Accoustic Treatment Suggestions?

SixStringGeek · Post by **SixStringGeek** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:54 pm

The room I have for my studio is 12.5' x 14' with a 7.5' drop ceiling made of those accoustic tiles so popular in institutional buildings. Extra tricky bit: the front "wall" is only half a wall wide - the other half of the wall is actually a passageway that I intend to cover with a massive sliding panel. Thus, front wall accoustic treatment can't be too crazy fat textured to prevent sensible sliding door operation and right half of the front wall will a couple inches closer to me than the left.

I've seen these room "kits" at various places - worth it or should I just buy piece by piece? And what from whom?

Tonio · Post by **Tonio** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:19 pm

With those dims, it may be best to make a bass trap out of the drop ceiling. Alternate the panels with OC703 above theh mix position, since the ceiling is low. Depending on size above the panels should give you options wether to use fluffy or OC703 / Mineral wool.
Not sure what "kit" you are refering to , but if its foam it won't do much good other than 1st reflection HF aborption of the mix area.
In general your room with need as much low end aborption than you think.
broadband straddle all corners-except the one with slider. Make the slider damped as much as possible, or it could resonate to confuse you more.

good luck

T

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:17 pm

Take a look at www.gikacoustics.com

I bought some panels from them that were quite good.

chrispick · Post by **chrispick** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:35 pm

There's also this place:

http://www.realtraps.com

Haven't use them (or any brand) yet, so I can't vouch. But I'll soon be shopping, and this and GIK are on the list.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 7:49 pm

Well, all I can say is I bought the 2x4x4" GIK panels and they were made well and look nice and seem to do the job nicely. They could do with a few more standard colors though, that's for sure. I bought the black ones pictured below in the corners (2 standing on top of each other) and the clouds:

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 11:57 pm

James, I had forgotten how gorgeous your studio is. Nice!

If budget is an issue, DIY panels/cloud made from rigid fiberglass (like 703)can work wonders. Use quality fabric to make things look nice and space panels well away from the wall/ceiling to maximize lower frequncy absorbtion. Here are some pics of the panels/cloud I built from rigid glass, drywall corner bead, masking tape and silicone and 3m Spray Adhesive. Guilford fabric makes for a nice finish.

Depending on the rigidity of your wallboard, bass trapping may or may not be necessary. If your walls are flexible, they may do a pretty good job taking care of the low end. However, trapping is usually required, more so if your walls are rigid, as they typically are in studios.

Tonio · Post by **Tonio** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:21 pm

1 caveat: if for acoustic 6 string tracking, go light on the HF absorbers in the recording area. Because the room is rather small and you may get reflections you may need to find somewhat reflective area , and a somewhatt HF absorbed opposite. A gobo should help it that. You'll have to play around with that till you find a compromise. Other wie you'll get smeared high end, or a too dead effect which can make acoustic gtr "boring" or "lifeless". But in the long run some verb is gonna be needed.

If for elect 6 string- nuther topic entirely.

for mixing my previous ideas is a good start.

T

Tonio · Post by **Tonio** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 6:22 pm

Hey nice work HC !!

T

bkshepard · Post by **bkshepard** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:13 pm

Has anyone tried any of the Primacoustic "London Series" Studio-In-A-Box kits?

http://www.primacoustic.com/london.htm

HCMarkus · Post by **HCMarkus** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:24 pm

Tonio wrote:Hey nice work HC !!

T

Thanks! The metal corner bead makes for a clean creation without subjecting onesolf to the fumes inherent to resin-based edge hardeners. 3M spray adhesive isn't too bad... Was well worth the effort. I'll be doing it again when my new room gets finished.

Good point on the recording area acoustics, too: a very different situation than a control room. I do advise recordists to keep in mind that if the recording space is so small that the reflections are unpleasant, one may be best served by using the Vienna Symphony Library approach: record sounds bone dry in a reflection-free zone and add ambience at the mix stage with Altiverb or other convolution 'verb.

SixStringGeek · Post by **SixStringGeek** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:48 pm

HCMarkus wrote:If budget is an issue, DIY panels/cloud made from rigid fiberglass (like 703)can work wonders. Use quality fabric to make things look nice and space panels well away from the wall/ceiling to maximize lower frequncy absorbtion. Here are some pics of the panels/cloud I built from rigid glass, drywall corner bead, masking tape and silicone and 3m Spray Adhesive. Guilford fabric makes for a nice finish.
...
Depending on the rigidity of your wallboard, bass trapping may or may not be necessary. If your walls are flexible, they may do a pretty good job taking care of the low end. However, trapping is usually required, more so if your walls are rigid, as they typically are in studios.

Nifty! Of course money is an issue - otherwise I'd build a whole new room. I've found and ordered a 'box' (12 2x4 panels) of 2" 703 so I think I'll be following your example here.

SixStringGeek · Post by **SixStringGeek** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 7:50 pm

bkshepard wrote:Has anyone tried any of the Primacoustic "London Series" Studio-In-A-Box kits?

http://www.primacoustic.com/london.htm

That's one of the 'kits' I was asking about initially.

wvandyck · Post by **wvandyck** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:27 pm

This is from the "Real Traps" guy: http://www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.htm

I spent some time at his forum, took a few notes and made panels using Owens Corning 705 rigid fiberglass boards wrapped in muslin and held together with 3M spray adhesive.

It's a quicker and more economical approach that Ethan Winer says works great, even though he'd love to sell you some of his Real Traps.

Phil O · Post by **Phil O** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:29 pm

Hey Flash, I like the pvc pipe base design. Very cool!

Phil

wvandyck · Post by **wvandyck** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:15 pm

Phil O wrote:Hey Flash, I like the pvc pipe base design. Very cool!

Phil

Hey, thanks!

PVC: Cheap!

The hardest part of the design was coming up with the measurements so that the stand would secure the panel in the corner. Again, a very quick solution.