Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538091
C I N E M A A U D I O S O C I E T Y. O R G 31 Good, Fast, Cheap: In a rental, you must consider using treatments that will not damage the walls when you take them down to move. This counts out glue. But with the approach I outline here, you can easily remove the acoustic treatments without damaging the wall or the treatments. This keeps your landlord a happy camper—and keeps you happy when you get your deposit returned. In addition, this allows you to reuse the treatments when you move to a new location. This is effective, inexpensive, and quick. Or in popular vernacular, good, fast, cheap. M oving into a temporary space, whether an apartment as you look for a permanent residence in a new city after relocating, or because of environmental catastrophes like the L.A. fires or Hurricane Helene on the East Coast, you still have to make a living. In moving into a new home, most likely a rental, sound professionals like us are also faced with setting up a space to continue working. A spare bedroom or other room in your new, temporary home can provide you a space to work in, but the acoustics will most likely stink. Acoustically speaking, that room is an echoey, lousy sounding drywall box. It's a difficult place for a sound professional to work in. I offer here a way to make that room into a space where you can continue your work in a decent acoustic environment. And you can put it together yourself from inexpensive, common, and readily available materials at a reasonable cost, taking only a day or two for installation. b y B r u c e B l a c k Acoustic Treatment Ideas for a Temporary Space What's the approach? Absorption is the prime mover in making your room's acoustics workable. (FYI, there are three other types of acoustical treatment—diffusion, barrier, and vibration isolation). The most popular material for absorption is fiberglass products. But there are many concerns about breathing the glass fibers that may find their way into the air and into your lungs, as well as outgassing vapors. For safety, fiberglass treatments need to be contained behind something like acoustically transparent fabric, which in turn requires a frame. This becomes more expensive and time-consuming. But there is an absorbent material that can be exposed to the room without any concerns. It's recycled denim insulation, so it doesn't have any hazardous fibers. This is also resistant to pests, and is Class A fire rated—something you and your landlord will appreciate. It may not have the most eye-pleasing look, but we're talking about getting back into business good, fast, and cheap here. Recycled denim absorbent is available from Parts Express as Acousta-Blue 50mm Sound Damping Denim (https://www .parts-express.com/Sonic-Barrier-Acousta-Blue-Speaker- Cabinet-Sound-Absorbing-Denim-50mm-x-40-x-48-13.3- Sq.-ft.-260-568). I specify the 50mm (two-inch) thick material rather than the 25mm (one-inch) because it absorbs to a lower frequency—around 350 Hz versus 800 Hz for the one inch. This difference in frequency is in a range that has a big influence on the clarity of the sound, so the two inch will have a much more positive effect on your room's sound. The denim insulation comes in 48- by 40-inch sheets. Installing them vertically, you can cover wall space The Acousta-Blue absorptive panel. Note how limp it is.