John Sayers' Recording Studio Design Forum

Hello all,
Question: could ceiling tile be used in place of the preferred choice or Auralex studio foam and Audimute sound absorption panels? Just wanted to know if this 'less expensive' choice is a good alternative for a household on a very limited budget. (photos of panels and room configuration are included).
I have a room recording studio for myself, primarily songwriting and spoken word:
yamaha 16g (16channel hard disc recorder), m-audio bx5a reference speakers, 2 types of mic pres , ada mp-1 (effects preamp for guitar), 2 guitars (Ovation acoustic/electric and Fender strat), Acoustic 60watt amp, 2 type of condenser mics (akg 420 and Sterling ST55) and 2 yamaha keyboards (mm6 and dx7).
My room is small, 8x10 with 9 foot ceiling. I needed sound absorption on the walls as they are very hard, similar to plaster board; not dry wall (60yr old house). I constructed six 24”x48” panels using acoustic ceiling tile purchased from the local home improvement store. I built the frames using the instructions I found on this forum posted by 'studio-drum'.

My apologies. the most important item was overlooked in my zeal to post a question.
Read The Posting Rules. Newbie here (no excuse for not Reading the Rules).

thanks for reading ...
remor

while ceiling tiles are not generally as effective as deeper rigid insulation, you could try spanning some across your corners and space them out (~4-6in) from the walls. this should help take advantage of whatever absorption they do provide. you could make a few more for the ceiling and hang them down (~1-2ft) and angled. for the corners you could add some additional rigid insulation or packed pink insulation to increase the absorption there.

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Glenn

thank you gullfo for the detailed suggestion.
i must say your diagram was more than helpful. I must be mindful of how much i can add and leave walk-in space for the room and not get my wife p'd off.

you mentioned 'deeper rigid insulation'.
i see it can be purchased online from various sites. can this type of absorption material also be purchased from a home improvement center? if so, what type or brand that is currently available? my local home center does not have the Owens-Corning 703 i've seen mention in this forum.

I had the ceiling tile left-over from a basement ceiling project. seem like a good choice at the time. I can tell a slight differenct in the room.
I will search the forum for more information ...

gulfo, thanks again

remor

OC 703 is sold by HVAC, refrigeration , suppliers like SPI. Look in the yellow pages phone book. It is generically 3 lb/ft^3 fiberglas and 4 lb/ft^3 mineral wool.

Andre

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Good studio building is 90% design and 10% construction

i found where to purchase OC703 locally.
now that i have the acoustic ceiling tile affixed to my frames with 'liquid nails', can i lay the OC703 on top of the ceiling tile with any sound absorption benefit? or should i toss the ceiling and the frames and start over with the OC703?
i'm a 'cheap' old man who doesn't want to destroy any hard work and waste money.

thoughts ...
... they have been good so far

--
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
minds.” - Albert Einstein

you could lay the 703 on the back of the tile units and cover the whole unit with cloth to finish. this keeps the insulation from shedding and floating around and can look nice to boot. treat the cloth with a fire retardant (or buy fire retardant treated cloth).

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Glenn

Again, Thanks gullfo for the encouragement and suggestions.
I'm a cheap, sob. didn't want to waste time, money and effort since I was off to what seem a 'go start'.
Now I can purchase the material with a pattern or design I like and not the plain colors offered at various sites.

... maybe its time I post a photo ...

Follow-up to previous sound absorption posting for acoustic panels ...
Thank you everyone for the fab postings.
I was able to build several acoustic panels for my small home studio, which my wife actually like.
Her approval is most important.
I was able to purchase 9 pieces of John's Manville 814, 24"x48"x2" fiber board for $70.00 USD from SPI.
The company delivered the material to a local SPI site in my area. I purchased bulk burlap from Joann's Fabric, 20yds for $60.00USD and 9yds of micromesh for $18.00 USD. I build some frames following studio_drums instructions posted Mar 05, 2008. The lumber from Home Depot to build 9 frames cost close to $25.00 USD.

With 9 pieces of John's Manville 814, 24"x48"x2" fiber board, I cut 3 of the boards in half to make 6 12"x48"x2" panels.
I included the photos of the new look of my home studio. An earlier posting contains the before shot with panels made from 24"x48 ceiling tiles.
Take a look and share your thoughts.

The room sounds much better.
Oh yeah, I used one corner of my room to configure a vocal booth using acoustic panels.

looks great! later when you budget permits, add some across the corner in front of your desk and some small ones across the corners over the doors and vox panels.

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Glenn

Question to ...
Now that I have installed the acoustic panels I am rethinking the size and placement of the panels.
Is it necessary for brass trap panels to be 24"x48"x2"? for what purpose?
Can a 12"x48"x2" bass trap panel function just as well?
In from of my mixing desk (behind the speakers) I have two (2) 24"x48"x2" in landscape orientation, that meet in the corner. I'm thinking of changing this out for 12"x48"x2" colums and stacking two (2) 24"x48"x2" panels in the corner, from floor to ceiling to serve as a bass trap. However, If stacking two (2) 12"x48"x2" columns in the same manner I can save on some real estate behind the desk.
let me know our thoughts ...

spanning the corner will be better than what you have now since there will be an air space behind them (or you can fill ala super chunk) and they cover then entire corner including tri-corners where they should be more efficient.

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Glenn

so, I can span the corner with either 12"x48"x2" or 24"x48"x2" panels for bass traps.
it sounds like having a pocket of air behind the panel(s) is important for the bass frequencies.

I think i got a weekend project; redesigning the wall in of my desk.

thanks for the support.

use 24x48x4" not 2", if you can put another 12x48x4 behind it as shown.

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Glenn

thanks Glen.

question: do I go from floor to ceiling with this configuration or just use a single use 24x48x4 panel?
I may not have enough room to place a use 24 inch wide panel in front of my desk.
The desk is pretty much stationary due to its size or configuration. it is similar in size and shape as the one in the photo. the center section is facing one corner of the room and is 14" from the corner of the two walls. tight fix i'll say ...

... but, if i could use a use 12x48x4 piece ...

Is there any chance you can re-arrange your room? The layout you have, with your desk and speakers up in a corner, is not ideal at all. There are many things wrong that, acoustically, that could be improved by re-arranging the room. No amount of acoustic treatment can make your current layout sound great.

Maybe if you could post an accurate SketchUp model of your room, showing what things can and cannot be changed, plus several more photos form different angles, we could help you improve that into something that would at least sound reasonable, acoustically.

- Stuart -

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I want this studio to amaze people. "That'll do" doesn't amaze people.