Thinking of DIY basstraps

[geiristudio]

I've been using google alot and a little search on the gearslutz forum, looking for info on basstraps.

Now that I'm quite serious about mixing music and have set up my little homestudio in my room I think I need to do a little acoustic treatment. I've put up some auralex wedgies to to kill reflections, as my walls were quite bare and everything just reflected back. I'm no pro but I think it works a little. I find the room more quiet and not much reflection of sound.

But my room isn't large. I haven't made any measurements but I'd guess the room is about 22 feet long and 10 feet wide.

Now for a little explanation:
-On the wall above the mac, between the monitors I've set up a bunch of wedgies.
-Above the extension of the desk is a quite large window which reaches to the TV
-On the other side of the TV is another large window
-The windows have quite thick drapes so they kinda work a little acoustically, I think
-In the other end of the room are 4 guitars hanged up on the wall
-Above the bed are 2 guitars on the wall
-Above the bed right next to the door there are few wedgies on the wall as well.
-In the corner where the guitars meet, there are 4 wedgies which I put up just for the fun of it. I don't know how to use this properly so I improvised.

Now I've seen pictures with basstraps on the ceiling. Is that a good idea ?

Any tips are very welcome !

*Sorry, I know there are a bunch of threads about basstraps. I wanted someone to help me with my own room.

Here's a quick jot of how my room is. It's not perfect measurement but it gives you the image of how the room is. And I put a few pictures of my room so you see how it is.

[geiristudio]

And the rest of the pictures:

I need someone to tell me what he/she thinks I could do. Just whatever you come up with to improve the sound of my room. Don't ask about budget or something like that, I'll figure that out myself

Tell me your ideas !

[joeyjazz]

I'm not an expert, but my main suggestion on improving the sound of your room is to not have an acoustic guitar (or the electrics) hanging on the wall.

[geiristudio]

Hah, yeah I think so too. I put the up long before I started thinking about acoustics. So If there's anything I could do without removing the guitars from the wall ?

There isn't much space for them elsewhere but maybe I could take down 2 guitars or something.

Someone who knows this well should answer this: Should I take the guitars down ? If so, all of them ?

[Royer121]

I'd leave the electric guitars there, but the guitars with a resonant body can create very disturbing sounds due to their resonating character. So putting them in cases, would be the best.

[Shadow_7]

The strings and other resonant parts of the instruments will sympathetically vibrate with the sounds they are exposed to. The accoustics will amp that sound even more. In addition to the diffusion of sound from the odd shapes, odd surfaces, and hollow bodies in the room. Not that there's anything wrong with that, if that's the type of sound you're striving for.

As a Trombone player I make things sing along with my playing all the time. Pianos with compressed pads, the snares on a snare drum, computer monitor insides. Even the springs inside the bed mattress. With my marching Euphonium pointed at the floor, I can get a pretty good rumble out of that too. I don't know how much of that sound is or will be picked up by the mic since the recorded sound source is pretty loud to start with. But something quieter like an accoustic guitar or soft singer could have a higher pickup ratio. Depending on proximity and projection of the sound source.

[geiristudio]

Okay, I got an idea though.

What if where there are 4 guitars on the wall. I'd take down the 2 in the middle and put up and absober (bass trap) in between those 2 guitars.

And also take the acoustic and put it in a case. That would improve the sound a little bit, right ?

[joeyjazz]

That would work well. As others have noted, the acoustic would be your primary offender of the guitars, you can feed a piece of cloth or something through the strings on the electrics to keep them from vibrating.

[geiristudio]

Ahh okay thanks. One thing...

The bed wasn't paralell to the long wall, it was the other way, beside the wall where the 4 guitars are now. I tried changing it up a little bit yesterday and by just doing that I hear a difference, quite big difference ! The sound actually got better !

But what about my ceiling ? Should I do anything to that ? The whole ceiling is just naked..

[Glenn Kuras]

I've been using google alot and a little search on the gearslutz forum, looking for info on basstraps.

Now that I'm quite serious about mixing music and have set up my little homestudio in my room I think I need to do a little acoustic treatment.

Great to hear you are going to do what should have been done a LONG TIME AGO.

Few things you need to look into.

1) You need to put you mix spot against the shortest wall, which you are but you need to move back to 38% of the room length.

2) As far as guitars on the wall that is fine, but do NOT put them in any of the early reflection points in the room. (see file attached for early reflections on right and left wall between the mix spot and the speakers)

3) Start with as many bass traps, made from either rigid fiberglass or mineral wool, straddling corners.

See attached file for layout.

Hope that helps and follow up with any questions you may have.



Glenn

[geiristudio]

Thanks man ! That's a quite nice looking layout.

But here's the thing. This is my bedroom so it's quite hard to do a lot of modification. I'm going to school and learn recording music and stuff related to that in maybe 2-3 years. So I'm kinda practicing now.

