Curtain thickness for acoustics

feyshay · 29th January 2006

OK. My wife wants to get curtains for the studio area that I have (which doubles as a theater room). To get some absorption, how thick do you think the curtains need to be. (Nothing shear or anything like that, but do I need thick velvet for them to really be effective for high frequency absorption?)

Bob Ross · 29th January 2006

look for "40 ounce" drapes (...I believe that designation refers to the weight per square yard, but don't actually know the etymology for certain).

At least as important as the weight of the fabric is the distance from the wall that you hang it. Everest's book goes into great detail decribing the effect of pleat depth on absorption response.

Glenn Kuras · 29th January 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by feyshay

OK. My wife wants to get curtains for the studio area that I have (which doubles as a theater room). To get some absorption, how thick do you think the curtains need to be. (Nothing shear or anything like that, but do I need thick velvet for them to really be effective for high frequency absorption?)

Just a word of caution before you spend your hard earned money.. Curtains are cool, but they are only going to tame the high end. If you don't have proper bass trapping your room is going to be skewed big time... Very dead sounding with bass still bouncing (building up) around the room..

Btw not a good thing...

Glenn

feyshay · 29th January 2006

Thanks Glenn.
Understand that this is a compromise between my desire for better acoustics and my wife's aescetic sense. She may win on this one.
I will be getting bass traps at some point. I'll win on that one.

My room is not bad right now because of the assymetry between the walls. (Except for floor and ceiling.
40oz. is pretty heavy. I'll try to push for goth velvet.

MASSIVE Master · 30th January 2006

Theatre curtain (pretty much what you're looking for) will definitely give a "less ambient" sound, but I'd guess that *immediately* after your wife wins, you'll be tripping over yourself to get those bass traps...

If nothing else, you can pull the "We did it YOUR way and ruined everything! Now, let's do it the RIGHT way" card.

29th January 2006	#1
feyshay Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,358 Thread Starter	Curtain thickness for acoustics OK. My wife wants to get curtains for the studio area that I have (which doubles as a theater room). To get some absorption, how thick do you think the curtains need to be. (Nothing shear or anything like that, but do I need thick velvet for them to really be effective for high frequency absorption?)

30th January 2006	#5
MASSIVE Master Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2004 Location: Chicago (Schaumburg / Hoffman Est.) IL Posts: 2,710	Theatre curtain (pretty much what you're looking for) will definitely give a "less ambient" sound, but I'd guess that immediately after your wife wins, you'll be tripping over yourself to get those bass traps... If nothing else, you can pull the "We did it YOUR way and ruined everything! Now, let's do it the RIGHT way" card. __________________ John Scrip - Massive Mastering, LLC - www.massivemastering.com Spoon-feed a newb some answer and he'll mix for a day - Get him to think about it and figure it out for himself and he'll mix for a lifetime --- JS

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29th January 2006	#2
Bob Ross Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 2,639	look for "40 ounce" drapes (...I believe that designation refers to the weight per square yard, but don't actually know the etymology for certain). At least as important as the weight of the fabric is the distance from the wall that you hang it. Everest's book goes into great detail decribing the effect of pleat depth on absorption response.