I've been working on my 12x20 music room. The first thing I noticed with most of my treatment in place was an after ring. I believe I have narrowed it down to the ceiling fan in the middle of the room. I hate to remove it, since the fan keeps the room cool when I am not tracking. Putting my hands on the fan doesn't seem to dampen the ring. Anyone else run into this issue? Got an easy solution?

I am also including pics of my treatments so far. The panels are constructed of 2" Owens Corning 705 in a wood frame, and upholstered in polyester batting and burlap. The plaform is 3/4 inch plywood on 2x6's. I still haven't figured out where in the room I will be mixing. Right now, I'm just trying to tighten up the overall acoustics so my instruments will sound better in the room.

Thanks!

Mr. Tracy

The blue blanket covers the opening to a small area that consists of a closet and tiny office area I use for business and administrative stuff. I am probably going to make this end of the room as dead and absorbent as possible.

Here is the other end of the room, where I will probably place a sofa for absorption and some vertical wood blinds in the windows to help with diffusion.

The four burlap covered panels are not attached to anything. I figure I can move them around as needed. The bent sheet of plywood is there for diffusion. There is nothing behind it to keep it from resonating. Should I fix that?


UGH! The clutter! I plan to get rid of the comic book boxes and mess from between the bookshelves and maybe place an old twin mattress there for absorption. The bookshelves have no special treatment and are all the way against the wall.


Here is the only entrance into the room. My wife wants to make me some curtains for the French doors. What kind of material should I choose?

These two corners will most likely be my mixing area. I still need more treatment to dampen this area to that end.

One thing I have not done yet is any ceiling treatment. I am considering getting a set of T'fusors for above the stage.

You should dampen the poly. It actually might be giving you the ringing.

T

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You should dampen the poly. It actually might be giving you the ringing.

Thanks, Tonio,
After a little more testing, it is definitely ringing, but so is the fan. The plywood resonates at a lower frequency and is not quite as detectable unless you are a few inches away. The fan makes a higher pitched metallic ring.
I was thinking of covering a piece of 703 with burlap and velcroing it to the blades...or maybe I should just take it down and get a couple of box fans.

stuffing the poly with insulation will help. what is the purpose of the platform? that will likely act as a drum head and also resonate.

the fan motor might be the culprit. another option is changing the fans blades to less noisy ones - larger blades and run it slower?

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what is the purpose of the platform? that will likely act as a drum head and also resonate.

Hi, Glenn,
I don't want to get rid of all reflections and resonance. I just don't want too many. I love the sound of acoustic instruments in a room with a wood floor. I built the platform because my room rests on a carpeted concrete slab.

In case there is any misunderstanding about the fan, I don't run it during takes, so motor and blade noise is not an issue. It creates a very annoying ring, sort of like a hammer striking a saw blade but with a much quicker decay, when I'm playing and singing. If I raise my voice in the direction of and in close proximity to the fan, the ringing is accentuated.

Save yourself time & take the fan down.

How was the platform built?
Something is telling me that it's not gonna give you effect of a hardwood floor, I believe that's what you are after, no?
Changing your carpet to linoleum would do a lot better IMO.

My gut is also telling me to take the fan down as well and cool the room some other way. It is a converted garage: the hottest room in the house.

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How was the platform built?

3/4" plywood supported by 2x6's. The whole thing is 8x12, divided into 4x4 sections and held together by screws in case I want to take it apart or move it. I bought enough laminate wood flooring to cover the whole thing next time I get some project time. I would think this would be more like a typical wood floor, which is usually supported by joists with an airspace under it and resonates as well as reflects, rather than linoleum glued to concrete.

John Mark Painter shared this link about a wood platform in another thread if you want to check it out. Mine is not as well thought out or made with spruce and maple, but the idea is that the resonance enhances the sound of the instrument.

the thing is, the resonant frequencies of the platform are likely to be the same regardless of instrument and over time will build up on multiple tracks. you might be better off with just putting the plywood over the carpet if you want the wood effect without the extraneous resonance.

True. My music is usually less than ten tracks, so I am more interested in resonance that I can detect with my ears and my space sounding nice. If the sum total of my tracks sound bad due to resonant build up, I'll probably just replace the carpet with laminate wood flooring.

I agree about the platform and doubt that it will have a positive impact on the space. The "good stuff" about a wood floor isn't just the wood surface, it's the entire floor system...joists, subfloor, finished flooring and the way it all ties-in to the structure. The platform would seem to be a miniature version, but isn't since it's not coupled to the foundation and/or walls. I don't know if it will be detrimental, but doubt it will help significantly.

-john

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I agree about the platform and doubt that it will have a positive impact on the space.

I haven't noticed any, other than my guitar sounds brighter, louder, and more focused, and I haven't even put the hard laminate surface on it yet

I was finally able to dampen the ringing ceiling fan. As it turns out, the motor's outer housing and the light globes were all ringing. A little well placed batting and old socks to cover the lights fixes the problem while recording. I still need to do something to affix the corner traps to the walls. Right now, they are simply leaning against the corners. I've read they are much less efficient this way.

I hung a couple of my grandmother's quilts. They offer maybe a little absorption of highs and mids, but they also are nice to look at when I'm playing. The poly diffuser has been stuffed with insulation since the last pic.


The couch was brought in for more absorption. When I get some more money saved, I want to ad some large vertical curved wood blinds to the windows.


This area, which doubles as my drawing board, needs a couple more well placed absorption panels.


These books are more useful as diffusers than for artistic reference. I bought them years ago during my stint as a budding illustrator. I guess an early frost killed the buds.


Fruits of my last G A S attack.


My producer and yes man.

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My producer and yes man.

I have one too, although not a skeleton