For Limey or anyone who can help! 
Hey Limey! I went down to the local office supply place, and the paritions they have are all way too expensive for me - 150 US dollars per panel. Plus, I donât think they are quite the design you had suggested on that earlier drum thread - these simply have a flat surface covered with fabric. In fact, I bet all they are is some sort of composite covered with sheet rubber and thick fabric, sor something like that. Anyway, Iâm going to have to hunt on line a bit, I think, but why couldnât I just take some thin plywood, some ceiling sound tiles, some burlap (or packing blankets?) , and some hinges, and put together two or three panels? I think it would be a lot cheaper that way. 
Happy new year to those who are on that calender! 
Use old or new door blanks Tom, much in the way youâre describing. Iâve got a few with foam and crap on them, and also a few that are just plywood/fibreglass/hessian (and heavier than the doorsâŚ), and a couple of the smaller ones on the walls just have a heavy cardboard backing.
http://www.artistcollaboration.com/users/willy/liveroom2.jpg
http://www.artistcollaboration.com/users/willy/finishedpanels.jpg
http://www.audiominds.com/gettingstarted/accoustics.php
yeh tomsy mate âââ yer can make yer own but yer dont want panls dat bounce back sndââââ yer want squishy panels dat absorb da snd ââââ n wot yer wanna do fer yer health n safety is use da stuff that aint a hazard to yaâââ yer culd build
a slatty like rangement wiv filler dat aint a firehazardâââ
but whole idea is wen ya finished ya can push yer finger into da panel n its got a lottta give n is squishy n stuffââââ
i got sum panls yrs ago fer 5 quid eachââââ look around fer companies goin down da tubes n phone companies up n see if dey got any panelsâââââ sum of em throw em out arter a few years n buy good newuns 
Thanks fellows! I just looked at Ebay out of curiosity, and it seems like a LOT of office furniture goes for very little - so I will keep my eyes open for something locally.
On the other hand, if I could build something better for little money, hmmâŚOK, it needs to be squishy, and it needs to break up the sound, so irregular surfaces might be better, like a âslattyâ arrangement. Filler is usually fiberglass, isnât it? Dunno if I want to mess with that.
Thanks for the links Willy, I will check those out immediately.
Filler is usually fiberglass, isn't it? Dunno if I want to mess with that.
Yeah, but if you use semirigid it isn't too bad. There's a link to a tute I did on that audiominds page I linked to. I'm pretty certain that you can use other stuff instead of fibreglass, Tontine pillow filler is getting popular over here, it's non irritant and non allergic - good in an OH+S sense.
Yeah, but if you use semirigid it isn't too bad. There's a link to a tute I did on that audiominds page I linked to. I'm pretty certain that you can use other stuff instead of fibreglass, Tontine pillow filler is getting popular over here, it's non irritant and non allergic - good in an OH+S sense.
I didnât find much specific stuff, but maybe thereâs some helpful stuff in these to give ideas, after all gobos are just small wallsâŚ
http://bg.mixonline.com/ar/audio_mixs_guide_acoustical
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.acoustics101.com/
http://www.wrpi.org/tech/studioa/links/helpful_references.html
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/titles/Acoustics3.htm
http://www.recording.s5.com/html/recording_tips.html
Hey phoo, thanks for those links! Guess the first day back at work in the new year wonât be very productive for my employerâŚ
Goboâs are very easy to make. I was surprised there werenât any âGobo Design Pagesâ out there. Maybe there are, but the get lost in the lighting type of gobo.
A good start for a gobo is to use two or three layers of dense material backed by a thick layer of sound absorption. Try two layers of plywood and sandwich a layer of sheetrock between them. Donât screw or nail them together, but attach them to a frame made from 16 planks. Attach them only on the edges. Attach the layers together with silicon sealer. The idea is to have the layers not actually toughing except through a thin layer of sealer. Three layers may be over kill, so one layer of plywood and one of sheetrock may work just as well.
