DIY Home/Studio Acoustic Treatment Tutorials

[JH Brandt]

I have recently been making weekly videos about studio building.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmA...g-0KA6AxYJm-Pg

Please subscribe and let me know of any subjects that you would like covered.

All the best.
Cheers,
John

[Jorge]

The links are still broken. I remember having looked at them years ago and finding some of the information useful. Is there any chance of resuscitating the links one more time? There may also be some new information from the past few years that we could add.

[Martin Walker]

This thread is approaching its tenth birthday. The links are currently broken. I remember having looked at them years ago and finding some of the information useful.
Zukan, is there any chance of resuscitating the links one more time? There may also be some new information from the past few years that we could add.

Hi Jorge,

I've just waded through the entire thread and edited the links to Zukan's 3-part Acoustic Treatment tutorials. There are a couple of other links to now long-gone SOS forum threads that didn't survive the 10-year cull, but I've amended the text accordingly as well.

Here's to another ten years!

Martin

[Jorge]

Martin, thank you, much appreciated. I had forgotten how very useful the series was, and now that I am upgrading my bales-of-rockwool bass traps to try to smooth out the bass a bit more, I will go through it again.

[Martin Walker]

My pleasure - it's a useful resource that needed tweaking

Martin

[plodsmeade]

Martin/Zukan, the links seem to be broken again, are they no longer available?
cheers

[Martin Walker]

Martin/Zukan, the links seem to be broken again, are they no longer available?
cheers

I'll ask Zukan directly, but I so know he has created and posting a host of new production tutorials over the last year, and these acoustic ones were originally posted over ten years ago, so perhaps they have finally fallen down the back of the sofa never to be seen again

Martin

[Martin Walker]

Samplecraze DIY Acoustics – The Home Studio Parts 1, 2 & 3

I have tracked down the text of all three parts in the Wayback Machine archive, although sadly the associated photos have not survived:

https://web.archive.org/web/20061024215 ... orialID=28

https://web.archive.org/web/20061024220 ... orialID=29

https://web.archive.org/web/20061024220 ... orialID=30

Martin

[plodsmeade]

Thanks Martin that's great, they may be old but here's hoping physics hasn't changed too much in the intervening period...

[plodsmeade]

...although having now read them there isn't any physics! (by design I should point out). Useful and funny tutorials. Zukan, did it work well, and what became of it?

[Elephone]

I'd like to sort of jump on the thread to ask for a little enlighment.
I mean, I am into the process of constructing my studio out of an old (small) staple (staples ?).
Anyway.
These DIY stuff are exactly what I need nad I try to find as much as I can to help design my future "homeplace" as I'd like it to be.
Although there tons of question, I'd like to know two things

1) How choose the fabric to cover the whole trap ? These explanations don't tell that much Sometimes it is said that it must be acoustically neutral. How can one know ?

1) if you can easily breathe through it when stretched tight across your mouth... it's a fair bet.... the most commonly used in the UK and Europe is probably Interface fabrics "Cara".

Max

I was thinking of burlap (sack cloth).... broad fibres and cheap as chips, literally... it's used for potato sacks. Doesn't a coat of dilute PVA affect the frequency absorption?

[Sam Spoons]

Cara is slightly stretchy which makes it much easier to do a neat job covering the panels. It is more expensive but I'm glad I didn't try to do it on the cheap as the finished job looks great.

[Elephone]

...actually, it depends where you look anyway. Burlap's considered a 'craft' material now, so you can get ripped right off! Cheers.

[Wonks]

Doesn't a coat of dilute PVA affect the frequency absorption?

It is a dilute mist coat, just enough to hold the external fibres in place, whilst not enough to close up any pores in the material.

[Elephone]

Doesn't a coat of dilute PVA affect the frequency absorption?

It is a dilute mist coat, just enough to hold the external fibres in place, whilst not enough to close up any pores in the material.

I might just do that for now then until I get some fabric offered. The fabric to cover them will cost far more than the nine 120 x 60 panels, and I need to buy plasterboard to block a door. Fabric seems to cost more than when people made it by hand.

Maybe net curtain material.

[Hugh Robjohns]

We've used black plastic weed-surpression material for a couple of Studio SOS jobs. It's a bit utilitarian, but dirt cheap (see what I did there?) , readily available in local garden stores, easy to use, and with enough stretch to make a tidy job.

H

[Elephone]

Thanks! Does some rockwool come in hard lightweight foam slabs? I saw some on a skip and wondered if that's rockwool or some other heating insulation material.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Does some rockwool come in hard lightweight foam slabs? I saw some on a skip and wondered if that's rockwool or some other heating insulation material.

No. Rockwool looks more like Weetabix! It's a fibrous material. What you're describing sounds like a closed-cell foam slab used for heat insulation in cavity walls... which is of no use acoustically.

H

[James Perrett]

If you want some cheap fabric try decorators' dust sheets. They don't look as neat as Cara but seem to work OK.

[Sam Spoons]

I used dust sheets on the back if my panels and it works pretty well. As James says it doesn't look as nice as Cara though and it is not quite as easy to use for some reason.

[Elephone]

Anyone tried using plus-sized ladies tights to keep the fibres from straying? Just an idea.

[Elephone]

I used dust sheets on the back if my panels and it works pretty well. As James says it doesn't look as nice as Cara though and it is not quite as easy to use for some reason.

I presume you mean cotton fibre dust sheets? But there's cotton twill, cotton calico, cotton canvas, laminated cotton, rayon, and Bolton twill.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cotton-Dust- ... 1195033497?

[James Perrett]

I used the cotton twill dust sheets as that's what they sold in Screwfix. Nowadays I'd go to Toolstation who are usually cheaper for most things (their dust sheets are roughly the same price as that Ebay listing which is £3 cheaper than Screwfix).

[Sam Spoons]

I used dust sheets on the back if my panels and it works pretty well. As James says it doesn't look as nice as Cara though and it is not quite as easy to use for some reason.

I presume you mean cotton fibre dust sheets? But there's cotton twill, cotton calico, cotton canvas, laminated cotton, rayon, and Bolton twill.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cotton-Dust- ... 1195033497?

I used these https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-cotton-dust-sheet-l-3-67m-w-2-74-m/1650661_BQ.prd?utm_source=google_cpc&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=PX_GSC_Surfaces_+_Generic&ppc_type=shopping&ds_kids=92700029904929509&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-sjPjuXe3gIVQ7DtCh0MtQK0EAQYASABEgLsJvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Elephone]

Thanks. I do think nylon tights might be a good underlay as an extra precaution to prevent fibres straying (as well PVA spray), especially if the panels are in your living space, above a couch or bed.

Incidentally, to apply the PVA, should I water it down to about 1 part PVA to 5 parts water and put it in a spray bottle?

Thanks