Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for?

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ChuckC
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2011/11/28 16:16:16 (permalink)

Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for?

  I have a small but sound-proofed and acoustically treated (Aurelex studio foam and a ton of leanard bass traps) rehearsal/recordng studio.  It's only about 11.5' x 15' x 7'ceilings as it is literally a free standing room (4 walls/ceiling) within a garage.   Up until now all tracking is done right there in that room which also holds my desk where we monitor everything so dialing in mic' placement on a 4x12 cab is a record and listen back process because it's too loud in the room to hear the monitors and I don't get enough isolation from headphones to keep the room noise out so I can't make the call that way.  I have one corner of the room which isn't used much other than to stack our guitar cases.  I am thinking about building a small Iso booth  maybe 3'x4'x7 high.  So that I can slide a cab and mic in there, shut the door, keep the head outside & actually hear hat the mic is hearing.   know in a small space I would lose much of any room sound capabilities, but to be honest my room is pretty dead in that there are almost no audible reflections at all anyway so I don't think I'd be giving up much.  Think 12x15' vocal booth.... I probably should actually brighten it up a bit!
 
  What do you think?  Is it worthwhile or just a waste of time and space?
 

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    batsbrew
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/28 17:08:33 (permalink)
    make it big enough to track vocals in, sit with an acoustic guitar and mic boom..
    then you've got triple duty.

    also, remember you have to heat and cool it (mostly, just fresh air) or it will will stink, and you will sweat.

    so, devise a plan to run supply air into it, and have way for the air to get back out. 
    the perfect place to run it in, is at the floor, and let it relieve thru the ceiling.
    you can build elbows on the return air grille to allow the air out without too much outside sound getting in/out, and you'll want to oversize the supply air ductwork and grille, so no air noise is created from the air flow.

    light it, put in the appropriate connections for headphones, and mic cables and BOOM, instant vocal booth.


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    ChuckC
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/28 18:19:15 (permalink)
    I appreciate the info there Batsbrew, and while it would be cool....  I don't thing I can make it much bigger for one (and still leave enough room for the band to rehearse in too), and I currently only have a wall unit a/c permanently mounted in the front wall (across the room from where this would go)  which I generally shut off while recording vocals in the room.   So while that may make it a multipurpose space for recording it will really cramp our practice space.   That's why I figured I'd make it small and when not in use for recording it will basically be a closet for the guitar cases. and if it's just the amp cabinet in there then I don't need to worry about building an HVAC system into the design.

    I more or less am hoping to find out if a closet type space this size (treated of course) is an effective environment for tracking guitars in?
    Should I put commercial type carpet in there like I have in the rest of the room or put in a few square feet of wood floor?

    Am I setting myself up for relative success? or an audio nightmare?!

    ADK Built DAW, W7, Sonar Platinum, Studio One Pro,Yamaha HS8's & HS8S  Presonus Studio/Live 24.4.2, A few decent mic pre's,  lots of mics, 57's,58 betas, Sm7b, LD Condensors, Small condensors, Senn 421's,  DI's,  Sans Amp, A few guitar amps etc. Guitars : Gib. LP, Epi. Lp, Dillion Tele, Ibanez beater, Ibanez Ergodyne 4 String bass, Mapex Mars series 6 pc. studio kit, cymbals and other sh*t.
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    PGShadow
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 03:16:24 (permalink)
    " I more or less am hoping to find out if a closet type space this size (treated of course) is an effective environment for tracking guitars in?
    Should I put commercial type carpet in there like I have in the rest of the room or put in a few square feet of wood floor? "

    Just to sorta put it into perspective,I read someplace Mutt Lange started out just draping heavy moving blankets over the mic'd up guitar cabs.

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    SongCraft
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 06:04:44 (permalink)
    Home-made Movable (folding) ISO Panels. 

    These can be fixed-hinged 4.ft from the corner (where you suggested), when in operation simply unfold (open out), when not in operation simply close it flat against the wall. They can also be bi-fold to create an almost complete enclosure (ISO Booth). 

    This idea is great for small project studios, allowing for times when you need that extra space due to movable (folding) panels. 

    If you want to get fancy? insert a window, good for giving cues. And pulling funny faces and whatever (joking) LOL!! 

    And on the wall an in-wall mount for a transport controller (perfect for those lonesome times) also for mic cable connectors and DI. 




     
     
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    ChuckC
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 07:45:15 (permalink)
    That may not be a bad idea songcraft...
    Any good recommendations for materials?   MDF? 
    I am prettysure I still have some of aurelex sheetblock left over from when I built the room.  I could incorporate that to help the isolation though it will make it heavy as hell!

    ADK Built DAW, W7, Sonar Platinum, Studio One Pro,Yamaha HS8's & HS8S  Presonus Studio/Live 24.4.2, A few decent mic pre's,  lots of mics, 57's,58 betas, Sm7b, LD Condensors, Small condensors, Senn 421's,  DI's,  Sans Amp, A few guitar amps etc. Guitars : Gib. LP, Epi. Lp, Dillion Tele, Ibanez beater, Ibanez Ergodyne 4 String bass, Mapex Mars series 6 pc. studio kit, cymbals and other sh*t.
    http://www.everythingiam.net/
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    M@ B
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 10:50:27 (permalink)
    If you end up building the dog house, avoid using 90 degree corners and/or parallel walls; this will help to minimize standing waves and boominess.

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    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 12:51:45 (permalink)
    Don't lock yourself in there..... no one will hear you screaming for help. 

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    batsbrew
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 13:08:30 (permalink)

    Bats Brew music Streaming
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    SongCraft
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    Re:Thinking about building an isolation booth, Any advice or pitfalls to watch out for? 2011/11/29 14:22:14 (permalink)
    ChuckC


    That may not be a bad idea songcraft...
    Any good recommendations for materials?   MDF? 
    I am prettysure I still have some of aurelex sheetblock left over from when I built the room.  I could incorporate that to help the isolation though it will make it heavy as hell!





    I'm not a carpenter, (someone else may want to chime in?,..)

    Anyway, I'll just give you an idea in regards to materials... 


    I suppose it be like building a solid door frame. Add Rockwool Batts inside the frame, then the Aurelex on one side (facing the ISO inner area), the 'outer side' can then be covered with black canvas or carpet.    Use Piano hinges, make sure the frame (where those hinges are mounted) are joined to very solid materials (wall and panel frame) because as you know that's where a lot of stress will be. Probably bolt solid wood beams vertically on the wall first, where the panels will then be mounted on. 


    Leave a fraction of space at the footer and more-so at the ceiling. The weight alone should hold steady and the hinges should be tight/firm. Anyway, the important thing here is precise vertical alignment! 




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