Jump to content

How do you mount sound isolation material without wrecking the walls?


Recommended Posts

  • Members

I live at my parents home and have a room that is 14x16 with 9 feet of hight. I already bought a portable vocal booth from Ethan (Real Traps) but you can still hear unwanted echo. I want to build some bass traps like Nero1st with corners filled with (OC703) but my utmost importance is vocals. I have the API 2AD, Avalon U5, Rode NTK, Oktava MK-319 modded, and Ethan from Real Traps portable vocal booth. My room is pretty big for a tracking room for vocals unless someone has a great idea how to sound treat my vocals the fullest without tearing the foam pad and panels and scewing up my walls. Any ideas on how to obtain excellent vocal sounds with the API pre's and converters plus both mics I listed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I am pretty sure I covered how I hung mine. It only puts 2 holes in the wall and they are small.


Check that thread again, if they are not there (pics of them being hung) I will repost.

 

Nero,

What about ceiling treatment? I didn't see any pics of that. . Did you just leave them untreated? I see you are very happy with the sound change. I just ordered 24 panels of OC703 covering 196 square feet and plan to put the panels just like your (maybe not cedar wood). But I'm unsure on whether I need to treat the ceiling as well. My room is 14x16. The ceiling is 9 feet. Any insight?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I am pretty sure I covered how I hung mine. It only puts 2 holes in the wall and they are small.


Check that thread again, if they are not there (pics of them being hung) I will repost.

 

Nero,

Did you do anything to treat your ceiling? Two small holes in the wall is no biggie, but I was wondering how people use foam like Auralex with their liquid adhesive without tearing the foam if you need to move it elsewhere. It seems like the glue would wreck the foam and the ceiling/wall. I just purchased 24 of those panels of 1073. It cover 192 square feet. What about ceiling treatments? Nero, what fabric did you use to cover the panels? I see you used Cedar wood. Are these considered bass traps with what you are doing? I'm just learning about acoustics so please bear with my novice experience in acoustics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

You can use plant-hanging hooks in the ceiling...the heavy duty sort, not the little while pot-metal ones. Put four eye hooks in the back frame of the trap, string picture wire down the side and put it up on the hooks. This works perfectly with our panels, but they're only about 15lbs each (the 2" panels).

 

You can use muslin, burlap or any other breathable fabric to cover the panels. There's Guilford of Maine too, but they're a more expensive option.

 

Frank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderators

Nero,

Did you do anything to treat your ceiling? Two small holes in the wall is no biggie, but I was wondering how people use foam like Auralex with their liquid adhesive without tearing the foam if you need to move it elsewhere. It seems like the glue would wreck the foam and the ceiling/wall. I just purchased 24 of those panels of 1073. It cover 192 square feet. What about ceiling treatments? Nero, what fabric did you use to cover the panels? I see you used Cedar wood. Are these considered bass traps with what you are doing? I'm just learning about acoustics so please bear with my novice experience in acoustics.

 

If you use Auralex's adhesive you can peel the foam off at any time without damaging the foam. In fact, it's more a problem of the foam falling off the panels occasionally.

 

I wouldn't put the adhesive on the wall though.

 

I use Auralex MegaLENRDs for bass trapping. Not only do they work better than panels but they don't require any mounting for the vertical wall joints. Just stack them, they're heavy enough to stay in place on their own.

 

And, if someone gets a little rowdy and knocks a stack over, well, it's pretty hard to get hurt by a big chunk of foam.

 

Thin foam gives all foam a bad name. If you're going to bass trap, use MegaLENRDs (not regular LENRDs) for the corners, and Venus Bass Trap for flat areas.

 

Terry D.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

My wall panels are hung from picture frame hooks.

 

My 4'x6' ceiling panel is hung from white cup hooks. There are six of them. A great trick I learned is to hang the panel (using small eye screw on the panel) from the ceiling with cable ties instead of wire or chain. Put a long cable tie through each eye screw on the panel and make a loop with the end pointing to the outside edge. Now hang the panel. Now you can cinch it up to the ceiling and get it nice and tight within an inch or two. Then just snip off the excess cable tie.

 

My 8' bass traps support their own weight by the frame. At the top of each I attached them to the wall: eye screw on the trap, small hook in the wall, cable tie between. Did the same thing cinching up the cable tie to make it tight. Now I can survive an earthquake with those things toppling over and damaging some other gear.

 

Also, the portable vocal booth is cool and if you treat your room you should have no problems. If it's still an issue, hanging a duvet/comforter BEHIND you when you sing will be incredibly effective at cutting out room reflections from the mic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Bass traps are a good idea for any room, but I would start by identifying what you think is "bad" about your vocal sound. I've tracked vocals in rooms with those dimensions without problems.

 

In my considerably smaller room, I'm also using a PVC. Works great, though I've never aspired to have totally ambiance-free vocals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

All of my foam panels are mounted on 20"x40"x1/4" hardboard panels

(cheap $8 masonite from Home Depot, Lowes, etc.)

 

Use 2 standard picture-hanging screws in plastic wallboard anchors.

That can be easily patched or taken down for future painting.

 

Best glue I've found for foam is ARLENE'S FOAMTASTIC... a single $4 bottle will easily do 50squares as you only need a quick squiggle. It looks like white glue but dries to a clear rubbery glue. In 2 years I've had ZERO squares fall.

You can get it at any craft or sewing store...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Terry, which Auralex adhesive were you referring to?

 

I've used the Tubetak before; the stuff that comes in a caulk gun tube, and it held well, but you have to wait for quite a while before it dries enough to support the foam by itself. The Foamtak, which I just used for the first time last night, actually has surprised me so far... it grabs nearly instantly and (at least so far) is holding 4" foam overhead with no problems. At about $20 per can, it's not cheap, but it seems to be working great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Terry, which Auralex adhesive were you referring to?


I've used the Tubetak before; the stuff that comes in a caulk gun tube, and it held well, but you have to wait for quite a while before it dries enough to support the foam by itself. The Foamtak, which I just used for the first time last night, actually has surprised me so far... it grabs nearly instantly and (at least so far) is holding 4" foam overhead with no problems. At about $20 per can, it's not cheap, but it seems to be working great.

 

I use Foamtak in the spray can. It grabs quick, but no matter how much I put on, the foam eventually falls off the Masonite backing board I use - even when mounted vertically on a wall.

 

And eventually isn't all that long. :idk:

 

Terry D.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You would think someone would make a light plastic frame with tack flanges to fit their foam.

 

Good point... but OTOH, it's pretty easy to DIY... just get some thin plywood (1/8" luan or similar) and apply the foam to that, then mount that to the wall with hooks, super grip velcro, screws, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...