Building a Mic Booth

[Pcpg]

How would I build a mic booth out of cheap materials like wood and home building materials. I want it to look somethin like this.
I wanna record hip hop vocals so can anyone give me proper dimensions and proper padding positions with good mic placements for hip hop thx.


http://drs.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=mi...ne_picture.jpg


thx

[frederic]

You mean, like this?

Ignore the guitars, but this is the outside of my 6'x8' vocal booth:
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0010.jpg

Same outside wall, the side is about to go up:
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0011.jpg

Inside of the booth after mounting track lighting, before installing folding doors:
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0012.jpg

This is the crap I mounted inside my vocal booth. JL Cooper midi-based remote control for my recorders, so I can arm/disarm tracks 1-64 while sitting in the booth and not have to get up each time. Since its midi, it doesn't aggrevate my existing akainet remote I use with my akai recorders. Mounted this right on the wall: To the right of that is a duplex outlet, and a bunch of outlet boxes that will have XLR, 1/4" and midi connectors since I may put some keyboards in there or my electric drumkit.
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0019.jpg

This is inside the booth, looking at the folding door. The folding door goes right between the window and pushes tightly against the planed 2x4 that I attached between the two windows. I have to put foam on it as well as make a window cover.
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0020.jpg

Standing in the doorway, looking in at the cedar paneling:
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0021.jpg


This may not interest you, but this is how I constructed the flip-floor. I didn't want to give up valuable floorspace in the studio, so I built a vocal booth over a stairwell I use infrequently. This is why I used folding doors, I can tuck them into the vocal booth, and flip the floor up, and use the stairs. Its not soundproof, but it wasn't intended to be. Just quiet enough to cut down the hard drive noise of the recorders in the booth.
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0022.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0001.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0002.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0003.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0004.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0005.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0006.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0007.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0008.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0019.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0020.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0021.jpg
http://midimonkey.dyndns.org/studio/studio0022.jpg

[Pcpg]

thx man wow cool yeah. Yeah I wanted to make somethin like that with wood and a small booth.

[frederic]

Originally posted by Pcpg
thx man wow cool yeah. Yeah I wanted to make somethin like that with wood and a small booth.

Not that hard to do, its a matter of framing it out, putting plywood on both sides, preferably with a staggered stud design for the framing. Chaulk everything, and treat with foam on the inside from about waist level up, and you're probably okay.

That booth is about 6'x8', used for vocals as well as my having a Yamaha 88-key digital piano in there. My only disappointment was the ceiling is 6'8" above the floor, just because of the quirky room I call my studio.

But it does work.

[free_d20]

so if you dont apply foam from the waist down, it doesnt affect the sound in any way?

[knightfly]

"so if you dont apply foam from the waist down, it doesnt affect the sound in any way?" -

Actually, yes it DOES affect the sound - but not necessarily in a GOOD way -

Generally, for a vocal booth, if you cover all the surfaces except the floor (not practical) with heavy absorbent the room will be too dead and won't sound "natural" - by just putting absorbent in the upper half of the room, Frederic has tamed reflections where (usually) the singer's head and the mic are located, but left enough of the booth live NOT to kill all the highs.

Every surface in every room affects the sound in that room, including what's BEHIND those surfaces - how flexible is the frame, etc - what angles are the walls, what's the cubic volume of the room, there is NOTHING you can do in a room that won't change the sound in at least a small way - some might be so small you can't hear them, but it's still there... Steve