I was finally able to move into my own house for the first time in a decade. This has allowed me to have my own music room. It was a hobby rooom that is about 10’ X 25’ and has hardwood floors. This makes the room an echo chamber. When I first plugged in my guitar and played it sounded terrible and washed out. So off I want online looking for a solution.
I watched many videos about how to acoustically treat your space. If you have ever looked at the cost of panels though it is ALOT. Luckily there are many other videos showing you how to make your own. Two I used information gathered from many of them, but there were two that I followed a little more closely, Lonely Rocker’s DIY Acoustic Panels - How To Make Your Own Cheap and Awesome Panels and 42Pursuit’s Ultimate Cheap DIY Acoustic Panels. Broad Spectrum Damping Panels You Can Make In a Weekend!. Both use Rockwool SAFE’n’SOUND insulation as a sound deadening material. I like the rockwool better since it is easier to work with and less harmful than fiberglass. I am going to give an overview of the process but you can watch these two videos to get a good understanding of how to create the panels.
Materials
This is enough to make 12 16” X 48” panels.
- 1 bat 16” Rockwool SAFE’n’SOUND insulation
- 20 1X4 by 8 foot pieces of lumber. I used pine that was cheap and light.
- 1 48 inch by 50 foot roll of weed cloth
- *8X2” wood screws
- 3/8” staples
- wood glue
- 9 1/3 yards of fabric
- Chain and eye hooks if you are going to hang clouds
- Utility knive
- Staple Gun
- Drill/Screw Gun
- Counter sink drill bit
- Saw, I used a miter saw
- Gloves, Mask and Eye protection
The Frame
For my build the dimensions were:
- 47” for the long rails
- 16 1/4” for the top and bottom
- 14 7/8” for the inner backing pieces
I cut my boards using this layout which resulted in 3 acoustic panels from 5 boards.
When forming the frame make sure that you counter sink the screws. The top and bottom sit on the sides with the back pieces going towards the inside.
Insert the insulation in the frame. The back pieces will help it stay in place. Once it is in you can add the weed clothe as the back of the panel.
Wrap the whole thing in breathable fabric.
THeh panels hang on the wall with two pieces of wood cut at a 45 degree angle. You can use eye hooks and chain to hang them from the ceiling as clouds as well.
This very nicely removed the echos and reverb from the room.