Acoustically transparent fabric

[jaye b]

i'm looking to buy an existing recording facility in London, UK.
The studio is been used for a couple of years now and the fabric on the walls used to cover absorbtive materials is not my colour/ dirty and needs replacing.
its mounted to removable panels so that should not be a problem.

i've been looking into different fabrics for replacement and acoustic transparent fabric seems to be quite expensive.

does it really make that much of a difference if i use any other fabric? if so, anyone recommend a place in or near London where to get it for a good price?

thanks!

[Youn]

I think if you can easily blow through it then it's gonna work. You also don't want something that is going to sag over time.

[TornadoTed]

We paid a load of money for some acoustic gauze when we build our studio a few years ago. It was too thin and you could see the acoustic treatment behind it. We had to dye it a dark color and double it up which left us short. It turned out looking really good but it cost a lot and I don't think is really worth the money. I can't remeber where I got it from, some theatre supply company if my memory serves me right.

[Stormkloud]

I used a thin felt material that I found at the local fabric warehouse. It was about $5 a yard and comes in every color you can imagine. You can easily breathe thru it. Worked really well for me.

[Dave Martin]

Originally Posted by Jaye B

i'm looking to buy an existing recording facility in London, UK.
The studio is been used for a couple of years now and the fabric on the walls used to cover absorbtive materials is not my colour/ dirty and needs replacing.
its mounted to removable panels so that should not be a problem.

i've been looking into different fabrics for replacement and acoustic transparent fabric seems to be quite expensive.

does it really make that much of a difference if i use any other fabric? if so, anyone recommend a place in or near London where to get it for a good price?

thanks!

The two things you should look for are not (in my opinion) simply acoustic transparency and price - they are flame resistance and durability.

C'mon - if you're tlaking about buying an existing facility (especially if you're buying real estate), spending a few hundred (or a few thousand) pounds to make the place look nice shouldn't be a big deal. We'd all hate it if you stuck up some material that burns easily - especially if your new facility burned down.... And since I've got fabric coverings on a lot of the walls in my place, I want it to stand up to people (an amps and racks and instruments) rubbing up against it, banging into it, etc.

I used Guilford fabric in my place - I've spend a couple of thousand dollars on it so far, but to me it's worth it.

[Jeff A. Roberts]

To Dave Martin's caveats I would add two more descriptive terms:

Synthetic, double-knit fabric. Cheap, stretchy, acoustically transparent, comes in a bazillion colors.

Don't forget durability and fireproof.

[jaye b]

thanks all, i didn't even consider the safety issue and the durability.. i don't plan to skimp on the above for a few pounds, so i 'll look into some good quality materials.

[anahata]

Acoustic transparency is for speaker grilles, where the sound's on one side and you're on the other. The problem with ordinary fabrics is they absorb high frequencies that you want to pass through.

But what's not passed through is absorbed, not reflected, so any fabric will do for covering acoustic absorbtion material on the walls. You'd have to have some incredibly hard sort of material like thick leather before you had a problem with that.

I've got carpet over my bass traps! I'm sure it doesn't impair their performance.
(its actually a cut up rug that was surplus to requirements, and it has quite an open weave)

[PhatStax Drums]

I know this is a somewhat old thread but I did find it Googling "cheap acoustically-transparent fabric."

I'm almost certain this last post (directly above) is misinformation, the sound has to be able to pass THROUGH the cloth in order for the acoustic panel to do its work of bouncing the sound around inside its air cells and actually converting it to heat which is how it absorbs the sound energy.

Acoustically-reflective cloth WILL reflect sound, at least the higher and perhaps even the lower frequencies.

Most of you know this, stick with the earlier posts, not the one directly above!

The sound has to PASS THROUGH the cloth so it can be dealt with INSIDE the panel material. Any cloth you can easily breathe through should work at least as far as that is concerned (of course the durability and FLAME RESISTANCE are important too!!!) great suggestion on the double-knit above, thanks!!!

