlude and you’ve got over eight minutes of non-metal material on a merely 35-minute album. This is admittedly a very minor qualm, and truthfully, sometimes you don’t get this type of artsy, idiosyncratic metal without these types of diversions, but this stuff isn’t why we’re here.

Because when the metal is raging, Swollen, In Flux is a downright rad record full of unexpected twists, dynamic performances, killer songwriting, and enough great riffage to keep you endlessly entertained. If the idea of catchy Portal or death metal VBE ever appealed, or if you just get tickled pink by catchy oddballs of the musical world, get Seven Chains in your earholes pronto.

The post Seven Chains – Swollen, In Flux Review appeared first on Last Rites.

Rolling Stones frontman gives impromptu performance at the Half Moon in St Clements

Shadowborne has released ‘Wolf And The Queen‘, fourth single taken from the debut album ‘Heaven’s Falling‘ to be released on June 19th by Scarlet Records. ‘Wolf And The Queen‘ explores a hidden bond between two powerful figures from opposing worlds. Set against a backdrop of war and destiny, the song captures stolen moments above the […]

The post Shadowborne Release Video For ‘Wolf And The Queen’ appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.