My DIY Portable Vocal Booth is Complete!

[dgcobb]

Hey guys, so a couple of weeks ago I asked around on this forum about making a DIY portable vocal booth, and with your suggestions, and a little ingenuity, I have finally completed this project. I ended up making 5 panels, each with one 2 ft. x 4 ft. x 2 in. sheet of Owens Corning 703 fiberglass. I then rigged up 4 of these panels to be mounted onto mic stands, and for now I am laying the 5th panel across the top for the ceiling reflections.

I started by building a wooden frame. I bought some super cheap pieces of wood that were 8 ft. x 1 in. x 2 in. I then cut these in half for the 4 ft sides, and cut them in half again for the 2 ft. sides. I used metal corner joints and wood glue to assemble them.




I positioned the 2 ft. pieces between the 4 ft. pieces, and this therefore took 2 inches from the length of the inside of the frame. I could have solved this by cutting 4 ft. 2 in. pieces of wood for the sides, but this would have required me buying more wood because the other half would have been too small to use. I remedied this by shaving 2 inches off of the fiberglass sheets before fitting them in the frames. Word of advice, wear a mask when handling / cutting fiberglass.

Next, I needed to wrap the frame in fabric, thus holding in the insulation. I did not take pictures of this process, but basically I stapled fabric to the bottom side, put the sheet of fiberglass in, wrapped the fabric around and stable it to the top side. This sounds simpler than it actually was haha. It took a lot of tedious work to get the fabric stapled good and tight, and to make the corners look neat and tucked in. Multiply this by 5 panels and you're looking at several hours of work. My father works in textiles, and donated some brown suede-like fabric, that was tight knit, breathable, and very good looking IMO.



Next, I figured out a way to mount these panels to mic stands. I attached two lengths of chain to the back of the panels with screws. I then pipe clamped two small carabiners to the boom of each mic stand. Make sure the carabiner fits in a link of the chain. This allowed me to mount the panels on stands, or take them off and use them for several other purposes, such as micing a guitar amp, stacking for bass traps, hanging on the wall for room treatment, etc.





Finally, I had to figure out a way to keep the panels from swinging side to side when I was trying to arrange them for a vocal booth. I decided to make handles on the sides out of fabric, with a long strip of fabric attached to one handle. I could then tie the long strip to the handle of another panel, and essentially string the panels together in the desired formation. The handles also allow me to lift the panels without grabbing the fiberglass core, which could disturb the fibers to the point that they escape the fabric.



Here are some configurations I've come up with so far for a vocal booth.

3 panels on mic stands with one on top:


4 panels on mic stands, (I could put on one top as well):



So that's basically it! Sorry for the crappy pictures. I tried to find good light, which happened to be in my kitchen haha. I live in an apartment, so I needed something that wasn't permanent. I put a lot of work and thought into this, and overall I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Here are my only concerns: The panels are fairly heavy (I'm guessing around 10 pounds or more), so I would not leave them on the mic stands for fear that they could bend under the weight. Therefore, I assemble and disassemble the vocal booth each time i use it. However, with my custom rigging this is very simple and quick. Maybe if I had purchased some heavier duty stands this would not be an issue. My final concern is that the metal carabiner and metal chain could wear a hole in the fabric of the panel from extended use. I will probably remedy this by wrapping both the carabiner and the chain in fabric themselves.

My total material costs for the 5 panels, and the rigging to hang them, was about $140. This breaks down to less than $30 a panel! Compare this to $150 a panel from most distributors. I found a local distributer for the fiberglass, the wood was only $1.76 for each 8 ft. piece (home depot), the rigging was cheap at home depot, and I got the fabric for free. I probably only used 10 yards of fabric though, so if you had to pay for it this would be cheap as well. The mic stands were also a steal at only $20 each from my local music shop. Therefore, my total build cost was around $220.

It's no secret that I got this idea from realtraps. In fact, I would like to give them some credit here. Follow this link and scroll down to their microtraps, and you'll see a very similar configuration on mic stands.

