Miller Caves Project

Back in January of 2007, Jim Logan of Logan Productions placed a call to ASC, needing help with an upcoming project for Miller Brewing Co. His problem was simple. He was putting an audio system into the historic Miller Caves that were used to store beer 150 years ago. It would be a new visitor center and reception venue. The caves had lots of echo and reverb, and needed acoustic help so that large groups of people could enjoy their visit. Pictured on the right is the Wisconsin State Brewers Association meeting, a dinner event at the Caves, on December 17, 1954.

ASC Founder and President Arthur Noxon booked a plane and flew out to Milwaukee to make tests and see the Caves first hand. The long brick lined cave walls were punctuated by lime stains and years of soot. Understandably, Miller had reached the conclusion that the existing brick look had to stay, so Mr. Noxon went to work on a brick surfaced absorption panel concept that would maintain the look and feel of old cave brick while improving speech intelligibility.

Phase One of the project involved front wall absorption panels to eliminate head-end ringing from the audio system. Phase Two involved brick lined panels set like ribs to run the length of the Cave to act as acoustic "speed bumps".

Phase One

A high power audio system was a key part of the Miller Caves project, and Mr. Noxon had to design hidden acoustics to prevent the head-end ringing this would produce in the Cave. This entailed absorption panels that were made to look like part of the woodwork. The 16 custom panels were then incorporated into the stage area woodwork and display case. These were comparatively easy to build and ship, but Phase Two would be more daunting.

Phase Two

The existing cave walls were distinctive in that no two bricks were alike. The walls were also streaked with long lime stains, and the bricks weren't the classic red, they were a brownish yellow. Adding to the complexity, the cave walls were curved, arching high over head. Not only would ASC have to match bricks, we also needed a flexing panel that would follow the arching curve without buckling. It was decided that we would use the same technology as the ASC PicturePanel, using actual photographs of the cave walls, to perfectly match the existing bricks. A flexing fiberglass panel was also custom designed for the job by Mr. Noxon. ASC technician Buddy Sawyer applied his unique skills as a former scenic artist to come up with a working sample which Miller approved.

The acoustic plan called for 12 acoustically absorptive panels in the Cave, each one being 24" x 12' and covered with fabric "bricks". The panels would curve across the ceiling from both side walls, detailed with fabric covered "stone" footers and keystones. After numerous tries, photos and colors were matched to the cave and the fabric brick panels printed. To increase 3-D realism, the bricks were given a raised treatment complete with texture and fractures. Each panel got mounted to a thin layer of foam, before being shipped to the Caves and applied to the curved absorption panels. It was quite an undertaking to say the least, and the ASC/Logan team pulled it off.

With deadlines looming and a Grand Opening scheduled days away, the final brick panels were overnighted to Milwaukee and installed. With just hours to spare, the Grand Opening events went off perfectly. Arthur Noxon and Jim Logan breathed a huge sigh of relief, and the Miller Brewing people couldn't believe how improved the Cave acoustics had become with such a minor footprint.

Do you have a project that requires custom acoustics? ASC specializes in the engineering and manufacture of unique acoustics. Be sure to visit our Custom Projects page.