A brief history of Ready Bags and an explanation as to why they have sometimes been slow to receive:

Ready Bags started as any unique product might have: as…

“……Necessity is the Mother of invention……”

……so too were Ready Bags born in such tradition. Prior to the invention of Ready Bags, few “easy” DIY acoustic treatment options were commercially available. We asked the acoustics community what THEY wanted in a commercially available DIY product, and we listened –

Armed with this information, we concluded that people wanted a DIY acoustic treatment option that:

– looked aesthetically pleasing
– that was easy to install or hang
– that could be used with standard acoustic insulation and alternatives
.. and to omit flammable materials (wood) from the finished panel

After months of testing, reconfiguring, etc, Ready Bags came to fruition.

…why have Ready Bags been slower, and slower to receive over the years…..?

Quite a while after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the potential livelihoods of musicians and music related businesses in Louisiana and Mississippi, I received a note from a gearslutz member that was familiar with Ready Bags and whom was asking for help. At this same time, I was being urged to raise the price of this product because the company was making no money from it, and losing money in some cases. The individual from gearslutz asked if Ready Acoustics would “make a donation” of these products to some music related business, musicians and studio owners that were hurt by the disaster, and the obvious, instant answer was “yes”. Ready Acoustics was growing quickly and we had an opportunity to help some of these folks, if only (what seemed to us) a little bit. So, “donate” we did. Again, at the same time, I was being urged by my fellow share holders to raise Ready Bags price, but I argued against such citing the low pay offered in the recording industry for many people, and the fact that you could simply jump over to another acoustics company making products out of burlap, wood and rockwool and buy something that (though not the same), could offer acoustical benefits without having to “put anything together”. I maintained this price structure, and as a matter of course – Ready Bags essentially became a not-for-profit item, and in a sense, our version of the “Happy Meal”. Perhaps by giving these products away at below our company cost, some customers might see other items on our site that they might be interested in, or perhaps one of their friends might be interested in and (if you believe in such) “Karma” might look at what we were trying to do for others favorably. It (or something) did.

However while all of our products (specifically our Chameleon line of products) has grown rapidly, so has the demand for Ready Bags. The current US economy is in shambles, and everywhere I turn, people (many of our suppliers in fact) have lost their jobs, or their company’s have gone out of business. Even to this day, we have not raised the price of Ready Bags, and because of the slowness in receiving these items, we have since removed them from our website. Standing orders from the US Government and other institutions are still in effect and some of our very supportive patrons have asked to place orders while mentioning they simply don’t care how long they take to receive.

Now, there have been some complaints regarding Ready Bags order, and I believe we addressed them appropriately on another forum, but I believe it is equally important to note that:
- whenever an order for Ready Bags was pending, and had not been processed in a timely manner, our system sent notification to the email address on the order advising the current status and asking the client if they’d like us to point them to an alternative. In MANY cases, this was to one particular company who seems not to be caught up in the bashing of other acoustics companies, and who offers usable products at cheap prices.

- in cases were time was a concern for some Ready Bags customers, we recommended the cancelation and refund of their Ready Bags order, and instead pointed patrons to our DIY Acoustic Panels Tutorials – also a non-for-profit service. One particular acoustic panel tutorial we developed encourages the DIY’er to use LOCALLY purchased materials to help their locally owned businesses. This tutorial (seen mostly on YouTube) is based on the SCA developed by the good folks at www.studiotips.com. It has been viewed more than 1 Million times (internet-wide) and has helped countless individuals, churches and others make thousands of panels using (again) locally sourced materials.

See it here: Bass Traps Tutorial

Made in the USA:

Ready Bags were / are NOT a foreign-made product. They are hand-sewn in the The United States, by Americans, and with materials that are solely manufactured in the United States …and all of the money used to make Ready Bags goes directly to the people who’s products we use to make our own.

It is not cheap to manufacture products in the USA. It is VERY “expensive” compared to other economies, but if Ready Bags will be offered, for the moment, they will be made here, and here only.

For the moment, Ready Bags are not being offered on our website, but may again soon.

We hope so.

Thanks to all of you that endured this long post. I hope it has shed a modicum of light on this particularly peculiar issue.

Joel DuBay
President/ CEO
Ready Acoustics LLC

Ready Acoustics is pleased to announce that now, ALL of our products, and the products that make up our products are 100% manufactured in the USA, by U.S. owned businesses, specifically: our famed Ready Acoustics Fabric.

In the past, most consumers had a choice between acoustic fabrics made by overseas companies OR by one burlap-style fabric manufacturer in North America – not any more!

Beginning Oct 25th 2010, (or before) we’ll begin shipping Ready Bags (our proprietary invention that allows you to make and install your own acoustic panels in minutes) using our improved fabric which is made right here, in the good ol’ USA. Our distribution lines to the far east, Africa, South America, Europe and every other country will also be shipping our products that will feature this Made in the USA material.

We could not be more proud to offer our clients and patrons products that are made right here, and that feature the quality, science and workmanship unmatched in our business.

Thank you all for your patience, and support. Ready Acoustics will continue to improve for as long as we’re making our proprietary products, which looks to be for a long, long time (Thanks to you!)

Sincerely;

Joel R DuBay Sr
President/ CEO
Ready Acoustics LLC
www.readyacoustics.com

Ready Acoustics is pleased to announce that now, ALL of our products, and the products that make up our products are 100% manufactured in the USA, but U.S. owned businesses, specifically: our famed Ready Acoustics Fabric.

In the past, most consumers had a choice between acoustic fabrics made by overseas companies OR by one burlap-style fabric manufacturer in North America – not any more!

