2004/05/17 14:03:03
Lanceindastudio
Hey peeps, I wanna build a vocal booth. Is there a cheap effective way of doing this? It only needs to be like 4X4. I mainly want to prevent sound from coming in the booth, at least where when I sing, you dont get background noise. I can cut out the track where Im not singing of course. Anybody done it or know an cheap and effective solution? Thanx, Lance
2004/05/17 14:07:51
pdarg
Wow! What a coincidence - I just built one this weekend.

Use a corner - that way two of the walls will be taken care of. Add a third wall, but don't worry about the fourth wall if you are using cardoid: point the mic into the "U" area and you should get minimal spill.

I used MarkerTek 54" foam panels on all surfaces. I just mounted the foam on the two corner walls. The third wall will be foam on a lightweight frame.

And yes, there is a significant improvement in mic'ed sound.
2004/05/17 14:58:00
rickgn
I put about $800 into building my vocal booth. Worth every penny of it.

If you are going to buid walls, the "pink stuff" insulation that you put inside the wall is nowhere near as good as using "mineral fiber". I checked the specs and there is a product called Roxul that comes in 3" 2'x4' sheets and absorbs well at all frequencies. You won't find it at your local home improvement store but if you go to Rockwool's website you can find a link to locate a dealer near you.
2004/05/17 15:29:38
casper13
I must chime in with the most important azpect of building a vocal booth.... Proper ventilation and climate control... you need air!! after singing a couple of phrases th air in the booth will die out and the air will get hot very quickly.. the last thing you want is to keep opening the door to get air after every take..and spending tons of money on a silent air system is not the answer.. not only does that disturb the recording , but it is a quick "vibe killer"... I learned the hard way.. what I ended up doing was using the whole room...

I sound proofed any windows.. then I carpeted the floor.. next is place sound proofing material directly in front of you and on the sides.. sound proof material on the ceiling directly above where you stand.. get a $20 comforter (blanket) cut it up and hang it in the corners... wholla!!! instant vocal booth that was cheap and works very well and has ample space for guitars/drums/etc.... I don't care what anyone says.. the vocals are crisp clean and there is 0 background noise.. my room is 9x16 and the singer stands in the middle of it.... check out a sample of the vocals at

http://www.ikandimusic.com/music.shtml

<<<< please don't consider this a plug.. just a reference of a great vocal recording using the room i described>>>
2004/05/18 09:58:37
rickgn
Interesting approach to building a vocal room. Yes, it will work. Especially considering that most musical works these days will be mixed in with other instruments so much of the background is masked in the mix. Computer fans, your house air conditioner, and even the sound of your mouse sliding across the desk can be picked up on a good microphone. If you are using a gate on your inputs, odds are the only time you will hear anything is on the quiet parts of your songs. If it works for you, great. Not to be rude, but your "zero background noise" cannot be totally accruate. I'm sure you had to redo takes because someone slammed a door in another room or your furnace kicked on at the wrong time. Also, keep in mind that when you have a song where your vocalist is barely wispering in one bar and screaming in the next, you will have to do some crafty compression which will bring the sound levels of anything quiet in the background up to an audible level that will show up in the mix.

As for my studio, I recently recorded during one of the worst thunderstorms I have seen in a while and even in the quietest vocal sections, not even a hint of thunder or the rain beating down outside. When you walk in my control room there is a very noticable silence from just walking through the doorway, even distinctly noticable by those that know absolutely nothing about recording. Then when you walk into the vocal booth the silencing effect is twice as noticable. I have done some testing and I found that sounds under the 45 dBA level don't even register on any equipment that I have. I can turn my studio monitors on at a decent volume while recording vocals and not have to worry about the music or metronome bleading into the vocal track. In fact, the headphones the vocalist wears is louder inside the booth than normal conversation outside the booth.

