any tips on recording vocals quietly?

[randumbdots...]

Hi,

Now that my children are not babies, I have a few hours a week to spend on music and recording. Those hours are at night when my kids and wife are asleep, and I need a way to record quietly so I don't wake them up. Unfortunately, the most convenient place to record is a floor below the bedrooms. Has anyone constructed any sort of "quiet recording box", perhaps to keep stray sounds out, that I could copy and use to keep sounds in. I was thinking of lining a plastic storage container with scrap frize' carpet I have downstairs, and recording with my head inside there (yes, I'm willing to admit that). Anyone have any effective, low cost solutions to my problem?
Thanks.
dots...

 

[scrubs]

You might want to post this in the "studio building" forum, as they have a lot of experience with acoustics. They will likely tell you that the best way to soundproof is to add significant mass, which is not cheap.

 

[jfrog]

You might record what you can directly, using headphones to monitor, and once a week send the rest of the family down to the McDonalds playland (or a movie, whatever) to do your mic recording.

It's not the same as doing it whenever you want (and working late into the night) but it could be a workable solution.

 

[glynb]

"Now that my children are not babies, I have a few hours a week to spend on music and recording. Those hours are at night when my kids and wife are asleep, "

Like the previous poster said, try to negotiate 'Dad's recording night' when wife looks after the kids alone for one evening. It would be a simpler solution than trying to build a soundproof booth which may not work in the end!

The late night stuff can be time to do non-vocal quieter things.