RealTraps - Products

I am not selling these or trying to steal their idea. I just enjoyed building my own cheaper DIY version. However, after the days of work and driving around to buy materials, as well as trouble shooting the build design, and working with fiberglass, I would say that you might be better off just buying these things from realtraps and calling it a day. However, I am very happy and proud to have built my own for only $220 dollars, and I hope that this post will help someone else build their own acoustic panels / vocal booth.

Thanks for reading!

[Torea]

Cool idea =) for the stands, what about using light or speaker stands? They do have a larger footprint, but they are also designed to take more weight. Maybe you could get a light bar (for several stage lights) and hang them from that? Something like this? Musician's Gear*Lighting Stand - Find the largest selection and guaranteed lowest prices at Musician's Friend. You might even be able to attach two of your panels to the stands.

[dgcobb]

Hey thanks for the suggestions. The mic stands are holding up fine for now, I just won't leave them up to be safe. I'm in a small room so really I wouldn't want them up all the time anyways b/c they would take up too much space.

Now I've just got to figure out the best configuration for these panels to record vocals. I'm not sure if I should completely enclose the vocalist, or maybe leave the front, back, or top open? Anyone have any suggestions on how to arrange these panels around a mic and singer?

Thanks!

[Torea]

Originally Posted by dgcobb

Hey thanks for the suggestions. The mic stands are holding up fine for now, I just won't leave them up to be safe. I'm in a small room so really I wouldn't want them up all the time anyways b/c they would take up too much space.

Now I've just got to figure out the best configuration for these panels to record vocals. I'm not sure if I should completely enclose the vocalist, or maybe leave the front, back, or top open? Anyone have any suggestions on how to arrange these panels around a mic and singer?

Thanks!

Yeah, I figured the huge feet would get in the way but maybe if/when you get more room and need more support =)

I'd try it both ways. I had a singer here the other day, put two bass traps up (on chairs, I haven't made my stands yet) at about 50-55 degrees and stuck the mic in between em. Even on omni, it didn't pick up any room sound. But, if you try it and you hear crud in there, at you've got the option to close it up a bit more.

[s12512]

nice. just gave me som ideas!!

[dgcobb]

Great that's why I posted this project. What are you planning on building?

[jacoblee83]

I am planning on basically doing the same thing. Except I want to use the traps for tracking vocals, guitars, my upright piano, as well as for my control room (2nd bedroom). I guess I could just caddy corner the traps in my "control room" on the floor and this would absorb quite a bit. I was planning on using 4" 703. I wonder if that would be too heavy? Any thoughts on this?

[PaulInTheSticks]

Maybe a stupid question but why do you need the wood frames? Couldn't you just use cardboard or some other lightweight material over the fiberglass for a reasonable amount of stiffness, then cover with fabric? Obviously this would significantly reduce the weight, make them easier to move and obviate the need for chains and handles. Just a thought.

[PaulInTheSticks]

Originally Posted by jacoblee83

I am planning on basically doing the same thing. Except I want to use the traps for tracking vocals, guitars, my upright piano, as well as for my control room (2nd bedroom). I guess I could just caddy corner the traps in my "control room" on the floor and this would absorb quite a bit. I was planning on using 4" 703. I wonder if that would be too heavy? Any thoughts on this?

I would use 3/4" wood for the frame and plywood gussets (triangles) in the corners for stiffness instead of a sheet of plywood on one side. It won't be that heavy.

[Mak1e]

Nice build man . i'm planning on doing the same i just can't find any rigid fiberglass or mineral wool here in South Florida (((

Where did u get yours from ?

Any input would be really appreciated !

[PaulInTheSticks]

You'll probably have to have them shipped. Check the classifieds on Gearslutz. I've got 3 - 2" wool panels for sale.

[Mak1e]

Originally Posted by PaulInTheSticks

You'll probably have to have them shipped. Check the classifieds on Gearslutz. I've got 3 - 2" wool panels for sale.

