I just picked up six pieces of acoustic foam to put around my living room. My goal was to deaden the room a bit for recording vocals and guitar. The foam didn't really seem to have any effect on the sound. I think I'm going to take it back. It there anything someone could recommend that would be better? Something portable and cheap would be ideal. I should point out that the room sounds ok to me without anything - but I'm a beginner, so...

Hard to make a recommendation without knowing the room size and all the other details.

However, in general, OC 703 2" will provide some good relatively broadband absorbtion at a reasonable cost. You'll want to cover in cloth and potentially frame it.

For a bit more (but no need to wrap and frame), you can use 3lb density acoustical cotton. It comes in several colors and is completely a 'green' product. No itch, no shedding, etc.

Bryan

Take the foam and put it all in one corner. Then, experement with with singing into or out of that corner with the mic in various positions.

The rockwool or OC 703 will work better than the foam unless you got the stuff with the mass-loaded vinyl imbedded in one side of it.




-tINY

What kind of foam? What size were the pieces? How big is the room? Where did you put it?

All the right questions...


You cant just throw the foam on the walls and expect it to deaden the sound. i mean you gotta get strategic with things... how is your room set up?

To locate the foam on the walls (without spending a fortune on a full spectral analysis of the room), sit/stand at the position where you want the most absorbtion (preferably the mix position).

Get 12x12 mirror and have a helper move it along the walls.
If you can see your monitors in the mirror the you have a direct reflection at that point.
Putting foam at that position on the wall will block that direct reflection.

Additional foam in the corners will help kill off low frequency standing waves.

Have fun.

A friend recommends after I build a wood frame with Rockwool in it I cover it with plastic sheet then after with fabric for the look... its this correct?

The plastic sheet over the rockwool doesn't sound right. I'm trying to think of any reason for a plastic sheet over the rockwool... and none comes to mind. I would think the plastic would reflect sound back, diminishing the effectiveness of the rockwool.

I think I have to go back to your original post here and say that you need to be a bit more specific about your environment and more specific about what it is that you are trying to achieve. Simply throwing a handful of diffusers (whether they are great or horrible) won't matter much if your room has other flaws and the level at which you are recording is too loud. Don't forget you have a ceiling and a floor too... those two parallel surfaces are usually a big culprit in creating comb filtering (that annoying you hear when you clap your hands hard as you walk around the room).

In the end, if you really don't have the time or money to invest in treating the whole room, go with Tiny's reply... treat one corner of the room and put your guitar amp facing that corner and face your guitar amp into the corner.

You can also do a search here and find lots of other threads on this. Or you can go to www.johnlsayers.com and do a search there. Although I would not put up a post there until you read all their rules (part of the reason I only look and never post over there)

Good luck!