acoustic panels

[millerman]

I have a dedicated music room whcih is a converted garage, so its about 3m x 7m. The floor is solid wood and no soft furnishings in the room with the exception of one large rug and a pair of thin curtains which are behind the speakers. I do however have my paintings mounted on the wall

I have been looking at acoustic panels recently and have thought my room would beneift from taking out some the sound reflections (I am guessing is accuring) So my quetion is - is there a way to combine my paintings into acoustic panels. I was thinking about packing the canvass with rock wool or fronting purpose made panels with my paintings. Any advice on this would be appreciated from this acoustic panel luddite.

Kind regards

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Do they still make those cardboard egg tray things? You could try covering the walls and celing with those and give 'em a coat of emulsion - will give your music room that 1960s/70s recording studio look. I recommend "Austin Powers" Lime Green and Purple for the ultimate "groovey baby" look. 8)

Rockwool, or any other mineral wool for that matter, will help stop sound penetrating out from the room, but if you just hide it behind another layer of plasterboard I'm not sure it's going to help much in stopping echoes bouncing round the room. Some mineral wools are available with an aluminised ripstop plastic backing, but then you'll think your inside one of those "drawers" in a morgue.

Best bet might be to get some cheap large area rugs and hang those on the walls. Then you'll just think you're in the local curry house

 

[Pete68]

I looked into acoustic panels a while back and found some acoustic wallpaper that looked pretty neat. Its a foam based product thats about 5mm thick and is designed for people living near airports etc. I suppose if you lined the walls with this stuff and put a standard wallpaper over the top it would deaden the sound of the room quite a bit.

 

[andyjm]

I have a dedicated music room whcih is a converted garage, so its about 3m x 7m. The floor is solid wood and no soft furnishings in the room with the exception of one large rug and a pair of thin curtains which are behind the speakers. I do however have my paintings mounted on the wall

I have been looking at acoustic panels recently and have thought my room would beneift from taking out some the sound reflections (I am guessing is accuring) So my quetion is - is there a way to combine my paintings into acoustic panels. I was thinking about packing the canvass with rock wool or fronting purpose made panels with my paintings. Any advice on this would be appreciated from this acoustic panel luddite.

Kind regards

Absorbent panels work by friction. Sound is effectively air molecules moving back and forth, to deaden the sound you need to slow them down.

The front covering of an absorbent panel needs to be acoustically transparent to let the sound through into the absorbent matertial behind. This absorbent material is usually a loose tangle of fibres (rockwool, glassfibre or similar) that provides restrictions to the air molecules and slows them down as they travel through it, turning the sound energy into heat.

A good test for the front panel fabric is whether you can blow through it easily or not. Loose weave coarse fabric works well. If your paintings are sealed with paint (which I guess they will be) then they will be useless as a covering as they will simply reflect the sound.

I bought custom panels from H&H, not cheap, but good quality. They have a pretty good website with examples of suitable fabric. The link below is to one of their ranges of fabric as an example.

http://www.acoustic.co.uk/literature/Fabric%20Swatch%20-%20Cara.pdf

 

[RobinKidderminster]

My sig may be of no help. I dont think u can rely on yr paintings to help acoustically tho they can still be hung being aware maybe of the reflective points to be avoided. Large panels of rockwool covered with acoustic fabric can be effective and low budget. Corners are the most important and even a false ceiling angled.slightly. Depends how far u wish to go. Lots of help here and elsewhere. Good luck

 

[BigH]

This site may help:

http://www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=13

I don't think your painting will be big enough. You may need some bass traps in the corners esp. the ones nearest the speakers. It is not that expensive, think panels are about £10 and bass traps about £15 (but you may need 3 for each corner). Do you have speakers at narrow end or firing across the width?

How about some bookcases on the side walls?

 

[millerman]

Thanks guys, as per usual you have been incredibly helpful Lots of info to go and investigate.

My speakers are positioned pointing longways and looking at the pictures I hadn’t figured on placing the panels behind the speakers. Duh!

