[Sam[_13_]]

I have a small room/project studio (2.7m x 2.8m) in which I record
acoustic guitar. I am trying to improve the room by reducing reflections
etc. and I have bought a box of 12"/30cm square acoustic foam tiles.

I am looking for advice on how to space/arrange them. Preseumably I do
not need to cover the entire free wall space in order to break up the
reflections so is there a rule of thumb about placing/arranging these?

Thanks.

[Don Pearce[_3_]]

On Mon, 1 Feb 2010 18:26:10 -0000, Sam wrote:

I have a small room/project studio (2.7m x 2.8m) in which I record
acoustic guitar. I am trying to improve the room by reducing reflections
etc. and I have bought a box of 12"/30cm square acoustic foam tiles.

I am looking for advice on how to space/arrange them. Preseumably I do
not need to cover the entire free wall space in order to break up the
reflections so is there a rule of thumb about placing/arranging these?

Thanks.

Not really. Just make it sound right. Go for the corners first, and
try, when putting them on facing walls, not to leave bare areas of
wall facing each other. The room is small, and will need to be heavily
damped before it will sound right. You will need to add artificial
reverb, probably.

Don't forget floor and ceiling - they are just as important as the
walls.

d

[Arny Krueger]

"Sam" wrote in message
om

I have a small room/project studio (2.7m x 2.8m) in which
I record acoustic guitar. I am trying to improve the room
by reducing reflections etc. and I have bought a box of
12"/30cm square acoustic foam tiles.

I am looking for advice on how to space/arrange them.
Presumably I do not need to cover the entire free wall
space in order to break up the reflections so is there a
rule of thumb about placing/arranging these?


Absorptive materials are more effective spaced out a few inches from the
wall.

Absorptive materials are more effective in corners and where walls join or
where wall and ceiling join. If you put material on either of the two
surfaces near where they join, the other surface will reflect a nearly equal
amount of energy into the absorber.

Absorptive materials are more effective in smaller patches - a mix of
absorptive and reflective areas are better than large stretches of
absorbers, with equal or larger stretches of bare surface.

[Sam[_13_]]

In article ,
says...
"Sam" wrote in message
om

Absorptive materials are more effective spaced out a few inches from the
wall.

Absorptive materials are more effective in corners and where walls join or
where wall and ceiling join. If you put material on either of the two
surfaces near where they join, the other surface will reflect a nearly equal
amount of energy into the absorber.

Absorptive materials are more effective in smaller patches - a mix of
absorptive and reflective areas are better than large stretches of
absorbers, with equal or larger stretches of bare surface.

Excellent, thanks.

[Scott Dorsey]

Sam wrote:
I have a small room/project studio (2.7m x 2.8m) in which I record
acoustic guitar. I am trying to improve the room by reducing reflections
etc. and I have bought a box of 12"/30cm square acoustic foam tiles.

I am looking for advice on how to space/arrange them. Preseumably I do
not need to cover the entire free wall space in order to break up the
reflections so is there a rule of thumb about placing/arranging these?

Well, what are the surfaces that are there, and how bright do they sound
to begin with? Are there any signs of a slap echo (and I know it can be
hard to tell in a room that small sometimes)?

Frankly in a room that size, I'd worry more about bass issues than high
frequency absorption.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[GregS[_3_]]

In article , (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Sam wrote:
I have a small room/project studio (2.7m x 2.8m) in which I record
acoustic guitar. I am trying to improve the room by reducing reflections
etc. and I have bought a box of 12"/30cm square acoustic foam tiles.

I am looking for advice on how to space/arrange them. Preseumably I do
not need to cover the entire free wall space in order to break up the
reflections so is there a rule of thumb about placing/arranging these?

Well, what are the surfaces that are there, and how bright do they sound
to begin with? Are there any signs of a slap echo (and I know it can be
hard to tell in a room that small sometimes)?

Frankly in a room that size, I'd worry more about bass issues than high
frequency absorption.
--scott

Also, if I had a small quantity of tiles, I would first go for large flat areas,
than corners. Some large foam bass absorbers will probably be needed
here. Bass traps or upper bass traps. That requires thicker foam of at least 3 inches and more.

greg

[Sam[_13_]]

In article , says...

Well, what are the surfaces that are there, and how bright do they sound
to begin with? Are there any signs of a slap echo (and I know it can be
hard to tell in a room that small sometimes)?

It used to be a bedroom. The walls are wallpapered with woodchip
wallpaper. There are a lot of shelves with books and files etc so its
not a bare room or anything.

Frankly in a room that size, I'd worry more about bass issues than high
frequency absorption.

You're right, I need bass traps too. The floor corners have bookcases
and stuff in them but the ceiling corners are bare.

I have muddy boomyness around 250 hz which up to now I have been EQing
out. It would be nice to fix that.

BTW, how do people attach these tiles to the wall? Spray adhesive of
some sort?

[Don Pearce[_3_]]

On Mon, 1 Feb 2010 21:23:29 -0000, Sam wrote:

In article , says...

Well, what are the surfaces that are there, and how bright do they sound
to begin with? Are there any signs of a slap echo (and I know it can be
hard to tell in a room that small sometimes)?

It used to be a bedroom. The walls are wallpapered with woodchip
wallpaper. There are a lot of shelves with books and files etc so its
not a bare room or anything.

Frankly in a room that size, I'd worry more about bass issues than high
frequency absorption.

You're right, I need bass traps too. The floor corners have bookcases
and stuff in them but the ceiling corners are bare.

I have muddy boomyness around 250 hz which up to now I have been EQing
out. It would be nice to fix that.

BTW, how do people attach these tiles to the wall? Spray adhesive of
some sort?

You might want to use temporary solutions. Hang a thick quilt or duvet
on the wall and be amazed at the transformation - all the boom will
vanish. Position it behind the mic for best effect.

d

[Scott Dorsey]

Sam wrote:
In article , says...

Well, what are the surfaces that are there, and how bright do they sound
to begin with? Are there any signs of a slap echo (and I know it can be
hard to tell in a room that small sometimes)?

It used to be a bedroom. The walls are wallpapered with woodchip
wallpaper. There are a lot of shelves with books and files etc so its
not a bare room or anything.

The shelves help a lot. They provide diffusion that breaks sound up so
it reflects off in very different directions.

When you clap your hands, what do you hear? Does it clang? Does it ring?
Does it die out naturally? If it dies out naturally, you probably don't
need high frequency absorption. If it rings, try and figure out where
(and corners and ceilings are common places, though it can be hard to figure
it out by ear in a small room sometimes).

If you put too much high frequency aborption in, the room starts to sound
boomy and dull. This was very popular in studios back in the 1970s, and
combined with third-octave equalization of monitors and too much cocaine
caused some very severe sonic problems back then.

But if you have flat parallel surfaces, the foam can be a miracle.

Frankly in a room that size, I'd worry more about bass issues than high
frequency absorption.

You're right, I need bass traps too. The floor corners have bookcases
and stuff in them but the ceiling corners are bare.

I have muddy boomyness around 250 hz which up to now I have been EQing
out. It would be nice to fix that.

Spend your time worrying about that. I think you'll find that once you
deal with that, the top end will be just fine, since you will get a little
high frequency absorption as a side-effect of the bass traps.

BTW, how do people attach these tiles to the wall? Spray adhesive of
some sort?

Depends. 3M type 77 adhesive is very popular if you never, never intend
on ever taking them down. You'll have to tear out the drywall if you want
the stuff out. You can also 77 them to some lauan plywood and hang that
on hooks if you want to have the freedom to move them around and get a sense
of where the room problems might lie.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."