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Sound Blankets

Sound ART Acoustic Room Treatment

With many audio editing platforms available today, recording can be done in the comfort of your own home, although it is not as easy as buying a microphone and pressing “Record”.  Room acoustics are paramount. Every professional recording studio is fine-tuned to get the best sound possible.  It requires expertise and costs thousands of dollars to do a proper job in acoustic room treatment.  Yet in-home audio recording studios this often underestimated.  It is much more fun to talk about expensive mics, EQ (equalizers) and latest software that “removes” noise and optimizes your tracks all by itself. Continue reading “Sound ART Acoustic Room Treatment”

Using Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets During a Live Gig – A Musician’s Own Story

by Byron Santo, Bassist, Producer, Author & Beta Tester

My background is in performing, recording and mastering, but over the last two 2 years I’ve been doing more live sound due to my mixer beta testing.

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One issue that I have encountered as well as many other sound engineers and musicians is bad venue and stage acoustics. I have played gigs that moving one foot on stage resulted in not being able to hear oneself. I started thinking what could live performers do to alleviate these acoustical problems considering that one could not alter the physical structure of the venues or stages. After much research, I discovered VocalBoothToGo’s Producer’s Choice acoustic blankets.

I decided to purchase one blanket to test. I had no experience in acoustic blankets but I did have experience in studio acoustical foam usage. After a few tests in my recording studio I decided to try the blanket in a live situation. Hanging the 6′ x 8′ blanket behind my drummer in an extremely bad acoustical sounding venue produced good results. The early reflections from the drums, amps and monitors were reduced resulting in a cleaner stage and PA sound. Two sound engineers were attending my gig that was familiar with the venue and its acoustical problems also heard a noticeable improvement.

melodycoolI decided to purchase a 2nd acoustic blanket and try it on a stage, which had a back wall made of brick and glass. The side walls were also brick and the physical stage was made of plywood with no carpet and stood four feet tall. It was an acoustical nightmare. I hung the two blankets behind my drummer which resulted in a 12′ wide by 8′ tall section of the back wall being covered. The back wall was close to 18′ wide. The results were amazing — there were hardly any reflections on stage. This resulted in an improved PA sound, no feedback and a better performance for me and fellow musicians.  I was running sound from the stage on that gig, the blankets made my job much easier which allowed me to focus more on playing then sound. The owner of the venue and routine customers heard the difference in my band’s sound quality which resulted in getting booked again. 🙂

My goal is to continue to test the Producers Choice acoustic blankets in a variety of live performance scenarios. I would love to be able to wrap a stage one gig — the entire back wall and two side walls.

Considering the cost of a single blanket, one could easily create an entire mobile acoustic treatment system that could be used in numerous live performance scenarios and not break the bank.

How Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets compare to Fiberglass sound absorbing blankets?

In this article we wanted to compare how Producer’s choice acoustic blankets compare to Fiberglass insulation in its sound absorption property and also in ease of use and convenience.

We tried to be as accurate as possible, but since the comparable fiberglass products for acoustical use is different from Acoustic Blankets in its form , thickness and application, it was somewhat difficult to make direct apple to apple comparison.  Certain assumption had to be made in the conclusion to compare the results.

Both Acoustic Blankets and Fiberglass wool are porous absorbers.   Once the sound gets inside the absorber Sound energy is spent on vibrating the  fibers of the material and converts into heat.

Therefore it is important that the outer fabric is porous enough for the sound to get in.

 

Continue reading “How Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets compare to Fiberglass sound absorbing blankets?”

Tips and Tricks for Using Producer’s Choice Acoustic Sound Blankets

Sound blankets are an effective and economical alternative to acoustic foam. In other articles, we discuss the cost efficiency of acoustic sound blankets versus acoustic foam, superior acoustic quality as well as the versatility of applications. This article, however, was triggered by a question of the DVX user forum:

 

“I haven’t been able to get much feedback on this subject but does anyone have tips or tricks for sound blankets?

Indeed, acoustic blankets might seem like a simple product, and yet if used properly, you can get more for your money than with using acoustic foam.  It is also a misconception to think that the blankets are simply a “cheaper” alternative — and if you can afford, you should use acoustic foam instead.

On the contrary, Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets have been successfully used by professional film makers with multimillion-dollar budgets such as Century 21 Studios, HBO, and other professional film and music studios worldwide.

So, how do you use acoustic blankets effectively? Here are some tips and tricks to using Producer’s Choice blankets.

Continue reading “Tips and Tricks for Using Producer’s Choice Acoustic Sound Blankets”

Acoustic Foam vs Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets: Comparing Cost Efficiency

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In the environments that require good sound control, there is a constant search for the most efficient and most reliable products.  It is etched in our brains that effective products do not come cheap, and that you have to pay big for effective results.

But is it really so?

We all want to have the best equipment, the best recording studios and the best vocal booths. Sometimes, the only way to do this is to go through the process of trial and error of finding the best product. But by doing this, a lot of time and money get wasted in the process.

 

Continue reading “Acoustic Foam vs Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets: Comparing Cost Efficiency”

Producer’s Choice Sound Blanket Features

Producer’s Choice Blankets Features

This popular brand of sound blankets, called Producer’s Choice, has quickly become the top choice when looking for a sound blanket for your audio recording studio.

  • Quality and Durability. Producer’s Choice Blankets VB series have vertical 2 inch parallel stitching. This allows the cotton fibers inside the blanket to expand more (gets thicker) than Zig-Zag stitched moving blankets.
  • Designed for Sound Absorption. Moving blankets are designed for moving but our sound and acoustic blankets are made specifically for sound absorption. The picture below shows the moving blanket size 72 x 80 (left) versus the Producer’€™s Choice Blanket VB70 size 72 x 80 (right). See the difference when folded!

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Continue reading “Producer’s Choice Sound Blanket Features”

Comparison of Moving Blankets to Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets

When preparing a space for audio recording or creating a vocal booth, people often wonder what the best type of blanket to use for sound absorption. A first guess is to use moving blankets — they are easy to find and fairly inexpensive, right? But, what is the difference between a moving blanket and a sound blanket or acoustic blanket. Aren’t they both manufactured the same way and all pretty much the same? The answer is no.

The Difference Between Moving Blankets and Sound Blankets

Moving blankets and sound blankets are not the same. For instance, the Producer’€™s Choice line of sound blankets and acoustic blankets, measures at 80% noise absorption and has an NRC Rating of 0.8. NRC ratings fall between 0 (perfectly reflective) and 1 (perfectly absorptive.)  So basically, the higher the NRC rating, the more sound a product can absorb.  Most moving blankets are not even tested since they are designed for moving not sound absorption.

Continue reading “Comparison of Moving Blankets to Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets”

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