Little help to build a recording booth for recording vocals

[geeq]

I wanna know what's a decent size to build a recording booth for recording vocals for 2 fit in... Will cabinet/closet size do? What kind of glass do I need for the door and and other materials do I need to cover up the entire room. Thanks...

GeE-Q

 

[gidman]

Vocal room

Depends on the size of the closet. If its a big walk in closet thats fine. Just big enough to turn around and not too stuffy for the people in the room. Hope your not clostrophobic.
For the glass I would reccomend laminated glass at least 1/4 " thick.

Gidman

<a href="http://www.bmgsound.com"><img border="0" src="http://www.bmgsound.com/images/skybluetitle.jpg"></a>

 

[geeq]

soo any size will do? the quality or the soundings of the vocals won't do any difference if the room is small or large? what type of materials do i need to cover up the walls?

 

[gidman]

Closet

Are you setting this up as a permenant vocal room?
Just for temporary you could cover the walls with some blankets.
If permenant...In my vocal room I used the 2x3 drop ceiling tile on the wall. Works faily good for deadening.

gidman

 

[geeq]

how bout those foams? what type of foams? the spray can type or the solid materials.? do blankets works? wow i never thought of thought.. how about carpeted walls??? ive seen some studios use carpeted walls... is it better? or fair enough? hmm.. probably a temporary vocal booth.. cuz we plan to move out, but im soo excited to do recordings...

GeE-Q

 

[jimi]

recording in bathroom

im in the samne situation i have this apartment in my house upstairs which i wanna turn into a studio..well im thinking a good sized booth for vocals but i recorded in the bathroom the other day and it sounded really good does that mean if i do a recording booth do i make it like ceramic tile?? or is it gonna be too much and too echoey..cause right now the room size is big and it doesnt sound good on tape although its empty and all..what do u think ? ceramic tiloe? regular plastered walls, ? carpet? whats the best to get the most natural sound?
]im soo excited to start this project then record please let me know from a good sound quality point of view
thanks alot

 

[gidman]

Not foam

qeeq,

No Foam ... A stater kit is expensive...
For ceiling tile 2x2 square.
Figure out the size of the room. A 4x4 closet would be 128 square feet of wall space. There are 200 square feet of drop ceiling tile in a box. It is not foam, it is a composite material, that is a good sound deadener. Its not pretty but it works good.
Just like a dropped ceiling tile in most commercial type buildings.
The next time you go to a building supply store buy a box, if you want it temporary use finishing nails or long roofing tacks.Permenant glue it on.
Blankets are ok...clothes on a hanger on the rack deaden sound.
Carpet acts as a great deadener. Commercial type with the foam backing is great. Matress' are great...Understand what I'm saying? The more the mass the more deadening qualities it will have. Matress' take up too much space.I don't recommend them.
The less reverb (sound bouncing in the room) sometimes the better . Depends on what your after.
The next guy posted that he recorded vocals in a bath room.
What ever sounds good to you. A closet full of clothes may not need anything...Try it...Try the bathroom.
Hope I helped you.
Gidman

 

[gidman]

Bathroom

Jimi,
Now you know why there are a lot of shower singers.
Bathrooms are small and provide enough natural reverb,
That it may sound great on certain recordings.
Just like chants recorded in a large mosque.
The reverb is awesome.
I like to record dry with an acoustically adjusted room, and add effects were I need it later. I use bass traps and sound deadening wall covering that keep the reverb to a bare minimum.
Room acoustics play a integral role in recording.
I will get you a link on room acoustics and post it here. Maybe some other members here have some they might reccomend for your reading.
Its great talking to all of the people across this great world.
The internet is a great thing for communication. This information couldn't have been shared in this fashion 25 years ago.
When you get you recordings online send me a link I would like to hear it.
The same goes for you too qeeq, I want to hear what you guys are doing.
Here is my band...
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/280/slow_joe_crow.html

Gidman

 

[geeq]

Thanks alot, gidman..
I'll start using the hammer pretty soon and start building a vocal booth with carpet covering the walls.. by the way, I plan to put a window and a door (with window).. how thick does the glass has to be.. and same goes with the door
This should be my last question


GeE-Q

 

[gidman]

Vocal room

YW.. I used 1/4" laminated glass. The thicker the better , it can be very expensive.

Here is a link for just about everything on recording and live music.
http://www.prosoundweb.com/
Gidman

 

[tj jr.]

im no expert,,but,,,.
I had this idea that would be so inexpensive and work well,,(in my opinion). PVC plastic tubing is sooo inexpensive. You could build a small room size fram out of it and cover it with blankets. I use my attic as a studio and it is 2 rooms with a dorway sized hall inbetween. i built a pvc frame that fit in the hallway and put up a blanket to make it easier for my air conditioner to cool. Im thinking of building a vocal room. Any opinions on my idea??
tj

 

[gidman]

PVC

I've never heard of or thought of...yeah I guess it would work too.
I don't of the deadening qualities it would have?
If you have an ample suppy... do it...
I don't think its so cheap...


Gidman

 

[tj jr.]

pvc tubing is like a buck or 2 for long ass pieces. the joints are like 50cents to like a dollar sometimes cheaper. Now it wont be as affective as a "pro" recording booth,, but ,,. It would be great for a homerecording non-pro situation. I think. lol
tj

 

[gidman]

That would add up to some bucks if the room has any size to it.
What i used was R-19 in the walls covered in styrofoam sheathing
covered in 1/2" sheetrock covered with 1/2" drop ceiling tiles...
Works great.

Gidman


http://www.skybluestudio.com

 

[Badger]

For my vocal booth, I used 2 layers of 5/8 inch sheet rock, with pink fiberglass insulation in between. Then on the inside, I stapled itchy pink fiberglass bats covering the walls and cieling, itchy side out. then covered them with cloth. for the door I used a double layer exterior door that was left over after a bit of remodeling I did. on the floor, I put two layers of carpet padding, and then a scrap of carpet over the top. Its really dead in there now, and fairly well insulated. On the door fram, I used a outdoor door frame(the kind with the rubber insulation strip pre-installed), and an exterior threshold(the kind with the half round squishy rubber seal. This lets the door close on the cords without hurting them, but still seals well.

 

[jimi]

bdgr?
why is it better to sing in a dead room as opposed to a room full of natural reverb like an empty room or a kitchen ? does that make the vocals or the singing more accurate or what ?
personally i sound better even recording in a totally empty room better than my bedroom for example , so im thinking the same bedroom more dead u know?

 

[Badger]

I prefer to record it dead, and add reverb as needed. I have all sorts of reverb plugins, and room sims. You cant remove reverb that is there, but you can always add it. I guess I am a control freak, I like to have the widest range of options to play with.

 

[John Sayers]

jimi - the first vocal booths were in fact the bathroom Mitch Miller put his singers into a bathroom to record them with reverb, which wasn't available as an effect send like today. They were also stuck with that reverb on every song unless they built a new bathroom

Nowadays people prefer to record the voice flat and dry and then add the right reverb for the song.

Bdgr's solution is a good one. If you can lift the fibreglass off a surface it lowers the frequency of absorption, you can't do it to the walls because of space but you can do it to the ceiling which is usually your first reflection if you stand in the middle of a room. Hang a cloth with the fibreglass above it maybe.

cheers
John

 

[Badger]

Just watch it when you hang the ceiling insulation, cuz I forgot the entrance to my attic was up there. Now I gotta make a new attic entrance.