In March 2024, Russell Township, Ohio, broke ground on a new 2,500-square-foot community building featuring a large room intended for use by both elected officials and the public.
As construction on the space continued throughout 2024 and early 2025, a sound quality issue soon caught the attention of the township's Board of Trustees.
"[The] acoustics in that room, it just echoes so badly,” said Russell Township Fiscal Officer Karen Walder to the Geagua County Maple Leaf in March 2025.
Russell Township brought in Thomas Ryan from Technological Design Studios to conduct an acoustic analysis of the site, after which he presented his findings to the Board of Trustees and recommended Audimute as a partner on the acoustic solution.
This past July, a team from Audimute installed custom-made 3" Fabric Acoustic Panels on the walls and ceiling of the community room to absorb echoes and reverberations. At Russell Township's request, the panels were mounted on rails to create 2" offsets.
Customers love our AcoustiColor® acoustic panels, tiles, shapes, and planks not just because of their excellent sound-absorbing properties (with NRC ratings of .95, they absorb sound as well as our Fabric Acoustic Panels) but also because they can be coated to match any color from Sherwin-Williams.
And while some opt for vibrant, stand-out-from-the-crowd colors like Vigorous Violet or Organic Green, many of our clients instead use simpler, more neutral shades from Sherwin-Williams to create acoustic treatments that blend in with their surroundings.
Here's a few of the most popular "blend-in" Sherwin-Williams colors included among our standard AcoustiColor options:
With its undertones of blue and green, this neutral gray can complement all sorts of décor and furniture choices. We love it for AcoustiColor acoustic solutions in offices, workplaces, and houses of worship, where its strong simplicity blends in with the more reserved surroundings.
This true black color is a perennial favorite. We love it for AcoustiColor acoustic solutions in breweries, bars, or anywhere with exposed ceilings, where, when installed as a ceiling application or between joists, it absorbs sound while disappearing visually.
Sherwin-Williams calls this a "deep, charcoal gray" - to us, it's a happy medium between the lighter Argos and the darker Tricorn Black. We love it for AcoustiColor acoustic solutions in spaces where brighter, warmer colors are at play in the décor or furniture, or in more industrial spaces like warehouses.
Here's two other popular colors that can be added as custom AcoustiColor options:
Accessible Beige (SW 7036) With recent design trends moving toward beige, Sherwin-Williams' Accessible Beige has become one of the brand's most popular colors. We love it for AcoustiColor acoustic solutions in restaurants, homes, or community centers, where it helps reflect light, adds a sense of calm, and pairs well with almost any design.
Alabaster (SW 7008) Soft and warm, this white is classic and comforting. We love it for AcoustiColor acoustic solutions in schools or healthcare facilities, where its timeless look blends in well with the more reserved surroundings.
Looking for more design inspiration? Check out some of Sherwin-Williams' most popular colors here, and, remember, Audimute can coat our AcoustiColor products to match any Sherwin-Williams color, so whether you want your acoustic solution to blend in or stand out, we can make it happen.
The golf simulator market is, if you'll pardon the pun, in full swing. According to the National Golf Foundation, an estimated 6.2 million Americans played in some sort of golf simulator in 2023, while Wise Guy Reports forecasts a 11.5% growth rate in the home golf simulator industry over the next eight years.
And while the main components of a good golf simulator – a tracking system, a projector, a screen, simulation software, a hitting mat – are as familiar to a seasoned golfer as tees and putters, one area that often gets neglected is acoustics.
Here's why your golf simulator needs an acoustic treatment:
Better Sound for You
The peacful pastoral sounds of a regular outdoor game of golf are replaced in a golf simulator by the hard thuds, thumps, and thwacks of the golf ball hitting the impact screen and ricocheting off walls. If not properly treated, these loud noises can quickly get more infuriating than a missed five-foot putt.
And if you're using golf simulation software that provides real-time feedback via AI or other features, you need to able to clearly hear that without bad acoustics burying it under echo and reverb.
Sound-absorbing features in your golf simulator like our AcoustiColor® panels or Sound Absorption Sheets will help soak up these sounds to give you the clarity and peace of mind you need to focus on your game. We recommend placing them along points of reflection on the side walls and the back wall (the back wall is also a great spot for one of our several golf-themed Acoustic Image Panels).
Better Sound for Others
Is your golf sim in your basement, garage, or another part of your home? Or maybe it's in a special rec room in the office next to areas where employees are trying to do work? You may want to control the sound so it's not disturbing others.
Acoustic panels themselves won't soundproof a golf sim, but they will help dampen some noise transmission. A more comprehensive soundproofing option like our Peacemaker® sound barrier will drastically cut down on sound leaving the space, BUT adding it will usually require new construction, so it's best to incorporate it before installing your golf sim.
Protects Your Walls
The walls of a golf simulator definitely take a beating over time. Traditionally, carpet, turf, netting, or foam have been used to limit wear and tear, but their sound-absorbing properties are, at best, limited.
Acoustic solutions like our Audimute Strata® or AcoustiColor panels not only help with the sound in your golf sim, but they are also dense and resilient, protecting your surfaces from golf balls gone wild.
Looks Great
Sound absorption and wall protection in a golf sim are important, but aesthetics matter, too. Again, carpet and turf can add color or texture, but our Audimute acoustic options take it to the next level.
Looking for a rustic elegance that evokes the "Cliffs of Doom" at Pebble Beach? Try our Audimute Strata in Commanding Clay or Granite Run. Want something simpler that brings to mind the sprawling fairways of Augusta National? Check out our AcoustiColor tiles or panels, available in Hep Green, Organic Green, or any other color available from Sherwin-Williams or other leading commercial brands.
