Closet isolation booth

E

ericlingus

New member
Hello i'm new to recording and need to isolate my amp when recording. My studio is just one room(my bedroom) with a small closet. The closet is where I put my amp. The closet is about 3' long and 2' wide and about 8 ' tall(there is a shelf that is about 6' high). I need to sound proof this closet the best I can with not a huge budget. I'm willing to spend a couple hundred dollars. That's all I can afford. Also, not only do I need to soundproof it(or as close to soundproofing as I can), but I need to treat it to that my miked amp sounds good. Right nwo it's too bassy. I'd also like to make this a vocal booth too. Of course I can only have it one or the other while recording. There is not enough room to fit both the amp and a person with mics. I have the amp on an amp stand about 2' high and slightly tilted back. Right now I stuffed a thick feather cushion thing that goes on a queen sized bed on the shelf and I put foam along the walls and a matt and carpet on the floor. I also put a thick sleeping bag up on the wall that the amp is facing and behind the amp. This helps a bit but obviously not enough. It also doesn't do much to treat the low frequencies. What can I do to treat this closet spending as little money as possible?
 
Are you trying to keep people from hearing your amp? From what I've read, electric guitar amps are best recorded at moderate volumes, not gigging volumes.
 
Turn the amp down and put rubber door seals round the closet door. Also put a matress up against the door if you can still hear it, just pile anything of significant mass against it. For acoustic build 2 4-6"x8'x2' broadband absorbers and place them infront and behind the amp and a few inches off the wall, so theres just enough room for the amp and a mic. The should hopefully sort you bass problems and make the closet quite "dead". When recording vocals, place the absorbers as shown and have the doors of the closet open(not enough room), or take one of the absorbers from thee amp recording out and put the mic like shown. Once you have finished reecording, you could use these absorbers as bass traps in 2 of the corners of your control room.
 

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thanks guys. I've read that you really have to crank tube amps to get the speaker to excurse. I've been cranking my amp almost all the way up! It's way too loud though. Anyone have any luck with power attenuators? Instad of those panels could I put auralex acoustic foam over the foam I already ahve on the walls? Do you think that help significantly?
 
auralex is bad for the money you pay for it. Rigid fiberglass is much better and cheaper
 
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ericlingus said:
what about bass traps? Like I said my close is a bit bassy.
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Yeh the 4-6" rigid fiberglass broadband absorbers i mentioned placed a few inches from the wall with act well as bass traps(the further from the wall the better).
 
look at the pics n read wot iv been saying. The closet is too small to have corner bass traps so if you build 4-6" broadband absorbers and hav them off the wall it should tame the bass. If they are situated close enough to the amp, the reflections should be tamed before it reaches the ceilnig so you shouldn't need it on the ceiling.
 
okay thank you. But what can I do about the noise? Do power attenuaters work well? Like the THD hotplate? I would like to get a good miked tone but not disturb the whole house. What do you suggest I do?
 
I don't know about them. I think just turn down the amp, and then seal round the door and put things of mass against it, ie matress. If it still bothers you/the house then the amps too loud and turn it down.
 
yeah. Well that's what the hot plate will allow me to do. Have the amp not so loud but get the tone as if it was areally loud. But I hear it's best to get the speakers really moving.
 
ericlingus said:
But I hear it's best to get the speakers really moving.
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Where did you hear that? A lot Zep was recorded with a cheezy tiny tube amp with a 6 x 9 speaker!
 
ericlingus said:
thanks guys. I've read that you really have to crank tube amps to get the speaker to excurse. I've been cranking my amp almost all the way up! It's way too loud though. Anyone have any luck with power attenuators? Instad of those panels could I put auralex acoustic foam over the foam I already ahve on the walls? Do you think that help significantly?
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Well i assume it's not the speakers fully (but once I read its good to have the speakers moving, but this is the internet, anyone can make a website), it's that the tubes need to be cranked up to get the full toob distortion sound, so a "hotplate(?)" should probbly work.


-jeffrey
 
But I hear it's best to get the speakers really moving.
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Where did you hear that?
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I heard it from MIXERMAN!! :D But isn't that what you do to a 6x9 speaker too? :p Actually, I use TWO of them in stereo, driven by a Harmon Kardon tube amp and fed by a stereo FX processor. The speakers are Jensen auto speakers in those funky Wedge boxes for cars. Sounds damn good though at low volumes. ;)
 
apl said:
Where did you hear that? A lot Zep was recorded with a cheezy tiny tube amp with a 6 x 9 speaker!
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What the hell is a 6x9 speaker, a rectangle?? Unless you mean a cabinet with 6 9" speakers, which is wild, and probably nonexistant?

It was only Zep I iirc, and it was a 15" supro.

But to the matter at hand, yes an attenuator would help alot, sometimes they color the tone a little, but it's ok, you also don't have to worry so much about overloading your mics/mixer/soundcard/whatever.
 
haha. Man one group of people say one thing and another say the opposite. I don't know what to believe! lol. Do you think an iso box will work better than the hot plate? Or should I just get the damn hot plate and treat my closet to control the low end?
 
rushofblood said:
What the hell is a 6x9 speaker, a rectangle?? Unless you mean a cabinet with 6 9" speakers, which is wild, and probably nonexistant?

It was only Zep I iirc, and it was a 15" supro.
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Oval like a car speaker. You might be right about the 15.
 
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