Dampening my home studio. need help...

sfarrell145 · #1 06-17-2008, 12:33 PM

The room i am recording in is about 15 ft x 15 ft, and has an echoing/ringing effect and alot of extraneous noise can be heard (mainly with the drum set). I would like to get rid of that sound, as cheaply as possible. So far, the only thing i have done is hang blankets/comforters on most of the walls. any and all ideas are welcome.

projectMalamute · #2 06-17-2008, 12:44 PM

lots of good information here:

http://ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html

be aware that most of the stuff people tend to do (foam, carpeting, egg crates, etc.) is useless at lower frequencies.

bluestarbass · #3 06-17-2008, 07:46 PM

I totally agree with Projectmalamute except it depends on your purpose. Is this room for tracking and mixing or just a home studio for playing in. A high frequency ringing will be solved with foam or blankets or something. Hes right, its not gonna do much for your low end, but that doesnt sound like its the problem. If your mixing and tracking in this room by all means build some ownes corning bass traps. If all your doing is trying not to annoy yourself while your practicing some foam or blankets would probably be fine.

staindbass · #4 06-20-2008, 09:31 AM

remember this: natural fibers absorb more sound than man made materials. rugs on the wall ,natural materials only. to make it work well is not cheap. the thicker and more dense the rug, the lower frequency it will absorb. that foam crap only absorbs treble unless its the 2 foot thick block. diffusors will be no good, they will just reflect it around the room. where is the set? take a tape measure, measure from one corner of the room down the middle to the other corner. divide by 3. place the kickdrum 1/3 of the way along the line. this is the point of the least standing waves. (you can read this in any acoustical handbook.)in a room that small you need every effort to remove the sonic signature of the room. johnny a

martyman5000 · #5 06-24-2008, 07:04 PM

I built some sound dampeners...from looking at the site gearslutz.com

you can see them in my vid

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7QEGjBbVR48

**Stumbo** · #6 06-24-2008, 07:23 PM

We got a couple of sheets of 4x8 sound board from Home Depot and cut them in half. Placed them around the drummer/drums. Wired them together at the corners so they wouldn't fall over. Made sure they were taller that the cymbals. You could even hang a couple of sheets from the ceiling to absorb more sound.

Really cut down on the noise factor. Drummer could play harder. If you want to hear the kick a drum a bit better, cut a small hole for it.

We thought about covering them with shag carpet but didn't have the time. Maybe cover the side facing the drums with carpet to increase sound absorption.

IMO, best bang for the buck.

sleepy_monkey · #7 06-25-2008, 02:30 PM

If you are looking for foam...this site has the cheapest foam blocks you will find. I haven't bought any yet, but I am going to order 20 or so in the next few weeks.

http://www.foambymail.com/Products.html

Phalex · #8 06-25-2008, 02:35 PM

Got any room for furniture?? A buddy of mine addressed a problem like that by putting a couch in the room along with some foam on the walls. If you have an old couch or a la-z-boy kickin around, it might make for a cozy addition.

bluestarbass · #9 06-26-2008, 03:04 PM

Quote:

If you are looking for foam...this site has the cheapest foam blocks you will find. I haven't bought any yet, but I am going to order 20 or so in the next few weeks.

http://www.foambymail.com/Products.html

Not to rain on your parade but I have heard nothing but horrible things about that company. Things I have heard:

1. Their fact sheets are lies, and stolen from a competitor
2. Their foam is not fire retardent, it will go up in flames

Add to that, even expensive foam doesnt do much.

Really covering ownes corning 703 or 705 is pretty darn cheap, and definately the most effective.

**Stumbo** · #10 06-27-2008, 01:56 AM

OP, so what did you do?

sleepy_monkey · #11 06-27-2008, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluestarbass

Not to rain on your parade but I have heard nothing but horrible things about that company. Things I have heard:

1. Their fact sheets are lies, and stolen from a competitor
2. Their foam is not fire retardent, it will go up in flames

Add to that, even expensive foam doesnt do much.

Really covering ownes corning 703 or 705 is pretty darn cheap, and definately the most effective.

Where did you hear that stuff? I just happened on them while searching so no hard feelings here.

But if something catches on fire on block walls, I have some major issues.