DIY Bass traps: is this correct? Am I lost?

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tubedude

tubedude

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Ok, heres what SEEMS to be the info I am digging up here.
SOmething similar to the mini-traps, I guess:
I make a 2ft by 4ft fram out of 1x6's or 1x8's
Inside the frame I mount (how?) a piece of compressed fiberglass board, maybe add some regular fiberglass insulation to the front , back or both, and cover this thing with some nice cloth that I can find at the old ladys sewing store down the road.
Is it THAT damn simple or am I missing a huge step here? I want something I can hang at an angle in the the corners, and move from place to place if I like.
Would these also make good baffles/gobos in a larger size, like 6 foot by 4foot, with some feet on it to keep it upright?

Seems simple enough, which means I must be missing something big.

Fill me in.
 
Dude,

PRS gave you a good link, and you should also see the Acoustics FAQ, second in the list on my Articles page:

www.ethanwiner.com/articles.html

I'll point out that MiniTraps are much more effective at low frequencies than a rigid fiberglass panel in a frame. But if you're on a tight budget, rigid fiberglass does an admirable job for a low cost.

--Ethan
 
Thanks guys... are there any other links I can check out too? I need to compile a knowledge base.

Will rigid fiberglass mounted in a frame and covered work better than those foam corner fills?
Any links to membrane traps anywhere?
 
All I know is when the time comes ( after Christmas) I'm just gonna go with Ethan's mini traps. It's just alot easier to buy than build in my opinion. I don't have the tools nor the time to build my own and even if I did, they wouldn't look as nice (or work as well) as Ethan's. I do however, have 3 4'x5'x2" panels of cloth covered 703 right now and the do make a hell of a difference. Got 1 on each side of the mix position and 1 behind monitors. Once I get about 4 of the mini traps, I should be in good shape.
 
Ok... its looking like the membrane style, the sealed ones, are just a little bit out of my feel like DIY range.

Here is what I am thinking for my overall studio layout, push some ideas, thoughts, what might be wrong, what might work better, at me... I am open for ideas, for sure...

CONTROL ROOM:
Pretty damn small, 9 foot ceilings, only about 7 1/2 feet wide and around 6 1/2 feet deep. The mixing station will be on the 7 1/2 foot wall because it has to be the way traffic will work in the room. Sucky dimensions, but at least my live room should be killer. Anyway... I'm thinking one 2x4ft frame, 6 inches deep with 6 inches of 705-FRK stuffed in to it, caddy cornered at each corner on both sides of the mix station, and then one in the center of the wall-meets-ceiling area directly over the mix station. These will be to grab as much bass as they can. Would 8 inches work better?
Then, I'm putting 2x4 panels, 4 inch deep, with probably 1 or 2 inches of 703 in them in all the early reflection areas from the monitors to my mix station (next to and above, and then on the back wall directlybehind the mix station)
Am I doing OK here?

Allright on to the
LIVE ROOM:
its about 21X22ft with 18 foot ceilings, and even though its not drywalled yet, it is already decently reverberant with just the outside structural sheathing put on. Now, I cant afford to run traps all the way up an 18 foot wall, so I'm thinking only going with 2x4ft frames with 703 starting about 2 1/2 feet off the floor, and going up above head level to about 6 1/2 of 7 feet high, running them 2 feet apart all the way down the left wall, and the same down the right wall, only having them on an oppposite 2 foot placing on the (absorbed on wall wall is reflective on the other). As far as bass trapping goes in the live room, I'm not sure what I want to to as of yet... but I really want to diffuse some areas too, make the room sound bigger, without being too dead. I want a room with some life in it.

Thoughts?
 
well your control room will be a boxy postage stamp - no amount of treatment will ever make it sound any good let alone allow more than one person to work in it comfortably.

Your live room will be a big reverberant chamber with a verb time around 3 secs. Fine for symphony orchestras but awfull for rock.

I'd suggest you divide the big room into a studio and a control room and use your 6 x 7 room as a booth.

cheers
john
 
So you dont think that treating the walls in the live room will help and diffusing the ceiling some? I've been thinking it'll be great when treated right.
I've also been thinking about building a control room over about half the live room. Should I break it up into 2 or 3 seperate rooms then? Steel stud and drywall isnt all too expensive.

Heres the killer question then:
If you had a 21x22 room with 18 foot ceilings, how would you divide it up? Make some drawings if you can. I'll want to avoid parralel walls if it comes down to that, and I'll probably be able to get away with having angled walls and a sloping ceiling away from the mix station in the control room if I put it on the same level as the drum room.
That would free up my utility room for my washer and dryer, too, which I was gonna do without.
Shoot me some layouts, winner gets a free day at Blue Bears studio.

Thanks!
Paul
 
Ok, what about something like this?
Damnit cant get the image to take need a website for it....

ok lets say the room is 21 by 21, square...
starting at the top left corner and coming down the left side 10 ft, and then from the top left corner coming over to the right 10 feet... putting in two 6 foot long walls at those two points, and then connecting the two 6 footers with an angled wall of however long it takes, with a window looking out into the live room area?

If someone has a place I can pop a drawing up at for 1 or 2 days let me know...
paul
 
Dude,

> are there any other links ... Will rigid fiberglass mounted in a frame and covered work better than those foam corner fills? <

Rather than look for more links, just read my Acoustic FAQ. It answers that question and many more.

--Ethan
 
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