Vocal Booth

  • Thread starter Thread starter mentil69
  • Start date Start date
Think if it as one big sock that goes over the entire enclosure. But now you're thinking, how do you get in the damn thing? Well..my wife sewed some snaps on to one section so it unsnaps like a door. :)
 
homeuser said:
I went to Lowes (like a Home Depot store) and told the guy there I wanted to make a booth out of pvc piping. He recommended 3/4 size. I told him 4 legs, and a square at the top and bottom. Total cost for 7ft high, by 3 1/2ft wide booth was about $25.00. I put it together in less than 5 minutes. Actually I trimmed so it was a little smaller. :)

I then purchased some moving blankets at an Army Navy store. Each 72/80 blanket was fairly expensive at $18.00 each but they're thick and look decent.

Total cost for a very good vocal booth in the home studio was under $85.00. Compare this to the booths being advertised in the back of music magazines. :)
Click to expand...

Any pictures?
 
homeuser said:
Think if it as one big sock that goes over the entire enclosure. But now you're thinking, how do you get in the damn thing? Well..my wife sewed some snaps on to one section so it unsnaps like a door. :)
Click to expand...

I wonder if sewing some 1-inch UL250 polyester polyurethane foam between two mover blankets would help? I'm just thinking out loud. Anyway, thank you for the info.
 
"Any pictures?"

Ok, I'll try to get some up today or tomorrow. :)
 
Hey, DEFINITELY post pics of this thing! I've been in search of a good idea for an isolation booth... ...other than the one they had me in at the State Penitentiary :eek:
 
Funny thing..

I started a similar project using the harbor freight blankets and 1" PVC on saturday. I'm trying to make it somewhat strong and modular. Right now I'm sorta planning and building at the same time. more later...
 
How are you making the legs so it stands up without falling over while being assemble by one person?
 
The 'plan' is to have no piece of pvc longer than ~40". The pieces will be joined by couplings or tees. Now mind you, I haven't completed this project yet, but I'm posting this info because others might gain from my struggles.

I have the cuts made for the top and bottom "squares." Each piece is 31" long and will be joined in the middle by a coupling. The inside of the booth at max will be a square ~ 65" * 65", but for cost/stability of the booth two sides will extend slightly further. So there will be right elbows on the 4 corners laying flat with tees just to the inside of themon the long sides pointing up(or down).
Bootleg example.. r=right elbow _ or |=pipe t=tee (duh)
c=coupling

r_t_____c_____t_r
|
|
|
c
|
|
|
r

I bought my PVC at Home Depot. I used 1" because it seemed a little less likely to warp. Here's the basic shopping list..

8 * 1" * 10' PVC @ $1.78 ea

8 * 1" PVC Tee @ $0.34 ea

8 * 1" PVC Right elbow @ $0.39

12 * 1" PVC coupling @ $0.22

total with tax was $24.09

That's just for the largest, most basic cube. For support I am going to buy four more tees and some more pipe to make two of the walls braced in the middle ( sorta like an H ).

To be continued... (argh I hate that!)

Pat
 
Thanks for sharing. I was thinking of 3.6 foot sections of 2 inch PVC for the uprights, two together would be 7 feet high and still fit in small rooms. And locking pins on the couplers, tee's, etc.
 
2" PVC would make for some pretty strong uprights. PVC is so light that it makes a really great building material for little projects like this. Locking pins would also be a good idea, but believe me those joints fit together pretty tight by themselves.

Today I cut the pipe for the uprights and put the frame together. I cut 38" sections because I have a crappy low basement ceiling w/ stupid fake beams. Well when I put it up... I found that I still needed the uprights shorter. @#!&*!! WHY! It all went together still, but I didn't like that it was bowing the PVC and took it down.

Soooo.. I'll cut them down a little and try again tomorrow.

I also need to think of how I'll be attaching the blankets...
I was thinking velcro, but those blankets sure are heavy...

Pat
 
Maybe sew some of those metal eyes on the blankets, like on a tarp. Or fold the blanket on the end, just a little and sew it. Then slide the PVC through the little blanket tunnel that you sew on one end of each blanket. hummm, or some snaps. Anyway, I'm still trying to think of something to, if you come up with anything let me know. Thanks.
 
..following the progress here...

Just a thought for hanging the blankets.. ..Any thoughts on using curtain hangers (like shower curtain type, but they have to be pretty beefy to hold the weight of packing blankets)? You'ld probably still have to put those metal eyelets onto the blankets (you can get the type that snap together using pliers at most hardware stores) and use the eyelets to attach the curtain hangers to the blanket, and just string the PVC tubing through the hangers. then maybe just drape another blanket over the top of the whole thing to cover the top, and to take care of the space between the top PVC and the top of the side blankets...

just a thought...
 
Thanks for the ideas guys!!

That's what I love about this board. Been lurking for over three years but I never really had anything to contribute. When I finally decided to do this project, I saw that someone else was working on the same thing so I figured what the hell. This board has helped me in so many ways, now might be my chance to help someone else out.

I was flipping through my harbor freight catolog at work tonight and I noticed the tarps and grommet kits. Think I'll have to drive over to the store and check em out. Just please give me the strength not to buy more blankets.

I already have 5 of the big ones, i think 4 of the half ones and countless other random blankets I've recently aquired(my family must have thought I was near freezing to death..)

I'll post later when I figure out what I'm gonna do.

Thanks again guys,
Pat
 
One of the things I'm concerned with is, the gaps between blankets... does anyone have any thoughts about this? Also, I still think adding sound foam with the blankets is a good idea. Oh and I've been thinking about using this same PVC/blanket idea for making quick pannels, you know like a quick free standing wall to block sound.
 
FMMahoganyRush.....good taste in music there.....not to mention the Pic :)
 
Heck, I just use my walk in closet. I move the clothes around 'til I get the sound I want. heh heh...

" Neccesity is the Mother of Invention "
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top