Best way to improve my recording chain <$150

[warfrat73]

Thanks. I think they look a bit waiting room art in a dentist or psychologist's office. I guess I'm ok with that, though.

[MikeBmusic]

The test on any cloth used for panels is the 'breath test' - can you breathe through the material? Hold it up to your mouth and try. I used burlap for my first batches of panels, then simple thin cotton sheeting for subsequent ones.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by MikeBmusic

The test on any cloth used for panels is the 'breath test' - can you breathe through the material? Hold it up to your mouth and try. I used burlap for my first batches of panels, then simple thin cotton sheeting for subsequent ones.

With the thinner stuff, it's often been misted with formaldehyde or something similar to dissuade bugs from eating it. That's the faint teargas-like sting you experience when you walk into a Jo-Ann store. Besides being a poisonous irritant, it also acts as a bit of a varnishy barrier. So it's best to run the fabric through the washer before you use it. I realize, fellas, that this also means ironing. I personally have avoided ironing clothes since the Carter administration, but since this is in the interest of guitar-playing, I think it's okay. No starch, obviously.

[warfrat73]

Oops. I may have not bought the best fabric. I can definitely breathe through it, though it's hardly free flowing.

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

Oops. I may have not bought the best fabric. I can definitely breathe through it, though it's hardly free flowing.

If you put it over your head (covering your ears, of course), can you still hear? I think that's a better test, honestly.

And, mount away from the walls, at least a couple inches, if you go permanent with it. Not quite double the absorptive area, but it adds quite a lot, since waves are everywhere and not all are hitting the wall at 90°.

[Trent in WA]

Nice-looking panels! I like the fact that they aren't all oriented identically.

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

Oops. I may have not bought the best fabric. I can definitely breathe through it, though it's hardly free flowing.

Just a FWIW, on the backside of many of my panels, I used that almost gauzy, black stuff you see on the bottom side of chairs and sofas. it's usually cheaper than regular fabric, but not always if there's something appropriate in the remainder bin. (N.B. Do not use fabrics rated for indoor/outdoor use, because they will be coated and probably reflect more than they let go through.)

https://www.joann.com/utility-fabric.../10173300.html

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

Just a FWIW, on the backside of many of my panels, I used that almost gauzy, black stuff you see on the bottom side of chairs and sofas. it's usually cheaper than regular fabric...

I started out using that brown packing paper that comes on huge rolls, with Super 77 spray glue. Now I use newspaper. And I don't do a rigid, heavy outer frame, just a thin wood nonstructural outer edge. I wondered if they'd hold up over time, but at this point some of them are almost 20 years old and still look great.

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

I started out using that brown packing paper that comes on huge rolls, with Super 77 spray glue. Now I use newspaper. And I don't do a rigid, heavy outer frame, just a thin wood nonstructural outer edge. I wondered if they'd hold up over time, but at this point some of them are almost 20 years old and still look great.

If I had a table saw, I'd probably rip thin plywood, but it also depends on whether you're building panels with the more rigid stuff, or in my case, something a lot "floppier" perhaps, what is best. It's certainly overbuilt for things that are fastened to the wall, though I do have some baling wire in the front for the overhead clouds, and it's clear that it is doing its job up there!