Mini mic-booth, is it worth it?

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acermove

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Amateur Hour has begun...

With the limited space available, I have constructed a temporary mic booth (until I move out) using strong cardboard and a shitload of gaffa tape (that stuff the mafia uses to gag the dirty rat!).

It is only 3ft. wide (20 degrees from connecting wall) and 4ft. long(5 degrees from connecting wall).

The mic stand will be placed outside of the booth with the mic sitting inside at the corner. It's a narrow entrance.

I figure it's better than nothing!

The ceiling is left open at the moment. If I covered it over flat, as is, it would stand at 7ft. But the room's ceiling stands at 9ft. total.
Should I make the booth-ceiling go higher, or not?
Should it be slanted?

I am planning to get some of those Markertek Acoustic Foam panels (the blue ones) and covering all the walls from waist-up.
Anyone know anyhing better that's not too expensive?
Or any experience with Markertek foams?
Would it also be more effective to use the 'corner' foams that Markertek has?
Should I cover the ceiling as well as the walls?

Last but not least; I have a super-cardoid mic. The angle of the 'mini'-entrance has it as good as I can to pick up only what's in the booth, I think. But it's still queued to pick a bit up from behind.
Anyone know of some sort of temporary covering to place over the whole stand to cut out any background noise? (Not that there is alot, but just covering every possibility)
Would an ordinary blanket do anything?

I'll leave it that, if you're still here :)

Answers to any of these questions, singular or multiple, is greatly appreciated.

Thanking you in advance,
acer
 
que pederasta

by the way it sounded like happy hour :D

i like the mini booth idea. any pics??

memo
 
...it was a toss-up between 'Amateur' or 'Happy' Hour, but to be honest it was a gentle blend of both :)

Unfortunately there are no pics of it as yet.......I tried to take a couple of shots but it cracked my camera lens :(

Your couple of lines didn't answer any of my questions and yet, at the same time, it resolved all of them.....a strange contradiction......just an apparent continuation that I call my life.

Cheers
 
"I am planning to get some of those Markertek Acoustic Foam panels (the blue ones) and covering all the walls from waist-up.
Anyone know anyhing better that's not too expensive? "

owens corning 703 rigid fiberglass or the equivelent

if possible mount it a few inches out from the walls and across the corners. its not terribly attractive, but you can cover it with fabric and the whole thing will still cost less and be more effective than a similar amount of foam. the stuff is pretty light, you could create a "ceiling" with it also by duct taping two peices across the top of your box. hang a sheet of it from the ceiling with some string directly behind the micriphone to cut down the sound coming into the rear lobe. the hanging sheet wont do much for low freq., but cardboard walls aren't stopping them anyway.

do you have a door, or do you fold back one of the walls to get into the booth?
 
Acer,

What's your budget?

You could build some portable walls to construct a "mini vocal booth" using plywood and 703 insulation, that could be very effective.

Try a search here for vocal booths and see what you can find. I know this topic has come up many times

good luck
larry
 
jdean said:
do you have a door, or do you fold back one of the walls to get into the booth?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but that is too funny:D :D :D
 
gatorhaus-

i'm not saying it isn't funny, but the door question was because of the problems a folding wall might create if he were to atempt placing a 703 lid on the box. if it really amuses you come over and look through the crap in my garage. it stretches the definition of "studio" in an almost tantric fashion.

acermove-

you don't mention any sort of budget. $60 of OSB, 2x4s, nails and 703 could make a reasonable and portable booth
 
gatorhaus-

i'm not saying it isn't funny, but the door question was because of the problems a folding wall might create if he were to atempt placing a 703 lid on the box. if it really amuses you come over and look through the crap in my garage. it stretches the definition of "studio" in an almost tantric fashion.

acermove-

you don't mention any sort of budget. $60 of OSB, 2x4s, nails, hinges and 703 could make a reasonable and portable booth
 
jdean,

I wasn't meaning any disrespect at all, I use my closet as a vocal booth right now until the studio is done. I just got this mental image of a cardboard box, kind of like the peanuts gang comic.

larry
 
Mini-booth to Moderate-Mini-booth...

Ok, my situation's changed a little. I persuaded the old man to get rid of some old wardrobe things, which has opened up a little enclosure of three walls. It's about 5'8'' by 3'5''. A bit better than before.

I'm planning to build a more permanent 4th wall, using either MDF (or anything else that anyone knows of) and Insulco- this is the Australian equivalent of Knauf (or whatever it's called). That OC 703 is too expensive to ship out here.

Any Aussies know of anything else like OC 703 that's sold here in OZ?

I have a few hundred dollars to burn. How much do you think it's gonna set me back to do a decent job?

From what I read on the other threads, staggered stud design for the framing is important. What is this?

Also, they said to caulk, or chaulk, everything. What is this?

About the door, I'm planning to have a 5ft. high, 1ft. wide space, but totally unclear about how to cover it up once I'm inside. Any links to ideas on this is appreciated...

Something just came to me also. I have a large sheet of 1/4" perspex down the back that I could cut into several pieces for a possible observation window. I'm not sure if I need this or if it's even feasible with the space I've got.

