Bass Traps from Concrete Tubes

I wanted to talk about this here; there was an old thread about this but it was from 2008.

I have it from a good source, a gentleman that worked at Digidesign whom is excellent at studio acoustics.

He recommended I use those cardboard tubes, similar to concrete tubes for bass traps. I have been doing a bit of reading and these things seem to elicit both strong proponents and downright heckling.

Here is an example of the Concrete Tubes: [link=http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CDMQ9QEwBQ]http://www.google.com/img...gurl=...ed=0CDMQ9QEwBQ[/link]


My idea is this for construction: I am going to take the tubes and fill them with OC 703. I am going to drill 1" holes evenly over the surface of them. (I think the holes will be important to allow the bass to enter and be absorbed by the 703.) My idea came from this:



I am going to cap the bottoms of them similar to what is described in this thread: DIY Tube Traps

I am then going to cover the outsides of them with black, breathable fabric.

Thoughts?

This is what is said about the professional tubes:

It's worth keeping in mind that ASC's tube traps aren't bass absorbers per se, they are resonant absorbers. They won't remove the bass energy from your room, rather they will tame the resonances caused by this energy. Bass peaks will still be strong at the room's resonant frequency, but the absorption of this resonance will reduce their severity.

FULL ARTICLE:  http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/tubetrap.htm

TUBE TRAP SOURCE:  http://www.tubetrap.com/

How do you plan to "fill them with OC 703"?

Ahh, let me clear up firstly the picture of "concrete tubes" I think a couple of you have (esp. Gambler's Choice).  They're actually made of COMPRESSED PAPER; they're forms for pouring concrete into to make pillars.  Check the first link on my OP.  They're really thick (about 3/4 to 1" thick) cardboard, but harder.  Compressed PAPER.  They're quite light!!  LOL.

Secondly, Skullsession, by "filling with 703" simply by cutting pieces of 703 - either in lengths, or in small circles - to the size of the ends and pushing them in.  Trying to get it full, but not too tight.   That part I haven't totally thought out yet.  That's why I'm here.
 
Thirdly, I AM covering them with BLACK CLOTH, again as stated in my OP.  More for aesthetics than functionality.  It will be breatheable fabric, to allow absorption, not dense so as to avoid reflection.

Matt, I understand your skepticism, I'm trying to get my head around some of that article myself, but I have to go back to my ORIGINAL source, and that's my buddy from Digidesign.  He's the one that originally suggested these.  He swears by them.  Also, in the SECOND link from my OP, they're building almost what I'm talking about, except I'm filling them with 703 rather than using the 703-like material as the tubes themselves.

Mike, firstly I do take offense at your statement that I spend energy at making myself confused, and secondly, I'm not afraid of a little hard work.  I don't know where you get off on making accusations against someone that's trying to make something work based upon research, sage advice and tried and true methods.  Isn't that what these forums are for?  If it was within my ability to go out and spend thousands on room treatment and equipment, I probably wouldn't be in there asking for advice. 
 
I'm also not buying ANY of these materials - which is most important in my reasons for wanting to do this - I already have EVERYTHING I need.  Oh, my mistake - I spent $30 on fabric that I'm going to use on more than one type of trap to do my entire room.  I'm using up scraps.

Also, what you're failing to notice is that some people here are finding this discussion useful and interesting.

If you don't have anything useful to say, or are able to contribute to a thread and impart useful information, please click somewhere else and don't waste our time.

All of my information and ideas are amalgamations of tried and true methods and I do believe that they'll work - maybe with varying degrees of success, but it's my choice whether or not I want to go through the trouble.  Maybe others will benefit, but at the end of the day, maybe I will benefit.   If I would have listened to skeptics like you, telling me I couldn't release a "professional" CD from my bedroom, I wouldn't have 2 albums out, both selling pretty well in Europe.

It is MY choice whether or not I want to work hard and experiment with new ideas.  I'm not afraid of doing things that "SUCK".  It sucked learning how to solder and run audio wire and it sucked learning how to put in multi-gang electrical outlets and it sucked drywalling, mudding and taping.  But now I have a recording studio with integrated audio wire and convenient electrical outlets that I'm able to do awesome quality recording in of live drums and instruments - that looks good to boot. 

It also doesn't suck that people want to give me money to come by and use it either.

Some of us find experimentation in all aspects of our hobbies to be not only fun, but useful and satisfying.

And YES, this is going in my not SQUARE, but RECTANGULAR control room.

Have a good weekend.

Yes, thanks Bit.  I wish I did have the room to do that, to at least give it a try.  I have a couch that takes up about a foot too much room LOL.

I was going to go ahead and build superchunk bass traps, and still may do that.  But for giggles I may just build one of these with the scraps and see if it makes any difference. 

Thanks!!

spindlebox,
 I maintain that the moment you simply get back from the insulation store and place a pile of hi density material in the corner you will be amazed at the difference and you will think to your self; wow that was easy. I sure spent a lot of time thinking about the stuff.

 Here's the important part: You DO NOT EVEN HAVE TO UNWRAP THE Hi DENSITY STUFF...



 just get it in there.

 After you have that experience under your belt you may not even consider decorating the stuff or building a frame or stuffing it in a tube or etc. etc. etc.

 Because you are gonna put the stuff in the room and think to your self and immediately think... I'm done!

 Honestly.

 best regards,
mike


BTW,


 Bit,

re:  "Scott, keep in mind that tube absorbers are Helmholtz resonators."

We should explain that Snapple bottles... when left open.. are Helmholtz resonators as well... as are that extra pair of ported speakers. etc. :-)

if you just analyze the floor space a 12" dia circle will provide 20% less mass than a 12" square when you consider what you can stack in the vertical column.

So the square works well.... and can be decorated with a beautiful fabric cover.

I might also consider building a custom made couch where the base was stuffed with hi density material. Alternatively you could make a tuned resonator there but it's just simpler to start with the hi density stuff.

best,
mike

Spindlebox:

+1 Ethan Winer's compulsive ideas ... and +1 your ideas.

Your song-style has always been a bit crisp (yet controlled) for your heavy vox and guitarists ... I can see why bass-trapping is important to you.  Please keep us posted.