Sound travels quite far, and in an empty room, even the slightest noise or movement can be heard very clearly. While this is something that is not a problem as such, it can be frustrating if you are recording something that requires the equipment to focus on specific sounds.
The echoing and the background noise caused by an empty room can certainly get in the way. However, as you begin to add furniture to a room, naturally, the sound waves traveling through the air get absorbed quicker.
This is why you cannot hear yourself echoing in a room that is fully furnished. While you can still hear noises clearly, the difference is that the noise is not echoing and bouncing off the walls.
To focus specifically on recording purposes, a furnished room does not always provide the amount of sound absorption needed. As a result, it is likely that panels and other soundproofing techniques need to be implemented. The only downside to this is the cost of soundproofing and sound absorption panels.
They are an expense that many people cannot justify, especially if they need to purchase other types of soundproofing. The great thing about sound absorption panels is that they can be made using DIY techniques. While this sounds quite daunting, it is actually fairly easy to achieve.
To help you along, we have put together this article that explains in detail how you can make your own sound absorption panels using DIY techniques.
What Are Sound Absorption Panels?
Sound absorption panels are straightforward to understand. They are placed in a room where there is a lot of echo and reflected sound.
They contain a thick amount of insulation that makes it harder for the sound to travel through the room. Instead, the sound is absorbed by the panel, and the acoustics of the room will be a lot better.
Interestingly, sound absorption panels can also be used when it comes to helping improve speech. However, many people will choose to use them in cinema rooms, music rooms, and sometimes office spaces too.
Why Should You Use Sound Absorption Panels?
If you are in a room where the sound echos a lot, sound absorption panels are useful to use to help remove the background noise.
They are particularly useful if you are recording things such as videos, podcasts, or music as it helps to absorb the excess sounds that are created. They are useful in cinema rooms where there is a lot of noise too.
While they are not necessarily needed, they are useful to have in larger rooms, or rooms that are not as furnished. They act in the same way as furniture, and they improve the sound quality and acoustics of a room significantly. They are a worthwhile investment to consider.
How To Make Sound Absorption Panels
Let’s get into how you can create your own sound absorption panels. But first, you will need to source all of the materials needed. While you can use slightly different options, we would recommend purchasing items as close to the list specification as possible.
What You Will Need
- 4 Wooden planks — These can be cut to your desired size, depending on the area in which you are using the boards, and how big you will want them to be.
We would recommend making them as large as possible for maximum sound absorption. The recommended size we would use is 8 x 4 x 1 inch (2.54 cm). This is the perfect size and the planks are not too thick or heavy.
- Duck Canvas (around 62 inches in length) — Duck canvas tends to be the best option to purchase, but you can use an alternative if needed. You can also purchase extra material if you are unsure that this will be enough.
- Wood Insulation — This will be placed inside the wood panels to absorb the sound. The insulation should be of a good density to ensure it is powerful enough to absorb the noise.
Alternatively, you can use products such as mineral-rockwool. You will need to purchase a larger amount of this. - Wood Glue — This is useful to purchase because it will help to keep the materials together if the screws and staples are not strong enough.
- Staples — These will help to hold the fabric in place in addition to the screws.
- Wood Screws — There is not a set amount of screws you will need to purchase. As a result, we would recommend purchasing a larger pack to ensure you have enough. They are important to the DIY project. They need to be long enough to be securely placed into the wood.
- Spray Adhesive — This will further help to hold all of the materials together
Tools Needed
- Screwdriver and bit— Preferably this will be electric to make the job easier, and to penetrate through the wood correctly.
- Stapler — To staple the staples to the materials
- Saw — To saw down the wood if needed
- Scissors — to cut the fabric
- Hammer — For the nails
- Measuring Tape — For measuring purposes
All of these items and tools are fairly easy to get hold of and are not too expensive to purchase. We would also recommend wearing personal protective equipment such as goggles and gloves when carrying out the sawing, just to err on the side of caution.
Method
Here is the method you should follow:
Step One: Preparing And Cutting
To begin with, you will want to gather all of the equipment needed so that it is easily accessible. After you have done this, you will want to measure the pieces of wood to ensure that they are the same length.
Here, you can choose to cut two of the wood pieces shorter if you would prefer to have rectangular panels, rather than square ones. This is something we would recommend.
To do this, you will want to cut two parts of the wood so that they are the correct length as each other, and are half the size of the two larger wooden pieces.
Step Two: Setting Up The Frame Of The Panels
Next, you will want to begin assembling the sound panels. Place the wood plant on their side, so that they are facing up from the ground, in a rectangular shape. The pieces need to be evenly spaced and close together so that each end is touching.
Step Three: Gluing The Panels
To make the screw driving process easier, and to help with precision and durability, we recommend gluing the panels together.
To do this, take your wood glue, and place it on the inside edges of the larger planks. On the smaller pieces, the glue will need to be placed on the corners.
From here, you can then stick the pieces of wood together to create the rectangular frame. Care needs to be taken to ensure the frame is even and not wonky.
Step Four: Drilling The Panels
Once you are happy with the outer shape, and the glue has dried, you can then begin to screw the panels together using your wood screws. This is a fairly simple thing to do if you have an electric screwdriver. If it is a manual one, this can take slightly longer.
The screws will need to be placed In the same area as the glue. However, the screws will need to be drilled into the wood from the outer corners, rather than the inner corners. They need to be large enough to secure the pieces of wood together.
If your frame is not as secure as possible, you can add a middle beam to the frame and corner pieces too. However, this is not always necessary.
Step Five: Cutting The Insulation And Canvas
Next, use your scissors to cut the insulation that you will be placing inside the sound absorption panels. You will want to use a reasonable amount, but not too much that it will comprise the size of the panels.
When cutting the Insulation, you will need it to be 1 inch in thickness. 2 inches is needed for the panels, and as a result, you will need to cut two sections of insulation for each sound panel you create. Measuring at this stage is very important.
From here, you will need to cut the canvas that will be placed over the frame and insulation. To do this, place the frame on top of the canvas.
You will then want to wrap the canvas around the frame so that there is enough to tuck an inch behind the wood.
Once you are happy with the size of the canvas, you can cut away the excess. However, it is always better to have slightly more material, than too little. You can always cut away the small excess later.
Step Six: Assembling And Stapling
Before you staple the canvas, place the insulation securely inside the frame. Once you are happy with the positioning, you can then wrap the fabric around the wood and staple it in place. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of staples here.
You will need to fold the fabric at the corners so that it is flat and can be stapled in place. It is important that the fabric is secure and not loose. You can use the adhesive spray to assist with the securing of the fabric if you feel the staples are not enough.
Step Seven: Repeat And Hang Up
This is all you need to do to create the panels. As you can see, it is fairly easy to do. You will just need to repeat the process until you have enough panels. Hang up the panels where they are needed to best absorb the sound.
Summary
We hope you have found this article useful. As you can see, creating sound absorption panels is super simple to do. The most difficult part is knowing what items you need to use.
However, once you have sourced these items, the DIY steps themselves are fairly straightforward and easy to follow. Remember that you can adjust the size of the panels to best suit your needs.
