How to make recording VO in a closet a less awful idea?

sus2

New member
Hey forum peoples - new poster here though I've been reading the forums on and off for a while.

I'm getting in to voiceover work from home, but I live in an old house with a bunch of other people and it's hard to keep noise out of my room.

My closet, however, is reasonably isolated from the rest of the house. So, with the understanding that recording vocals in a closet is a horrible idea and I should never do it... please help me do it :) (Or, finally cement in my mind that it's just not going to work for my purposes, if it really isn't. Basically I'm looking for the least bad practical option here, and am trying to decide if mostly dealing with reflections is going to work better in the end than barely dealing with isolation.)

Obviously for VO work, dead sound is ideal, but like anything, boxy sound isn't. From some experimentation I've decided there's not a real change in the timbre of my recorded voice if I just roll off everything under 100Hz or so, leaving my main concern as how to deal with reflections above that point. I think. (If I'm missing something obvious in that statement, please do let me know! I'm not that new to audio theory, but it's definitely practical acoustics where my knowledge is most wanting.)

So I'm wondering if it's at all feasible to use sound-absorbing materials to do that, still leave myself room to stand, and not spend a tonne of money. It's a deep and high-ceilinged, but... y'know, closet-width? (I'm an average-sized man, maybe a bit broad-shouldered, and can stand facing the back with a couple of inches on either side.) Complicating things somewhat is a small window starting maybe a metre and a half up, but it's a quiet neighbourhood and I'm still probably more concerned with reflections there.

I would love suggestions and insights - or to be disabused of this idea once and for all, keeping in mind the practical balancing act I'm going for here.

Thanks!
 
Hi there and welcome to the forums!

As you say, a small room or closet may not be ideal but I think you could certainly get good results with some minimal absorption.

You could either aim to mount panels in the room at the main reflection points, or set up something of a DIY reflection filter around the mic.
I have done the latter with a pair of 2'x2'x4" rockwool panels like a 45 degree open book behind my mic, and it really worked quite well!

The microphone choice and distance from it will come into play too so if you're not already committed there, you might consider an re20 or sm7b or something, so you can get right up on it.
 
The microphone choice and distance from it will come into play too so if you're not already committed there, you might consider an re20 or sm7b or something, so you can get right up on it.
Beat me to it. Not only so you can get right up on it, but so the "non-wonderfulness" of the surroundings will be minimized simply due to how the mic picks up (or in this case, rejects) ambient sound.
 
Yeah, that's a good point. I haven't had great results with the SM7B specifically on spoken word (though I love it for music vocals), but a higher-end-ish dynamic definitely seems like the way to go for such a setup.

As for absorption, one thing I'm hoping to get some guidance on is how to pick materials or pre-fab panels to help with the frequency range I want to absorb... couldn't quite figure out how to craft a web search that answered the question "How do I best stop reflections above 100hz specifically, and especially the lower-end ones" :)
 
You say "high ceiling" so can you fill the void above your head with hanging pieces of say GF or rockwool?

The window may not be a problem for sound ingress but it will be reflective! Cover with GF/RW.

Do you read from a script? If so have it on a surface but made of skeletal material such as very open metal grill then cover with thin cloth or foam. This will prevent any reflection back into the mic. Assuming of course that the floor is fairly absorbent.

As you say, booths are horrible but if yerhaf t', suck out everything you can!
Dave.
 
Give it s shot. People have gotten good results in far worse acoustic environments
 
BTW. Do you know what also works great? Recording on a messy room. You know, with bed, curtains, clothing hanging around, wash and other stuff like boxes laying around, ...
The mess will mute the unwanted by-sounds.
 
Yeah, that's a good point. I haven't had great results with the SM7B specifically on spoken word (though I love it for music vocals)

That's interesting. Do you think that can be attributed to the microphone with your voice or the environment?
I'm asking because it's generally top 2 in the 'high end' dynamics list, with re20 being the other.

421s probably don't get mentioned enough and while all three sound different, I'd be happy using any of them.

What sort of preamp or interface are you using? I remember a long time ago I couldn't understand the praise for dynamic microphones.
When I moved from digi002 preamps to some nicer ones I started to realise.
 
It's a deep and high-ceilinged, but... y'know, closet-width? (I'm an average-sized man, maybe a bit broad-shouldered, and can stand facing the back with a couple of inches on either side.) Complicating things somewhat is a small window starting maybe a metre and a half up, but it's a quiet neighbourhood and I'm still probably more concerned with reflections there.

It's obvious that you already understand some of the issues...so I'll just post this to reconfirm them for you. :)

If the closet was a large, walk-in...you might be OK, but if it's standing-room only...mmm...regardless of the absorption used, it will still suck. That's what a lot of folks misunderstand...they think just making it super-dead is all that's needed....but you're still going to get sound wave build-up and all kinds of comb filtering in a small, dead space...which is what makes the sound "boxy".

And here's a quick video...the first part talks about why vocal booths suck in general...the rest is about the control room.
I wish more people would grasp the negative aspects of the small/cramped vocal booths they build so obsessively for their home rec use.

 
I generally tell people that by the time they have enough broadband trapping to actually control a closet-sized space *in* a closet-sized space, there's little room left for things like microphones and people that make sounds and stuff.
 
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