a mic-ing technique . . .???

[gullyjewelz]

This is strange, though I am sure there is probably a perfectly logical explanation. When I record vocals, with the mic positioned very close to the wall of my "booth", the vocals sound very good and are rather easy to EQ to my liking.

Yet, when I position the mic in the middle of my "booth" the vocals I record seem more problematic. They become "echo-ey" and no matter how much EQ I try, they just don't get any better--at least as far as my personal "liking" is concerned.

I know the obvious thing is just to put the mic back beside the wall. But I would at least like to know why this is occuring. Afterall, its not that comfortable to have to lean against the wall while I am dropping my vocals. And further more, it looks very "unpolished" even to the novices that I plan on recording in the next few months.

Any advice?

 

[Harvey Gerst]

It's called "flutter echo" and it's caused by reflections off the walls bouncing back and forth in a closed reflective space.

 

[gullyjewelz]

so if i get some of those professional "eggshell" soundproofing things, would that help>?

would it allow me to stand in the midddle of the booth--n not up against the walls to record vocals?

 

[sonusman]

It will only help in the frequency range that stuff is designed to deal with. Usually, high frequencies, like 2khz and above is all the foam products deal with. So, I would venture to say, no, it won't help that much.

 

[gullyjewelz]

whew!! good point!!! glad i learned this before I purchased the stuff . . .

ahm, does that stuff come in "different" freq. ranges?

 

[crankz1]

You can check out John Sayers forum for some great information on studios, soundproofing and room acoustics.

 

[sonusman]

whew!! good point!!! glad i learned this before I purchased the stuff . . .

ahm, does that stuff come in "different" freq. ranges?

No, not really. It is a matter of density and thickness. Foam is only so dense. You can have it thicker and that might help some.

But really, once you start getting into trying to absorb lower frequencies, you start needing some very specialized materials and/or devices designed to do so. Acoustical treatments of lower frequencies is NOT an easy or cheap fix , but are commonly the biggest problems in most smaller rooms.

That link to John Sayers site should serve you well.

I think if you are looking to make a vocal booth "dead" (acoustically speaking...), you might look into covering the walls with 2" compressed fiberglass. Owens Corning 704 is the stuff you want and can get. Here is what it looks like: http://www.firstsourceonl.com/m7/documents/15083_10002512_01_FS_16867.pdf You can see that it has a VERY low profile, and it is fairly effective at abosrbing reflections down to 250Hz quite well, and will even take out about 50% of reflective energy at 125hz! If you wanted to spend the extra bling, you could go for the 4" compressed fiberglass sheets, and get even LOWER absorption! But, that is an expensive fix that probably isn't needed.

In a small space, absorption is your best solution, and the lower you can absorb, the better. If you have a bigger space, you can look to "balance" the RT time which has great results. But, you have a smaller space, and really, dollar for dollar, compressed fiberglass beats the crap out of foam products!

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[bigwillz24]

Finding that compressed fiberglass at that thickness seems to be the problem i'm having....