Pics of my Bass Traps

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Rockstar Vatican Assassin
Member Since: Mar 20, 2009

I recently just finished building 10 custom bass traps for my studio. I stole the idea from a "soundonsound.com" SOS article. The design essentially takes your standard acoustic foam and glues it to a frame filled with rockwool. The frame is 6" depth while the rockwool is only 3" depth, so it leaves about a 2" air pocket behind it. For the money, not too bad. Here's a breakdown of the cost.

(12) 2'x4' Rockwool: $44 (Sheetrock supply store)
(12) 2'x4' Acoustic Baffles: $127 (eBay)
(8) 6"x1" x16 ft Pine Board: $76 (Lumber supply store)
(10) pkg L Brackets: $25 (Home Depot)
(1) Box 24-pk Wall Hangars: $5 (Home Depot)
(6) pkg 25-ft Framing Wire: $15 (Craft Store)

Total: $292 (or $29 ea. which is pretty damn good!!)

10 frames


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5535054/Studio/IMAG0395.jpg



Rear of frame (L brackets, eye hooks, and framing wire)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5535054/Studio/IMAG0397.jpg



Front of frame (Acoustic foam spray glued to rockwool)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5535054/Studio/IMAG0396.jpg



http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5535054/Studio/IMAG0400.jpg



Frames mounted on walls (wall anchors, hooks)

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5535054/Studio/IMAG0401.jpg

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http://www.unitedmusicians.info
Contributor
Since: Nov 11, 2007


Oct 30, 2011 02:44 pm

Awesome! I built my frames out of drywall beading and pop rivets to leave the sides of the trap exposed, but I am a little concerned about durability. It looks great/uniform now that it's wrapped in cotton batting, but the drywall beading I used is pretty flimsy. How do you like your room now?

Pinnipedal Czar (: 3=
Member
Since: Apr 11, 2004


Oct 31, 2011 12:18 pm

Dead sexy, bud!

Rockstar Vatican Assassin
Member
Since: Mar 20, 2009


Oct 31, 2011 06:10 pm

Thanks guys.... you can check out all my pics of the newly rebuilt studio space on my FB page: Rott3n R3cordings.

www.facebook.com/pages/Ro...1938685?sk=info

MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Oct 31, 2011 10:14 pm

Quote:
I built my frames out of drywall beading and pop rivets to leave the sides of the trap exposed, but I am a little concerned about durability.


It's a good thing --

Hippie, if you have the gumption at some point, I'd highly recommend using a router or something and taking at least 50% of the mass off the sides. Rout out 1" diagonal 45 degree lines every inch or less. The effectiveness of the trap will go up considerably...

Had some traps like that (wood sides) a long time ago -- Needed dozens just to make a reasonable dent in the room. Had better results from 6 "GIK-type" (drywall bead corners and a rear-only frame) units.

If you removed a bunch of that wood and staple some black cotton duck or something inside the frame, I'd bet it'd look pretty damn sharp also... And (more importantly), they'll work much better.

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Nov 01, 2011 12:57 pm

Quote:
Awesome! I built my frames out of drywall beading and pop rivets to leave the sides of the trap exposed, but I am a little concerned about durability. It looks great/uniform now that it's wrapped in cotton batting, but the drywall beading I used is pretty flimsy. How do you like your room now?


This is how I am going to build mine as well. Quick and easy too. Going to wrap them in fabric afterwards. May even thread some wire through them to help increase the rigidness. Probably going to use part of a t-bar ceiling to use as the foundation for a cloud.

Rockstar Vatican Assassin
Member
Since: Mar 20, 2009


Nov 01, 2011 01:30 pm

Thanks for the feedback, MM..... but I can assure you that isn't going to happen!! LOL!!! I got too much work into them now to think about deconstructing them already. I'd manage to screw it up somehow!!!

I am by no means a sound expert and nor will I doubt what you're saying isn't true; but from my personal tests, the level of echo/reverb in the room is dramatically lower (I have 10 of these things, 2 being portable!!). Before I hung them up, I was clapping really hard in the room to gauge the amount of echo. Now, its virtually absent. So I'll run with what I got for now.

The authors of this article didn't really imply "side-mass" was going to be that much of an issue as compared to the woods reflective properties. However, they did make note that drilling holes along the edges will get sound to the back of the panel more easily). Is that what your suggestion would do? I may go that route if anything; holes are a lot easier to pull off than routing diagonals!! What I didn't get out of the article is how big the holes should be. Anyone?

www.soundonsound.com/sos/...diosos_0706.htm

MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Nov 01, 2011 09:16 pm

Big. And you want to drill out somewhere around 50% of the mass of the wood. Maybe a hole saw (to drill out doorknobs) and really go to town on it...

The "clap" echo would be gone just from the Auralex. That's very little (VERY LITTLE) energy, in very high frequencies.