Beginning Oct 25th 2010, (or before) we’ll begin shipping Ready Bags (our proprietary invention that allows you to make and install  your own acoustic panels in minutes) using our improved fabric which is made right here, in the good ol’ USA. Our distribution lines to the far east, Africa, South America, Europe and every other country will also be shipping our products that will feature this Made in the USA material. 

We could not be more proud to offer our clients and patrons products that are made right here, and that feature the quality, science and workmanship unmatched in our business. 

Thank you all for your patience, and support. Ready Acoustics will continue to improve its products for as long as we’re making our proprietary products, which looks to be for a long, long time (Thanks to you!)

Sincerely, 

Joel R DuBay Sr. 
President/ CEO
Ready Acoustics LLC
www.readyacoustics.com

We get lots of questions regarding acoustical panel “gapping” off walls. In some cases, it can be a good idea, in other cases…..maybe not so much….

- Low Frequency Absorption

“Gapping” an acoustic panel off a boundary (surface, wall), may enhance the low frequency absorption capabilities of the “device” at the point of placement; meaning: the low frequency absorption of the panel can be enhanced in the area where the panel resides. However, this installation method “reduces” the absorbers ability to lessen the vibration of the resonant surface of the wall, etc. In cases where walls are resonant, adding a low frequency absorber (directly) to the wall’s surface will do MORE to reduce the resonance of the wall, than if you “gap” that same panel “off” this same resonant surface. Further, if the surface you are applying broadband, or low frequency acoustical absorbers to is “resonant” (and perhaps creating a so-called “standing wave”), all the more reason to efficiently and effectively reduce the resonance of that surface.

We tested broadband acoustical absorbers at Riverbank Acoustical Labs in a number of application configurations. In one series of tests, we “gapped” broadband absorbers by 2” in a corner. The result was a flatter, more linear curve (flatter line in the graph) showing that the bass absorption was reduced. I theorize that the low frequency absorption potential of the absorber was reduced because it no longer made direct, physical contact with either (left or right wall) resonant wall.

You can test this yourself by adding a low frequency absorber directly to a resonant surface such as drywall. Do so, and play a low frequency sine wave or play some music featuring low frequencies – then rest the palm of your hand on the wall. Now do the same with the same panel gapped off the wall (making no physical contact with the resonant surface). Individual results can vary depending on the construction of the resonant surface and the way in which you attach/ detach the absorber. However, in a simple way, this may give you a better understanding of how the performance of a bass trap can vary using a gapping approach versus a flat wall installation approach.

- Hi Frequency Absorption

In cases where you are only trying to absorb high frequencies, gapping your HF absorbers off a wall, ceiling, etc – may be a good idea. Folks that want to absorb high frequencies only (to improve speech intelligibility, remove echoes or harshness) find that gapping their panels by 2” or more allows sound waves to get between the panel and wall – and those sound waves can be absorbed by entering the backside of the absorber. This increases the overall efficiency of this type of sound absorber.

In larger spaces with high ceilings, hanging acoustical absorbers from their edges (side edge) doubles the effectiveness of the panel. This is because sound can enter either side equally.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! (Happy Festivus, if that applies to you

I was forwarded a recent email request concerning Ready Acoustics DIY Parts. The sender kindly asked where the “discounts” started for Ready Bags and Chameleon Acoustic Frames. In the reply, we advised the kind gentleman that there was no discount on DIY parts, and he replied asking why. So, I thought it might be prudent to explain our policy regarding such:

In 2005, I was returning from work in Washington DC, and had some time to finally set up my home studio. After working in many studios around the country, and with knowledge from top producers and engineers, I had the advantage of knowing that proper acoustic treatment was the number one priority for my (any) critical listening area. So, I set about looking for commercially available products to complete that phase of my build. In my research, I found lots of products made from cheap materials, but that cost a small fortune. After looking deeper into what made up these products, I realize that there was a very, very high profit margin on many of the items offered to consumers. I then began experimenting with these same types of materials, and found that almost none of them worked as well as the materials my friends in the recording industry had used in their high-end studios. So, I went back to basics and developed some simple parts that would help other consumers make their own acoustic treatments and I promised not to charge an arm and a leg for such. The result was a wonderful acoustical slip cover (Ready Bags) that is made of beautiful material and that offers easy installation, as well as Chameleon Acoustic Frames which enable folks to use their own fabric (or use Ready Bags) and build top quality, highly effective bass traps and acoustic panels at a fraction of the cost of other commercially available products. As I mentioned earlier, I promised not to charge an arm and a leg for these wonderful acoustical options, and to this day, Ready Acoustics makes almost nothing from their sales. In many ways, the price point for these products is more of a “service” than anything else, as well as a way to get consumers to look at our other products and determine if they are a good/ better fit for their needs. I’ve challenged lots of competitors to offer the same at the price point we offer these products at, but none will do it because there is no profit in it for them. We do it because I wished this option was available to me when I was looking for one.

_________________________________________________

Necessity (who is) the Mother of Invention ~ Plato

Joel DuBay
President/ CEO
Ready Acoustics LLC

Welcome!

I just wanted to drop in a a quick note to welcome everyone to the Ready Acoustics Blog. Starting now, you’ll be able to read updated information on the company, new products, alternative installation information from Ready Acousticians – and other tidbits of info you may find useful or interesting.

In the coming days, we’ll be announcing upcoming plans to partner with another company that will allow easier access to Ready Acoustics factory finished acoustic treatments outside the USA. For several years, we’ve been shipping direct to all corners of the Earth. While it is simple to do so, it can be more costly than if the product was readily available in or near your Country. We hope to provide more opportunities to access Ready Acoustics products in your neck of the Universe sooner, rather than later.

Many thanks to all of our very kind and PATIENT Ready Acoustics customers. We hope to make your acoustics experience even better as a result of these blog entries.

Sincerely,

Joel R DuBay Sr
President/ CEO
Ready Acoustics LLC