idea for a simple fix to room acoustics

[EMMDOM]

Hello Everyone

I currently have and akg persision 2000 and an mxl990 which is in the mail. Coming back from service.

Any how I have a problem I am sure many have encountered and that is the acoustics of the room I am working in. I don't have the luxury a placing aurlex on all the walls or even the room to construct a simple both. I was thinking of building a box 3'x3'x2' place aurlex inside with my condenser inside. Has anyone already tried and if so what recommendations for would and is worth the time. Or is this just a stupid Idea.

emmdom

 

[chessrock]

I don't know if I'd call it a "stupid" idea, necessarily. Because it does sound like a logical idea, and that you have put some thought in to it.

In fact, I would call it a very "good" idea ... provided your goal is to get the absolute worst sound ever produced in the history of recorded audio.

Just kidding. There are a lot of reasons why this isn't a very optimal situation, and if you do some reading up on accoustics, you'll start to get an idea as to why. I would start out by visiting the Studio Building section of our site and browse some of the old posts and articles. You might also check out a site put up by a guy named Ethan Winer ( www.ethanwiner.com ).

So many things to read up on and learn; it's a mind-boggling subject that almost takes a nuclear physicist to understand.

 

[Robert D]

Sounds like a good Iso booth for lepricons. I think you end up with the box becoming sort of an extension, or part of the body of the mic. There are going to be serious resonance problems, foam or not. But hey, keep thinking inside the box....or outside, or somethin.

-RD

 

[Robert D]

By the way.......if you just set up baffles around the mic, instead of building a box, this will help with getting less room in the mic without creating more problems.

-RD

 

[BigRay]

jdisc!!

also, the X-Y configuration is very good for minimizing room bleed. unfortunately it also thins the sound out a little.

seriously though,a jdisc is a great tool to combat this problem.

http://www.josephson.com/tn5.html

 

[EMMDOM]

Hello

Well thanks for the advice, I thought it might work considering some iso boxes are really some. I have seen some the size of phone booths. But if it's not going to work it is not going to work.

But what if ....

or if ...

I better get out here before I blurt another great idea out

thanks

emmdom

 

[johnny5dm]

Just a thought - I bought a dozen moving blankets from a local warehouse for around $110. I've just hung them around my basement/on the ceiling, and set a few up around a singer for a makeshift "booth" until I can build the iso booth I'm hoping to (floating surfaces/sealed door, etc.). For the money... they're hard to beat. I've used them for a vocal booth, drum iso room, and just to kill the resonance in the basement (can't make it sound good naturally, so I'm trying to kill it and recreate one artificially). It's a good, cheap solution until you can afford something better.

 

[Justus Johnston]

My vocal booth is 46 inches wide and 6 feet 8 inches tall, But it is 10 feet long. But that space is behind the singer and sings straight into the wall into foam and bass traps. and I have a piece of foam on the ceiling above the singer. Here is a pic of it. Also at this link you can here a song that was song in this booth. Its not a great recording but it will give you an idea of what kind of sound you will get in this kind of booth. I alway keep the mic just one and a half feet from the wall the singer is singing into.
Go to this link and click windy in the lower left side of the page.
http://mysite.verizon.net/resopl6x/

Is that REALLY a good idea? I've always heard it's not good to deaden a booth completely, but that recording vocals in a room with a little natural decay is better. I'm relatively new to the whole recording thing, so I'd be interested in hearing your (and other people's) thoughts on this.

 

[Big Kenny]

Hand a couple out of the corner on an angle (to relieve the 90 degree angle), then sing into it, it will work well till you can set up something more professional

 

[Robert D]

Is that REALLY a good idea? I've always heard it's not good to deaden a booth completely, but that recording vocals in a room with a little natural decay is better. I'm relatively new to the whole recording thing, so I'd be interested in hearing your (and other people's) thoughts on this.

I like natural room ambiance on a lot of things, but with vocals I like to be free of printed reflections, and fully able to sculpt the space around the vocal with whatever the verb de jour turns out to be for the track. But then, I'm a card carrying member of reverbaholics ananomous, and have some nice verbs to work with. But most of the studios I've recorded at have had very dead ISO booths.

-RD

 

[lomky]

How about...

Building a box about 2' square and then fitting it w/ absorption, but not isod so that the low frequencies will escape. Afix this box onto a pair of hocky or football pads, insert a mic cable and mic. The singer can then wear this box over his/her head!

Am I on to something?

 

[gullfo]

recently i saw a photo where the person hinged together 3 hollow core interior doors and draped thick small rugs over the top to kill the bounce and the hollow doors act somewhat like mid-high bass traps. you can then set this up pretty much anywhere and have 3 sided "booth".

http://www.soundcontrolroom.com/vocal_booth.htm

I'm thinking of doing this myself. seems like it would be inexpensive and useful.

 

[corban]

Just a thought - I bought a dozen moving blankets from a local warehouse for around $110. I've just hung them around my basement/on the ceiling, and set a few up around a singer for a makeshift "booth" until I can build the iso booth I'm hoping to (floating surfaces/sealed door, etc.). For the money... they're hard to beat. I've used them for a vocal booth, drum iso room, and just to kill the resonance in the basement (can't make it sound good naturally, so I'm trying to kill it and recreate one artificially). It's a good, cheap solution until you can afford something better.

That is a good cheap solution. However, my advice would be to get some cheap mineral wool insulation that will properly absorb low frequencies (the blankets will not), then get some covers for thirty bucks a pop from modularacoustics.com, put the insulation in, and voila, absolutely killer sound treatment. You can mount them on mic stands and move them around to create a vocal booth or drum area, or use them in corners as bass traps, or whatever you want. This will run you a couple hundred dollars more than the moving blankets, but will give you much more bang for your buck. It's good treatment that will properly absorb all frequencies in your room.

 

[johnny5dm]

Good call, corban. Wish I'd had the money to do that the first time around...