Super Loud Practice Room Needs Treatment!

[nukeitout]

Sorry I don't have any pics, but it's just a stone-walled box room that's probably 10'x15'x25'. It's our only option for practicing without renting a place, and we can't really install anything permanent. The room is basically bare, with no furniture or carpeting. There's a refrigerator against one wall, and a ping pong table usually folded up against another wall. A drumset is in one corner, and various amps are spread around.

Does anyone have suggestions for portable and convenient methods of damping the room? We really can't hang anything from the walls, and anything i can envision would be massive and hard to put away when finished... Any suggestions would be appreciated. If I can get this figured out I'll post some pics on what we end up doing.

[Blue Groove]

2'x2' pieces of 2"-4" 703 if you can store them, you'll need quite a few, if you make them deep enough, you can stack three of them (6' high). Good luck

[apl]

Don't know what's available there but stacking rolls of pink insulation in the corners will make effective bass traps.

[gcapel]

THe cheapest way I found was these 6'x8' peices of outdoor rug at lowes. They where only 15 bucks a piece. They came in dark blue or dark brown. I used 6 peices in a 10x11 room. I used regular curtain rod supports. I used 12 of them and they came in a pack of 2. Each pack was like 6 bucks. Lastly I use cheap 1.25" wht PVC pipe as curtain rods. 10 feet sticks were little over 3 dollars a piece.

Put the supports up. On the floor I attached the outdoor rugs to the pvc making a short fold and cutting a hole through the fabric. I used black tie wraps to loop the fabric and fasten to the PVC. Then Hang'em on the supports and wham! It will make practice great because you can hear everything. Oh yea make sure to leave fabric extended from the pvc on one side, so that it will curve around the corners making a bass trap.

It didn't take long at all. Just need a screw gun to fasten the supports to the wall and a knife to punch holes in the fabric.

I would let the rugs kure outside if possible before you bring them inside. I learned the hard way and it stunk the place up with a plastic smell for a week or so. It was well worth the stink though.

[gcapel]

Originally Posted by gcapel

THe cheapest way I found was these 6'x8' peices of outdoor rug at lowes. They where only 15 bucks a piece. They came in dark blue or dark brown. I used 6 peices in a 10x11 room. I used regular curtain rod supports. I used 12 of them and they came in a pack of 2. Each pack was like 6 bucks. Lastly I use cheap 1.25" wht PVC pipe as curtain rods. 10 feet sticks were little over 3 dollars a piece.

Put the supports up. On the floor I attached the outdoor rugs to the pvc making a short fold and cutting a hole through the fabric. I used black tie wraps to loop the fabric and fasten to the PVC. Then Hang'em on the supports and wham! It will make practice great because you can hear everything. Oh yea make sure to leave fabric extended from the pvc on one side, so that it will curve around the corners making a bass trap.

It didn't take long at all. Just need a screw gun to fasten the supports to the wall and a knife to punch holes in the fabric.

I would let the rugs kure outside if possible before you bring them inside. I learned the hard way and it stunk the place up with a plastic smell for a week or so. It was well worth the stink though.

I know you can't hang anything but I thought this would give you an idea.

[nukeitout]

Thanks!

I was considering a mix of what you guys said, and building a sort of checkerboard grid of insulation squares that hangs like a curtain from a rod, but one with stands holding it up instead of being screwed to the wall or ceiling. I read about the bass trap thing, and it sounds like a perfect temporary idea (and when it's no longer needed I can take the stuff home to play with ). I'm not sure how to get '703' in germany, but I'm sure I'll be able to find some similar insulation for fairly cheap. I'll cover it with appropriate cloth (something air passes easily through, as I understand), and get some cheap throw rugs for the floor (both floor and ceiling are bare stone, but we cant hang on the ceiling, so the floor will have to do).

Remember that this room won't be used for recording, I'm just concerned that we won't be able to get our 'sound' right because the room is so horrible sounding. I don't want that horrible sound to carry on to the stage which I'm sure anyone here will agree will happen if we only practice in that horrible untreated room (9'x13'x14' if you're interested)

As a side note, I was given a BSR 4000xr eq/spectrum analizer today by my dad's friend (who is an electrician and has a shop selling hifi stuff). I'm excited to try it out and see what it can do. It has an unbalanced mic input, but I can run my mixer into it for the mic input. I wish I had some electret condensers handy... I might have to hit up mshilarious soon...

Any suggestions for a good mic with a flat response used for reference and room tuning?

[Blue Groove]

Ask at www.johnlsayers.com about where to find Owens Corning 703 locally, someone should know.

[nukeitout]

in germany?

[zed32]

Originally Posted by apl

Don't know what's available there but stacking rolls of pink insulation in the corners will make effective bass traps.

i say go with apl's advice on this one. you can just stack up the rolls in the corners without even having to remove them from their packaging.

[nukeitout]

Originally Posted by zed32

i say go with apl's advice on this one. you can just stack up the rolls in the corners without even having to remove them from their packaging.

I plan on doing so .

thanks again for the advice, guys!

So now it's:

1. Cloth covered panels of 4" 703 (or local equivalent) suspended close to the wals (in a checkered pattern).

2. Rolls of insulation in the corners.

3. Cheap Rugs on the floor (particularly around the drumset area...)

That shouldn't set me back too much. Now to find an easy way to make the stands that are going to hold up the insulation by the walls...

[Blue Groove]

They can at least tell you where to find the equivalent.