Acoustic Treatment: What's the Difference and How to DIY

ok this is probably more like a journal entry cuz i just spent the last 3 days breaking my back making these bad boys. they are 6’ high and they cover pretty much my entire wall.

so at some point producers begin to ask themselves the value of acoustic panels, whether or not it’s worth the investment and what kind of difference in sound they expect to hear. i’d say when you’re just creating music and/or you have someone to go to for mixing and mastering, treatment isn’t all that necessary. lots of great music has been made on a shit ass laptop with a pair of airpods and was never taken to an engineer at all. but it is useful to hear the clarity that a treated room provides especially if you are into mixing and mastering or simply need to hear every crevice of what’s going on in your music. 

for those just producing it might not matter at all, but to those where it really matters (especially for mixing and mastering) the difference in even the material alone is like night and day. rest assured if it’s not within your budget or just don’t want to spend the time making them - great mixes can still come out of a shitbox. i’ve heard some of my favorite producers who are also very technically inclined either don’t have a treated room or do their masters in beats headphones. while a good listening environment doesn’t have a direct relationship to good mixes, it does play a big factor in how easy it is to spot issues in a mix, so the process may just take longer the more imperfect an environment you are in.

speaking of, what is the difference? those who have a treated room may notice the following:

• reduced standing waves: if you do a sine wave sweep in the audible hearing range, you are able to hear all frequencies more evenly. before i upgraded, i had an issue with a standing wave at 93hz, and I was not able to hear anything going on in that frequency. having a larger coverage with thicker panels and gaps in between the walls pretty much removed that issue for me.

• tighter bass: low end is probably the toughest beast to tame acoustically. i have to describe bass in an untreated room as floppy or loose. in other words, the bass tends to linger (resonate) in the room for a few milliseconds after the speakers have stopped playing sound. this becomes an issue when trying to monitor kicks and basslines. 

• more accurate transients: in the same light as the note above, you can hear clicks and pops a lot easier in a treated room. transients in an untreated room feel a bit more smoothened out and loose like described above.

• ambients in the mix feel more enhanced: i typically find myself mixing ambient sounds a lot quieter in the mix now than i would in an untreated room.

• better imaging: because early reflections are treated, you can place sounds in the stereo field more accurately.

other than room constraints, budget seems to be the biggest factor for most when treating a room - with the right materials that is, $25 per sq ft. is not cheap and they go up to $40 and above for rockwool panels. 

my first set of acoustic panels covered most of my walls for about $120 bucks (42 sq ft). it was foam that you’d have to glue on the wall (or a surface). it served me well and certainly reduced echo and reverberation, but over a few studio upgrades i felt the panels were becoming a bottleneck especially for what i was doing (i also didn’t like the feeling i was relying on cheap material for quality of sound, and the NRC rating wasn’t that great either).

i started eye shopping for some, getting quotes like $2k for just a handful of panels that covered one side of the wall. what i ended up deciding was to hit up home depot with my wife and get the materials, and i spent under $550 (including taxes AND leftover material) to cover most of every wall (132 sq ft). Here was my buy-list:

• For the frames: 20ish 8ft planks (1”x4”). I was recommended pine, but we ended up just going with common wood or something cheaper.

• Sound proofing material: 3 packs of Safe 'n' Sound 3 in. x 15-1/4 in. x 47 in. Soundproofing and Fire Resistant Stone Wool Insulation Batt (59.7 sq. ft.)

• To hold the sound proofing material: 1 roll of 4ft x 100ft landscaping fabric

• 17ish yards of Gabardine fabric

these are the tools i used, which of course would make the overall costs more expensive if i didn’t already have these in hand (unless you can borrow):

• Staple gun (for upholstering the fabrics)

• Drill (for constructing the frames) - a nailgun is also optional but that would also require an air compressor

• Table Saw for cutting the wood

• Fabric scissors for cutting the fabric

• Necessary supplies for these tools:

  • Staples (per staple gun spec)

  • Wood screws and drill bit (make sure you use a reasonable size bit for the screw)

Also rockwool requires some special handling:

• Longsleeve shirt and pants. you do not want to get this on your skin.

• Knife for cutting rockwool.

• Mask while handling rockwool. you shouldn’t breathe this shit in.

• Do not scratch your eyes or touch your face while handling rockwool.

Please research how to handle each of your tools, if you proceed you do so at your own risk and u won’t fkn sue me.

to construct each rectangular panel:

1. Assuming you have more than a couple panels to build, saw a plank for each different length and/or width of your rectangles. You will use this as your reference planks so you don’t have to keep measuring each plank.

2. Saw a plank for each side of your rectangle, using your reference planks for measurements and penciling in a line on where you will saw.

3. Arrange a corner of your rectangle with two planks. The 4” of your plank will be the thickness of the panel. Pre drill two holes going into both planks, then drill screws into both of them to attach the two planks forming an L shape for your corner. Add another plank for the opposite end of your rectangle, pre drill, and screw. Add the last one and repeat the process a last time to complete your rectangle.

4. Make a rear support plank to make it more sturdy.

   1. Place a plank in center of the panel where it is in between and parallel with the shortest sides of the panel. The flat sides should face the front and back, and sit flush at the superficial back of the panel.

   2. Drill bit and screw twice on both ends.

5. Place the panel back side up. Upholster landscaping fabric on the back end of your panel, then place the panel back side down.

6. Place the rockwool inside the panel. You may have to cut some pieces to fit your panel.

7. Upholster landscaping fabric on the front to seal the deal.

8. Upholster desired fabric on the front, but stapling it on the back so that the staples aren’t visible on the front or sides.

Some tips on upholstering:

1. Staple the center of one side or a corner first.

2. Pull until taught the opposite side’s center or corner depending on what u did first. Then staple.

3. Then go to the center of an adjacent side that hasn’t been stapled yet. Pull until taught. If tension fold is visible, you want to make a triangle with it where each side is equally visible - that’s how you can tell there’s equal tension between the three points. Staple.

4. Do the same on the opposite end, forming a square or diamond with your tension if visible.

5. Work in the same manner for stapling midpoints between each staple.

6. Repeat until you think there are enough staples.

And there u have it, panels! I have them standing on the floor as opposed to being hung on the wall. I could make feet/wheels for them but they are currently balanced between wall and furniture/gear. If you want them hung on the wall, you can use french cleats, but you’ll probably need different hardware if you want a gap between the panels and the walls. For clouds you’ll need to install anchors that go into studs of your ceilings (not drywall unless you want it to fall), and hooks on your panels so that you can attach them.

If u think that’s bullshit and you need help with panels and you’re in southern california just hit me up, my wife and i are thinking about making some more for sale.