DIY Portable Sound Booth

[maku]

I'm in a UK based loud alt rock band (1 x vox, 1 guitar, 1 x bass, 1 x drums) and looking to do some recordings in our rehearsal space. The plan is to record the instruments individually one at a time, to avoid bleed issues.

We have an ok selection of mics - Shure SM-7b, Shure SM-57s, Shure SM-58s, AKG D112s, Rode NT-5s, Sennheiser E 904s

But our 20' x 10' room is very reflective, so am looking for some acoustic treatment advice. We have very very little budget for this, so am planning a temporary DIY style solutions.

I've spent the last few days reading extensively and found some solutions, like this portable sound booth, that look perfect - http://www.palmcitystudios.com/timobrien/music/soundbooth/simplesoundbooth.html (but would make it go behind as well)

However, lots of people are saying that it is useless for stopping low/mid range, and that it's better to use purpose-built bass traps and room treatments. So I have a number of questions which will hopefully help others in a similar situation:

1. If I make a similar enclosure of blankets hung from a frame around the drums or vocalist, and then place some cheap foam bass traps (http://www.avocations.co.uk/2-x-sound-absorbing-acoustic-studio-bass-traps-116-p.asp) inside it on the floor in the corners etc - would this work?

2. Should I hang 2 blankets - a thin one on top of the thick one?

3. Or place some rectangular blocks of foam (http://www.advancedacoustics-uk.com/Problem_Solved/Acousti-Slab.html) within 2 hanging blankets, like a house's wall insulation?

4. Should I also drape a blanket over the top of the enclosure to stop reflections from the ceiling?

5. In the UK I haven't been able to find the quilted blankets you US guys use (http://moverssupplies.com/MOVING-BLANKET/BW-Cotton-Blanket-Producers-Choice/), just these kind of ones - http://www.removalsblankets.co.uk/ Will these work, or does anyone know of any UK suppliers for better ones?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[TimOBrien]

I've always warned my SimpleSoundbooth is NOT a "full sound blocking" solution. I use it like a giant-size diy SE Reflection filter... I record by myself on a quiet street and those are 3/8"-thick 'hurricane blast windows' in the photos. It works for me, but be aware of the limitations.

You'll also find that trying to record multiple band members at the same time without heavy-duty treatment and separate rooms will be difficult to impossible. Blocking sound takes MASS and lots of it.

 

[maku]

Hi Tim, thanks for the response.

The room we play in has no outside noise coming in, and the band will be recording individually one at a time, so we don't need full sound blocking

I'm just after something to make the recordings sound more professional, with less reflections thinning the sound.

The before/after audio samples you posted in the forum are exactly what am trying to achieve.