Fiberglass Panel/Sound Absorption

[Jack Russell]

This is not technically a recording question, so I'm not sure this is the right place, but here goes....

My band is practicing in a space about 14 x 12, which has just been recently renovated and drywalled. It has a concrete floor. Thus, it is a complete wreck to practice in, for sound, but it is all we have. The monitors for vocals, as you might guess, bounce off the walls, and feedback abounds. Especially when the drummer gets going with his loud playing.

Here's my solution, and please tell me if I'm on the right track: I'm going to nail together some 2x4 into panels 4 feet x 5 feet, then fill the panels with fiberglass. Then I'll cover the front and back with burlap or some other cheap fabric. Then I'll hang two of these panel near the center of the two walls opposite the monitors, but I'll leave them about a 6-inch space between the wall and each panel.

What do you think? (another idea is to use the same panels but add additional ones around the drum kit.)

[I did a search for "sound absorption" but the search failed, unfortunately.]

[AlexW]

That could help initially. You may want to put something on the ceiling to help with flutter echo. 1-inch rigid fiberglass mounted on 2x2 supports with 1x3 boxes for stretching fabric across work well. At some point you'll probably want some bass traps too. Corner absorber type traps work well. Essentially frame out a wall/wall or ceiling/wall intesection and fill the resulting triangular space with insulation. Even an absorber panel as you proposed angled across the corner would help.

Ethan Winer has some good information on sound treatment. Here's a link to an old article he wrote that has links to his current site.

http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html

[Jack Russell]

Thanks for the tips!
J