[Ethan Winer]

Actually, what anahata said is correct. Fabric that absorbs sound is okay in front of fiberglass or acoustic foam. As long as the fabric is not shiny / reflective it will be fine in front of an absorber. For example, felt is hardly acoustically transparent, but it's okay in front of an absorber. All of this affects only high frequencies anyway. For bass traps, any fabric is fine because all fabric passes 500 Hz and below with no problem. In some cases it's even an advantage to use reflective fabric over corner bass traps. By intentionally reflecting mids and highs a little, you can put a lot of them in a room and not make the room too dead sounding. Of course, you wouldn't do that for absorbers at reflection points.

--Ethan

[PhatStax Drums]

Very interesting, thank you! I apologize if I'm missing the nuances of this (drummers . . . I know . . . the cello players I've worked with have been very patient with me!), but it does make some sense to me, I guess the highs are going to get absorbed by the fabric anyway (either that or inside the acoustic material) unless it's quite thick and non-porous.

I am just looking for the cheapest usable fabric (within reason, yes, I don't mind paying extra for things like flame ******ance and durability) and there are some good suggestions above and I guess pretty much anything certainly that you can blow through will work.

I run a huge, world-class studio with a giant main studio with non-parallel walls and everything. (Oh, you HAVE to believe me . . . . )

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by PhatStax Drums

the cello players I've worked with have been very patient with me!

LOL.

I guess the highs are going to get absorbed by the fabric anyway

Exactly.

I am just looking for the cheapest usable fabric

Burlap comes in many colors, and some are quite attractive. Muslin is good too. If you want class A fire rated look into Guilford fabric, though it's not cheap.

--Ethan

[warhead]

My entire control room and large gobos are Guilford of Maine cloth...love it...not cheap.

War

[vroum]

Burlap comes in many colors, and some are quite attractive.

Hello,

I'm looking for a fabric that would prevent the fall of fiber dust from a sheet of Sonopan on the ceiling. Would burlap be appropriate, or should I look for something made with smaller threads (i.e. more tightly knitted?)

There's a street with a few dozen of stores specialised in fabrics not far from my house, but I doubt the ladies working there would be able to help me identify an acoustically transparent fabric...

Thanks!

[Ethan Winer]

Burlap is fine. It's not like you'll be banging on the fiberglass panels with a broom stick all day. Heh

--Ethan

[Arksun]

Originally Posted by Ethan Winer

For bass traps, any fabric is fine because all fabric passes 500 Hz and below with no problem.

--Ethan

Is this true even if the fabric isn't breathable at all?. If so I'd be tempted to get a much denser tighter weaved fabric for making DIY bass traps, as I'm only concerned with it absorbing frequencies much lower than 500hz and am worried about sensitivity to any mineral wool escaping.

[Eganmedia]

I got the fabric covering for my treatments though a company that makes and sells futon covers. The range of colors and textures was vastly superior to those from Guilford of Maine, are rated for fire ******ancy, and durable as anything you'd cover a futon with.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Arksun

Is this true even if the fabric isn't breathable at all?. If so I'd be tempted to get a much denser tighter weaved fabric for making DIY bass traps, as I'm only concerned with it absorbing frequencies much lower than 500hz and am worried about sensitivity to any mineral wool escaping.

In fact, a dense reflective material is better for bass traps than porous fabric. But only when the bass traps are in corners, or otherwise away from reflection points.

--Ethan

[koenraadvds]

What do you think about the Camira Cara range of fabrics. It is used to cover GIK acoustic panels as an option if you want. But i requested some samples and they seem not so transparent as i thought...

Ethan, how do you cover the Realtraps?

K

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by koenraadvds

What do you think about the Camira Cara range of fabrics. It is used to cover GIK acoustic panels as an option if you want. But i requested some samples and they seem not so transparent as i thought...

Ethan, how do you cover the Realtraps?

K

Camira Cara is very similar to GOM so it is very transparent.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by koenraadvds

Ethan, how do you cover the Realtraps?

I'm not familiar with Camira fabrics so I have no opinion. The material we use is a type of felt that's custom made for us. It's not acoustically transparent, but it doesn't need to be. All that matters with absorber coverings is that the fabric doesn't reflect. If the fabric absorbs a little more on its own, that's fine. However, for the bass range we add a semi-reflective plastic membrane behind the fabric. This increases bass absorption while reducing absorption a little at mid and high frequencies.

--Ethan

[Arksun]

Would cotton be suitable as a fabric?

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by Arksun

Would cotton be suitable as a fabric?

Sure.