Stone Walls In Studios/Live Rooms

[Jag94]

I have seen a few studios that have one wall that is made of stone, or faux stone, like this... STONE WALL

I love the look of something like this, but does it have any acoustical properties? Like, are you able to measure how something like this would effect the acoustics in a room? It seems like it's hard to control, compared to more common methods, but it looks badass.

This is sort of the idea I was thinking of going with. Build Thread. There are some good clear pictures half way down the page.

I want this to be the wall behind my drum kit. I want to put a large skyline diffuser on the wall behind the kit, but the rest of the wall would be stone. Does the stone help? Hurt? Does it make things more complicated? Or is it just another way of treating the whole wall?

Thanks!

[Paulus87]

I have seen a few studios that have one wall that is made of stone, or faux stone, like this... STONE WALL

I love the look of something like this, but does it have any acoustical properties? Like, are you able to measure how something like this would effect the acoustics in a room? It seems like it's hard to control, compared to more common methods, but it looks badass.

This is sort of the idea I was thinking of going with. Build Thread. There are some good clear pictures half way down the page.

I want this to be the wall behind my drum kit. I want to put a large skyline diffuser on the wall behind the kit, but the rest of the wall would be stone. Does the stone help? Hurt? Does it make things more complicated? Or is it just another way of treating the whole wall?

Thanks!

In a tracking environment it really doesn't hurt, but it also doesn't do anything major sonically. Most frequencies will "see" the wall as if it were completely flat, it will not diffuse much apart from very HF. This is because the depth of the irregularities of the stone are usually only a couple of cm, if that. However, it will have a subtle "splashy" effect in the HF end of the spectrum, and also provides a nice natural, familiar environment for self noise cues.

I am even planning to have a stone front wall in my control room, into which my main monitors will be mounted. I wouldn't put a stone wall in a control room at first reflection points, but else where would be fine.

Paul

[Jag94]

I have seen a few studios that have one wall that is made of stone, or faux stone, like this... STONE WALL

I love the look of something like this, but does it have any acoustical properties? Like, are you able to measure how something like this would effect the acoustics in a room? It seems like it's hard to control, compared to more common methods, but it looks badass.

This is sort of the idea I was thinking of going with. Build Thread. There are some good clear pictures half way down the page.

I want this to be the wall behind my drum kit. I want to put a large skyline diffuser on the wall behind the kit, but the rest of the wall would be stone. Does the stone help? Hurt? Does it make things more complicated? Or is it just another way of treating the whole wall?

Thanks!

In a tracking environment it really doesn't hurt, but it also doesn't do anything major sonically. Most frequencies will "see" the wall as if it were completely flat, it will not diffuse much apart from very HF. This is because the depth of the irregularities of the stone are usually only a couple of cm, if that. However, it will have a subtle "splashy" effect in the HF end of the spectrum, and also provides a nice natural, familiar environment for self noise cues.

I am even planning to have a stone front wall in my control room, into which my main monitors will be mounted. I wouldn't put a stone wall in a control room at first reflection points, but else where would be fine.

Paul

Thanks for the info, Paul. That's great news, because now I'm pretty certain that's what I'm going to use as the wall behind where the kit will live.

I've seen the stone wall panels that are heavy and seem like they are actually made of stone, and I've also seen the faux stone walls that are made of what seems like styrofoam. Obviously the styrofoam ones would be simpler to install, but does the material matter?

[Paulus87]

I have seen a few studios that have one wall that is made of stone, or faux stone, like this... STONE WALL

I love the look of something like this, but does it have any acoustical properties? Like, are you able to measure how something like this would effect the acoustics in a room? It seems like it's hard to control, compared to more common methods, but it looks badass.

This is sort of the idea I was thinking of going with. Build Thread. There are some good clear pictures half way down the page.

I want this to be the wall behind my drum kit. I want to put a large skyline diffuser on the wall behind the kit, but the rest of the wall would be stone. Does the stone help? Hurt? Does it make things more complicated? Or is it just another way of treating the whole wall?

Thanks!

In a tracking environment it really doesn't hurt, but it also doesn't do anything major sonically. Most frequencies will "see" the wall as if it were completely flat, it will not diffuse much apart from very HF. This is because the depth of the irregularities of the stone are usually only a couple of cm, if that. However, it will have a subtle "splashy" effect in the HF end of the spectrum, and also provides a nice natural, familiar environment for self noise cues.

I am even planning to have a stone front wall in my control room, into which my main monitors will be mounted. I wouldn't put a stone wall in a control room at first reflection points, but else where would be fine.

Paul

Thanks for the info, Paul. That's great news, because now I'm pretty certain that's what I'm going to use as the wall behind where the kit will live.

