dense rubber in bass traps?

[chris harris]

So, the whole studio is pretty much finished except for Control Room B.

We've got enough 703 panels to treat about 3/4 of the room. But, we're out of 703 and way over budget. We were considering making some panels out of some extra material we have left over from other parts of the build.

We've got several 4'x6' sheets of dense rubber. It's 3/4" thick and heavy as hell. Looks like it's made from recycled tires or something... We've also got tons of expensive acoustic ceiling tiles left over from making clouds.

If we were to build some panels with rubber in the back, covered by the ceiling tiles, and then wrapped in fabric and installed in a frame, would this provide any benefit for bass trapping? Is there any way that the rubber will actually create any problems that we haven't considered?

Thanks for your help!

Chris

[chris harris]

I should also add that the plan for these new panels will be to treat the ENTIRE back 1/4 of the room, floor to ceiling.

[JWL]

I'm not sure using rubber will help you. I don't know if it has any sound absorptive properties, my guess is that it absorbs some but not much.

It also might impede air from moving through the trap, which will render the trap much less effective, esp. at lower frequencies.

How much 703 do you have? ie, how many sheets, of what thickness?

I doubt if you want to uniformly cover the entire control room. You will be better off using thicker panels (at least 4") in corners, and thinner panels (2" or even 1") at reflection points.

If you give more detail about the room (size, layout etc) and exaclty how much 703 you have left, I can make more specific suggestions.
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[TapeOpLarry]

I would also guess that the rubber wouldn't be worth hanging up. Ethan Winer has some bass trap plans on his site that can be built for cheap - I did so at Jackpot! when we moved.

http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html

PS: this should be posted in the Making a Space forum, but I moderate both so no prob.
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[TapeOpLarry]

I would also guess that the rubber wouldn't be worth hanging up. Ethan Winer has some bass trap plans on his site that can be built for cheap - I did so at Jackpot! when we moved.

http://www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html

PS: this should be posted in the Making a Space forum, but I moderate both so no prob.
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Larry Crane, Editor/Founder Tape Op Magazine
please visit www.tapeop.com for contact information
(do not send private messages via this board!)
www.larry-crane.com

[JWL]

Ethan's bass trap plans linked above are good, but taken from that article itself:

[chris harris]

Thanks guys. And, I'm sorry about posting in the wrong forum.... I realized it right after I did it. Feel free to move it.

I've actually got enough traps made already to treat the wall to wall corners from floor to ceiling, first reflection points, and the wall to ceiling corners. I think that we'll be ok.

Thanks guys!

[Snarl 12/8]

That heavy rubber might be useful for under amps, monitor speakers, drum platform etc. You could use that shit to tighten up bass and imaging that way?
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Carl Keil