I need 60 panels i don't want to spend all these money on shipping tutt

1 $ / SF should work fine for my budget

[dgcobb]

sorry to revive an old thread, but any ideas on how to set these panels up for recording vocals? I've been singing into the "three panels with one on top" configuration with good dry results, but I'm confused because a lot of what I've read says that you should have absorptive material BEHIND the vocalist. However, I've been singing into the panels. Should I be backing up to the panels and singing out of them instead?

Thanks

[dgcobb]

*bump

I was wondering, should I move this to the photo diaries forum? It might be more useful there.

[dgcobb]

bump please?

I'm confused on how I should set up these panels for vocals, because I've seen many different things. I've also tried recording with different configurations, but my ears and my skills are not really trained enough to tell much difference, or know which one is best. Some people set up absorption behind, some in front.... With 4 panels on mic stands and a 5th to maybe lay on top, how would you set up a vocal booth?

Thanks

[dgcobb]

bump

[dgcobb]

bump

[Mister Fox]

It depends on a couple of things:

- how good is your room treated already
- how heigh is the ceiling
- how big is the singer
- do you want a more "lively" sound or "dead" sound
etc

If the ceiling is very high and and untreated, you would like to maybe use another panel on top. If the room is treated already, no need to massively use panels all around the mic. Or do you want a "dead" recording (barely any reflections), put the panels as close as possible behind the mic and behind the singer. Do you want to let your signal breathe a bit - no absorbtion behind the singer/in front of the mic.


There are no rules but your own rules and your personal preferences.

[dgcobb]

Thanks

Why wouldn't you need a panel on top with a low ceiling?

Also, you said if I want a dead recording put panels behind the singer, and if I want a lively recording don't put panels behind the singer. What about putting panels behind the mic in front of the singer, like shown in my picture in the first posts?

[Mister Fox]

Originally Posted by dgcobb

Why wouldn't you need a panel on top with a low ceiling?

Different flutter echo.

Originally Posted by dgcobb

Also, you said if I want a dead recording put panels behind the singer, and if I want a lively recording don't put panels behind the singer. What about putting panels behind the mic in front of the singer, like shown in my picture in the first posts?

It's still about early reflections and creating a virtual room within a room. The panels "behind" the mics make the room smaller than it actually is due to the early reflections from behind the mic being drowned out to a certain extend. One sideeffect is also a bit more lowend in the recording.

Now... chances are you still have a not-ideal or non-treated room, so the reflections from behind the singer (oposite of the mic) will be still recorded and creating a not so pleasant room sound (unless your room is tuned). This sounds like as if you have a slight reverb on the vocals, or the sound is just thin. In order to fix that problem - put up panels behind the singer to close the room within the room.

This is pretty much all there is to it to such mic shields and GOBO's. They limit/optimize the recording field by reducing/removing early reflections. If these panels are thick enough to absorb more than from (let's say) 1kHz and up, they even work as room dividers if you record more than one source.

[7thbass]

Because I am not fancy, I sort of propped 3 of them up and stuck one across the top. I am normally seated when I play guitar so I was "inside". Sounded pretty good. I think that a number of them, with a few inches between each panel sounded a little less dead. Better than nothing in my 11'x13' room.

I will try to record some horrible guitar this weekend. Borrowed a friend's Shure KSM32 and hope for some not awful results.

[jwl]

Cobb, the answer is... it depends. :-)

I have customers that use 2 half-sized panels around the microphone (ie, our Portable Vocal Booth), and get great results. In many cases, that will attenuate the room sound enough to be satisfactory.

Other customers use 2 full-sized 2x4 panels on stands in a V shape around the microphone, which doubles the surface area and gives even better results (though in practice this difference is sometimes not obvious or even apparent).

Other customers, particularly those with low ceilings, will use panels on the ceiling above the vocalist, along with the panels on stands or the PVB.

My suggestion is to try a variety of setups and see/hear what the differences are. You might be surprised on how little difference there is between 2 panels and 4-5 panels.

[dgcobb]

thanks jwl, in that case I think what I've been using (3 panels on stands with one panel laid on top) is just fine, maybe even more than I need. It certainly sounds good!