I've seen the stone wall panels that are heavy and seem like they are actually made of stone, and I've also seen the faux stone walls that are made of what seems like styrofoam. Obviously the styrofoam ones would be simpler to install, but does the material matter?

I have only ever seen the faux stone that is made from what appears to be either real stone or some sort of ceramic, I'm not sure exactly what it is. But it's heavy and rigid. I don't think I'd like to use styrofoam anywhere in a studio for acoustic purposes, I've noticed Styrofoam making a horrible buzzing sound before at certain frequencies and it is not very resilient to wear, people are always tempted to pick at it and then it looks horrible.

Some people do build diffusers from styrofoam, they still diffuse and scatter like wooden equivalents, but again, I wouldn't be keen on the idea myself.

Paul

[Jag94]

I have seen a few studios that have one wall that is made of stone, or faux stone, like this... STONE WALL

I love the look of something like this, but does it have any acoustical properties? Like, are you able to measure how something like this would effect the acoustics in a room? It seems like it's hard to control, compared to more common methods, but it looks badass.

This is sort of the idea I was thinking of going with. Build Thread. There are some good clear pictures half way down the page.

I want this to be the wall behind my drum kit. I want to put a large skyline diffuser on the wall behind the kit, but the rest of the wall would be stone. Does the stone help? Hurt? Does it make things more complicated? Or is it just another way of treating the whole wall?

Thanks!

In a tracking environment it really doesn't hurt, but it also doesn't do anything major sonically. Most frequencies will "see" the wall as if it were completely flat, it will not diffuse much apart from very HF. This is because the depth of the irregularities of the stone are usually only a couple of cm, if that. However, it will have a subtle "splashy" effect in the HF end of the spectrum, and also provides a nice natural, familiar environment for self noise cues.

I am even planning to have a stone front wall in my control room, into which my main monitors will be mounted. I wouldn't put a stone wall in a control room at first reflection points, but else where would be fine.

Paul

Thanks for the info, Paul. That's great news, because now I'm pretty certain that's what I'm going to use as the wall behind where the kit will live.

I've seen the stone wall panels that are heavy and seem like they are actually made of stone, and I've also seen the faux stone walls that are made of what seems like styrofoam. Obviously the styrofoam ones would be simpler to install, but does the material matter?

I have only ever seen the faux stone that is made from what appears to be either real stone or some sort of ceramic, I'm not sure exactly what it is. But it's heavy and rigid. I don't think I'd like to use styrofoam anywhere in a studio for acoustic purposes, I've noticed Styrofoam making a horrible buzzing sound before at certain frequencies and it is not very resilient to wear, people are always tempted to pick at it and then it looks horrible.

Some people do build diffusers from styrofoam, they still diffuse and scatter like wooden equivalents, but again, I wouldn't be keen on the idea myself.

Paul

Interesting. I watched a video of a guy installing this stuff FAUX STONE. Seems easy, and looks good. It's also rated for outdoor use so it can stand up to the elements pretty well (or at least people said that in the reviews).

But the description says it's "Made with high-density closed cell polyurethane which are light weight, easy to use and adds additional R-value".

Am I correct that closed cell polyurethane isn't good for absorptive material? What about for diffusers?

[DanDan]

A heavy boundary next to a drum kit delivers a great LF tonal boost. A varied surface prevents flutter echo, and scatters the very early reflections, presumably preventing comb filtering at the close drum mics. Light materials won't do all that obviously.
John's angled traps here on this forum seem like a great addition to any live room I reckon. For inspiration I would also recommend checking out the Motown Studio Hitsville? The walls have angled alternating sections of ply and perforated ceiling tile. Apparently this helped the musos hear each other organically, no headphones.
But in any case an interesting way to preserve or generate liveness and prevent flutter.

[Paulus87]

Interesting. I watched a video of a guy installing this stuff FAUX STONE. Seems easy, and looks good. It's also rated for outdoor use so it can stand up to the elements pretty well (or at least people said that in the reviews).

But the description says it's "Made with high-density closed cell polyurethane which are light weight, easy to use and adds additional R-value".

Am I correct that closed cell polyurethane isn't good for absorptive material? What about for diffusers?

That stuff looks ok... I guess I would ask for a sample or go to a store when they have it and see how hard wearing it is. If it can easily be dented or snapped then I would avoid it, just from a practicality stand point.

High density closed cell poly is really not an efficient acoustic absorber. I mean, every material will absorb something at some frequency, but certain materials do it much more efficiently than others. As a loose rule of thumb, if something is dense and rigid it will be more reflective than absorptive apart from at its resonant frequency.

So to summarise, if you find that this faux stone product is resilient enough to stand up to day to day wear and tear in a studio environment then yes you can use it, it will still scatter HF just as well as the real stone stuff.

Paul