do egg cartons work?

[miroslav]

I've never seen or heard of anyone retarded enough to actually hang egg cartons on their walls.

Back in the day when i was doing the band thing, my family also owned a restaurant, and because we served breakfast, we had cases of eggs.
When you buy cases of eggs for restaurant use...they didn't come in the little Styrofoam 12-packs you get at the supermarket...they came on flat pressed paper trays that could hold 2 dozen (if I recall)...so they were square trays, and I think you got like 20 trays/case.

Anyway...there was a local musician acquaintance of mine who knew that we got eggs by the case, so he asked me if I could get him a few cases worth of the empty cartons.
He said he wanted to use them in his basement practice room to improve the sound.

One day I went over to his house one day to check out the finished basement. I can't say how much it improved his sound (it might have cut some of the flutter echo)...but it sure looked cool...his entire basement ceiling covered with the egg cartons.
It was like a scene from Bowie's "Man Who Fell To Earth” (which was current at the time)!!!

 

[moresound]

Back in the day when i was doing the band thing, my family also owned a restaurant, and because we served breakfast, we had cases of eggs.
When you buy cases of eggs for restaurant use...they didn't come in the little Styrofoam 12-packs you get at the supermarket...they came on flat pressed paper trays that could hold 2 dozen (if I recall)...so they were square trays, and I think you got like 20 trays/case.

Anyway...there was a local musician acquaintance of mine who knew that we got eggs by the case, so he asked me if I could get him a few cases worth of the empty cartons.
He said he wanted to use them in his basement practice room to improve the sound.

One day I went over to his house one day to check out the finished basement. I can't say how much it improved his sound (it might have cut some of the flutter echo)...but it sure looked cool...his entire basement ceiling covered with the egg cartons.
It was like a scene from Bowie's "Man Who Fell To Earth” (which was current at the time)!!!

I was just about to post the inside of the space craft that Bowie traveled to Earth in, but couldn't find it. Very cool movie though. huh Miroslav?
Is it all so an album cover?

 

[miroslav]

When that movie came out in 1976, my band mates and a couple of other buddies went to see it...thing was, we went on the night that hurricane Belle was hitting the NY area!
When got the theater...even though the wind and rain was pounding, they were still going to show the movie...so we went in.
Mind you...we all went in with a real good buzz!

There was NO ONE else in the theatre but us and like 4 other people.
We went and sat up in the balcony, first row.
Throughout the whole movie, you could feel the building shaking from the high winds.
With the buzz, the movie and the storm...it was FREAKY!

We had a blast!


There is a soundtrack…but none of it was done by Bowie if I recall.

 

[moresound]

When that movie came out in 1976, my band mates and a couple of other buddies went to see it...thing was, we went on the night that hurricane Belle was hitting the NY area!
When got the theater...even though the wind and rain was pounding, they were still going to show the movie...so we went in.
Mind you...we all went in with a real good buzz!

There was NO ONE else in the theatre but us and like 4 other people.
We went and sat up in the balcony, first row.
Throughout the whole movie, you could feel the building shaking from the high winds.
With the buzz, the movie and the storm...it was FREAKY!

We had a blast!


There is a soundtrack…but none of it was done by Bowie if I recall.

Oh yes a must to see that movie was to be stoned indeed.
But a hurricane?
Your drink Mr. newton.....

 

[Weasel9992]

I'm a little confused by all the discussion on this point. The answer is, very simply, "no". Eggcrate foam is not acoustically useful and it's a fire hazard. Next question?

Frank

 

[moresound]

I'm a little confused by all the discussion on this point. The answer is, very simply, "no". Eggcrate foam is not acoustically useful and it's a fire hazard. Next question?

Frank

Did you see the movie "The Man who fell to Earth" during the hurricane of 76' ?

 

[Rod Gervais]

Did you see the movie "The Man who fell to Earth" during the hurricane of 76' ?

Why, were there egg crates in the movie studio?

Rod

 

[moresound]

Yeah man so were the aliens.

 

[miroslav]

I'm a little confused by all the discussion on this point.

I'm striking out with my amusing, anecdotal segues today...I just lost Mutley on one segue over in the guitar forum...and now this!





YEAH MAN...did YOU see the movie during a hurricane???

(There were egg crate-like surroundings in the spaceship --- see picture above).

