My solution for a vocal booth

  • Thread starter Thread starter CaptainStrat
  • Start date Start date
C

CaptainStrat

New member
First off, who knew hanging a duvet comforter as a reflection dampener could be such a pain in the rear? I tried to hang up an old comforter and the darned thing just kept sliding out of the locking clips ... :eek:

Anyway, the nearest spot to my PC where the vocal mic can be secluded from the PC noise is my apartment's kitchenette. The apartment itself is rather well soundproofed: my neighbors can have their TV blasting, I'll hear it from the hallway, but not from inside the apartment.

The usual weak spots for sound leakage are the windows, entrance door and balcony door.

The kitchenette is close enough to the PC to allow me top press record and get to the mic in time to sing, while still providing separation between mic & PC. It's also far enough from the front door that rowdy/loud/arguing neighbors heading to the elevators shouldn't leak in the vocal mic.

In order to provide a certain level of isolation between the kitchenette and living room/dining room I'll hang a duvet in the kitchenette's entrance (refer to first paragraph :p ) and hang acoustic foam to the wall behind me.

Here's the catch: I need the installation to be removeable. Who needs a comforter and acoustic foam tiles smelling like stale food? Not me! :D Besides, while the acoustic foam is flame retardant I can't vouch for the comforter ...

A tip given to me by a fellow musician/home recordist is to glue the acoustic foam tiles to large pieces of cardbloard, which can be hung to the walls as baffles when needed, and stored away between sessions.

The comforter presents a different challenge though, the only way I found to make it stay put was to nail it up to the walls ... which is sure not to please my Landlord, especially if I want to remove it and reinstall it when need be.

Sooo ... I found myself an aluminum telescopic locking tension curtain rod of proper lenght. I will try to drape the comforter across it and hope that the rod and its locking mechanism are rugged enough to take the weight of that comforter ... it doesn't feel that heavy ...
 
If you don't mind "altering" the comforter, how feasable would it be to put a grommet in the corners of one end and screw a couple of cuphooks into the wall or doorframe? The cuphooks wouldn't do much damage--easily repairable anyway. The grommets in the corners of the duvet would be out of the way enough that you could still use it for its usual purpose.

Just a suggestion.
 
Folkie said:
If you don't mind "altering" the comforter, how feasable would it be to put a grommet in the corners of one end and screw a couple of cuphooks into the wall or doorframe? The cuphooks wouldn't do much damage--easily repairable anyway. The grommets in the corners of the duvet would be out of the way enough that you could still use it for its usual purpose.

Just a suggestion.

A good idea! I'm right now using padded locking clamps (the curtain pole ended up being too flimsy) to hang the comforter to the underside of the kitchenette's 'door frame' for lack of a better term ... the isolation from the comforter alone is amazing!
 
Back
Top