Sounds good Jeremy.

I've got cement slab floors in my studio (I assume you do too from your description). There's no easy way to arrest the boom that's going to come off that floor, outside of floating a new one. Carpets, carpet padding, parquet (wood), will do little in that regard. The alternative is to treat the ceiling with stuff that going to absorb low end (thick/dense foam, acoustic ceiling panels separated by 1" gaps of air, etc.) Just thought I'd throw that out there. Good luck everyone.

I highly recommend using some kind of glass fiber board. It usually comes in 4 by 2 foot sizes, 2 inches thick. This blows away the Sonex foam per dollar amount big time. Treating an area w/ 2 layers, 4 inches thick, especially if it is allowed a slight air space between it and the wall--will absord everything down to around 100hz. 12 inches basically aborbes everything down to 20 hz! But most of us down have that of kind of square footage to use for treatment. Try calling some local insulation companies and ask for this stuff. Some common brands are Owens-Corning Type 703; Johns-Manville; Knauf; etc. You want a glass fiber board w/ a 3 lb. per cubic foot density. This is THE! solution if properly applied!!--cheap$and simple. (a great book dealing w/ this subject is "The Master Handbook of Acoustics" 3rd edition by F. Alton Everest)

Thanks for the great suggestions guys! I am in the process of re-treating my studio. I have received some advice from a friend of mine a former technician/ engineer at MCI (the former pro audio gear manufacturer) John Bartz. He reccomends Auralex products 2 & 3 inch foam with diffusers.. Have any of you guys ever used this?

Also, Clegs I am trying to find out if you are refering to Steve Klien that formerly worked out of Criteria recording studios in Miami and the Bee gees "Middle Ear" studio. I studied engineering under a Steve Klien at Criteria.

Steve Klien also had a sound reinforcement company that my Band used on a couple of our tours.

Paul, what's the difference between glass fibre board & fibre glass? How do you apply it?

Thanks

The glass fibre board is compressed fiberglass, with some kind of glue binder to keep it stiff. Same stuff as insulation, but it isn't fluffy.

Check out Acoustics First. I bought six 2x4 panels there, and they have diffusers and other acoustic products.

Watch out for auralex, they have 2 different
types, the cheep stuff and the good stuff.
Don't bother getting the cheeper type, it looks good but doesn't do much. Try holding a piece of it up in frount of you, put 1 hand on the other side of it, and see if you can blow air through it.If you can , it's the cheep stuff. Not worth getting.

For my drum room, I'm set up in a house, I took a 4x8 ft sheet of R board and placed 4 of the 2x4 ft. 2" thick fiber-glass boards to cover it--then placed another 4 fiber glass boards to cover that--now 4" thick total. I used duct tape to secure them in place; then covered that with an acoustically transparent cloth that looks nice. I repeated that to almost completely cover every wall in the room. Now the 'room' has all but disappeared. I wish that I had a huge glorious sounding room w/ wood floors and 30 ft cieling but I dont. This approach allows for a very nice 'sounding' dead environment. Now I just add the right reverb from my PCM 60 or PCM 91 and there you go. Still not the real thing but very nice and completely controllable! I do have wood floors and have left them bare in that room. The ceiling is lightly treated. Once the drums are in place, everything sounds clean and dry. No boominess at all, just a tight dry dead space. I've done the same for my mix area. From about where the console is on back and the wall behind the console also the ceiling 4x4 ft above my head. I can hear more detail than ever from recordings. This stuff works wonders. I paid somewhere around 60 something to 70 something cents per square foot!!! This would have cost a few thousand to do the same thing w/ the Sonex!

Hey Paul, is that the compressed fiberglass
boards? Where did you get them? Watch out for
the fibre glass. I used some drop ceiling 2x4 boards once, they can really mess up your lungs if you don't wear a dust mask when installing them. The fibres come off when you handel the boards but you can't see them.

It's typically "Owens-Corning 705" and should be, at least, orderable at any serious home improvement supply. Available in 2x4' sections in various thicknesses.



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ERIC SEABERG • San Diego, CA
eseaberg@turningpointradio.org

Mackeymedia:

Yes, it's that Steven Klein. His business is called Steven Klein's Sound Control Room and is located in Sherman Oaks, CA. He still does engineering and studio design.

I just finished the construction of my studio in my basement. It has only 7 foot ceilings but the drums sound punchy and tight on the low end and not dead at all on the top. I made corner absorbers with rock wool and 2" 703 board.2"703 is .99 down to 500hz and around .83 at 250 hz. 4" is .99 down to 250. you can build frames out of 1x4 and cover it with burlap cloth. It's cheap and is available at handcock fabrics less than $1 a yard. I have a small controll room 12 x 13. but I managed to build out the front wall 12" and put corner traps in all four corners. Rock wool is great stuff as well, it's actually cheaper than 703 or 704 and has aprox the same absorption values.
You can get any of this stuff cheaper than aurelex or the other companies if you look under industrial insulation in the yellow pages. If they don't have owens and corning but they will have a substitute brand. Just make sure the NRC is the same. Rock wool is a brand name. Mineral wool fiber is the product. the only drawback with it is it's Way nastier than 703. You need to get this stuff called Typar, you can find it at Home Depot in the gardening section. It's the plastic stuff with small holes in it that is used to keep weeds out of your garden. Cover the mineral wool with that then cover with burlap.
If anyone wants to check out pictures of my studio you can at www.electrokitty.com
good luck
electrok