PersonalJesus
New member
Has anyone ever experienced recording vocals in a quiet bedroom and recording in a silent vocal booth. How audible is the difference in sound?
Bedroom versus Vocal Booth
- Thread starter PersonalJesus
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Blue Bear Sound
New member
There's going to be a difference in the noise floor, for sure..... how much depends on the rooms in question.
There's also going to be a significantly different room sound...... an untreated bedroom may have modes that will affect the room response, which ultimately affects the sound the mic is picking up.
Presumably, the booth in a studio will have an acoustically-balanced response so that the room is not clouding the sound.
In other words....... IT DEPENDS!
There's also going to be a significantly different room sound...... an untreated bedroom may have modes that will affect the room response, which ultimately affects the sound the mic is picking up.
Presumably, the booth in a studio will have an acoustically-balanced response so that the room is not clouding the sound.
In other words....... IT DEPENDS!
Good Luck
Good luck with getting rid of background noise in a unsoundproofed place. Dont even try it. Go ahead if you want birds chearping, dogs barking, car noise, all sorts of atmosphereic sounds in your mix.
Ansewer to your question: There is an extreme difference.
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{{ WWW.BENNEB.TK }}
Good luck with getting rid of background noise in a unsoundproofed place. Dont even try it. Go ahead if you want birds chearping, dogs barking, car noise, all sorts of atmosphereic sounds in your mix.
Ansewer to your question: There is an extreme difference.
__________________________
{{ WWW.BENNEB.TK }}
How quiet is your bedroom? Clap your hands and listen for any "weird" reflective sounds.
I use my third floor space as a studio and put up a "soft" sound booth using PVC pipe and movers blankets. Then I usually record after 9 at night, otherwise I'll have half the neighborhood doing backing vocals...
I use my third floor space as a studio and put up a "soft" sound booth using PVC pipe and movers blankets. Then I usually record after 9 at night, otherwise I'll have half the neighborhood doing backing vocals...
TexRoadkill
Audio Bum
It's really hard to do vocals lying down in a vocal booth.
BenneB - Do you live on a major street next door to an animal rescue shelter
BenneB - Do you live on a major street next door to an animal rescue shelter
TexRoadkill said:It's really hard to do vocals lying down in a vocal booth.
BenneB - Do you live on a major street next door to an animal rescue shelter
if you have done any quality recording with good mics you would know that they even pick up nosie from air blowing through aircon vents. A quality mic can pick up a bug flying round the room.
The nature of this site (Home Recording ...) implies many of us are doing recording at home in some form or fashion. Given this it boils down to what steps we can take to make the most out of what we have.
As others have said, a true vocal booth works well, but that's not always an option. Given that as an assumption, there are some things one can do to maximize the result:
1. Pick a room/area least likely to get noise from the outside. Below ground rooms tend to be quieter.
2. Pick a time when outside activity is lower
3. Turn off ac/heat units so you don't get fan noise in the middle of a song.
4. Disable chiming clocks and alarm clocks. Clocks with ticking second hands can also be a problem.
5. Consider disconnecting nearby telephones or at least turn the ringers off
6. If the vocalist can't stand still, and you have hard floors, have them stand on a bath mat or something with low noise potential.
Given these things, and some others, one can usually get pretty good results. One thing to try is to set it all up, and then record without the vocalist. Listening to the result will tell you more about what other changes you might need to make.
Ed
As others have said, a true vocal booth works well, but that's not always an option. Given that as an assumption, there are some things one can do to maximize the result:
1. Pick a room/area least likely to get noise from the outside. Below ground rooms tend to be quieter.
2. Pick a time when outside activity is lower
3. Turn off ac/heat units so you don't get fan noise in the middle of a song.
4. Disable chiming clocks and alarm clocks. Clocks with ticking second hands can also be a problem.
5. Consider disconnecting nearby telephones or at least turn the ringers off
6. If the vocalist can't stand still, and you have hard floors, have them stand on a bath mat or something with low noise potential.
Given these things, and some others, one can usually get pretty good results. One thing to try is to set it all up, and then record without the vocalist. Listening to the result will tell you more about what other changes you might need to make.
Ed
You could also try throwing a noise gate in the signal chain with a threshold thats just high enough to block out ambient noise. I did that this past weekend on a vocalist in our makeshift vocal booth (corner of a room with carpet on the walls and a packing blanket hung to close it off) just to keep the sound from the playback headphones out of the vocal track. I think I had the threshold at something like -40dB or so...just enough to keep the noise out without being high enough to risk cutting off part of a vocal take. Just a thought from a fairly unexperienced home recordist.
woodshedder
New member
U-haul sells nice moving blankets for 15.00.
Rig up some PVC and build a frame, hang moving blankets from said frame, and presto chango, much better sound for under 100.00.
That it unless you like the sound of sheetrock in your mix.
The difference between an untreated bedroom and the moving blanket method cannot be overstated. It will make a HUGE improvement.
Regards-
Woodshedder
Rig up some PVC and build a frame, hang moving blankets from said frame, and presto chango, much better sound for under 100.00.
That it unless you like the sound of sheetrock in your mix.
The difference between an untreated bedroom and the moving blanket method cannot be overstated. It will make a HUGE improvement.
Regards-
Woodshedder
PersonalJesus
New member
Thanks for all your comments guys. I have a pretty damn quiet computer and Im not worried about ambient noise from outside coming in because Im in a house thats not close to any streets. Theres no heater or AC on ever here (I live in southern California.)
I have tried just setting up a condenser and recording the sound of the room noise. I can hear a little noise from the computer but if have to turn up the volume way up. I can always make it quieter by putting some blankets in front of it if i needed to.
My question is about room reflections and how they affect the sound of a room in comparison to a vocal booth. I like the Uhaul blanket idea and Ive heard ideas like that before. I guess Ill have to try that sometime and see if I can hear the difference.
Im sure a vocal booth sound a lot better because when I listen to professional recordings I always notice how crystal clear the voices come out which Im sure is possibly do to the silent room. Although, I have seen behind the scenes videos of high-profile bands where the singer is recording in the same roome where they track everything, but they still have a great sound. It just makes me wonder....
Any more comments and ideas keep em coming. Thanks guys.
I have tried just setting up a condenser and recording the sound of the room noise. I can hear a little noise from the computer but if have to turn up the volume way up. I can always make it quieter by putting some blankets in front of it if i needed to.
My question is about room reflections and how they affect the sound of a room in comparison to a vocal booth. I like the Uhaul blanket idea and Ive heard ideas like that before. I guess Ill have to try that sometime and see if I can hear the difference.
Im sure a vocal booth sound a lot better because when I listen to professional recordings I always notice how crystal clear the voices come out which Im sure is possibly do to the silent room. Although, I have seen behind the scenes videos of high-profile bands where the singer is recording in the same roome where they track everything, but they still have a great sound. It just makes me wonder....
Any more comments and ideas keep em coming. Thanks guys.
AllOrNothinEnt
New member
No, a moving blanket, is a heavy duty quilt, that movers wrap furniture in so that it doesnt catch any scratches while moving it.
They're REAL thick, and heavy, and no, you don't put them in the mic stand, you make a frame, and attatch them to it, inplace of foam.
They're REAL thick, and heavy, and no, you don't put them in the mic stand, you make a frame, and attatch them to it, inplace of foam.
