Klarinet Archive - Posting 000448.txt from 1995/06

From: Doug Cook <cook@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Down In The Dumps
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 14:52:04 -0400

On Jun 20, 2:27pm, Fred Cicetti wrote:
> Here's my question. Is there anything I can do to improve the acoustics
> in the cellar? It's all poured concrete with a wood ceiling. The sound I
> get is thin. No, wait. The sound is bright. Yes, that's it; it's bright.
> But, in the living room, the sound is as dark as Dan Leeson's moods.

With all hard surfaces parallel to each other, you're going to get a really
live ("bright") sound. The walls tend to reflect a lot of sound and set up
resonances between each other (imagine standing waves).

You might try carpeting the room (use carpet padding too); that often
helps. That will break up the floor-to-ceiling resonances. After that,
I'd try putting something on a couple of the walls. The "official"
sound-deadening foam, Sonex, is far too expensive for home use. There
are cheaper knock-offs that probably work just as well, but they, too,
are still expensive. I've seen people use egg-cartons with limited
success; carpets can work, too. If you can do something to make the
walls less parallel, that can help. The resonances die out quickly if
they're essentially bouncing in random directions.

-Doug

Doug Cook, cook@-----.

"On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur." -St.-Exupery