It will be an interesting experiment to see what effect they will have.

Thanks once again

 

[BigH]

I think the side walls are the most important as that is the first reflection point and then the corners for bass.

"What Is The First Reflection Point?

The first reflection point is the most discernable echo in a room; it is also the most disruptive. This reflection is the next sound you hear after the direct sound from the monitors or the loudspeakers. The reflection can confuse the listener because it adds extra information in the direction of the listener and makes it very difficult to distinguish the true sound projecting from the speakers because it adds unwanted clutter. It is only after you have eliminated this first reflection can you truly appreciate stereo imaging and soundstage and achieve a clean sound. After the first reflection has been removed you will appreciate increased definition, enhanced accuracy and better timing. The treatment of the first reflection point is vital in mixing rooms, listening rooms, home cinema rooms, editing suite or control room.

Where is the first reflection point?

The first reflection point is the mirror point between the monitor or loudspeaker and the listening position. These are on the two walls either side of the mixing or control desk. The third reflection point is found on the ceiling between the monitors and the listening position. To find the first reflection point you will need a mirror and an assistant. While sat in your listening position get your assistant to drag a mirror along the left hand wall starting from the position of the monitor. When you can see the left monitor through the mirror you have found the first reflection point for the left channel. Do the same with the right hand side. In most cases this will be same distance from the corner as the left but depends on the position of the two monitors in relation to each other. The next point to find is the one of the ceiling. Directly in front of the listening position get your assistant to drag the mirror along the ceiling until you can see the two monitors in the mirror. If you only have a small mirror you may have to do each channel separately. Once you have found these three points you have the most vital positions of your acoustic treatment."

 

[millerman]

BigH

That reflects (scuse the pun) my understanding and gives very clear guidance, thank you.

 

[andyjm]

I think the side walls are the most important as that is the first reflection point and then the corners for bass.

"What Is The First Reflection Point?

The first reflection point is the most discernable echo in a room; it is also the most disruptive. This reflection is the next sound you hear after the direct sound from the monitors or the loudspeakers. The reflection can confuse the listener because it adds extra information in the direction of the listener and makes it very difficult to distinguish the true sound projecting from the speakers because it adds unwanted clutter. It is only after you have eliminated this first reflection can you truly appreciate stereo imaging and soundstage and achieve a clean sound. After the first reflection has been removed you will appreciate increased definition, enhanced accuracy and better timing. The treatment of the first reflection point is vital in mixing rooms, listening rooms, home cinema rooms, editing suite or control room.

Where is the first reflection point?

The first reflection point is the mirror point between the monitor or loudspeaker and the listening position. These are on the two walls either side of the mixing or control desk. The third reflection point is found on the ceiling between the monitors and the listening position. To find the first reflection point you will need a mirror and an assistant. While sat in your listening position get your assistant to drag a mirror along the left hand wall starting from the position of the monitor. When you can see the left monitor through the mirror you have found the first reflection point for the left channel. Do the same with the right hand side. In most cases this will be same distance from the corner as the left but depends on the position of the two monitors in relation to each other. The next point to find is the one of the ceiling. Directly in front of the listening position get your assistant to drag the mirror along the ceiling until you can see the two monitors in the mirror. If you only have a small mirror you may have to do each channel separately. Once you have found these three points you have the most vital positions of your acoustic treatment."

The above may be true for a studio or control room, but in your case, given your flooring, the first reflection point is likely to be the floor. A nice thick rug can work wonders.

 

[BigH]

The above may be true for a studio or control room, but in your case, given your flooring, the first reflection point is likely to be the floor. A nice thick rug can work wonders.

That maybe true but he already has a rug.

 

[ReSpace]

Hi, if you are looking to combine optimised acoustics with something stylish, (perhaps custom printed artwork) we have some really effective products you may be interested in. We also offer a free of charge acoustic assessment service.

http://www.respace-acoustics.co.uk/products/acoustic-panels/

All the best,

ReSpace Acoustics