Converting a closet to a vocal booth?

[thaprez]

Hey guys, I know it's not the most professional idea, but I'm working on a bit of a budget here, so I have to resort to converting my closet to a vocal booth, and I'd greatly appreciate any help that you all can offer.

My closet is around 2 metres high, 1 to 1.5 metres wide and about 1 metre deep. As far as being spacious enough, this is only really for me and a couple of good friends, I'm not trying to hire out studio time or nothing, it's just a small project, and I've tested it out, and I do feel comfortable in there, not too squashed, even though it is a fairly small space, you could say.

Now what steps should I take to convert this ordinary closet into a good sounding vocal booth?

I'm currently using a Behringer B1 mic. I've heard that foam is pretty much essential to avoid that hollow, boomby sound (almost like a reverb). What kind of foam is ideal, I know there's eggcrate style, and I've seen some nice stuff, but I don't know if there's any in the $100 to $150 price range that I've ever seen?

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[MXStudios]

Either build some frames with 703 and fabric, or hang a few layers of moving blankets. They work to deaden the sound. Also, leave the clothes in

It will improve the quality of the sound, but it won't be sound proof. I assume soundproofing is not what you are looking for.

 

[StarvingEyes]

i pretty much have the same thing going! its a small closet that could fit maybe 2 adults at most! i have put a couch cushion above, and some foam i ordered on both sides (behind mic, behind singer) to reduce any bounceback you may be getting, we did a before/after test, and it sounded much better afterwards. you can check out the vox done in there streaming at www.lbcstudios.com

 

[Scottgman]

I have a friend who did this with his closet. I don't like it at all. The closet is bascially the same dimensions as yours. He has every inch covered with foam-- I think it's just egg crate foam and not audio foam like Auralux. Basically the foam sucks the highs out of the signal-- but that's all it does. What you are left with is a boomy, boxy sound.

I've only worked with vocals recorded in this closest once... but it was a pain to mix. Basically I had to roll off everything below about 350hz to get it sounding less "boomy." That's a slight exaggeration, but emphasizes the point.

I know it was the room because we had recorded the same vocals through the same signal path in a different (bigger), untreated room. I A/B'd the tracks from those two takes and the difference was obvious. The untreated room had flutter echo and was bright and harsh. The vocal booth (closet) was boomy and boxy sounding-- all bass frequencies and no high-end (air). Basically, the closet vocal booth sound like singing in a box. I prefered the untreated room sound to the closet vocal booth sound-- but that's like choosing between the lesser of two evils.

I'm sure you can make a closet sound decent. But, from what I've read, it seems to be a fairly difficult problem because by the time you get enough bass trapping in the closet to make it sound good, there's no room left for the singer!

If you cannot treat the closet enough to make it sound acceptable... you can always use an ass-load of EQ!

Good luck!