Sound Absorbtion

[SoundCard]

Made sound absorbing panels (2' x 4') using 3/4" x 3" MDF for the frame and 15 bathroom towels laid flat inside. Asked my local Value Village store to set aside all towels that come in but can't be re-sold. They called to tell me they had 14 boxes of them, after a week. FREE! I covered them with something a bit more attractive than towels, and they seem to work incredibly well. Of course, we are just talking higher frequencies. For the bass (traps) I used those cheap, material, hanging storage shelves for closets. I hung them in the corners, about 5 inches away from the walls, and loaded them up with colourful, neatly folded towels. They are almost floor to ceiling. The sound in this room (which has two of the same dimensions...a 'bad' thing) is a tremendous improvement.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

~ray

 

[SoundCard]

Hahahaha...the response to my above entry has been super underwhelming. No surprise! I expected such a low-tech approach to be 'frowned upon', but I have just invested an amazingly low amount of dollars into a vocal booth, using the same idea, and I am quite happy with it. I built the unit, 3.5x3.5x6 feet, using 2x4 framing. I could have gone to 2x3 or 2x2 but the door is heavy and I didn't want it to be rickety. I then filled in all four sides and ceiling with wire fencing of the one centimeter by one centimeter size holes. I then bent paper clips into a two-ended hook shape and threaded three through the short end of a towel, then clipped the first one onto the inside of the wire fence. Each successive towel was hung just above the previous one. I continued to the top of one wall, incorporating many,many towels. The wall was about 3 inches thick by the end. Did the rest of the walls the same. The ceiling was horizontally layered towels. I then covered all walls, interior and exterior with some light, attractive material. One window of two pieces of acrylic, in the door. A computer fan for ventilation, placed in a dryer exhaust tube about 10 feet away. The room is super quiet, not boxy (I do have to use a high-pass though) and surprisingly heavy. My purpose for this was for a room I could record loud VOs in while not bothering the use of the room next to me. For me, this works. Fun, easy project. A booth without fibreglass particles to inhale everytime you voice. (I got 32 boxes of washed towels, in good shape, by asking the local Value Village to set aside the ones they couldn't sell....free. They just didn't want them ending up in the landfill.)

 

[inkline]

I'm surprised I missed this thread. I'd do something like this if I was in a pinch and needed the sound absorption.

 

[zzzms]

I thoroughly approve! Do you have pics?

 

[rob aylestone]

I've always laughed at home brew designs that looked stupid. Home brew designs that do the job and do not make you laugh should be encouraged. Hell - if they work and do the job, that's fine.

Over the years I built loads of home built and quite high quality loudspeaker boxes - many worked brilliantly, but until I discovered how to make them look good - they were embarrassing.

 

[SoundCard]

I felt I should offer this....because the common alternative deals with putting floating fibreglass fibres....close to a person, trapped in a small area......breathing heavily from singing or voicing.