alternative room treatments (no foam, acoustic panels, etc.)

[cardinal]

I'm interested in any links or pics of studios with alternative room treatments. There have been several tapeop articles about musicians recording in subpar acoustic spaces, ie Of Montreal and the recent Sufjan Stevens article. Also the Rick Rubin projects recorded in his house with just a mic and blankets hanging from the walls ie, Johnny Cash.

Any more ideas about room treatment ideas that DO NOT look like studio geekery. I'm think plants, sculptures, old wooden cabinets...things like that.
Thanks!

[mjau]

Bookshelves filled with books work great, and look oh so savvy.

[norton]

a couch can be a bass trap.

pretty much anything with 3 dimensions can diffuse sound. or scatter it at least.

I'm down with going out of the ordinary, big time. But sooner or later you very likely will, find yourself needing to use a little rigid fiberglass or rockwool wrapped in some sort of fabric.

Or you might save a lot of trouble by addressing your biggest problem with a targeted weapon... like a tuned bass trap or corner traps etc..

and then use "non-studio-standard trickery" for the rest of your space?

[Snarl 12/8]

You can hide rigid fiberglass, etc., behind an acoustically transparent painting/picture/pattern. Looks like extra thick art, helps you make your art.

Also, it seems like, given the right circumstances, you could treat the fuck out of your ceiling. Get rid of the dry wall up there and stuff good stuff between the joists, then cover with fabric. No one ever looks up and then you'd need less elsewhere.

[Brian]

Curtains, heavy ceiling to floor curtains, a PILE of dirty clothes on the floor, Couches, bean bag chair bass trap, bookshelves, cd shelves, ceiling full of pinyatas, animals, roaches, dirt.
Sorry, but the avatar is giving me epileptic seizures.

ourfgw34t99'

See!

[JWL]

All these strategies will help (to varying degrees) at high frequencies.

The problem is bass, because these suggestions won't do much at bass frequencies, and that's where most small rooms need the most help.

One quickie for bass trapping, stack unopened, still sealed in plastic rolls of fiberglass insulation in corners.

[Snarl 12/8]

All these strategies will help (to varying degrees) at high frequencies.

The problem is bass, because these suggestions won't do much at bass frequencies, and that's where most small rooms need the most help.

One quickie for bass trapping, stack unopened, still sealed in plastic rolls of fiberglass insulation in corners.

I thought we had the couch covering those duties? I was going to suggest padding out the couch with extra absorbtion somehow. Like you could put a little couch skirt on it and cram a bunch of fiberglass under it. I think that might really increase its effectiveness as a bass trap. Also, you'd want a couch with solid cushions, not spring loaded mattress-like dealie bobbers.

[Brian]

All these strategies will help (to varying degrees) at high frequencies.

The problem is bass, because these suggestions won't do much at bass frequencies, and that's where most small rooms need the most help.

One quickie for bass trapping, stack unopened, still sealed in plastic rolls of fiberglass insulation in corners.

My bud, Bluesman, used cellulose insulation bales and he was amazed.

[kayagum]

Mobile clothes racks, whether they have panels or clothes hanging on them, could work as movable baffles.

Most cool studio control room shots I've seen have bookcases serving as diffusors... Joel's Studio G and the late great Third Ear studio (Minneapolis) both had them. I trust the books were bought used, otherwise they may be just as expensive as those fancy schmancy quadratic diffusors

[JWL]

A couch could work somewhat as a bass trap, depending on what material it's made of, and where it's placed in the room.

Books on shelves are NOT providing diffusion, though they will break up sound somewhat. Diffusion is a specific mathematical sequence involving precise well depths, etc. that will scatter sound evenly in all directions, so even if it were possible set up the books to follow such a sequence, if one book gets moved out of place it won't work as a diffusor anymore. For more on this, see our video, All About Diffusion.

[Brian]

I didn't know you worked with Ethan. Sweet. Hey books will break up sound somewhat, but, they can absorb a little too, diffusion, I'll go with you on breaking it up a little, but, this isn't about pro products like Real Trapz, it's about cowboying a studio together in a spandex wrestling suit.

[jesse_baccus]

are looking to make permanent fixes, or are you outfitting a temporary space?

you can always embed bass traps (not bass absorbers, like the couch) into your walls fairly easily, also helmholtz resonators.

if you have some artificial foliage, you can replace the styrofoam or fake dirt with sand.

also, by knowing where the rooms' weaknesses are you can do less to do more, go-go-gadget-signal-generator!

[KennyLusk]

A couch could work somewhat as a bass trap, depending on what material it's made of, and where it's placed in the room.

Books on shelves are NOT providing diffusion, though they will break up sound somewhat. Diffusion is a specific mathematical sequence involving precise well depths, etc. that will scatter sound evenly in all directions, so even if it were possible set up the books to follow such a sequence, if one book gets moved out of place it won't work as a diffusor anymore. For more on this, see our video, All About Diffusion.

What?

Why does everything have to be so scientific with some people? Good grief man. I don't mean to sound like a jerk but that's kind of a constipated response.

Also, yes, plants are nice. It's not so much the plant that helps but the soil in the pot can absorb bass freq's.

Couches as bass traps...totally. Especially futon's with a dense cellulose mattress. And wood is excellent at absorbing across the entire freq spectrum.

If you can afford it, it's nice to supplement decorum with acoustic panels and "bass traps" placed in strategic places but there's a whole lot you can do furniture and home deco stuff.

Some people are into all the math and calculations and that's a beautiful thing. But if you're not, don't worry about it. Alternatives are just as effective. A lot of people that disagree are selling something...and usually they're selling acoustic treatment - imagine that.

Remember, some of the most famous recordings in history were recorded during a time when quadratic acoustics and quadratic residue diffusion wasn't mainstream at all.

Everybody has books...buy some wall shelves and put your books on the shelves...voila, instant diffusors. Everything you put in your room affects the acoustics. It's not a Skywalker studio, right?

[Brian]

I use drapes and "junk"
It seems to work fine.

[JWL]

Kenny, you are quite right that everything you do in a room will affect the acoustics. Books and shelves will definitely change the sound from a bare wall.

But the question is, how much will it change the sound? And will it improve or degrade the sound? That's why I pointed to the video, because there we compare a bare wall to a diffusor to a bookshelf to absorption, to see how different they all sound. And they do sound different.

Common items (couches etc) can work as absorbers. It's easy to absorb sound, pretty much any soft, porous material will have some absorption at high frequencies. But getting absorption at low frequencies is harder, it requires a lot of absorptive material generally.

It'd be interesting to test a couch or a pot full of soil or sand in an acoustics lab to see how much absorption there is across the frequency spectrum. Then we'd have a better answer.... or perhaps that's science constipating my mind again....

In the meantime, do whatever you can to improve your sound. And if you can, real bass traps, broadband absorbers, and diffusors will improve your sound the most.