If anyone is curious how I built it, it wasn't too hard. I think the sheetrock is the most difficult task. It's 4' x 6' in size. If you do a google one this topic you will find a lot of bad advice and lots of people telling you to use plywood. Before I built anything I read all of the engineering specs and found that sheetrock works best, is cheaper, but you have to install it in layers with a barrier or isolator inbetween. Use two layers of 5/8" sheetrock on each side of the wall and seperate the layers with "sound barrier" material (also known as limp mass vinyl) which is 1/8" thick. I lined the inside with studio foam with 100% coverage and bass traps in half of the corners. It should be air tight, and yes, ventalation will be an issue so put a (insulated) window in it large enough to get some light in but small enough to keep the sound out (glass transmits sound more than sheetrock does). Having a window will cut down on heat because you don't have a lightbulb, which is a heat source, inside the booth. Or, try one of those new LED lights if you need to. Either way, you need a window for visual communication with your vocalist. Don't forget about the ceiling! The ceiling and floor should also have a layer of 1/8" sound barrier material as well as an additional layer of floor board and/or sheetrock.
2004/05/18 10:11:54
SteveD
Thought you guys might find this interesting:

<$35.00 for ISO Booth plans>

NOTE: DAWBOX is not affiliated with DAWPRO Studios... there's no marketing pitch here.
2004/05/18 10:12:17
patrickhamm
Hey peeps, I wanna build a vocal booth. Is there a cheap effective way of doing this? It only needs to be like 4X4. I mainly want to prevent sound from coming in the booth, at least where when I sing, you dont get background noise. I can cut out the track where Im not singing of course. Anybody done it or know an cheap and effective solution? Thanx, Lance


Cheap and effective, huh? at http://www.markertek.com/ I got myself 2 of these blankets, stuck some grommets in them and hung them from hooks. (you can use regular moving blankets, but these are larger by a foot, I believe)

I have an area of my apartment that is about 3.5' by 3.5' (the 4 sides are the closet door, bathroom door, bedroom door, opening to living room) and the hooks went up there. Then I hung the blankets on the walls, I stand on a small rug, and I hang a towel across the hooks at the top. like someone pointed out, it gets HOT in there, but I am very happy with the results I get. I have recorded with the A/C running (you know, so I don't pass out from heat exhaustion, which is unfortunately more important then getting a good sound. Well, maybe not...) and I can't hear it at all.

If you want to hear how it sounds, check this out: The song is called cracked out maniac and there is a part at the beginning where the vocals are soloed. I recorded it in this "booth". Anyway, there's a good cheap and effective suggestion. Hope it helps...
2004/05/18 10:18:31
HammerHead
You won't find it at your local home improvement store but if you go to Rockwool's website you can find a link to locate a dealer near you.



you're right home depot/ lowes wont have it but i found it at a local supply house not listed on rockwools website.

i called around to local construction suppliers & found it. these are the places
where the pros go, usually tucked away in an industrial section of town...look in your phone book & call around. ask for rockwool & they'll know what you're asking for if they have it.

it's reasonably afforable as well.
2004/05/18 10:43:21
harmony gardens
I thought seriously about building a vocal booth, but decided to buy a quiet computer instead. I bought a Carillon computer and I love it. I thought about the fact that if I'm singing, I would require someone to be there to run the system. The room would be an expense, a fair amount of work, take up space, and won't add any value to my house. It might even be a liability when I try to sell it. I also considered building a quiet box for the noisey parts of my computer, or putting it in a closet.
I have found that the money spent on a quiet computer was well worth it, all things considered. This doesn't stop outside noise from the mechanicals of my house, though. I adjust the thermostats, unplug any appliances, turn off the phone ringers, and make sure my dog is tired out and well fed to deal with that. In my workflow, I probably only work with mics 15% of the time, anyway. When I'm recording with softsynths, recording guitar with direct inputs, mixing, or editing, backround noise isn't an issue at all. The other thing I love about the Carillon is that it is rack mountable, making my system mobile. Just my two cents.
2004/05/18 11:04:31
pdarg
ORIGINAL: patrickhamm



If you want to hear how it sounds, check this out: The song is called cracked out maniac and there is a part at the beginning where the vocals are soloed. I recorded it in this "booth". Anyway, there's a good cheap and effective suggestion. Hope it helps...


Omigod! What a great, hilarious song! F***in' awesome! It's the best thing I've ever heard in these forums.

Did you get it professionally mastered - sounds excellent!
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