Nevermind the Egg Cartons, Here's the Futons...
Nevermind the Egg Cartons, Here's the Futons...
As we all know by now (I hope), treating a room with egg cartons or blankets isn't a great idea. That approach kills high frequencies but little else. If you're in a small to mid-sized room, you're left with a dull sound that still has lower frequency boomyness. That's why it's good to treat a room with thicker, denser material, like a lot of folks use Owens Corning 703 or 705 fiberglass panels. I think that's a great approach for control rooms, but if you need to cover more area in a live room, or you're just trying to improve the sound of a practice/record space, here's an alternative: use futons.
Futons are great because 1) they're thick, 2) they're cheap (often free from vacating students or housemates) and 3) they're hopefully treated to be fire retardant, although this seems to depend on state laws, so please research this for your area!
One con with futons is that they're a bit awkward, and they're not rigid enough to stand up on their own like a mattress. Here are two methods I've discovered for mounting futons:
The first method is a hanging approach, as you can kind of see in the photo below. For that room, we sewed two loops of heavy nylon webbing onto one end of the futon, and then hung it from the ceiling joists with heavy open eye-bolts. This is great if you're trying to partition a room, but the sewing is a pain (heavy canvas) and if you need ceiling joists to work with.
Another method I recently figured out is to screw the futons right onto the wall. I simply drilled these 7" gutter screws right through the futon, using a large washer to keep the heads of the screws from ripping through the fabric. I had wood paneling to work with, I don't know if this would work too well with sheetrock (although if you used anchors it would work). But this was a really quick method, and keeps the futon flush to the wall to save space.
Cheers,
Leigh
A shot of the first method of hanging:
Futons are great because 1) they're thick, 2) they're cheap (often free from vacating students or housemates) and 3) they're hopefully treated to be fire retardant, although this seems to depend on state laws, so please research this for your area!
One con with futons is that they're a bit awkward, and they're not rigid enough to stand up on their own like a mattress. Here are two methods I've discovered for mounting futons:
The first method is a hanging approach, as you can kind of see in the photo below. For that room, we sewed two loops of heavy nylon webbing onto one end of the futon, and then hung it from the ceiling joists with heavy open eye-bolts. This is great if you're trying to partition a room, but the sewing is a pain (heavy canvas) and if you need ceiling joists to work with.
Another method I recently figured out is to screw the futons right onto the wall. I simply drilled these 7" gutter screws right through the futon, using a large washer to keep the heads of the screws from ripping through the fabric. I had wood paneling to work with, I don't know if this would work too well with sheetrock (although if you used anchors it would work). But this was a really quick method, and keeps the futon flush to the wall to save space.
Cheers,
Leigh
A shot of the first method of hanging:
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- ghost haunting audio students
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Now you just need a nice selection of different colored fitted sheets so you can change the color of the room with your moods or with the nature of the band that's in to record. Black for metal, pink for bubble-gum pop, tie-die for hippie jam bands, white for Christian rock, red velvet for goth bands, purple velvet in case Prince shows up... the possibilities are endless.
-Jeremy
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You should write an article about that or something.leigh wrote:Actually, not a bad idea. Esp. since the three naked futons I have up were donated and, let's just say, they've been well-used...
"Jeweller, you've failed. Jeweller."
"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno
All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/
"Lots of people are nostalgic for analog. I suspect they're people who never had to work with it." ? Brian Eno
All the DWLB music is at http://dwlb.bandcamp.com/
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Great idea!
I doubt that the futons have been treated for fire retardance, and in any case they'd be rated for laying flat instead of hanging - fire spreads more quickly up a vertical surface. But on the other hand cotton is kind of hard to burn, and you could use a fire-retardant fabric as a covering.
I'd try rolling one up, maybe around a 2x4, and standing it up in the corner for a bass trap.
I doubt that the futons have been treated for fire retardance, and in any case they'd be rated for laying flat instead of hanging - fire spreads more quickly up a vertical surface. But on the other hand cotton is kind of hard to burn, and you could use a fire-retardant fabric as a covering.
I'd try rolling one up, maybe around a 2x4, and standing it up in the corner for a bass trap.
This seems to be an issue for state laws, but some mattresses and futons have been treated with boric acid to make them fire retardant. California has fairly rigorous legal standards, for example. But good point about the difference between a flat and a vertical futon. Proceed with caution!Scodiddly wrote:I doubt that the futons have been treated for fire retardance, and in any case they'd be rated for laying flat instead of hanging - fire spreads more quickly up a vertical surface. But on the other hand cotton is kind of hard to burn, and you could use a fire-retardant fabric as a covering.
Leigh
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