So I had this Idea about my neighbors shipping pallets.....

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Hucklebeam
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So I had this Idea about my neighbors shipping pallets.....

Post by Hucklebeam » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:18 am

I have a small recording operation where the control room is decently iso'd from the studio area (320 sq ft or so). I record alot of live indie/loud rawk bands and the room is very bright. I would like to keep it fairly bright but make it less peaky in the ranges of 1.5-2k and up. Diffusion was mentioned to me. Also I would like to lose some back wall reflections behind my mixer, again this notion of diffusion. Am I on the right track?
So now I see various diffusors in other peoples places, on the web and in mags and what not. They generally have the appearance of being randomly cut widths of 1x material glued together in what I assume is a random pattern.
The business that neighbors my studio has a pretty constant supply of shipping pallets made with lots of ...you guessed it....1x4 boards, usually oak. Any reason I could not take these boards and cut them to the same length (to be determined later depending where I hang them in the rooms) but at different and random depths/widths, clamp and glue them together and mount the flat side to a 1/8th inch piece of ply and hang the contraption?
genre this!

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Post by djimbe » Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:35 am

Some of those diffusers are not random. Find a copy of the F. Alton Everest "Master Handbook of Acoustics" where the formulae behind quadratic diffusers is discussed at length...
I thought this club was for musicians. Who let the drummer in here??

brian beattie
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Post by brian beattie » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:30 am

If you're looking to specifically mitigate some high mid stuff, I think a bit of absorbtion is what you neeed in your cutting room. Diffusors come in a few flavors, such as "quadratic residue" (differing well depths with a solid backing), or the kind with varying widths of planks of wood mounted on an absorbtive surface, such as fabric wrapped panels of rigid fiberglass. It sounds to me as if plain ol' diffusion might work in your control room, if there are no bass or low mid problems.
Just as an aside, there ARE complex formulas to make these beasts properly, and the master handbook of acoustics has many formulas to make diffusors tuned around many different frequencies. I'd be careful and make carefully informed decisions about how to treat the control room. In the cutting room, there's alot more room for bold experimentation. I'm building a studio right now, ans let me tell you, the difference between the concrete shell, and the concrete shell with raw framing is HUGE. If you're inspired, and you have a bunch of free materials, I think it would be cool as shit to construct a bunch of randomly shaped wood panels for diffusion. You're on the right track, I think..I'd hang them, for flexibility, as opposed to mounting them directly on the wall.
DO IT... But, you must take many photos and describe how it works for the rest of us, OK??
brian

Hucklebeam
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Thank you....

Post by Hucklebeam » Tue Feb 14, 2006 2:18 pm

Thanks for the input. I just ordered the Everest book off e-bay ($20 including shipping!!) , I am sure it will help. I am looking to hang, not permently fix the diffusors. I will certainly supply some photos as well, thanks for the suggestion.
Brian it is kind of wild that you would reply to the post, I have currently on the I-Pod an album you recorded with a band called East Ash. You flat out did a great job on that thing. While I think some of the bands best songs are on that record, "Ellie" by the way is the name of the album, I really like the sound of it. Do you remember much about that one?
genre this!

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Post by brian beattie » Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:49 pm

East Ash was AMAZING!! "Ellie" is one of the best albums no one ever heard. I Love "green chevy" and "push" especially. They were better than anyone else.
yes, I remember everything about that record. "green chevy" is supposed to be the first song on the record, but the label thought "north pole butterfly" was more "commercial", so they flipped sides one and 2. (numbskulls....)
There was a dance studio in the complex where the recording studio was, and we tracked in there and in the hallways. That whole band was phenomenal, and jeff is such a fine singer. What a gem of a band.....
brian

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Re: So I had this Idea about my neighbors shipping pallets..

Post by judecca » Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:20 pm

Hucklebeam wrote:I have a small recording operation where the control room is decently iso'd from the studio area (320 sq ft or so). I record alot of live indie/loud rawk bands and the room is very bright. I would like to keep it fairly bright but make it less peaky in the ranges of 1.5-2k and up. Diffusion was mentioned to me. Also I would like to lose some back wall reflections behind my mixer, again this notion of diffusion. Am I on the right track?
So now I see various diffusors in other peoples places, on the web and in mags and what not. They generally have the appearance of being randomly cut widths of 1x material glued together in what I assume is a random pattern.
The business that neighbors my studio has a pretty constant supply of shipping pallets made with lots of ...you guessed it....1x4 boards, usually oak. Any reason I could not take these boards and cut them to the same length (to be determined later depending where I hang them in the rooms) but at different and random depths/widths, clamp and glue them together and mount the flat side to a 1/8th inch piece of ply and hang the contraption?
pm drumsound and see if he'll send you a pic of the diffuser behind his drum area. it's brilliant. it's an adjustable diffuser with hinged wooden slats sandwiched between to wooden rails. i'm sure with the purchase of the wood for the long rails and some dowels, you could totally make something like this out of recycled pallette wood.

ryan
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Wire
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Post by Wire » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:03 pm

back to the pallets....

totally random, but if you used pallets as wholes, didn't cut them up and just screwed them to the back wall in a orderly or cool and random fashion, (if you room had the right vibe to do that of course). what would they do??? Anything... something??...
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judecca
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Post by judecca » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:51 am

Wire wrote:back to the pallets....

totally random, but if you used pallets as wholes, didn't cut them up and just screwed them to the back wall in a orderly or cool and random fashion, (if you room had the right vibe to do that of course). what would they do??? Anything... something??...
without some modification, i dont think they would make very much of a difference.... unless you used an absolut ton of them. even then, the room may sound different... but you would not acheieve very much diffusion. you need to check out drumsound 's diffusion system. it wouldn't take much $$ or work. you should do it right man.

ryan
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Wire
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Post by Wire » Wed Mar 15, 2006 12:54 am

Not actually trying to do it. We do studio wiring for some of the top studios all over the US, and don't really build rooms, just wondering what it would do as the right room the right vibe it could be a pretty cool look.

Thanks
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brian beattie
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TRY IT

Post by brian beattie » Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:46 pm

I think it would look cool as shit. Why don't you try it and tell us what happens? It would be nearly free, aside from the labor. Randomness would help, somehow.....
brian

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jmoose
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Re: So I had this Idea about my neighbors shipping pallets..

Post by jmoose » Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:54 pm

judecca wrote:pm drumsound and see if he'll send you a pic of the diffuser behind his drum area. it's brilliant. it's an adjustable diffuser with hinged wooden slats sandwiched between to wooden rails. i'm sure with the purchase of the wood for the long rails and some dowels, you could totally make something like this out of recycled pallette wood.

ryan
Here it is! It's pretty cool actually and there's acoustic foam behind the slats in case you need to deaden the room a little. He also has a big old cloud hanging from the ceiling that you can see in the second picture.

I was cutting guitars on a record at his place back in January when I took these;

Image

Image

That's me, Bullwinke J. Moose 'hiding' behind the Les Paul! :lol:

Anyway, I think it's a great idea! I've seen people use book shelves for diffusion and they really work. It depends on how technical you want to get...if you need it as a specific frequency or to redirect the energy into a specific direction you should probably shell out for the "real deal". But some random diffusion is usually better then none at all, especially if you already have absorbtion.
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