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DIY Sound Diffuser

A sound diffuser improves the acoustics of your home recording studio. Sound waves hitting a flat wall rebound off at the same angle, meaning that the sound is not evenly spread throughout the room. This problem is exacerbated if the recording studio has two parallel walls. The uneven surface of a diffuser breaks up the sound waves hitting it and reflects them at various angles around the studio, helping to diffuse the sound. A diffuser can be built out of any material you choose, but wood is the most cost-effective material.

Things You'll Need

  • Wooden board measuring 2 square feet
  • 7 wooden poles, 2 inches x 2 inches x 8 feet
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Jigsaw
  • Wood glue
  • Paint (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Using a pencil and a ruler, draw vertical lines down the 2-foot-square board at 2-inch intervals. Repeat along the horizontal. There should now be 144 uniform 2-inch squares drawn on the board.

    • 2

      Divide the 7 wooden poles into 131 pieces of varying lengths: 38 x 1 7/8 inches, 38 x 3 3/4 inches, 40 x 5 5/8 inches and 15 x 7 1/2 inches. Do this by marking the desired lengths along the pole with a pencil and then cutting along the markings using a jigsaw.

    • 3

      Attach the lengths of pole to the board, vertically, using wood glue. The base of each length of pole measures 2 square inches and so will fit neatly into each square on your board's grid.

    • 4

      Make sure not to cluster similar lengths of pole in one place as you want to create an uneven surface area. Of the 144 squares, 13 will have no length of pole attached. Similarly, make sure these 13 squares are spread evenly over the entire area of the board.

    • 5

      Leave the board overnight (or for a few hours) to give the glue time to dry. Paint your completed diffuser board, if you wish, to make it look more attractive, and then hang it on the wall of your studio.

Recording Music

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