Oh…I agree that egg crates have little acoustical value…but I think they would provide a smidgen of flutter echo control, though there are much better solutions…
…but they look really cool, especially if you paint them in psychedelic colors!

One thing…back in the mid-70s…acoustic treatment for whatever few-and-far-between “home studios’ there were…wasn’t even in the vocabulary.
Man…we were lucky just to have room to put up our few mics and a 4-track ¼” tape deck.
So yeah…egg crates on the ceiling and walls looked VERY high-tech at the time.

 

[moresound]

I'm striking out with my amusing, anecdotal segues today...I just lost Mutley on one segue over in the guitar forum...and now this!





YEAH MAN...did YOU see the movie during a hurricane???

(There were egg crate-like surroundings in the spaceship --- see picture above).

Oh…I agree that egg crates have little acoustical value…but I think they would provide a smidgen of flutter echo control, though there are much better solutions…
…but they look really cool, especially if you paint them in psychedelic colors!

One thing…back in the mid-70s…acoustic treatment for whatever few-and-far-between “home studios’ there were…wasn’t even in the vocabulary.
Man…we were lucky just to have room to put up our few mics and a 4-track ¼” tape deck.
So yeah…egg crates on the ceiling and walls looked VERY high-tech at the time.

Yeah but how would "string theory" help to explain the effects of flutter echo control with the use of egg flats?

 

[miroslav]

Ask Mutley....

 

[moresound]

This is going to be one of those looooong threads

 

[Richard Monroe]

Yeah, well, we need to define some terms, because I think the people on this thread are talking about (3) different things:

First, "egg crate foam" is a medical product used for mattress overlays for pressure relief. Often used in hospitals and nursing homes, it is called egg crate foam because it *resembles* an old fashioned egg crate. It is useless for acoustic treatment, not dense enough. It also resembles some Auralex and similar acoustic foam products, but is much less dense. The only good thing about it is that it is treated to be somewhat fire resistant.

Second, there are egg cartons. Currently made of a form of polystyrene foam, they are useless for acoustic treatment *and* a major league fire hazard. They burn like old -fashioned celluloid guitar picks. If you've never lit one of them up, do it for laughs, but hold it with a pair of pliers. You'll be glad you did.

Third, there are old fashioned paper mache-like egg cartons, occasionally still used by some "green" organic outfits, because they don't like to use petroleum for food packaging, or possibly for anything, if they can get out of it. It is denser than the plastic cartons, but is also a fire hazard. These are the type that were claimed to be usable for acoustic treatment starting in the 1960's or so, when all egg cartons were made that way, out of compressed paper. Some commercial ones went up to a gross (144) of eggs. They are also a fire hazard, but different from plastic egg cartons. They are harder to light, but much better fuel. They aren't as likely to light as foam, but if you do have a fire, these bad boys will guarantee the whole studio goes up with a rosy glow, and the rest of the house. After all, this is "home" recording, right?

I have the impression that truly massive amounts of this stuff might have a minimal dampening effect on highs, but since those days, we've simply identified and developed better acoustic treatment materials- rock wool, etc. Speaking of that, heavy wool or felt isn't bad, either. Mover's carpets, heavy curtains, or under-carpet foam will work better than egg cartons, so just eat your damned eggs, and dispose of whatever container it's in responsibly. If you want to, you can put an egg carton on the studio wall, just so you can say you did. It'll become a conversation piece in the studio. After all, if it's magic, and not science, you only need one. Just concentrate...-Richie

 

[moresound]

There are also egg flats that are about a foot x a foot not to be confused as a egg carton (1 dozen).

 

[grimtraveller]

I heard it too. It's not a "placebo", especially since I listened with very skeptical ears. I don't have scientific data to back it up, and I'd never suggest eggshell foam to anyone, but I did hear the difference, it was noticeably better, and my ears are pretty good. But like I said earlier, I'm not 100% sure there wasn't some fudging involved. All I heard was 2 clips and saw some pics. But if the guy is telling the truth, then his eggshell foam made a difference in his room for the better. Science be damned.

First, "egg crate foam" is a medical product used for mattress overlays for pressure relief. Often used in hospitals and nursing homes, it is called egg crate foam because it *resembles* an old fashioned egg crate. It is useless for acoustic treatment, not dense enough.

I'd hate to be a juror in this trial.