Making your own baffles/gobos

[SonicReducer]

I did some searching online and in this forum, and i cant seem to find anything good on making your own baffles. I have a terrible room to record in so id like to keep the sound as dry and direct as possible by using some baffles, but i dont have a lot of cash. Anyone have tips on making baffles out of the cheapest possible stuff.

Im good with my hands too, so building/woodworking whatever wont be a problem, its just getting the materials and not spending money, and maybe using stuff i can find around the house?

Any help would be awesome, thanks.

[Z MINOR SOUND]

I picked up 6 used office cubicle partition/gobos at my local land fill's store called "the last chance mercantile" for 2 bucks a piece. 12 bucks can't beat it. They are roughly 6'x4' and you can drape moving pads on them to deaden them up even more if needed.

You might try to save yourself some time and money and seek out some used ones.

[syrupcore]

for amps just draping a moving blanket over the amp/mic combo should do it. If you're just recording yourself, you can use the same blanket and a couple of tall boom stands to make an temporary vocal booth as well. that's what I do for voice over stuff. funny looking but it works for me. hard to get cymbals to ring out properly with the blanket on them though.

[kevin_soda]

A friend of mine built two baffels out of the ends of an old bed frame. They work great and they were really easy to build. This would probably work best if the bed frame ends are rectangular...obviously. First he took one end of the bed frame and attached a piece of sheet rock/drywall to it using drywall screws. This particular piece was kind of built like a latter with a few horizontal pieces with spaces between them. In these spaces he applied insulation and covered the open side with another piece of drywall. To get a reflective side and a dead side he applied (I don't really know what to call it) the stuff that people put under carpets, not the old stuff that they used use but the stuff that's like dense foam. To finish, he put on 12" feet and put casters on those. The baffels ended up about 4' tall, 3' wide, and 6" thick. They work quite well and he only paid about $50 for the supplies. You can also use cubicle walls. I've seen them on the Craigslist a few times. Good luck.

[SonicReducer]

thanks... ive found the blanket thing to work pretty well in the past, but i dont seem to have anything thick enough to do a real good job of absorbing. Are there any materials that you know of that are easy to find that absorb really well, something i could just stick to a frame like the one mentioned in the post before me?

[tenchijin2.]

Buy some 1x2's, build a frame, put mineral wool inside it, then wrap the whole thing in muslin. YOu can lean them against walls, hang them on nails, whatever you want. Build a fort.

My website has some pics of this sort of thing:

www.junglenoisestudio.com

[curtiswyant]

Buy some 1x2's, build a frame, put mineral wool inside it, then wrap the whole thing in muslin. YOu can lean them against walls, hang them on nails, whatever you want. Build a fort.

My website has some pics of this sort of thing:

www.junglenoisestudio.com

I basically did mine like this. I made a 1x2 frame about 6ft by 2ft, cut rockwool to fit and secured it with a few trim nails, then wrapped in burlap. I paired a couple with hinges so they would be freestanding.

[Smitty]

Buy some 1x2's, build a frame, put mineral wool inside it, then wrap the whole thing in muslin. YOu can lean them against walls, hang them on nails, whatever you want. Build a fort.

My website has some pics of this sort of thing:

www.junglenoisestudio.com

i did mine like this as well. my panels were only 2'x4', so i used thinner wood slats and braced them across one side. but they're holding up well, including some hung from eye hooks.

[Judas Jetski]

Build a fort.

HA!

[littlepokey]

There s a thread that talks about this (sorta) here...

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... c&&start=0

[centurymantra]

I've built a bunch of acoustic panels in a fashion similar to a couple previous posts. Basically, a 2x4 frame stuffed with mineral wool and covered with musilin or cotton fabric will do the trick. I scored on a whole roll of Guilford fabric, but muslin works OK (but looks like ass). I'd suggest a nice cotton fabric which shouldn't cost much more than muslin. Some people recommend burlap, but keep in mind that this stuff sheds and stinks for a long while...and possibly will cause some sinus/allergy flare-ups. A nice touch on those panels is to finish off the edges with some of the nice pine trim. You can see some pics on my website that sorta show you what mine look like. Keep in mind that an actual "gobo" is something that blocks sound. For this you need some kind of barrier. Something like those office panels (which work OK BTW) usually have a solid barrier (some kind of aluminum maybe?) with insulation on either side. You could maybe nail a piece of wood across one side of the acoustic panels, which would also add a reflective side that could come in handy. I bought a roll of mass loaded vinyl, glued it to some tectum panels (another decent cheap acoustic material), stuck some mineral wool on top of the vinyl and framed them in. Note....these are HEAVY. Lots of things one can do.

[Smitty]

speaking of shedding, etc., keep in mind when putting these together that 3M Super 77 Spray adhesive is your friend. a light coating on the material before putting the fabric over it will help hold it together AND help keep the fibers in place.

also, work with this stuff outdoors, with a mask and some gloves. safety first, kids!

[veedub242]

I bought 2x3's (i think? the boards that are a bit skinner than a 2x4) I built a frame 8' long 4' tall and the braces were spaced 2' apart. I choose 2' because you can buy insulation in rolls that are 24" wide. I then stapled the paper backed insulation into the frame. 4 insulation pieces total. then, The best deal I could find on fabric is Painters Drop Canvas from Menards. The canvas is durable, Off white in color, Looks nice, Does not smell bad and costs only 10 bucks for a 9'x12' piece. Enough to do 2 8x4 panels.I then took the canvas and stretched and stapled it to the frame. I have 8 of these panels in a 30x20x14 foot high cement room with carpet. Does the trick wonderfully and cheap.