Control Crowd Noise In Your Bar

Controlling noise levels in a bar can be difficult. As the alcohol pours, and conversations build, the noise in the room can quickly get out of hand. The hard reflective surfaces in the bar, which lend themselves for clean-ability, combine to bounce the sound wave reflections around inside the room. The resulting echoes build to unwelcome levels of background noise, which in turn, forces your patrons to raise their voices in order to hold a conversation. The noise in the room peaks as the loudest voices and the unwelcome echoes crash into each other. They combine to spike your decibel levels and produce the unfriendly environment you are experiencing, which in turn threatens your repeat customer.

Related Product Options

Fabric Acoustic Panels are wrapped in 60 different color options. Some clients like the idea of upgrading their treatment to feature graphics, logos, artwork, photography or vintage images on their panels, to place as murals around the room.   These deisgner panels are called PicturePanels.  Vintage B&W images, local area artists, musicians, your sound panels can become a visual feast for the eyes inside your Bar. But they do double your square foot price, so if budgets are key, stay with the solid color panels. Also, note that Fabric Panels can also be rigged to float mechanically off your ceiling as an Acoustic Ceiling Cloud, a popular method for controlling echoes while leaving the walls in your Bar as they are.

Soundproofing a Bar:  Q&A

Why are Bars so loud?

Bars are designed with cleanliness in mind.  They are built with hard reflective surfaces that bounce noise.  Marble, granite, tile, tin, brick, block, wood, and glass surfaces combine to absorb 5% of the echoes in the room.   The unwelcome result is the elevation in levels of background noise, which in turn force patrons to elevate their voices to hold communication.  Add the flow of alcohol, and the strain in communication reaches its peak.  It is the result of these reflective surfaces, and the lack of any noise mitigation efforts with sound panels, that threaten the repeat business of the bar.  Loud happy customers are a good thing, yes, but when the noise levels spike to discomfort, those bars that invest in proper soundproofing techniques gain a competitive edge. 

How to Design a Soundproof Bar?

When designing a bar for premium sound quality, it’s important to keep the noise from traveling into the dining area, and reduce the noise exposure in the bar area.  You can separate the two areas with a wall, or you can install bar soundproofing treatments that will absorb the noise. A set of acoustic panels can adequately capture and convert the echoes within your noise infested bar.   This will soundproof your bar and deliver clarity to the conversation over tabletops or bar stools.  Also if you have the opportunity to do so, build walls inside the bar that are not parallel surfaces.  Do not build a bar in the shape of a shoebox.  Force the sound waves to scatter in a variety of directions by angling your wall and ceiling surfaces.  And on those surfaces, place a set of targeted sound panels designed to capture and convert the echoes from the space.   Your result will be a welcome soundproof bar atmosphere that your clients will enjoy.

How to Soundproof My Bar?

You can preserve the ambiance of your bar and give your customers the best possible experience with bar soundproofing treatments. Sound panels can be placed anywhere you wish — wall or ceiling mounted. There are also Ceiling Clouds that can be rigged to float mechanically from your ceiling, so you can leave the walls untreated with sound panels. If you’re interested in the soundproofing design to your space, clients can upgrade their acoustic treatment to include graphics, logos, artwork, and imagery printed onto the face of designer sound panels.   The key to the success of your bar soundproofing project is to ensure that you do not under-treat the space.   A free Room Analysis is available to help calculate the coverage amounts for the soundproofing acoustic panels for your bar.  

How does Bar noise impact repeat customers?

 Because bars have many hard, reflective surfaces, it’s easy for sound waves to bounce around the room and spike noise levels. As a result, customers will continually have to raise their voices to be heard, which will only increase the noise exposure levels within the space.  This will create an unenjoyable experience for patrons and affect the overall atmosphere in the bar.  Yes, it’s good to have a lively bar atmosphere, you don’t want it to sound like a library, but you do want to control exposure levels for the comfort of your patrons.   That’s why it’s important to invest in soundproofing your bar with a set of NetWell sound panels: protecting your repeat customers from the noise will protect the long term success of your bar and keep them coming back.

Why do some Bar owners prefer the noise and not invest in Bar soundproofing?

An owner might choose to have a loud bar and not invest in soundproofing panel treatments.  Mainly these bar owners are either on tighter budgets and unable to make the proper investment into bar soundproofing, or they might prefer the customers not linger in their seats for too long.  Some bar owners favor the noise. They use the noise to rotate customers in and out of their seats more quickly in an attempt to sell more drinks to more people. But this comes at the risk of losing repeat customers to the competitive hospitality market.  Most owners find that proper sound panel treatments in their loud bar reap the greater reward.

How to soundproof a dining area connected to a loud Bar

If your dining area doesn’t have dividing walls to separate it from your bar, the goal is to lower exposure levels by evenly placing a set of sound panels throughout the bar and dining area. Bar soundproofing treatments are not directional; they won’t lower just the dining area noise or just the bar area noise. They will work collectively to absorb and eliminate the echoes that are spiking noise levels. By removing the echoes from the room with our Fabric Panels, your decibel levels in both the bar and dining area will collapse back to comfortable acoustic levels.  The sound panels work just as well ceiling mounted as they do wall mounted.  There are options to help protect the design and decor of the space while soundproofing your bar.

Is acoustic foam good for soundproofing a bar?

While acoustic foam is an ideal sound panel for a music studio setting, it is not ideal for restaurant space. Acoustic foam is a chemically based product that will turn to dust over time.  Also, most acoustic foam panels are not class A fire rated, and should never be put in a loud bar to control the noise.  When the foam panel begins to decay, it emits dust particles into your ventilation system and sprinkles them out over your eating and drinking areas. As a result, the acoustic foam should never be used to soundproof a bar.  Always opt for the class A version of our sound panels, which are made of compressed fiberglass. See our Fabric Panels.   These panels are Class A fire rated, do not degrade over time, and combine to capture and convert up to 80% of the unwanted echoes from your bar.

How many sound panels do I need for my Bar?

Soundproofing a bar is all about placing the right amount of sound panels into space, regardless of the location of the panels.  The key to ensuring that your sound values are met lies in getting this coverage amounts correctly. The size, shape, and surface textures in your bar will tell us how much square footage of sound panel is needed to collapse your noise levels and soundproof your bar. Simply call our help desk at 1-800-638-9355, or submit a Room Analysis form so we can calculate your Fabric Panel coverage amounts.  Remember, the key to making your soundproofing treatment perform is to ensure that you do not undertreat the room.

Where should sound panels be placed inside a noisy Bar?

Location is regardless of bar soundproofing treatments as long as you place the right amount of panels in your space. Just be sure the sound panels are exposed to the room and not hidden behind a surface or under chairs and tabletops. Your Fabric Panels can be wall or ceiling mounted as you wish, flush-mounted to your surfaces, or cloud mounted to “float” mechanically off your ceiling.  Distribute the panels in nice even site lines across the expanse of your ceiling or perimeter wall surface.  Check our Case Studies library for images and ideas that might help give you a visual on your options for sound panel placement.

What are the benefits of soundproofing my Bar?

Without bar soundproofing, the voices in your bar will spike to uncomfortable levels. Patrons will begin to raise their voices over the competing background noise, which will spike the noise levels even further. Once your Fabric Panels are placed inside your bar, these noise levels will be caught and captured by the sound panels, restoring the room to premium sound quality. The favorable sound values in your bar will help build a stronger base of repeat customers since loud bars concede traffic to soundproofed bars.   Your benefits will be that you best your competition, and preserve your repeat clients.