Have the wood flush with one side, making a box thatâs 4.5" deep. Fill the box with as high an R rating fiberglass as you can easily find. (whatâs the thick stuff for attics? R-35? â itâs a bit thick but should compress to fit â take LOTS of care to not breath the stuff or get it on anything â lots of folks say stay away from this stuff). The idea is that sound hitting the absorptive side wonât go out the other side and wonât bounce back either. Sound will still wrap around it, but that too will be absorbed quite a bit on the padded side.
Use something to hold the fiberglass level with the edge and not fall out. Even thin slats of wood will work well. Cover the fiberglass with any kind of thick cloth that will trap the fibers and wonât let it breath out. This is important for safety reasons. You donât want someone to be able to push on the soft side and get a poof of fiberglass dust. I donât have any good suggestions there. Paper side out is a good prevention start, but that affects the absorption just a little, though not THAT much. A thin layer of loose plastic is excellent as well. You could even stack ceiling tiles in there in a pinch. Anything that is a REALLY GOOD absorber of sound will work. Plastic peanuts and foam is not a good absorber, so donât even go there. I suggest the thick R-35 simply because Iâve used it and the absorption of it is dramatically better than the lower R rated stuff - the sound difference is obvious in the right placesâŚitâs also more prone to fiberglass dust so much more care must be taken.
Anyway, thatâs the basic construction. Make them big enough to be useful â 44, 46, etc for gobos. Just standing them around in the room can make a huge difference in sound. They donât need to be used for just isolation. As a matter of fact 23 and 24 and even 16 or 1*8 feet sizes are great to hang around the room and from the ceiling. It doesnât take many to really fix up a room. Even having the absorptive side facing the wall and away from the wall 1 to 2 feet will help standing waves in the 200hz range.
I need to break out my books. There might be some plans or pictures in them.
Wow, thatâs really helpful phoo. thanks!
It would be obvious with one little pictureâŚIâve been on an angry rampage todayâŚbear with me while I clean out the garage.
Speaking of cleaning out the garageâŚI found four studio/acoustics book while doing that this afternoon. One of them has some pretty good info about gobos in it so I scanned the pages.
From building a recording studio by Jeff Cooper
Published by Synergy Group, Inc., Calabasas, CA
ISBN 0-916899-00-4
These are 1600 pixles wide, so if you view them in a browser they might be shrunk and hard to read.
http://downloads.phootoons.com/gobo/page1.gif
http://downloads.phootoons.com/gobo/page2.gif
http://downloads.phootoons.com/gobo/page3.gif
http://downloads.phootoons.com/gobo/page4.gif
phoo, that is fabulous.
I donât know if the book is still in print, but if it is, get it. Thatâs the best book Iâve seen for future studio builders. The info translates really well to small and home studios, and itâs info anyone trying to record can use. If itâs not in print then maybe it can be found on eBay or some other play that has out of print books. I git it through the publisher of Mix MagazineâŚis it Mix Publisihing? (I donât get Mix anymore unfortunately)
WOWâŚI had no idea. THANKS! (well, obviously I have oneâŚthanks for finding for the others that might could use it)
Save your pennies and pick this up if your are serious about fixing up your room.
The price is the same as it was when I got it. Thereâs little need for a new edition, unless they run out of copies.
WOWâŚfunnyâŚtwo other of the books I found yesterday in the garage (four total) were listed in the âCustomers who bought this book also boughtâ list.
http://www.amazon.com/execâŚ=glance
http://www.amazon.com/execâŚ=glance
The only book not listed in such an obvious way was a SAMS book: "Project Studio Blueprint"
http://www.amazon.com/execâŚ2916948
Thatâs all four of the the studio books I have. Each has strong points, but to get just one Iâd suggest âbuilding a recording studioâ for actual construction, and âMaster Handbook of Acousticsâ second. That one goes into more depth about acoustics in general, and has some good musical discussions. Thereâs a lot about diffusion, too.
Thereâs a LOT in those two.
phoo, need any help cleaning your garage?