Best stuff for isolation??

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born-diva

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Hello.
I'm in the process of setting up an ISO booth, or area, i should say, in a corner of my bedroom. My floor is carpeted and my walls are bare. At first, i was just gonna hang some blankets around me with some spring clamps and mic stands but from what i've been reading, it seems like i only have to treat the area in front of the mic. Is this the case? If so, i'm thinking of just putting either some foam, carpet, covered fibreglass on the walls to treat the corner i'm facing and leave the back open. But this just doesn't seem right bcuz there's a bare wall behind me. I'm a bit clueless here, but i just feel i should be sheilding myself from that wall behind me :confused:. I was thinking of just getting a room divider and draping a sleeping bag over it just to kind of close me in, so to speak. Or my mom was thinking to put up a thick curtain of some sort. Are these dumb ideas? For the record, my mom and I know nothing about soundproofing and isolation, incase you couldn't already tell :rolleyes: . What about my ceiling? It's a stucco ceiling. Do i need to treat that too?

So i guess my question is, do i need to box myself in or just treat the area in front of my mic? Again, i'm doing strictly vocals (rapping and singing) and i'm using an AT4040, which i just bought (thanks for all the advice with that). My room is pretty small and pretty packed with furniture. Walls are covered with shelving, pictures, 6ft clothing rack (with clothing ofcourse, i'm such a fashionista ;) ) with the exception of one bare wall and I have a window with wooden blinds right beside the corner i'm planning to use.

Pleeeeeease forgive me. I know there's a ton of posts on this subject already, which i have surfed through. I'm just a little overwhelmed by the information, not to mention confused bcuz the ideas seem so varied. I'm a newbie who's been using a dynamic mic for a while, but the purchase of my LDC calls for some serious isolation (i can hear my mom cooking in the kitchen downstairs!!) Also, is fibreglass the best way to go? Would really thick (4") foam do the trick??

Thanks again guys and so sorry for the long post. I'm just really eager to get this thing going and i don't really have anybody around me that knows about this stuff :( ...you guys are sweethearts for taking the time.

Thanks ;)
 
Yeah, I agree. Closets make good iso booths. I've recorded everything from vocals to guitars in closets. The guitar sounded a bit funny but the dead environment really helped the vox.
 
I wish. My closet is REALLY small...and I mean really small. That's why i had to anchor a 6ft clothing rack to one of my walls. My mom has a walk-in closet, but i can't record in her room :rolleyes: .

And what's a gate? Excuse my stupidity.
 
I have a teeny tiny closet too, but I'll have to move the instruments out and my clothes back in first!!!! :eek: :D
 
A noise gate. A fast hardware gate opens when the signal reaches a certain level you determine. When the signal falls below that level the gate closes and no signal passes.

You might be able to get some noise out with a software gate in your recording app. But if the background noise is too high you'll wind up with weird artifacts and some of your vocal take missing trying to gate it out.
 
born-diva said:
I wish. My closet is REALLY small...and I mean really small. That's why i had to anchor a 6ft clothing rack to one of my walls. My mom has a walk-in closet, but i can't record in her room :rolleyes: .

And what's a gate? Excuse my stupidity.
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If your closets full of clothes and you can get the mic stand up against them and sing with the door open towards the clothes, you'll be doing not too shabby.
 
One answer to your question is to try in front of the mic, then add more behind if you need it. And try vice-versa as well.

The sound is gonig to bounce back off the wall behind the mic as you sing into it (assuming you are closer to the wall in front of you), and give you early reflections as it comes back that will probably not sound good. But sound is coming off you in all directions, bouncing off the wall(s) behind and to the sides, and that front wall and then around the room hitting the mic as well, most likely adding unpleasant reverbyness and/or phase issues. It is possible though that the refections might not be terrible and might add a little life to the recording. I find that my drumset sounds a lot better with some treatement in front and to one side,with one side open and more reflective for instance. Different areas of the room might make a difference as well.

With vox though, getting into a dead space will normally give you a better recording than any open space in a bedroom.
 
apl said:
If your closets full of clothes and you can get the mic stand up against them and sing with the door open towards the clothes, you'll be doing not too shabby.
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This is what I do.
 
Well, my closet only opens from one side at a time (sliding doors) and my mic stand has a tripod base, so i wouldn't be able to get very close to the clothes inside. Plus, my closet's right beside my room door and that's where all the noise is (full house) so i'd rather stay in the corner furthest from my door. I do have a wall lined with clothes, like i said, so maybe i'll just point my mic at that. I guess maybe I will just have to experiment with different treatments and different areas to see what sounds best.

Thanks lots.
 
I have sliding doors too so only one side would open. So I just removed them completely. :D

Luckily I can just screw them back in if I need to.
 
I'm in the process of setting up an ISO booth, or area,
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Hmmmm, I thought this thread was about isolation. Treatment is all thats been discussed...at least from what I read.
For the record, my mom and I know nothing about soundproofing and isolation,
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If ISOLATION is your prime concern, get prepared for a few reality checks and a introduction to PHYSICS. If TREATMENT is your prime concern....carry on. :) Remember though. Treatment is NOT a substitute for isolation construction.
 
Small spaces are best. Like a walk-in dampened with sleeping bags and heavy pillows. Couch cushions. And thick blankets. Aurlex looks cool, if you want to pay for some pretty cool-looking foam. But it doesn't work half as well as a pile of sleeping bags and pillows. If you want something inside your walls, do rock wool.

How you dampen and isolate a vocal would depend on the mic and the size of the room, if you're talking strictly iso. Use a good cardioid condenser and you won't have to worry about the back wall so much, just the walls behind the mic.

Clap your hands in the room to see how much reflection you get. Try recording your voice and listening to how empty it sounds. More dampening = less roomy.
 
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mindbuzz said:
Sleeping bags and heavy pillows. Couch cushions. And thick blankets.

Aurlex looks cool, if you want to pay for some pretty cool-looking foam. But it doesn't work half as well as a pile of sleeping bags and pillows. :p

If you want something inside your walls, do rock wool.
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If you piled a pile of Auralex the size of a piled pile of pillows and sleeping bags, it would work better.
 
apl said:
If you piled a pile of Auralex the size of a piled pile of pillows and sleeping bags, it would work better.
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oops, sorry, I posted hella quick and then edited my idiocy afterward. :) True, but Aurlex that thick would cost a ton, and you probably wouldn't want to sleep on it or take it camping. We all already have blankets and pillows. Sleeping bags, if you already have them, can be quite cost effective.
 
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