Hello all!
This is my DIY attempt with Acoustic Panels.
The look of ready-made acoustic panels might not be to everyone's taste, it definitely wasn't to mine! I was considering alternatives.
The problem I was looking to solve was to cut the flutter echo in the music room.
Online scavenging of text and videos gave me a couple of ideas, and I decided to take the DIY route.
First, I needed something effective, and something aesthetically pleasing, and also something that’ll be in harmony with the existing décor.
I decided on working with 2” Aluminium L-Channels for the frame, as the finishing would be superior, with minimal work, and also keep the weight down.
I went for Triangles as the shape of the frame to keep things interesting.
The smaller triangles are 18” on each side and the bigger triangles are 24” per side.
The frame is lined with canvas to soften the aluminium surface.
The stuffing inside the frame is 32 density sofa foam of 50mm thickness.
The frame is wrapped in Khadi fabric, as it is highly absorbent.
The advantage with this method is that whenever you decide to change the look you can just remove the fabric and wrap a new one around the frame to suit your taste. You cannot do this with the readymade acoustic panels, you’re stuck with it, literally!
I initially wanted to wrap canvas on the frame and paint portraits of my favourite rock stars, in black and white. Painting on the canvas can block the pores, seal them, and negate the whole purpose of the panels, hence dropped the idea. This would’ve been really cool though.
The total cost of this project was less than Rs.4,000/-
Observation:
The echo effect has been minimized, the lower frequencies which previously sounded flabby have been tamed and tightened.
Good separation, minimal overlapping.
I'm missing certain subtle sibilance which I liked, will have to play around with the panels or subtract a few to make them sound just right.
Advice:
You’ll have to be careful in treating the room. Over treating can result in cutting out the liveliness from the music and make the music sound ‘dead’
, in other words, you might lose the reverb effect which is desired to an extent to make music sound desirable.
Alternative DIY Options:
If you’re interested in exploring the DIY route here are some options to consider with regards to making a frame.
- For the ones who are not comfortable with tools, you could buy readymade frames used for art painting (without the canvas), stuff it with sofa foam, wrap fabric on it, and hang it on the wall like a painting. These frames can be had for cheap.
- Another option would be to source pinewood reapers, cut them to size and nail 4 reapers together to make a frame.
- You can also source reapers from your local glass supplier, as the glass is transported to them from the glass factories in rubberwood frames. These reapers can be had for pretty cheap.
- Alternatively, If you can totally boss over a hand wood-cutting machine you can prepare a frame with 8mm plywood (thickness will depend on the size of the frame). This method will be tedious, as cutting plywood in a straight line is an art in itself! The cost could be a little higher for this method, but the advantage will be smooth finished sides.
If driving nails into wood is a challenge you can try the
Bostik No More Nails glue. This thing can hold a train together!
I used the
3M Fast Bond Tape to stick the fabric on the inside of the frame. Strong tape this one. Fabric can be removed and stuck multiple times, no hassle if you want to change the fabric later on.
You can also use a big stape gun,
like this one, to staple the fabric to the wood on the inside. Replacing the fabric would be a challenge with this method.
You can also rotate a square frame to make it into a diamond/rhombus while placing them on the wall, play around with the placing, with different colours and layouts, you’ll have plenty of options to work for you and your room!
Easest Method:
Stick sofa foam on the wall with one-inch sized two-sided tape on the 4 corners of the foam. Stick longer length tape if you’ve no confidence that the tape will hold (RIP painted wall)
Sofa foam comes in a size of 3’x6’, cut them to the desired size first.
Once you’ve stuck the foam, instal curtain rods and just draw a cotton curtain over them! Simple!
@elangoas , I hope I haven’t hijacked your thread. Forgive me if I have. I can move this to a new thread.
