vocal booth option????

  • Thread starter Thread starter macthedoulos
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Man, that is ugly!

Unless you want your vocals for sound like they are recorded in a vacuum I find a couple of strategically placed gobos are a better solution. That is of course assuming you don't live next to a building site or four lane highway.
 
Why don't you look into buying a Clear Sonic booth instead?
 
If you're looking for isolation, it ain't gonna happen. There are a lot of folks in the Studio Building forum, too, that will help you out if you're looking for a booth.
 
These people are preying on those who think that some foam surrounding them equals pro quality.

Their plug for it is rather funny...

Stop paying $50 per hour or more rushing through your recording projects to meet a deadline in a recording studio. Now you can afford the luxury of recording in your very own soundbooth while working in the comfort of your own home or studio.
Nevermind the fact that if the owner of the real studio did their homework, then there is a crapload more to the studio's booth than some walls of foam. A booth at a real studio could also involve floating floors and walls, special sound dampening designed to cover the entire frequency range instead of just highs (i.e. bass traps), possibly hard floors to liven up the room just a shade....there's a LOT more to it.
 
What I need is a portable sound booth. Something I can put up quickly and store away in a limited amount of space. Oh yeah, it's got to work too!
 
allrics said:
What I need is a portable sound booth. Something I can put up quickly and store away in a limited amount of space. Oh yeah, it's got to work too!


And what, specifically, is it you mean by "work?"

What, exactly, do you want this magic booth to actually "do?"
 
There are two aspects to sound on a surface. The first is absorbtion, which is whether the sound bounces back at you. The second is isolation, which is whether sound gets through it either from inside out or from the outside in. For most products what makes them good as one makes them crappy at the other. Foam and fiberglass products are only helpfull for absorbtion.
 
Is it me, or does the "door" look like a moving blanket?

War
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3278&item=7323599193&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

I purchased some of that stuff and some wood and made this thing.

it's two walls connected by three hinges... when I put on the ceiling and backing it's not sound proof at all but it's pretty damn dry. It cost about 170 total for the blankets and the wood/hinges/reinforcements etc. and is totally portable. I also have 6 extra blankets to hang up wherever I need. I'll be purchasing two bass traps in the next couple of weeks.
 

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VBooth

Strave,
Looks like it should take out some of the drywall sound, at the least.
hell..anythings better than the drywall of sound. :eek:

looks like you're working more on the "tracking" aspect of things.
if its an improvement, thumbs up.
 
I think its funny these guys actually PAID someone to design that site.
 
AllOrNothinEnt said:
Why don't you look into buying a Clear Sonic booth instead?

well....clearsonic is kinda outside of my budget right now. i would like to spend no more than $600-$700. mind you.....i don't have to have TOTAL ISO........i just need a decent recording environment. looks like only one person said it might be ok...if it's an improvement for me.

it doesn't look like much and i'm sure it'll have flaws, but it's cheap. i'm not handy with tools and junk either so rather than spending a few hundred on some crap i make, why not let someone put something half decent together for me? maybe i can get someone to even improve on it later. what do you guys think? still no?
 
vote? you say

macthedoulos said:
what do you guys think about this?

http://soundbooth.us/

i'll vote with Strave..."you can do better than that".

$350 for 2" and $450 for 3"foam...3 sides?

I don't know your room or needs,
but you can buy alot of foam for $350?

do you need to be able to "pack it up", is it permanent, is it a bedroom, garage? will you be needing a mixing room too? or just recording/tracking?
 
macthedoulos said:
well....clearsonic is kinda outside of my budget right now. i would like to spend no more than $600-$700. mind you.....i don't have to have TOTAL ISO........i just need a decent recording environment. looks like only one person said it might be ok...if it's an improvement for me.

it doesn't look like much and i'm sure it'll have flaws, but it's cheap. i'm not handy with tools and junk either so rather than spending a few hundred on some crap i make, why not let someone put something half decent together for me? maybe i can get someone to even improve on it later. what do you guys think? still no?

Let me expand on that thing I made. First of all... i've never had any experience with tools so that's not an excuse. I just bought a $20 power screwdriver and a $5 saw and started working and those are both tools I'll use again and again. Those acoustic blankets have an NRC of .70 which is pretty decent AND are completely hangable and movable. But moreso... I only used 2 out of the 8 (they are about 6.5' by 4' each for a total of 196 square feet)) which cost $130. That's about $16.25 X 2 (not including shipping) for blankets actually used permanently on the walls. Plus about $20 in wood, $8 in reinforcements and $8 in hinges and screws that comes to about $68.50 for something that is most likely at least as dry (absorbant) as that and much more versatile (an 8' by 6.5' hinged and foldable wall which can be moved and placed anywhere). And here's why it's versatile...

You want to track vocals? set it up to make a triangle, put the boom in the corner, and pull a blanket tightly on top (clip it) and across the back (clip it). In effect, there are absolutely no reflections, and if you need to absorb some bass, you have a corner directly in front of the singer for a bass trap.

But you want to track acoustic guitars? Open it up to a large triangle, or even full 8' (more like 7.5') wall and have the guitarist play towards it... it will be less absorbed, but it will deaden any ring in the room and you could set it up to remove parallel walls and standing waves.

so you're mixing ... with the same bass trap in the corner, set the thing up behind you, as far back as you hear an improvement.

It also serves as a nice way to hide from your wife if you're poor enough to be living in a one room apartment with her.

It's not sound proof but nothing you buy will be unless it is completely air proof as well... and how are you going to breath in those conditions without an air circulation system?

Like you said, most cheap things likely have their flaws, I'm not hip to the specifications of a tracking room and especially a mixing room... but it costs about $70 to make (minus the tools and extra blankets which can be used again and again in other places) and can always be put away if it's hindering anything. And from using it a few times on vocals... it really really helps.
 
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Going to Lowes and buying doors to hinge together and then hanging blankets on them would be more effective than what those folks are selling. It ain't gonna be sound "proof" (nothing in the freakin' world IS but you won't even get real close) but it may be worth something.

War
 
Better than that, go to the store and get the following:

(a saw, drill and screwdriver if you don't already have one)

5 sheets of 3/4 inch MDF plywood

Some angle brackets

some caulk

A pair of spring loaded door hinges and a surface catch.

Some Weatherstripping.

Then put these together in the form of a four foot square seven foot high big box with one spring hinged side with the caulk and weatherstripping to prevent leaks.

Then go to an insulation supply house and get a bale of 3 to 5 pound per cubic foot fiberglass, Owens Corning 703 or equivalent. Also get to a fabric store and buy about ten yards of craft felt, your choice of color. Wrap two inch thick panels of fiberglass with the fabric and hang on the walls, you should be able to get about a dozen.

This will get you better performance, both in terms of isolation and absorbtion than anything discussed up to this point. It will be close to your budget too.
 
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