Been a few weeks! Please allow me to ramble...
We went ahead and plowed on through and built the "in/out" splayed wall. The room was in a huge disarray during the build, and I didn’t have a chance to re-RTA the room before we hung the drywall (I didn’t exactly “stuff” the cavity, but I did hang a good deal of pink stuff in there - and it is air-tight). The room is STILL in total disarray, and I STILL haven’t had time to re-RTA the room. The PA system does sound somewhat smoother in the bass (also re-positioned the 3rd sub), but I can’t really hear any huge improvements just yet (not terribly worried yet)
Now will come the task of treating the other walls and bass trapping – and of course, I have some questions. If it isn’t completely obvious from the pics – this is a low-budget “ghetto” build out in a rental rehearsal space. I’m NOT expecting Ocean Way (and my small budget knows this).
So, just to recap (see pics - the drums are rotated 90 degrees where my back faces the wall with the clock) –
The remainder of the walls are still VERY ugly and need treatment (more correctly – re-treatment!
). The mirrored wall with the door has a ~ 12’ wide x 8’ tall mirror (lots of cracked panes, too!) – it appears to be ¾” Particle Board which was attached to the existing wall (probably with screws – but I can’t tell) – and then the 12”x12” mirror panels were glued on top of the particle board. I don’t see any easy or safe way to get the mirrors off of the particle board so the particle board can be removed. I’m pondering covering most of that wall with a crude slat wall. The remainder of the wall (around the mirror) is drywall covered with ugly 1/2” foam – then partially covered with the thick black plastic tarp. Nice, huh?
As far as trying to keep this “Back Wall” wall somewhat “Live”, is a very crude slat wall even something I should consider with the wall’s current state? I’m thinking I could randomly angle the slats on the horizontal axis to help scatter the reflections up/down (poor man’s diffuser!) while improving the room’s aesthetic on the cheap (scope of project = cheap!). And if my final Slat dimensions are correct – I can kill some 300-700Hz honk. I will, of course, do my research into slat dimensions and spacing – but the cavity behind the slat wall won’t be 100% consistent (the area behind the mirror will be shallower than the area outside of the mirror) – and I want to angle the slats to scatter the reflections up/down. Any pointers here? Maybe forget the slat wall altogether and cover it with a layer of drywall - or dig in and rip off the mirror?
What I call “The Front Wall” (opposite the door - wall with the clock in the
2nd picture) was a brick/mason wall that already had (4) 4’ x 8’ x 2" thick pyramid foam panels glued to it. You can see the "before" pics where the pyramid foam panels did not completely cover the ugly window foam up high on the wall (pic 2). We simply re-arranged these panels (raised them off the floor and spaced them evenly) to cover the ugly foam that covers the windows (the 2 windows on that wall are covered with plywood and 1/2” ugly foam). This exposed some brick/mason along the floor, and two 12" wide exposed portions of brick that run vertically (mostly absorption, but some reflection on this wall). I think this wall *might* be OK w/o too much work. It is still ugly, but passable for the scope of this project (covering the ugly window foam did wonders by itself!).
The last wall (opposite the new splayed wall - not pictured) is drywall and is 100% covered with ugly 1/2” foam – then covered with thick plastic tarp. This wall will also need some TLC – and I’m loosely planning on ripping all of the plastic and foam off – doing some touch-up work and a coat of paint to start with a “fresh wall” – and treat with 703 panels from there.
Lastly, I plan on doing corner bass traps / super chunks in two or three wall-wall corners, and in at least two ceiling-wall corners – and I’ll be expanding the Drum Cloud to 8’ x 6’. I’m hoping the combo of the new wall plus bass trapping will make this room much less finicky in the bass. Still pondering adding hard tops to the clouds as well...
Anyways – Thanks for letting me ramble – and thanks for any pointers… Hopefully I’ll get a chance to re-RTA the room this weekend and go from there. If I don't hear back from you smart fellas, I'll likely get started on the crude slat wall that covers the mirror, and go from there. Bass Traps will be next...
(you should see it NOW!!! OMG!!!)