Books and bookcases as bass traps/sound absorbers
 

We are rounding the corner on the kitchen remodel, and next on the list is the music room/recording studio. We have a lot of books and was thinking of building some bookcases in corners, and wondering if this would work as a bass trap? The book cases would be about 24” to 30” wide and fit diagonally across the corner.

I could also put books along one or more of the walls, not just in the corners. The room is about 13’x12’ and has 10’ high ceiling. What do you think?

Book cases, filled with books, act as great diffusers in a studio space. To get the most out of them, make sure the spines of the books are not level with each other but instead are different distances from the front lip of each bookself.

Dunno about using them in a corner. It's probably better to put bass traps in the corners and not diffusers.

No. As sdelsolray said, they can act as diffusers and that might be helpful with comb filtering and flutter by scattering frequencies ranging from the low-mids to the highs, but books aren't going to absorb low frequencies like bass traps.

You might want to call a place like GIK Acoustics and get some advice regarding your particular room.

Yes as people have stated books can work as diffusers on side walls. But if you really want them in the the corners you could try leaving them open on the back and try putting some cloth and then stack Owens Corning 703 on the back side of the case. (although honestly I have no idea if diffused bass might still be a problem or not )
But I can unequivocally state this room was a great tracking room ( But note the mixing console/position) is in a different room


https://i.imgur.com/n02bzfL.jpg


And note the blue is all fairly thick absorption and all wall within a wall

https://i.imgur.com/E8JbB0g.jpg

This article by Ethan Winer has a lot of good info on this subject. Acoustic Treatment and Design for
Recording Studios and Listening Rooms

I agree that books make good diffusers along the walls. I have been using them for 20+ years, and they have worked very well for me.

For bass traps, Ethan Winer is also the co-owner of Real Traps, which are highly regarded.

Thanks for the feedback (no pun intended). Enjoyed the pictures and Ethan Winer’s article. Books as side-wall diffusers but not as bass traps. Makes sense.