Whether installed in a home, a business, or the clubhouse at the local golf course, a golf simulator is a serious investment, both financially and spatially. Make sure you're getting the most out of that investment by incorporating great acoustics, too!
With school back in session, many teachers and educators are paying close attention to how their classroom environment impacts the students: from lighting to desk arrangement to decor, all sorts of visual elements play a big role in creating a classroom conducive to learning.
But something often forgotten about is the importance of good sound in a classroom. Let's take a look at classroom acoustics and why they should be addressed sooner rather than later.
What Causes Bad Acoustics in a Classroom?
Most schools and universities are built from highly reflective materials such as concrete, brick, and drywall — good for durability and cleanliness, but bad for acoustics. Elsewhere, the spacious common areas and open-layout classrooms found in many modern schools allow sound to travel freely without getting blocked by walls or partitions. Overcrowded classrooms and noisy, outdated HVAC systems also add to the acoustic woes.
How Do Bad Acoustics Impact Students?
If a classroom hasn't received a proper acoustic treatment, students are more likely to struggle with concentration and information retention.
The science backs it up: a 2021 study published in Frontiers in Built Environment found that excessive noise levels and reverb in elementary school classrooms correlated with lower math and reading scores, while a 2022 study from the Acoustical Society of America said students can miss up to 25% of information in a classroom due to poor acoustics.
Even at the preschool level, acoustics play a role: excessive reverb and noise in a preschool classroom can negatively impact speech intelligibility, listening comprehension, and behavior.
Simply put, a student's cognitive skills, academic performance, and emotional well-being can suffer when acoustics don't make the grade. That's not even taking into consideration how bad acoustics in a classroom can impact the teacher, who may strain their voice to be heard.
How Do I Fix the Sound in My Classroom?
Any acoustic solution will help significantly: we particularly like Fabric Acoustic Panels because they are durable and bleach-cleanable (making them perfect for high-traffic areas in a school like the hallway or cafeteria). Custom Image Acoustic Panels are a great way to add a touch of school spirit to your acoustic solution, while ceiling clouds, baffles, and direct mount tiles are excellent sound absorption options for areas with limited wall space, like classrooms, gymnasiums, auditoriums, and common areas.
Let's eliminate the echo so we can focus on the education!
Just a couple weeks before he played Lollapalooza as the bassist for headliner Luke Combs, the incredibly talented Mat Maxwell welcomed Audimute into his home to install an AcoustiWood® Chevrons Acoustic Panels Kit (pictured here: Style A feat. AcoustiWood Premium - Aged Dark Oak and AcoustiWood Exotic - Aged Teak). Designed to resemble real wood but made with our eco-C-tex® material, these AcoustiWood kits help absorb an average of 95% of echoes, reverb, and mid to high frequencies.
Speaking of absorbing, be sure to check out Mat's amazing book "Hired Musician: A Guide to Getting and Keeping Gigs", co-written with Seth Costner. It's an entertaining and super resourceful look at pursuing a career in music!
At Audimute, we love it when our acoustic solutions become the canvas for someone else's creativity -- in this case, literally!
After purchasing eight AcoustiColor® panels from Audimute to improve the acoustics in his game room, Clay Hildebrant hired artist Ariane O'Day to paint a mural directly onto the 4'x4' panels.
Says Ariane, who used Behr exterior latex paint on the panels: "I was honestly worried that the panels would just soak [the paint] all up and the paint wouldn’t be able to cover, but I was pleasantly surprised!"
The final result really took flight: a sound-absorbing mural perfect for reducing echoes and reverberations.
(And to those wondering: painting over an AcoustiColor panel may reduce the sound-absorbing efficacy of the area under the paint by 5% to 10%, but with AcoustiColor panels carrying an NRC rating of 0.95, you'll still have a solution that will significantly cut down on poor acoustics!)
Background noise in the workplace isn't just an annoyance; it can impact your productivity and even your health.
According to a 2015 report from the World Green Building Council, excessive background noise can lead to an astounding 66% drop in performance for tasks requiring concentration. This is especially troublesome for open layout offices, where the insistent chatter of computers, keyboards, phones, scanners, printers, and human conversation can result in a focus-shattering cacophony.
The stakes are even higher in industrial settings like factories and warehouses. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, has said noise levels over 85 decibels can damage one's hearing, with the Center for Disease Control estimating that 22 million workers every year are exposed to such dangerous levels of noise in the workplace.
Acoustic solutions such as panels, clouds, or baffles can help absorb many of these echoes, reverberations, and mid to high frequencies, but that's just the beginning of addressing these noise issues. Workplaces should also mitigate excessive noise by relocating loud office equipment behind doors or partitions, designating "quiet zones" where employees can enjoy some much-needed auditory respite, and requiring the use of hearing protectors in areas where even the best acoustic solution can't entirely reduce noise to a manageable level.
In the end, you'll have happier and healthier workers. And that's always a good thing.
Life Point Church in Mentor, Ohio, recently contacted Audimute to address the acoustics in its newly constructed auditorium ahead of its opening. The size of the venue, its layout (two tiers of seating), and the role of live music and livestreaming in Life Point's services called for a sound-absorbing treatment that offered lots of effective coverage.
The Audimute solution — AcoustiColor® acoustic panels coated to match the surroundings and installed in three key locations:
The back walls of both the balcony and the ground floor
The sides of the auditorium
The back wall of the stage
Soon after hosting their first services in the new auditorium, Life Point reached out to Audimute with rave reviews: "Our services went great...such an exciting day for Life Point! The acoustical panels made a huge difference and we love the way they look. I must say you and your team made this part of the project so easy for us and we were really amazed at the attention to detail and the professionalism of your team."
