Drop ceiling tiles...death of room acoustics?

[liberationstudio]

I'll be moving into a new large room in a couple months, about 2000 sq ft. right now it has drop ceiling tiles at about 10 feet. I have the option of removing those to expose what is kind of a wierd cathedral like wood ceiling that goes up to about 25' at its peak. It would obviously be quite a bit more to heat the room if i get rid of the tiles, so I'm wondering about peoples ideas from an acoustic standpoint, do drop ceiling tiles kill any semblance of a room vibe? My guess is yes, but i wonder if other slutz have experience with needing to make this decision. Any input is appreciated.

[Blue May]

at a guess and without seeing a picture or any diagram whatever is behind those drop ceiling tiles sounds like it could be a lovely environment for a tracking room!!

good luck.. oh and post some pictures!!

[Fletcher]

Fvck with it!!!!!!!!!!

Try tracking some stuff with the tiles in place... then remove some of the tiles under the peak and see [HEAR!!] what that does... then put them back and try removing tiles around the perimeter of the room... then try a pattern of tiles in/tiles out... or pull them out of 1/2 the ceiling but leave them in the other half [the permutations are nearly endless]... the more you mess with it the more you'll be able to change your room to suit the vibe of a song/'album/etc.

I have to say I'm exceptionally envious!!!

Best of luck with it... just don't forget to breathe and have fun while you're learning how to alter the character of your tracking space!!!

Also... don't be in a hurry!!! It can/should/will take years of experimentation to really get a total handle on all of the power you have available to you... and then there is other stuff you can mess with like putting up absorbtion and/or diffusion on the surfaces above the drop ceiling part... again, the permutations are nearly endless!!

Peace.

[Funkster]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

Fvck with it!!!!!!!!!!

Try tracking some stuff with the tiles in place... then remove some of the tiles under the peak and see [HEAR!!] what that does... then put them back and try removing tiles around the perimeter of the room... then try a pattern of tiles in/tiles out... or pull them out of 1/2 the ceiling but leave them in the other half [the permutations are nearly endless]... the more you mess with it the more you'll be able to change your room to suit the vibe of a song/'album/etc.

I have to say I'm exceptionally envious!!!

Best of luck with it... just don't forget to breathe and have fun while you're learning how to alter the character of your tracking space!!!

Also... don't be in a hurry!!! It can/should/will take years of experimentation to really get a total handle on all of the power you have available to you... and then there is other stuff you can mess with like putting up absorbtion and/or diffusion on the surfaces above the drop ceiling part... again, the permutations are nearly endless!!

Peace.

Wisdom!!

[Fleaman]

Originally Posted by Fletcher

Fvck with it!!!!!!!!!!

Try tracking some stuff with the tiles in place... then remove some of the tiles under the peak and see [HEAR!!] what that does... then put them back and try removing tiles around the perimeter of the room... then try a pattern of tiles in/tiles out... or pull them out of 1/2 the ceiling but leave them in the other half [the permutations are nearly endless]... the more you mess with it the more you'll be able to change your room to suit the vibe of a song/'album/etc.

I have to say I'm exceptionally envious!!!

.

Exactly. He's got an adjustable cloud already installed!

Not only that, but you can go out and buy many different types of tiles for different acoustical effects.

The possibilities are endless

Luckily the tiles are 10ft up. It's when tiles are low they can crap out your sound. But more than likely you'll still want to remove enough tiles to open up the room/sound, it's all up to you.

[JEGG]

Yes-Works very well!!
Easy and fast.

Depending on the grid and installation, it can be a great place to hang things from for various kinds of isolation and shaping.

The whole thing is just instantly configurable.

If you have a noise/traffic problem, shaping the tiles and hanging various sorts of fabric can go a very long way in making it a usable space.

The room I used had a very nice wood floor, but whatever your floor is, you can put acoustical material there as well.

Have fun.

BTW-standard "acoustical" grid tile only attenuates certain (not many) frequencies that hit the stuff dead on (90 degrees). It doesn't do much at all at absorbing sound that moves parallel to the surface.

[Lee Knight]

And bear in mind that the tiles are not a real barrier. Meaning, they do not create a boundary by which a resonance is created. Your true boundaries are still the real ceiling above. Acoustic dropped ceilings can be perfect for taming an unruly room's RT60 while maintaining volume. A room with large volume has it's resonances low enough to not be a concern.

Something to keep in mind as you experiment.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by liberationstudio

right now it has drop ceiling tiles at about 10 feet. I have the option of removing those to expose what is kind of a wierd cathedral like wood ceiling that goes up to about 25' at its peak.

I'd vote for the larger space. As for your ceiling tiles, there are many different types, and few are appropriate for music rooms. Most ceiling tiles are intended to absorb speech frequencies in offices etc, and reflect too much at high frequencies and absorb too little at the low end.

You can easily test what the room will sound like without removing the grid - remove only the tiles and see what happens.

--Ethan

[liberationstudio]

Thanks everyone! Ethan, I'm glad you chimed in, I'm gonna get in touch with you soon for some new treatment toys.

[Lee Knight]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

I'd vote for the larger space. As for your ceiling tiles, there are many different types, and few are appropriate for music rooms. Most ceiling tiles are intended to absorb speech frequencies in offices etc, and reflect too much at high frequencies and absorb too little at the low end.

You can easily test what the room will sound like without removing the grid - remove only the tiles and see what happens.

--Ethan

If you lay out the thick batt insulation on top, they are pretty flat down to 125. BTW, I'm not suggesting he leave them in place but acoustic tiles do get a bad rap. They may look cheesy but they can be made to be a source of pretty flat absorption. Here they are even without the batt layed out above...

Acoustic Ceiling Tiles 0.70 0.66 0.72 0.92 0.88 0.75

[robot gigante]

Aside from the acoustics, taking out a drop ceiling definitely makes a place feel better and bigger, and therefore a more pleasant place to work in.

[NLP]

3-D Ceiling Tiles » The UberReview

[liberationstudio]

Well, bands wouldnt need drugs to feel like they're hallucinating with those.

[liberationstudio]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fletcher
Fvck with it!!!!!!!!!!

Try tracking some stuff with the tiles in place... then remove some of the tiles under the peak and see [HEAR!!] what that does... then put them back and try removing tiles around the perimeter of the room... then try a pattern of tiles in/tiles out... or pull them out of 1/2 the ceiling but leave them in the other half [the permutations are nearly endless]... the more you mess with it the more you'll be able to change your room to suit the vibe of a song/'album/etc.

I have to say I'm exceptionally envious!!!


Hey Fletcher, if you want to trade rooms and leave all that boxed up gear in yours, hit me up