95% of the problematic energy you need to absorb is far below that --

http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Nov 02, 2011 01:39 am

mine have big *** holes in em, does make the difference, from floor to roof in the corners.

They look good man.

Rockstar Vatican Assassin
Member
Since: Mar 20, 2009


Nov 02, 2011 10:09 am

Well, I do have a doorknob hole cutter. But at this point I'm wondering if I should just skill-saw a giant chunk out of the sides to create a bracket look... like this: ] (side view, if you will).

Would that be an easier approach or do I still want some mass on the sides to actually trap lower frequencies? In my head, I envision if I did this to both sides (i.e.. just cut out a giant chunk from the center of each side panel), the sound waves would simply pass through both sides without actually being "trapped," if you will.

@Dematrix: You happen to have pics to reference?

MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Nov 02, 2011 11:19 am

Quote:
or do I still want some mass on the sides to actually trap lower frequencies


Ideally, you want NOTHING -- That's why most traps have no sides (or if they're really heavy-duty -- RealTraps for example -- the sides are very lightweight but durable and heavily perforated).

It's the "passing through" that makes the broadband panel effective.

The "bracket" thing seems like a nice idea to get air behind the fibers... Keeping in mind that I'm not an expert on such things, the more effective panels I know have "trapped air" behind the fiber material while the material itself is more or less out in the open.

To that end, if you cut the "bracket" out of the front -- just leaving corners and maybe a "tab" or two on the sides to hold the fiber material in, you'd be stylin'. Although you'd have to use cloth or something to cover the exposed material on the sides...

Rockstar Vatican Assassin
Member
Since: Mar 20, 2009


Nov 02, 2011 11:25 am

I see what you're saying. For whatever reason, I was under the impression that by leaving a 2" air pocket behind the rockwool, I was creating the trap (i.e... sound to move around between the wall and the rockwool). But now it seems like the real trick is to have low frequencies smack the rockwool directly by having more of it exposed.

In my attempts to find bass traps with holes, I ran into this website. Seems like its right on point with what you guys are saying about perforated boards (Big holes, and lots of them). And indeed, I'd have to revisit my own traps and wrap the rockwool in some material since the rockwool would be exposed. Breathing fiberglass is fun though... so maybe I'll just drill holes and call it a day (ahahaha!!).

www.stadtkind.biz/bass-trap-building/


http://stadtkind.biz/BasstrapPhotos/Images/7.jpg


www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Nov 02, 2011 12:30 pm

I was thinking of doing something like this. Basically I would just be hanging them off the wall on posts. They would be wrapped in fabric so that they would have a finished look and would appear as just a block spaced out from the wall.


http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n297/Beerhunter341/absorber-1.jpg


Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Nov 02, 2011 12:35 pm

BH, I am thinking about doing that same thing in my theater on a couple walls to trap some bass, I like that design and have seen it in studios...space it out from the wall like 3 or 4 inches to trap the bass behind it...

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Nov 02, 2011 12:42 pm

Seems like a design that would maximize the absorption. It would also make it fairly light. I would be wrapping them in red fabric to match the rest of the studio theme.

MASSIVE Mastering, LLC
Member
Since: Aug 05, 2008


Nov 02, 2011 03:01 pm

Hippie -- Haven't seen that particular design, but that's the ticket. You could staple cloth to the inside of the frame to make it purty. Chamois would look really cool...

BH -- Seen that one... Nifty and easy to hang. That same drywall-bead can be used to "frame" the shape also.

(EDIT) -- Checked out the rest of that trap-building post... Cool.

http://www.reverbnation.com/2ndg
Member
Since: Nov 27, 2007


Nov 03, 2011 01:14 am

hippie,
Mine are pretty much the same as the ones in your last pic there.
not as many holes tho, and not dlooied up with varnish and ****.

mine go right to the roof. in each corner and in one corner i have a real tight one thats made of a giant cardboard roll, like the ones you find aluminum rolls but big size, like 400mmm dia size big, hole sawed and stuffed full of rockwool. cut in halves first of course so it sits on the wall in the corner.

Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Nov 04, 2011 03:17 am

Definitely considering building some of those if/when we ever move into a bigger place (hopefully some place with a nice finished basement or something someday)

But yeah, the site Hippie posted was definitely what stuck in my mind when the doorknob drill was mentioned.

Luckily, my wife's father does woodworking, so I can get him to build me the frames once I get to the point where I have a room big enough for them. I'm no good at sewing, so I'll probably just get creative with the staple gun. ^_^ As always, my tiny apartment is full of bookshelves and desks and such from both me and my wife, so I've got no room to hang anything up, much less bass traps :( So this will definitely be a future venture.

I think we've got maybe a year or a year and a half left here in Iowa. Our next location will depend on which University my wife goes to continue in her field of research (facial pain, including headaches) Hopefully we can consider a nice condo or a larger townhouse or something when we move. :) Just depends on which University/State we end up in.

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