Another one bedroom wonder post. ASC style Attack Wall?

Greetings - I've been lurking around these forums for some time now. Figured I ought finally register and post with my own project. The room I'm seeking to work with is for monitoring full mixes and tracking. For the tracking, it'd be mostly acoustic guitar and vocals, but other non-drumkit instruments are game too. Realistically, I only seek to record one instrument at a time. From the floor to ceiling measures 93 inches. Floors are some kind of wood (see pic). Ceiling and walls are standard plaster with lord knows what behind em. Its an old New England house. Not much I can do about sound isolation, but I live on a quiet street and can get other people in the house to not make noise for recording sessions. I'm not too worried about it. Here comes a frustrating phrase: I'm renting. I might only be here 7 more months, I might be here 19 more months.. but one way or another Im out after that. I can't really mount stuff on the walls, so anything thats portable is game. If whatever mount procedures could easily be undone, I'd consider it... but I'm all about portability. I've seen some bedroom designs similar to mine, but most seem to have the flexibility of being about to mount stuff, and was really curious about tube traps, and maybe in the style of that ASC Attack Wall. If thats the case, I'd mount my monitors in those. Some of the reviews make it sound like you can use ASC's tube designs to create a small, controlled, and enclosed spot in a room that offers worthwhile close reflections. I figure I'm going to be adding most of my reflections and room with reverb and short delay, but it would be nice if I could work with a non-dead, clean "natural" reflection of course. If the tubes are effective and portable, I'm really really interested in that well before any mounting. Also, I figure I have to worry about the heating vents being close to bass traps... and since they're already 4 inchs off the walls.. am I going to be running into problems? If I did mount traps, would I have to mount them above the heating vents? Will that be a hinderance to the trapping? Maybe I could custom build traps that have cutouts for the metal heating vent dealie? You can see why that Attack Wall is so appealing... Similarly, for the corners currently where the futon bed is, would I simply move the futon away from the wall and put the traps in the corners ? Or would it be okay to have them come flush with the futon bed? I know my bedroom's decorative style might have just become uglified with that thought... but I kind of like the idea of sleeping in a studio for whatever reason. Dunno if my girlfriend will be as keen... heh. any thoughts on all this? If I intend to put one in the corner that the doors open to, it'll obviously need to be removable. Is there anything not-that-invasive that can be done to a ceiling? I don't know what's above it... so foam is about the only thing I can think of.. but I don't know that it would accomplish all that much though. I don't have any level measuring equipment currently, but I don't plan to crank the crap out of my monitors. I value my hearing and plan to monitor at reasonable levels. Think - someone appreciating the details in a Boards of Canada or Radiohead mix, not someone getting physically blasted by the timbres of 12 multi-tracked metal guitars. My budget - If I could get a really quality solution for monitoring mixes and recording primarily acoustic guitars and vocals that fits in that room (and could be reasonably moved to another room), I could be tempted to spend a lot. I'd love to keep this under $1000 (hell, I'd love to keep it under $500!) but dunno if that's unrealistically low. How much would my theoretical scenario run me? Truthfully, I don't even know what that Attack Wall costs, as I can't find a link to anyplace that sells ASC's tubes, though some sell their own version and it doesn't seem like it'd cost me both arms and legs.. I need to mix with something after all. Final note: Making and listening to music each bring unmeasurable joy into my life, so thank you for your valuable time in reading/responding; thank you for helping to bring unmeasurable joy into my life! ! -Chris

So some deep googling (reading every page that had "asc attack wall") revealed that the attack wall costs well over 5k... which is a bit above my budget. Plus not everyone is head over heels nuts about them. So now I ask - what're some of the best solutions available considering that I have to move out in at least 19 months, maybe even 7 and am renting. I read a good thing or two about http://www.auralex.com/bass_traps_mg-le ... -lenrd.asp in combination with some realtraps. Thoughts? Thanks! Chris

Have you considered these? http://www.johnlsayers.com/HR/index1.htm I am in a somewhat similar situation, being that my current location is temporary, and am treating the room with a modified version (as in stand alone and portable) of these wall units. I am about 50% into the front wall treatment and the improvements are already considerably noticable. Hope this helps :)

I spotted that page previously but didn't know if the design would still carry over given my oddly shaped room. Isn't it designed for rectangular, symmetrical rooms? I'd need 5 corner traps for mine, one of which would live in the closet when not was recording, else I wont be able to open any doors courtesy of corner C. Also... Wouldn't the rear unevenly absorb highs? Perhaps I could build a rear panel for the closet door... though I wonder if it would benefit from being of a different thickness. Also, will the parallel walls where the futon is (East wall in corner A and the West wall in corner B) add extra echoes, moreso than a rectangular room? And here come some more generica, total newbie questions: 1) How tall are they meant to be? Floor to ceiling? 2) As far as being "airtight..." The white space in between the cloth covering the slats... is that just empty space? or is that insulation too? It seems to be empty space... which would make sense if "airtight" only refers to the seals of the wood. 3) (potentially the most newbie of all) Is one is to calculate the measure of the slats by knowing what frequencies the room needs treatment of? That's a department I'm not well versed in - my ears aren't perfect yet and thats part of the reason I want a clean monitoring environment. I imagine theres probably gear/other calculators that figure that out though? As for the ones you're working on, what do you mean by "stand alone and portable?" Are you putting them on stands? Thanks for your time and help! Great to get a response so quick! Chris

Aloha Chris, While I have a lot to learn and am certainly no expert, here's the basic layout of the treatments I'm planning. Each of the units is being built in a modular approach: •the front treatment was built in three separate sections and then screwed together to create one unit •the side absorbers are planned as eight sections which are stackable (36” long x 36” tall x 8” deep) •the rear corner absorbers are planned as two separate units (one per corner) •the rear absorber is planned as a single unit (6’ long x 6’ tall x 8” deep) •cloud treatment (not pictured) 8’ wide x 8’ long x 4” deep) Some of the reasons for this approach are: •I am in a “temporary” location (family room) •Units are more manageable to position and store as needed •I can use the units in the live area as needed for tracking •Easier to afford treatment costs in installments These may or may not work in your situation; hopefully they will help to get the creative juices flowing as you consider how you might go about treating your room. While the designs may not be 100% optimum, the improvement in the mix position is considerable. Disclaimer: Product design subject to change, actual mileage may vary :wink: kendale