#1
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Foam for at-home?
Quick question, ya'll... found a great deal on some studio foam panels locally on Craigslist. ($60 for a boatload of panels.)
For simple fingerstyle guitar tracking, is this a worthwhile investment? I'm setup in a bedroom with a queen bed (dampens some sound, I think) and a desk. My follow up question would be, how would you utilize these panels? Thanks, AGF!
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'08 Mark Tripp DM1 '95 Taylor 512 '11 Carter-Maschal 000-37 '50's Gibson LG-1 lukegardmusic.com |
#2
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It's difficult to know without knowing exactly what it is, but in general, "foam" just absorbs high frequencies. The issue in most rooms is low frequencies. Foam can look nice, but it usually does either nothing, or can even make the problem worse. For effective room treatment, you need broadband absorption, and most foam products won't do that. There are tons of sites with info about this on the web, just do a search and prepare for hours of reading. Here's a reasonable high level introduction:
https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/aco...treatment-101/ and another: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniq...stic-treatment These are just basic starting points.
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#3
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It's mostly a waste of money. As Doug said, in most rooms the issue is going to be controlling the low end. Foam does nothing for that. Corner bass traps would more likely be a better investment if you want to improve the sound you get when recording in a bed room.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#4
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The bass traps can be made easily enough too. Some simple cheap framing, breathable fabric, and owens corning 703. I made all what you see in this picture myself.
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97 Taylor 555 12 string 17 Martin HD 28 19 Martin CEO 9 20 Gibson 1960 Hummingbird reissue 16 Gibson Hummingbird Avant Guard (gigging guitar) Note to self: Never play a guitar you arent willing to buy. |
#5
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Foam is useless for sound control. Egg crates too (although there could be a tiny amount of diffusion due to bumpy surfaces).
The absorbers like those in the preceding picture are made with insulation like rockwool or fiberglass which can actually attenuate sound. I've made my own absorbers from Roxul, plywood and fabric. These days I just purchase products from GIK Acoustics and they look and work great without being ridiculously expensive.
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-Gordon 1978 Larrivee L-26 cutaway 1988 Larrivee L-28 cutaway 2006 Larrivee L03-R 2009 Larrivee LV03-R 2016 Irvin SJ cutaway 2020 Irvin SJ cutaway (build thread) K+K, Dazzo, Schatten/ToneDexter Notable Journey website Facebook page Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. - Leonardo Da Vinci |
#6
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What they all said ^^^. also check out ATS: https://www.atsacoustics.com/
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Mike My music: https://mikebirchmusic.bandcamp.com 2020 Taylor 324ceBE 2017 Taylor 114ce-N 2012 Taylor 310ce 2011 Fender CD140SCE Ibanez 12 string a/e 73(?) Epiphone 6830E 6 string 72 Fender Telecaster Epiphone Dot Studio Epiphone LP Jr Chinese Strat clone Kala baritone ukulele Seagull 'Merlin' Washburn Mandolin Luna 'tatoo' a/e ukulele antique banjolin Squire J bass |
#7
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Yes, ideally you need corner treatment and bass trapping and broadband absorption. But if you have, say, parallel walls roughly 10' apart (a bedroom, in other words) you may have flutter echoes, where a sound basically ricochets back and forth. Clap your hands and it goes "Blaaaamp." Putting up foam panels can reduce or eliminate that. And the good news is, you only have to treat two of the four walls (one side and one end) to do it.
Last edited by Brent Hahn; 01-07-2019 at 01:25 PM. |
#8
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Thanks
Super helpful, everyone! Any knowledge I retain is from helpful people like yourselves!
The panels are mainly flat, wall or floor panels, so as you all said, not worth it. There are two corner bass panels, so I may see if I can buy just those for a few bucks. More questions to come, I'm sure, as I continue the journey of at-home recording...
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'08 Mark Tripp DM1 '95 Taylor 512 '11 Carter-Maschal 000-37 '50's Gibson LG-1 lukegardmusic.com |
#9
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If those corner bass panels are made of foam, they're not worth buying. Bass traps that actually absorb bass frequencies are not made from foam.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#10
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Breaking up bounce in corners is still worth doing, even if no real trapping happens. Those dense-foam corner dealios take up a lot less room than a trap would. And don't forget that, in acoustical terms, the places where the walls meet the ceiling and the floor are corners, too.
Last edited by Brent Hahn; 01-07-2019 at 01:34 PM. |
#11
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Quote:
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#12
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I'm going to go ahead and disagree with the majority here.
Lookup "Live end, dead end" room treatment. It is the defacto standard for recording studios, and you'll be just fine with your panels.
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#13
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I suspect that becomes harder to pull off the smaller the room is. And since this was about the the value/efficacy of foam, I'm not sure how it's relevant. Foam isn't going to convert a room in your home to a LEDE studio.
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Jim 2023 Iris ND-200 maple/adi 2017 Circle Strings 00 bastogne walnut/sinker redwood 2015 Circle Strings Parlor shedua/western red cedar 2009 Bamburg JSB Signature Baritone macassar ebony/carpathian spruce 2004 Taylor XXX-RS indian rosewood/sitka spruce 1988 Martin D-16 mahogany/sitka spruce along with some electrics, zouks, dulcimers, and banjos. YouTube |
#14
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Quote:
Live/dead rooms are nice if you have the space and the need for them. But it's a different issue from how to treat that part that is non-reflective. That said, whatever works... If you put up foam and it sounds good in your room, then it's good!
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Music: Spotify, Bandcamp Videos: You Tube Channel Books: Hymns for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), Christmas Carols for Fingerstyle Guitar (std tuning), A DADGAD Christmas, Alternate Tunings book Online Course: Alternate Tunings for Fingerstyle Guitar |
#15
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It will make a huge difference. The OP also needs to realize that placement is crifical as well. Playing close to a wall is worse than being a few feet from it. This is because short reflections muddy the sound, and our brains ignore longer ones. Which just happens to work within the math of live end dead end rooms.
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