i use audimute products for sound absorption.

http://www.audimutesoundproofing.com/

I like wood. The older I get the more I appreciate it.

bitflipper


Yes, wood absorbs sound. So does concrete, as does everything. Just not enough to matter.

It's all about density, and wood's pretty dense, as anyone who's chopped a cord of it can attest. In at least one proper scientific test that I know of, wood floors were compared to concrete floors and found to be almost indistinguishable from one another acoustically.

But I believe the OP is talking about wood paneling.  That has a very thin veneer of real (or maybe fake) wood over a quarter inch (or less) of some kind of plywood or composite material.  It will have the flexiility of whatever it's glued to.  Real 3/4" thick wood is another matter entirely.

bitflipper


In at least one proper scientific test that I know of, wood floors were compared to concrete floors and found to be almost indistinguishable from one another acoustically.

So the problem is floors.


Or, did I just make that up?

For a studio, a combination of spaces and wall treatment are advantageous. Many vocal and guitar booths are wood lined. But the ideal space would have reflective and non reflective options.

Does wood have much of a dampening effect?  Recent experience tells me yes.  I have just moved house a few weeks ago and my new music room has wood panelling 1.2m high on 3 walls and hardwood sliding cupboard doors on the 4th wall.  The sound is noticeably less lively and more focused than before.  The wood is the only significant thing that is different from the previous room, which was a similar size, with a similar sized window, similar carpet, same furniture, same gear, etc.

What were the walls in the other room?  Concrete ;-)  And the new room?  The wainscoating might just supply reflection to go along w/ the rest of the rooms absorption if it is sheetrock. Or plaster.

@

AT

What were the walls in the other room?  ...And the new room?

Both the same: plaster, painted.  Ceilings same too.

mmmmm....I live in an 1850's farmhouse. The room I have my studio in is a bit of a puzzler...we have crown moldings and wainscotting around the room. The wainscoting is about 39" off the ground and that is on top of a about a foot high baseboard...the rest?

Horse-hair plaster....

It seems to absorb sound pretty well....

Yeh, horse-hair is hard to come by these days! 

Some of you guys have cats. You could just start collecting cat fur and glue that to the walls. Let me know how that works out! Be sure to take some waterfall graphs before and after. I think coughed-up fur-balls might work just as well, if you're having trouble getting enough volume from the couch alone.



EDIT: apologies to offnote. It's Friday night, if you know what I mean. But the thread was really doomed as soon as Beavis & Butthead made their appearance.