Small, cheap isolation booth?

B

Breaker

New member
I'm doing digital recording using Cakewalk Pro Audio in my home. Everything my friends and I do is direct line except the vocals. I use a Yamaha electronic kit for drums, a Korg Pandora for guitars and, of course, some midi here and there.

With this set up we can record easily around the clock without disturbing anyone else in the house. Except for recording vocals that is. My question is this. Has anyone built a small, possibly portable, 1 man isolation booth for this kind of thing?

I'm picturing a telephone booth (albeit a little smaller) kind of thing. 4 walls and a ceiling with a plexiglass window for visual cues etc. The walls could attach to each other by latch or something that would allow them to be easily connected or disconnected and stored flat.

I'm talking budget here folks. I'm not as concered with the effect on the sound as I am just dampening the sound to the outside. So the insulation on the inside of the walls is an important factor.

Yes, I know it might not be the most comfortable environment to spend a couple hours straight in but keep in mind that, afterall, we're only talking about a vocalist here! (Just kidding.)

Any thoughts, suggestions or experiences are appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
How about using a porta-pottie. You can rent them fairly cheap, you get free delivery, and they empty them once per week for no extra charge. They also add a nice natural reverb. Hope this helps!
 
They had these kind of booths at the last NAMM convention I attended. Basically a
plywood phone booth with carpet on all the walls. Due to the volume-induced headache factor of this event, this was one of the most popular exhibits there. People were lined up constantly for a moment of silence.
 
But beware of a guy in a suit wearing glasses running in at inopportune moments and changing into a tight-fitting red/blue outfit with a cape and flying out of there.

Of course, if you could get him to write/program a couple of tunes on his way out, you could be on VH-1 or MTV in no time. :)

Seriously though, it sounds like a great idea - I think the challenge is in making it truly portable and soundproof.

Does anyone know the sound insulating qualities of 'thinsulate' which is used for ski jackets; and how long can you stay cool in a strictly enclosed environment like that?

foo
 
I think Foo hit on the most serious limitation of this design. Without some serious ventilation, this environment could be hazardous to your health. Even in a walk-in closet twice phone booth size converted to an isolation booth, the lack of
ventilation limited booth time to ~10 minutes.
 
Well how about that soon to be spare closet in the house. You line the walls with acoustic foam and voila. Foam does hold in the heat so yes you must vent. Go to the hardware store and purchase a bathroom exhaust fan to vent out the hot stale air in the closet. You can make you cut in the ceiling and attach the vent hose. If your worried about fan noise nothing says it has to be attached at the ceiling. Run a length say 10ft away in the attic then attach the exhaust fan. It will still draw just fine. If you like you can use that expanding foam in a can to make a cradle for the fan to stop any vibrations on the studs. Oh yeah fresh air can enter from the bottom of the door.Even if you have a gap of say two inches the air will flow but the sound will stay quiet.
 
Well how about that soon to be spare closet in the house. You line the walls with acoustic foam and voila. Foam does hold in the heat so yes you must vent. Go to the hardware store and purchase a bathroom exhaust fan to vent out the hot stale air in the closet. You can make you cut in the ceiling and attach the vent hose. If your worried about fan noise nothing says it has to be attached at the ceiling. Run a length say 10ft away in the attic then attach the exhaust fan. It will still draw just fine. If you like you can use that expanding foam in a can to make a cradle for the fan to stop any vibrations on the studs. Oh yeah fresh air can enter from the bottom of the door.Even if you have a gap of say two inches the air will flow but the sound will stay quiet.
 
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