Create Superior Acoustics with These DIY Ideas

The thorn in the side of every sound engineer and worship leader is dealing with their worship center’s terrible acoustics. Many of us worship in old buildings, cathedrals, town halls, cellars, garages, and who knows where else. What we do know is none of them were designed for an acoustic balance. To this end, our worship becomes a muddled mess of bass and electric guitar.

Let’s face it—our worship budget can be maxed out by a set new of guitar strings. Simply put, a complete redesign of the worship center is out of the question. However, acoustics not only carry the praise of worship songs, but also the weight of the gospel.

So how do we reconcile this great need with feasible options?

3 DIY acoustic-design ideas

Reengineering your worship center isn’t in the budget, but a few hours and some elbow grease will go a long way in bringing your acoustics to a workable level. These creative DIY projects will likely fit in your budget:

1. Build sound boards

Sound boards reduce unwanted reflection by absorbing the sound waves. If you are dealing with unwanted noise and echoes, this is an excellent place to start. Building a sound board is relatively simple. Construct a large rectangle from wood, place soundproof insulation inside the rectangle, and wrap it with fabric of your choice. Then fasten them to walls.

2. Make a ceiling cloud

High ceilings (especially if they have a dome or peak) make for a diffusion disaster. Creating a ceiling cloud is a few additional steps from the sound boards. After completion of the sound boards, insert eye bolts near each corner, put string through the bolts, and hang them from the ceiling.

3. Create corner traps

Low-frequency sounds often get muddled in 90-degree corners due to the way the sound waves reflect. Use corner traps to reduce the bass reflection. To build a corner trap, create several sound boards and stack them on top of each other from floor to ceiling, and fasten them together. Then secure them at a 45-degree angle in the corners of your worship center.

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