When I move to my own place I'll definently have a space dedicated to this.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by geirisk8@mac.co

Thanks man ! That's a quite nice looking layout.

But here's the thing. This is my bedroom so it's quite hard to do a lot of modification. I'm going to school and learn recording music and stuff related to that in maybe 2-3 years. So I'm kinda practicing now.

When I move to my own place I'll definently have a space dedicated to this.

I understand but if you put your thinking cap on maybe you could move things around to get it close to right. Trust me man it is worth the time to have a proper mixing space in your room. You would be amazed how many bed room studios are turning out some pretty awesome sounds. Kfhkh



Glenn

[ForgottenG]

consider a couple more bookshelves and fill them with books. It is amazing the effect it has on the room.

[geiristudio]

Yeah.. Well, I'm gonna start out with the idea of taking those 2 middle guitars (in the 4 guitar row) and put a basstrap there. If that makes a noticeable difference (which I think it will) I'm gonna think about rearranging and maybe throw out some thing I don't need.

More comments are still welcome ! I'd like as many ideas as possible

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by ForgottenG

consider a couple more bookshelves and fill them with books. It is amazing the effect it has on the room.

Books do not act as a diffusor if that is what you are getting at. For diffusion I invite you to take a read here to get a better understanding on how it works.
GIK Acoustics presents "How Diffusion Works!"

Glenn

[ramona]

Originally Posted by geirisk8@mac.co

Yeah.. Well, I'm gonna start out with the idea of taking those 2 middle guitars (in the 4 guitar row) and put a basstrap there. If that makes a noticeable difference (which I think it will) I'm gonna think about rearranging and maybe throw out some thing I don't need.

More comments are still welcome ! I'd like as many ideas as possible

Throwing things out, or better, giving things away, always feels good. That's a good idea.

I'd take those four 1' panels out of the corner, put the bass trap in that same corner and arrange the four panels where the two middle guitars are.

[geiristudio]

Originally Posted by ramona

Throwing things out, or better, giving things away, always feels good. That's a good idea.

I'd take those four 1' panels out of the corner, put the bass trap in that same corner and arrange the four panels where the two middle guitars are.

I like that idea ! I'll definently think about it.

Now, how to make a "cheap" corner basstrap ?

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by geirisk8@mac.co

I like that idea ! I'll definently think about it.

Now, how to make a "cheap" corner basstrap ?

You could go to Home Depot and buy some fluffy fiberglass and stack it floor to ceiling in as many corners as you can. Not the greatest looking bass trap but will work pretty well.

Glenn

[geiristudio]

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

You could go to Home Depot and buy some fluffy fiberglass and stack it floor to ceiling in as many corners as you can. Not the greatest looking bass trap but will work pretty well.

Glenn

OR..

I could tweak that idea and make it look good ! My dad's a very good carpenter and i'm pretty sure we can work something out !

Thanks

*I still appreciate more ideas, keep 'em coming

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by geirisk8@mac.co

OR..

I could tweak that idea and make it look good ! My dad's a very good carpenter and i'm pretty sure we can work something out !

Thanks

*I still appreciate more ideas, keep 'em coming

You (or your dad) could build a false wall in front of it with frabic.

Glenn

[nukmusic]

and if you're looking to do panels...this might help

[Ethan Winer]

I disagree with what's shown in that video. If you want to know why, please send me a PM, or email me from my company's Contact page:

RealTraps - Contact/About

--Ethan

[jwl]

Wow, what a cool video! Nice step-by-step on Basic Broadband Absorber Construction 101. Ethan, without igniting yet another flamewar, I'm curious as to what you disagree with in that video.

Though I think the video is quite good overall, there are 2 details that make me go hmm....

First is that the wood frames in that video would not allow air to circulate behind the absorptive material, IF the frame is hanging flush with the wall. I don't know, but I'm thinking it might reduce the effectiveness of the trap at low frequencies. The solution would be to get a small holesaw or a large drillbit, like 1" in diameter, and cut a series of holes in the 1x2 framing that is used.

The second thing is, if you have 4" thick absorptive material, it might make sense to use 1x4 framing to get a 4" airgap behind the traps (yes I know 1x4s are really only 3.5" thick, but close enough). In this case, I'd probably use a 2" or 2.5" holesaw to make the holes, these frames don't need to be super strong, just strong enough to hold the stapled fabric.

There has been quite a bit of debate about this, but I think there is enough evidence out there to support the idea that the airgap behind an absorber should be equal to the thickness of the absorber; this seems to give the best compromise between effectiveness and intrusion-into-the-room.

8" into the room can add up in small rooms....

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by jwl

Ethan, without igniting yet another flamewar, I'm curious as to what you disagree with in that video.

I was asked by a good friend of mine not to comment publicly, so I'll email you now with my very specific objections.

--Ethan

[geiristudio]

i talked to a friend that's a pro and he's gonna help me out ! Thanks for all the replies and still, more comments are welcome !