portable acoustic treatment

[GlassDreamsAudio]

Hey folks, longtime reader, first-time poster.

Before I get the 'search first' chorus, I'd like to say that this isn't so much about the actual construction/technical info of gobos so much as asking for an opinion...

I live in a condo complex where recording drums would be considered decidedly taboo, so recording at home is usually a no-go. As a result, I travel to several different spots to record local artists. Obviously, I have my favorite rooms, but they're not always available. So essentially, what I'm looking to do is build some extra-portable gobos (I drive a Chevy Avalanche, so transportation isn't so much of an issue) that can work in a variety of rooms and situations.

Since I rarely do multi-tracking sessions (i.e., drums guitar & bass at the same time), the isolation isn't as important as treating a crappy garage, although if external noise sources are prevalent at the location, isolation can be valuable. I don't need 'live' stuff, like diffusors...actually, a more dry sound is what I'm looking for. The idea is to get as consistent of a sound as possible from room to room and being able to record in a variety of locations even if the room really really sucks.

At this point, I'm looking at two methods:

a) 4-6 large portable panels on casters, say 4' wide x 7' tall x 8" thick. The downside to these would be a lot less portability; they would essentially take up the entire bed of my truck and leave me with just the back seat for my gear. They'd be tough to move around and get into certain locations, and probably very heavy. The upside is that I can always set up a 'room' that would be fairly consistent from location to location. They'd also give me (I think) a little more isolation between the control area (I'd say room, but a lot of the times it's not a room, just an area) and the instruments being tracked.

b) 2' x 4' x 8" "blocks". I'd need to build a ton (10-15, I think) of them, but they would let me be more flexible in my setup. Say, stacking them 'lego-style' to create walls, or using them in strategic placement around the room to deal with irritating room acoustics. The issue here is that I feel like I might get less consistency from location to location, and those blocks may not be versatile enough to handle the many different types of problems faced when building a room. Of course, if I build enough of those suckers I could just use them to create a portable 'room' like the large panels above.

Which route would you go? Thanks!

[johndykstra]

smaller and more is better

i can't figure why there's even a doubt.

easy of transport

flexibility of set up

less ability for traps to contort (i.e. bend and break)



i would build them in pairs with a piano hinge connecting them for stability