Does bass trapping have to be 24" in width to be effective?

[demel]

Hi,

I'm in the process off constructing a small dead booth.(10x10) Although the room is intended for overdubs of vox, guitars and vocals it may still end up doing some drum duties when required.

Is it absolutely necessary to have the corners of the room treated with 24" in width owens corning 703/705 or can the dimensions be cut down to 16" for adequate bass trapping in the 2 corners behind where the drummer would sit to save space.

The space behind the modified traps would be filled with roxul mineral wool covered by the 703. The area in front will still have full size top to bottom 24" traps.

These 2 rooms have been so much work and so much $ i'd appreciate any help or advice.


Thanks in advance!

[Matthew Murray]

Actually, varied widths I think work for different purposes. For instance, along the bottom of our entire live room we're installing 8" wide traps, with about 8" between each trap. Sort of a more uniform approach. I don't think 24" is absolutely key, not at all...

[jwl]

With bass traps, it's all about coverage area and mass of absorptive material. The more of both you have, the more effective your bass traps will be. Simple as that.

So to answer your question, yes it will still absorb some, no it won't asborb as much as a 24" wide panel.

Eventually there is a point of diminishing returns, but there is a reason 24" wide is the de facto standard. Actually there are several; absorbing materials are commonly available in that width, and 24" is a good compromise between performance and space-taking-upedness room intrusion. :-)

If you must stick with 16" for space reasons, consider treating the wall/ceiling corners as well, preferably 24" wide but 16" wide if necessary.

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by jwl

With bass traps, it's all about coverage area and mass of absorptive material. The more of both you have, the more effective your bass traps will be. Simple as that.

So to answer your question, yes it will still absorb some, no it won't asborb as much as a 24" wide panel.

Eventually there is a point of diminishing returns, but there is a reason 24" wide is the de facto standard. Actually there are several; absorbing materials are commonly available in that width, and 24" is a good compromise between performance and space-taking-upedness room intrusion. :-)

If you must stick with 16" for space reasons, consider treating the wall/ceiling corners as well, preferably 24" wide but 16" wide if necessary.

You are right on the money. I have customers all the time that ask "can you make a bass trap that is only 12" x 4' high?". My answer is YES, but it is not going to work as well. Trust me if I could make a bass trap that was only 2"x3" that could solve room problems I would be one rich dude.

Glenn

[demel]

The walls are getting 100% coverage of 1.5" rigid fiberglass and 2 of the corners are getting floor to ceiling 24" bass traps. I was hoping for 2 smaller traps behind where the drummer would sit at 16" for a little more room.

Thanks again for all the help!

[jwl]

Hi Demel,

That's going to be one dead room. Which may be what you want, you can always add ambience later. For a vocal booth particularly, this should work OK.

If you can, consider spacing the 1.5" panels out from the wall a bit, 1.5" away would work. This will lower the frequency to which they absorb, and should make the room sound a bit less boomy.

You'll have a ton of absorption in the mids and highs, but the low end may not have enough absorption in that design.

It's a good starting point though, and will definitely be better than no treatment at all.

If the room is too dead you could experiment with some rigid panels, made of thin plywood or luan or even cardboard to hang in the room in places to liven things up a bit, without affecting the low end absorption.

[demel]

I don't think I have any choice with a room that small to be anything either than dead.

I thought the amount of bass trapping would take care of the lows (2-24" filled with roxul and capped with 2" owens c 703 + 2-16" filled with roxul and capped with 703 floor to ceiling) but maybe I need more?

Man my back is sore from hauling that 5/8" and 1/2" drywall down a flights of stairs.

This stuff is hard work!

Thanks again!