This week I finished constructing and hanging six broadband acoustic absorption panels in the studio. The purpose of these panels is to improve the overall quality of sound in the studio by dampening problematic frequencies (frequencies that the room naturally amplifies). I have a small studio with parallel walls - which in the acoustic engineer's world is a recipe for disaster! You can buy professional products to address these problems, or you can build your own if you're slightly handy. In the brief research I did, you can buy a panel similar to the ones I made for about $250. My entire project (six panels) was less than $200.
If you want to skip the verbose details and pictures, you can watch this video:
For the panel design, I basically followed a design I found on johnlsayers.com: http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=10297&highlight=bass+trap. It's a very simple design:
- Lightweight 1x3 frame
- 2' x 4' Owens Corning 703 fiberglass insulation panel
- Cover with fabric
- Picture frame hooks
The Owens Corning 700-series insulation is actually in the form of a rigid panel. You can read up on it here: http://owenscorning.com/comminsul/products.asp?product=1&system=80. I couldn't find a local dealer in the Twin Cities area so I bought it online from ATS Acoustics: http://www.atsacoustics.com/item--Owens-Corning-703-Case-of-6--1004.html. It's pretty neat stuff and really is what makes these panels so easy to make on your own.
For the frame, it was just a matter of measuring, cutting, gluing, and stapling. I chose to glue the joints because the boards were thin (only 1x3's) and there wasn't a lot of surface area for screws. The glued joints are reinforced with staples:
After gluing and stapling the frames, I needed to attach the insulation to them. I simply did this with some 3M 45 General Purpose Spray Adhesive. I sprayed both the frame and the insulation and the bond was a lot stronger than I anticipated. There's no way you could detach the insulation from the frame without ripping the insulation. After spraying and attaching all of the frames to the insulation, I just stacked them so that they could dry with a little bit of pressure:
Next, Nikki helped me cover the panels with fabric. The typical fabric you see with these homemade panels is burlap, but Nikki convinced me to find something a little less rugged. The fabric stores we went to were all a bit expensive. We ended up finding about 33 yards of a really nice looking fabric at Wal Mart for $1/yard.
Nikki helped me measure and attach the fabric to the panels. This step was actually a lot more time consuming than I expected as folding the corners so that they look neat took some care. I used staples to attach the fabric to the back of the wood frame:
Next, I added some hardware to each panel so that I could mount them on the studio walls. I decided to use standard D Ring picture hooks and just screwed them onto the backs of the panels. The D Rings are strong enough to hold large pictures or paintings.
I ruled out using picture wire because I felt that it would be too difficult to place each panel at the same height on the walls. Each panel would have to have an equal amount of wire, and that seemed like an impossible task. Instead I just used a level and hung each D Ring on a screw in the wall. I used drywall anchors for support in the walls:
Now I have six acoustic panels in the studio:
So what does the room sound like now? It's better, but not perfect. There is still some room reverberation but it is significantly better than it used to be. I think I may build some more panels in the future, or potentially some larger "wedge" bass traps in the corners. However, I'm at the point right now where I want to use my studio and stop working on it. I think I'll try out the room first and then revisit any acoustic improvements later.