With the insulation products (OC 703, Knauf, Insulco), do they go inside the wall if possible?

To John Sayers if you read this, can you tell me the best Insulco product for a vocal booth such as this.

Cheers to everyone who's helping me out,
acermove
 
...the cardboard aspect seems to amuse a few of you :)

I've actually finished the cardboard pre-version. If anybody knows how to scan photos onto a Mac i-book (only had it for a couple of weeks), I'll be keen to show a pic of it (I have no shame, ha ha ha)...
 
Re: Mini-booth to Moderate-Mini-booth...

Acer,

Sounds to me like you are trying to record vocals and/or acoustic guitar type instruments. The first thing is to define what you want from a vocal booth and how much isolation you can achieve within your budget. If you live in a very noisy area and are trying to get as clean as recording as possible that will require a great degree of isolation between you and the outside would using all possible paths sound can travel. (All 4 walls, floor and ceiling). Now if you live in a relatively quiet area. Then you can get by with minimal isolation. Now once isolation is achieved, then you go to work on acoustics. For small rooms (from what I've read, no actual experience) its harder to do, based on room dimensions. Someone else will have to chime in for more explanation, or see the sae site. Also check out John's Forums http://www.johnlsayers.com and post your question, there's lots of guys from Down Under there that can tell you exactly what you need and where to get it as far as construction materials. They can help you a lot better than I can.

Hope this helps some,
larry
 
gatorhaus-

no disrepect was sensed, it just wanted acermove to know what i was referring to. someday we will be able to imbed tone and emotion into bbs posts. then no one will feel needlessly slighted, all the flame wars will end, childeren will skip through fields of flowers on sunny afternoons......

acermove-

standard residential insulation is fine for the interior of the walls. a higher density product like rockwool would be better, but not really neccesary for a basement studio. i was talking about using the 703 on the exterior of the wall as sound treatment. i don't know what knauf is, but any rigid fiberglass that is about 1" thick and 3lbs density would work. if you can't get anything like that, non rigid fibergalss (the kind that comes in rolls) can be put into corners (the whole roll, stack them on top of each other) as a decent broadband absorber. use heavy curtains or foam tiles on the walls if more treatment is needed. http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html has lots of good information, but a lot of the acoustic treatment uses 703.

why not just put in a door? cut a small hole in the wall for mic cables and fill it with a towel or scraps of insulation. if your spending a few hundred dollars you could even by jack plates(about $8 us) for the wall and do it right.

caulk is the gooey stuff that comes in tubes builders use to seal windows, door frames,etc... the idea is to make the walls as airtight as possible in order to minimize sound transmission.

instead of staggered studs, just build two walls a few inches apart. leave the side of each wall that faces the other unfinished (no drywall, plywood or MDF).

i hope some part of this rambling mess makes sense.

what kind of music are you recording?
 
Just checking back to thank you guys for the info. and links- particularly the johnlsayers site. A wealth of info. there that gives you an inkling of how much you can really do.

I'm gonna be putting in a wall, like you suggested gatorhaus, using plywood and Insulco (the OC 703 equivalent in Oz); and then lining the whole booth (walls and slanted ceiling) using the same Insulco stuff. It's cheap.

There's one thing unclear however- the 6ft. x 1ft. door. It seems to be an unconventional size that I can't seem to find definite info. on. Anyone made a door like this before? Any ideas at all? I'm all ears...

Thanks again,
acermove

ps i'm recording vocals, acoustic guitar and bass
 
6' x 1' ?

is there a structural reason, or do you just want to keep overweight vocalist out of you studio?

the only premade doors i can think of in those dimensions would be made for closets. generally (in the states at least ) they are hollow wood or cast plastic. neither of these would have much isolation value. you could use a hollow door, fill the interior with cellulose or expanding foam isulation, then mount drywall on both sides, but it would probobly be easier to build a custom solid wood door.

can you put in a pocket door?
 
I wasn't thinking of buying a pre-made door.

I guess I was wondering if it's possible to make one using 2x4, plywood, and some insulation inside. And also am open to any other designs. What's that pocket door? Sounds interesting.

The 6'x1' dimensions are just because of the limited space I have to work with. I don't even know if anyone else has used a door of this size before. I have no quarrel with fat chicks, heck, Aretha's my favourite female singer :)

It ain't over till the fat lady croaks...
 
"I guess I was wondering if it's possible to make one using 2x4, plywood, and some insulation inside."

yes, you can build a door like that. it would be rather thick and need some extra care in the weatherstripping.

pocket doors are the type that slide back into the wall cavity instead of swinging open. they are not as easy to seal as a standard door but might solve your space problem.

can you post a drawing of the space your working with?
 
Yeah, I've had some problems in the past with trying to post drawings 'cause I'm using Mac OS X 10.2.

Do you know of any good drawing programs that I could use? (Preferably 'free' versions- I'm skinny and cheap!)

Cheers
 
i use apppleworks. don't let the smartdraw nazis bother you. Graphic Converter is shareware (with unlimited unregistered use) and good enough for rough sketches.

if you build a framed door (2x4 + plywood + insulation) make the edge opposite the hinges at 45 degrees, with a matching angle on the wall framing. i makes it easier to seal.
 
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