hi, i've been researching and researching on the best way to get rid of untreated room sound when recording vocals. i saw this on you tube Build A Portable Vocal Booth - YouTube and got the idea but was thinking of using bonded logic ultratouch denim instead of oc 703 because it's specs are higher. and also making it a three panel instead of two. the thickness i would like to have is 3.5" but this was replied to me on another thread (In all cases if you have less than 4" you use rigid, if you have 8" or more you use fluffy, unless you need rigid for structure.) i don't understand why this rule applies. also would i need another panel behind this three panel semi booth. the dimensions i was thinking of using would be 24.5" x 6'. i am completely new to recording vocals so please excuse me for my lack of knowledge. can someone please help me out because the more research i do on this the more hair i pull out of my head. also because of the place i am living in i can't have anything screwed into the walls. thanks every one.
newbie on acoustics for recording vocals needs advice.
- Thread starter gamba
- Start date
jonny deep
Disappointing Member
I use a SE Electronics Reflexion filter and a duvet hung up behind me. The term 'vocal booth' tends to garner negative responses round here - I'm not sure what the reaction will be to a booth made from bass traps/broadband absorbers.
i was told that a SE Electronics Reflexion filter only works if your room is treated, which mine is not at all. i really didn't mean to get anybody upset with my terminology. i just want to be able to record vocals and get a real good sound with them. i'm new to home recording, iv'e recorded before but in studios where i was the drummer not the engineer nor the studio designer. my room is a long rectangular room with my workstation and v drums along one of the short walls. do you think that i could ever record vocals in a room like this or would buying a mic (around the $300.00 range) be useless?
jonny deep
Disappointing Member
Sorry, it's not the terminology that's the issue, it's vocal booths generally, although they are usually a cupboard sized rooms made from wooden walls. I don't know how useful a bass trap booth might be, I'm not best qualified to answer. My room does have some treatment as well as the reflexion filter/ duvet setup. I have often seen this recommended for an untreated room.
Capriccio
A#13b5b9
John H. Brandt says that the minimum recommended size for a vocal booth is 1,500 cu. ft, or 42 cu. m.
Regarding trapping, the smaller the room the more trapping it will need.
Regarding trapping, the smaller the room the more trapping it will need.
My room has 18 6" OC703 panels in corners wall and ceiling and I seem to get a more palatable vocal without my auralex mudguard than with. It's pretty dead in the room at least in the vocal freq range I could only imagine how nasty the vocal would be if I sang right into the panels. You want to have some sort of life in the room.
lockesilver
New member
These sE Reflexion Filters actually give the most noticeable results in an untreated room. They prevent (some amount of) early reflections thus making the vocals 'drier'. If you already had a well treated room then an additional filter wouldn't make much of a difference... Also it's good to have something 'fluffy' behind you because that's where a lot of reflections will come from straight into your mic.
I'd say bass traps are not necessary when recording vocals. I think this
is a very good setup. The filter does not have to be sE but if you go for a cheaper one then research it first... Some 'budget' equivalents will only filter out certain frequencies and make you sound strange.
On a brighter note, you don't have to worry too much about the room treatment if you're not going to do anything commercial with the recordings. If you eliminate the worst sources of early reflections (i.e. flat surfaces behind and in front of you) then you're basically good to go, because you won't get rid of any background noise anyway by building a vocal booth. Unless we're talking some 1000 kg/m^2 of course.
BG noise will have to be left to a VST gate and turning down the gain knob.Good luck
