quick,simple question about a homemade "booth".

[abandonedbrain]

i feel rediculous typing this now. i just read a bit of the "Home Recording's Dirty Little Secret" thread and it depressed me. Wow. any way-
my "booth" is a clost (2 1/2' x 6' with an 8' ceiling). i was wondering if covering the entire inside with mattress pads (similar to the "eggcrates) would improve the recording of vocals/acoustic. i am going through a budgeted conversion and my money has ran out. buying foam seemed like a possible improvement but i've also heard it's a myth. also, there is a wire shelf running the length of the closet that i'd like to keep for convienience, but would take it down if it would affect recording. any insight on these issues would be very helpful. thank you.

 

[Massive Master]

Closets are inherently horrible spaces acoustically. Mattress foam is generally worthless, acoustic foam will only kill the high end (and leave 90% of the problem, which is the low end and lower midrange to take over completely).

Closets are nice for noisy equipment though...

 

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Ditto what Massive said.

Very generally speaking, the better you sound to yourself or another person singing in a room, the better it will sound recorded. Often that means having a little room reverb at least, rather than the bass-y deadness of a closet or poorly-constructed vocal booth. I've made vocal (and acoustic instrument recordings) in anything from cathedral-ceilinged family rooms to kitchens to back staircase hallways.

If you do prefer a dead or isolated recording (you can add your own reverb later), the closet can come in handy. But instead of recording inside the closet, fill the closet with clothes like normal, and stand the vocalist in front of the open closet door with their back to the closet. The wall of clothes behind the vocalist will work fairly nicely to absorb reflection off the back wall into the microphone, which can help partially deaden reverb without making it sound like your inside a casket, and also help in isolation from other instruments by keeping reflections from them down.

G.

 

[mjbphotos]

I think the question is why you want to "record in the closet"? Are you trying to isolate the mic from external sounds? Better to try to build an isolation booth from movable walls, foam board, etc.

 

[abandonedbrain]

thanks guys. i have pretty much decided to set up recording vocals in the closet...unless i hear from you that it's virtually impossible to get even a halfway decent sound in it. i have played with it like that and i'm addicted to the isolation and having everything set up in a permanant place. i have a third monitor in there with a wireless mouse so i have a logic project right in front of me and the mic. the noise from the rest of the house is gone (have 2 kids) and i'm able to spontaneously slip in and hit record without having to worry about the real world. you get my point.

here's what i just got home with and what iwas thinking of doing so please hurry and get me on the right track. i'm pretty obsessive.

1.enough mattress foam to cover walls, inside of doors, and ceiling. I was going to do that first.

2.i also have a carpet rug (5' x 8') that i might cut into sections and put in strategic places (if it's worth the trouble).

basically, i want to know if i'm wasting my time or will i be glad i tried to tweak the acoustics. if there are ways to analyze the frequencies and correct for problems, i would love to read up on it. thanks again.

 

[Massive Master]

I think we already made that pretty clear... Recording in closets works in the movies. In real life, you truly can't do much worse than a closet. It's a horrible, horrible acoustic nightmare. And again, mattress padding isn't the same as open-celled acoustic foam. Not that you need foam in a closet - You need broadband trapping (more than you could physically FIT into the closet, but I digress, because it's such an acoustically horrific idea to be recording in a closet).

But it seems that your pretty set to do it anyway (even after several replies on how awful it is), so best of luck.

 

[greyharmonix]

i've actually tried singing a closet thinking that an isolated space would give me good sound. it doesn't. everyone in here is right. i know from my newb experience. You don't want a completly lifeless dead sound. A slightly echoy room is not death. i sing in a garage i padded up a couple of the walls move the car out and it's lightyears better than a closet, but even that space i wouldn't say is ideal.

 

[RAMI]

i have pretty much decided to set up recording vocals in the closet...unless i hear from you that it's virtually impossible to get even a halfway decent sound in it.

Did you not read the responses??? I don't know how much more clear they can be.

 

[NYMorningstar]

Did you not read the responses??? I don't know how much more clear they can be.

I agree, looks like it's time for a few folks to come out of the closet