Rehearsal Space - Death By Bass

[dirtmachine]

My band is currently rehearsing in a basic concrete box-type room and the bass is overhwhelming. EQ-ing helps, but only so far. There seem to be certain frequencies that boom uncontrollably no matter what we do.

Searching through this forum, I saw that a lot of people make reference to Ethan Winer's diy bass traps ( http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html ) and I was psyched to hear about good results being had from an inexpensive solution. It seems like most people are using these in studio situations though, and I wonder if anyone could comment on whether or not they're good for rehearsal space.

Also, even though these are relatively inexpensive, I was wondering if anyone might know of any super-cheap options. To give you an idea of the kind of budget we operate on, my current guitar is a Peavey Predator.

[AstroDan]

I'm not entirely sure this would be effective for bass guitar, but I built a collapsable gobo type wall for drums in our practice space. It's comprised of three 4' tall x 18" wide pieces of 1" thick particle boards hinged together in an upright screen type fashion. The particle board is fairly dense, pretty good for low-mid frequency absorption. I threw some packing quilts over it for further absorption, and it tames the drums quite well. Might work for bass.

[myfipie]

My band is currently rehearsing in a basic concrete box-type room and the bass is overhwhelming. EQ-ing helps, but only so far. There seem to be certain frequencies that boom uncontrollably no matter what we do.

Searching through this forum, I saw that a lot of people make reference to Ethan Winer's diy bass traps ( http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html ) and I was psyched to hear about good results being had from an inexpensive solution. It seems like most people are using these in studio situations though, and I wonder if anyone could comment on whether or not they're good for rehearsal space.

Also, even though these are relatively inexpensive, I was wondering if anyone might know of any super-cheap options. To give you an idea of the kind of budget we operate on, my current guitar is a Peavey Predator.

I think you are refering to panel bass traps, which are good, but for a room like yours you really want to use rigid fiberglass that is 4" thick. Straddling all corners of the room. That is going to smooth out the bass over all..

Glenn

[r0ck1r0ck2]

or groupies...fat ones...

we use farm animals...wisconsin you dig...

also furniture...puffy sofas...Laz-e-boys...
and tons of rigid fiberglass..

[dirtmachine]

Rockin. Thanks.
Yeah, unfortunately we don't have any groupies, fat or skinny, so it looks like rigid fiberglass might be the best way to go.
Is it safe? Does it need to sealed, to avoid sending out millions and millions of tiny yet destructive fibers into the air supply?

[Spark]

Heh... I thought this thread was going to be how your rehersal space smelled of fish.

[supafuzz]

Rockin. Thanks.
Yeah, unfortunately we don't have any groupies, fat or skinny,

Jeez I thought there were tons of latte drinkin, glasses wearing, darkly clothed
musician lovin women in Bklyn!

[kayagum]

For a cheap solution (Ethan Winer recommended), buy regular fiberglass, but don't take them out of the plastic wrap packaging. Pile them into the corners, and even that will help a lot.

You can also roll up old futons.

[JamesHE]

My studio is in a rehersal space much like yours. The previous occupant put some thin acoustic sheathing (I have no idea exactly what it is) on all the walls and cieling. And the concrete floor is carpeted. The room is almost a cube 14 x 15 x 13. So in addition to having massive bass nodes happening in the room, the hi end is damped considerably. I have a bunch of office gobos in there too, that I inherited with the space. Some are hard and reflective some are soft and absorbant (all coverd with the same nicotine burlap) I've moved all the absorbant ones to the corners and behind my mix position, the reflective ones line the side walls. In each corner there is a gobo. I stuff whatever I can back behind there. isulation, pieces of carpet whatever, also makes a great place to stash shipping boxes and old drumheads, just to get them out of the way. They aren't real bass traps in any way, but it does help a little. The door is near one of the corners, if no one else is around when I'm mixing I'll open up the door, the bass buildup is pretty much gone with the door open. I also have a bookshelf, and a love seat in there. The cheap solution is to find usfull objects (like plush chairs, futons or whatever) and put them where they'll have some sonic impact.