A Closet In My Room...convert To Booth...where Do I Start????

[kennymoon83]

i have a closet in my bedroom which i want to convert into a vocal booth. Where do I start? I know I will need to cover up the walls, which material and which brand is best for this? Will I need to layer anything else under or on top of this? Will any sort of light inside the closet interfere with the mic, or any other device? should i panel the floor? Anything else I should know. I've never done this so sorry if there's any dumb questions...

[chris-from-ky]

How big is the closet? Will you (and anyone else you plan to record) fit comfortably inside it if it were as much as 4" smaller inside? How will fresh air get in and out? Is the Home's HVAC ducts in the ceiling or floor? You didn't mention a budget either so, here's the conservative version.

I'd say if your closet is 3' wide, then you'll want to rip some 8' tall 2X4's in half (making them 2X2's) and run them verticle every 25" on center. Then cut down some 2X2's into 24" pieces and put those half way between the floor and ceiling(given that your closet height is 8') Buy (or score) some 2" rigid fiberglass or mineral wool insulation and stuff it between your 2X2 studs. then staple some acoustical (and flame retardant) fabric all around to close in the insulation. Finally, get some kind of 1/8" X 2" trim and hide those million staples. Lighting should be your average bulb fixture. DO NOT USE FLORESCENT LIGHTING. The Door will need to be sealed using weather stripping all around it. You can either repeat the wall treatment on the door's interior (in it's closed position) or buy some 1x1 aurelex squares to glue to it. For the floor, Don't waste time and money paneling it. Just get a half a sheet of 3/4" plywood and cut out the shape of your closet floor and throw it down and screw it in place. I forgot to mention that you'll want to use the wall treatment on the ceiling as well.

This will need to be modified once I learn where the HVAC comes into play.

[cowboyj]

Is the flame retardant fabric something one can pick up in a general fabric store (or Walmart)? I'm interested in doing something similar and I know absolutely nothing about buying fabric.

Jason

[chris-from-ky]

Well, you can order it online from a number of places or just go to a fabric store and pick up some loose weave fabric such as burlap or muslin and flame retard it yourself using a spray that can be purchased online as well. I don't know where though.

Guilford of Maine makes FR701 fabric that a good deal of studios use but it costs from $13 to $19 a yard depending on where you buy it from. Steralized Burlap is cheap and does the same job if it's sprayed with flame retardant. It may not look as good as the Guilford fabric though. Best Pak Company has some good product at reasonable prices. Do a google search for their site. Or Wal-Mart has plain old burlap for $1.48 a yard.

[kennymoon83]

My closet is about 7 to 8 feet tall, 4 feet in length, and 2 feet wide. There is no duct so I guess the closet door will remain open when not in use. I'm looking at a budget under $200. You said to "rip some 8' tall 2X4's in half (making them 2X2's) and run them verticle every 25" on center. Then cut down some 2X2's into 24" pieces and put those half way between the floor and ceiling(given that your closet height is 8')." What material will this be that I'm going to be cutting? (sorry I just don't know..new at this)

[chris-from-ky]

wooden 2 by 4's. 2 feet wide closet is awfully tight. Well, for me it is. I have broad shoulders. Maybe when you get done you'll still fit in there. Be careful not to do all that work and it be too small for you.

It won't take long to run out of air in there especially converting what oxygen is in there to carbondioxide. Prepare to pass out. Where are the ducts for the bedroom??? Floor or ceiling????

[kennymoon83]

Yea 2 feet is kinda tight but it does the job, we still have space to move around. I have no air ducts in my apartment...i was thinking about just leaving the door open. Is there another easy way to get air in there? Can I use rigid fiberglass to cover the walls instead of wood and then put foam on top of that. What would be the difference between wood and fiberglass? It's only going to be a vocal booth, no instruments, just my audio technica 4047 mic and a stand. Where can I purchase fiberglass? Home Depot?

[Innovations]

If you are just talking about leaving the door open just treat the main space and leave the closet be storage space.

[punkin]

Does the vocal area really need to be completely enclosed? I used to live in a smallish place where I had a spare room with a double wide closet. I simply removed the shelf, removed the clothes hanger rail, took the doors off. Applied acoustic foam to the interrior of the closet, built 3 movable fiberglass plywood backed barriers. Put the mic in the closet and went at it. Asside from the occassional outside noise, the booth worked great. We're not talking about sound proofing here are we?

[kennymoon83]

Actually I ment to leave the door open when there is no recording in process. Like that fresh air can circulate inside. While there is recording, I will of course have the doors closed. I want to keep sound from coming in and out. Doesn't the sound quality of the recording come out better inside an insulated area opposed to just recording in the middle of a bedroom with no type of enclosement?

[punkin]

You won't get complete sound isolation/sound proofing without building some serious mass. By the time you do that in the closet, there won't be anything left to step into. If the main room is already quiet it may help a little with isolation but only a little.

If you forget sound proofing for the moment, then the idea of the booth is for treatment...cutting down on unwanted echo/reverb and general acoustic improvement. On the upside, the booth is easier/cheaper to handle since it's much smaller. If it were me, treating the entire room to some degree would leave you with a more flexible situation. A third idea I personally like would be to gut the closet, install acoustic foam and a bass trap and building a couple 4'x8' moveable panels. Put the mic in the closet, place the musician in facing the closet, place the moveable panels behing the singer and go for it.

The booth you're working up will at best allow for a stand-up vocalist...put a guitar in there, you're already looking for another option. Where were you planning to mix and monitor? To get that job done as best possible, you'll need a proper listening area as well.

Not busting your chops here. Just throwing out a couple options or ideas.

[pandamonk]

Why not put 1" rigid fiberglass up the sides, to give a bit of absorbtion of high/mid frequencies, and to give room to move, then put 4" on the far end and the door to get the lower frequencies? Another thought

[Innovations]

It shouldn't take much more to treat the whole bedroom sot that it is dead enough to track as just the one closet. And then you have a decent mixing room too. it is not like this is a studio where multiple things are being tracked at once.

[jaykeMURD]

Heck, I don't even have a closet nearby (or empty) to convert to isolation chamber! Guess I'll be putting my carpenter skills to the test this Spring when I build a chamber!!!!

[chris-from-ky]

Originally Posted by kennymoon83

I have no air ducts in my apartment...i was thinking about just leaving the door open. Is there another easy way to get air in there?

1. I understand now. You must have a window A/C unit of some kind or no air conditioning at all.

Originally Posted by kennymoon83

Can I use rigid fiberglass to cover the walls instead of wood and then put foam on top of that. What would be the difference between wood and fiberglass?

2. Re-read my suggestion. What you're making is what is generally referred to as an "inside-out wall" The 2 by 2's don't cover the whole wall. They just make frames for Rigid fiberglass to fit into as well as provide a place to staple the cloth to keep you from breathing any fiberglass paritcles in the air.

As it was mentioned in a couple of the posts before this one, treating your whole room may be a better avenue for you. There's plenty of info on the board to learn how to do that.

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by punkin

Put the mic in the closet, place the musician in facing the closet, place the moveable panels behing the singer and go for it.

Bingo!
This is exactly what I was thinking. That way, at least the mic and the voice are both in a somewhat isolated area.

Also, if you're just trying to cut down the sound a little, you can try this.

Go buy some 1"x2" pine at your local DIY. Tack these to the wall horizontally, spaced 18" apart. Then go to your local carpet outlet, and ask them if they will sell you sample tiles. These are usually the size of a doormat.
My "studio" is lined with them.

You start at the bottom, and work your way up.



Tim