At first sight, a bass trap doesn't actually sound like it does anything good: why would you want to trap the bass? The bass is the good bit, right? Don't panic! Your kick drum, bass guitar and low-diving synths are safe. What bass traps actually do is reduce the natural echo or reverb in a space to balance the frequency response. Basically it tightens up and defines the sound, making the bass even better.
Acoustic Treatment or Sound Isolation
Bass traps aren't designed for sound isolation, they're purely designed to help improve the acoustics of a room. By placing bass traps in the corners, the reverberation of the lower frequencies is pulled back to balance out the frequency response. Also, if your room is less noisy thanks to a few bass absorbers, your neighbours are far less likely to be bothered by the music you play or the project you're working on. But if you really need to fully isolate a room and make sure that no sound leaks in and no one can hear anything outside, then you'll have to roll up those sleeves and start installing some rock-wool and plasterboard.
Broadband Foam Bass Traps
The easiest and therefore the most common method of taming the lower frequencies in a space is using some porous bass absorbers - otherwise known as bass traps. Most of the time, these traps will be made from rock wool, fibreglass or special acoustic foam. These porous materials convert the energy of the vibrating air particles into heat. The lowest frequency that a bass trap is able to absorb depends on how thick it is, so for all the physics buffs out there: the thickness of a bass trap represents a quarter of the longest wavelength the trap is able to absorb.
Ready-Made or Custom-Cut Bass Traps
You can buy rock wool and fibreglass from your local DIY shop, so there's nothing stopping you from making your own custom bass traps, right? Well, one sound-absorbing material is different from another, and since companies like Auralex, Primacoustic and Ekustik have carried out extensive research on the subject, you can feel pretty confident that when you install a few panels from any of them, they're going to give you the best possible level of efficiency. Also, you'll need some professional machinery to make your own professional-looking bass traps - and aesthetics do make a difference - especially when you're covering a large portion of your walls with acoustic panels and bass traps. So, to prevent your studio from looking like a prison cell, we have a full array of stylish solutions stacked up in our acoustic treatment department.
Corner Bass Traps & Bass Trap Panels
Because lower frequencies sound louder closer to the walls, the best place to put a bass trap is at the point where two walls meet - the corner. By placing the strap in a corner, you're also placing it against the ceiling or the floor, which is actually even better, since you're getting three birds with one stone. Also, you can easily install a 50cm-thick trap in a corner without taking up too much precious studio space. By setting up any standard acoustic panels, you can easily lose around half a metre of space in one shot. But that's not to say that you won't need some normal absorber panels as well. These panels are a big help when it comes to absorbing possible echoes but aren't so efficient when it comes to absorbing frequencies somewhere below the 40Hz mark.
