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Old 08-27-2019, 08:09 AM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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Default For you sound recording enthusiasts on the cheap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pABvTWSxOes

I found this video pretty neat...One backed up with actual readings and whatnot...

Kind of surprising that basic towels out performed expensive special purpose sound absorption foams.

I think if I was to do this (which I'm considering for my sound room) I would find some sort of more visually appealing top material, and then put loads of cheaper towels in behind where you don't see them...Having a towel as the top material is a bit on the ghetto side for me.
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Old 08-27-2019, 08:14 AM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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My bad for posting this here...Relatively new around here...Realized shortly after that there is a "record" section I should have probably posted this in...

Is there any way for a non-moderator to move a thread afterwards if they make a mistake like this?
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Old 08-28-2019, 02:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbone View Post
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pABvTWSxOes ... I think if I was to do this (which I'm considering for my sound room) I would find some sort of more visually appealing top material, and then put loads of cheaper towels in behind where you don't see them...Having a towel as the top material is a bit on the ghetto side for me.
He mentions that toward the end of the video. One could also just paint or dye the top towel, too, if one is in an especially creative mood... Anyway, yeah, a pretty cool idea, and thanks for sharing. It was cool to hear how just a few of these panels, too, made a very discernible difference.
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Old 08-28-2019, 06:57 PM
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Foam is universally "dissed" by most folks with recording spaces. It simply does not absorb a broad band of frequencies at all. It does cut down some of the higher frequencies, so audibly, it sounds like it's cutting out some flutter echo, but it will not reduce the frequencies where the bulk of your audio spectrum really lies. (His initial tests show that.) It's kind of a "strawman" when making comparisons against almost anything but air.

The same process of building frames, but using rockwool instead, can be used and will be a lot more effective, and really not much more expensive. I think I paid maybe less than $60 for a 12-pack of Roxul Safe'n'Sound, which is really designed for in-wall use, so the panels are limited to the span normally occupied by 16"-on-center framing studs, but you can built 12 of them! (I've found the Safe'n'Sound material available locally at Lowe's, so there is no shipping expense.)

The wood, screws and covering fabric become your largest expense, not the fill material. In the end, you have some real, broadband panels. If you get another pack, you can probably build floor-to-ceiling bass traps of double thickness for 3 corners, borrow 4 pieces from the first pack, if you actually have 4 corners available, and have the kind of treatment that will make a real difference.

All IME, my $.02, YMMV, etc., etc. But, I have actually done this.
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Old 08-29-2019, 07:35 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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What Keith says ^^^ x2. Foam is generally not a good solution for sound control in a recording environment.
I could not find good rockwool locally, so ordered mine from ATS Acoustics (ROXUL Safe & Sound does not have the same characteristics - it is not as dense). Burlap from Walmart, wood, staples and screws from Home Depot, total cost for my first six 2'x4' panels was about $240 (freight for the rockwool was $60 of that).
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Old 08-29-2019, 07:40 AM
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I agree with Keith and Mike. By the time you go to trouble of making a bunch of towels into some kind of actual usable format i.e. frame and covered, you probably could have made frames and covered 4 inches of Roxul SS or Corning 703 and have a true broadband absorber.
In other words the video seems like a solution in search of a problem
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Old 08-29-2019, 08:12 AM
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Towels? I think most of us tried that starting out in an untreated rooms. Better than nothing but that's about it.
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Old 08-29-2019, 09:36 AM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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I see no one has mentioned egg cartons (thank goodness)

Towels are probably a little better than foam/egg cartons, but if you are budget-constrained, packing blankets like those used by professional movers can be reasonably effective. They have enough mass to affect some lower frequencies rather than just kill the highs.

The rockwool/fiberglass filled frame design is relatively inexpensive for something that is actually effective. I've built some myself, but most of the time have bought them from GIK. I'm not particularly handy so mine don't look as nice.
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Old 08-29-2019, 12:15 PM
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Here is something you might want to explore.

http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2009/...-on-the-cheap/

Best,
Jayne
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Old 08-29-2019, 07:58 PM
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Once in a while I will record with only my Zoom H5 on my desk. Placing a folded towel under it greatly increases the quality of the recorded tone.
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Old 08-30-2019, 07:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TBman View Post
Once in a while I will record with only my Zoom H5 on my desk. Placing a folded towel under it greatly increases the quality of the recorded tone.
Probably works ok in lieu of Iso padding , but sound Isolation for recording and reproduction gear, is actually a different subject, than room reflection absorption
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Old 08-30-2019, 12:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
Probably works ok in lieu of Iso padding , but sound Isolation for recording and reproduction gear, is actually a different subject, than room reflection absorption

My guess is decrease on near reflections. The zoom is only inches away from the desk top hard surface.
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Old 08-30-2019, 05:43 PM
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Quote:
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My guess is decrease on near reflections. The zoom is only inches away from the desk top hard surface.
Quite possibly, that is a notion I had not pondered . Plus as I mentioned the towel will help some with iso, for any low freq vibrations transferring from desktop to zoom body. Somewhat along the idea of a microphone shockmount
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Old 08-31-2019, 08:18 AM
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Room treatment of the kind shown in the video, i.e., large-ish panels on all walls may be overkill for recording a single guitar with a single mic or portable recorder all at relatively close distances. And, sure, lots of folks (as @TBMan has ably demonstrated) can record and mix in that kind of environment. I.e., you don't have to go directly to room treatment if you can make it work without.

When a little or lot more is helpful is if you have different instruments coming in, different mics being used, and are mixing multiple instruments/voices that may vary from mix to mix, especially if it includes bass content, and you want to try and do this on monitor speakers. Then, you really have to have a room that behaves reasonably well. And, barring some freak of nature at your house , it's going to mean some kind of treatment.

Getting decent monitors and treating the room (something covered early in Mixing Secrets...) was a big difference for me in how much easier/faster it made just getting a single track recorded, and how much more likely the mix(es) I worked on would translate. I kicked myself for not doing the treatment years sooner, so if anyone that's recording can do something approximating proper treatment (vs. wasting time with foam, and probably towels), I just think they'll be happier.
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