do you really need a vocal booth???..

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by mbvoxx

Until I get around to building a booth at the end of the room this works pretty well.

Actually, what you have now is better than a booth for many reasons. More here:

Do I really need a vocal booth?

--Ethan

[Demonslave]

Originally Posted by binsys

I have always HATED vocal booths, and always record vocals in a large acoustically treated room if possible. There is nothing worse than taking a performer who's basic function it is to get out on stage, jump up and down and yell at the the top of his lungs, and put him in a little constricting, claustophobic space.

If you are a in a project studio with marginal acoustics, try a new product called a Se Reflexion Filter. I found that it works surprisingly well in controlling what goes into the back of a multi-pattern mic when recording vocals, really helps to focus the singer, and lets everything hang out in free space, so that everybody can BREATHE....

- h.

I wish I would have seen this a couple of years ago!! I do like the privacy and solitude of the booth as well. Plus I love the way my guitar cabinet sounds in a booth with the door closed..... While I am in it!!! LOL You can hear all the little nuances you cant hear in an open room (frequencies etc.)

[OurDarkness]

What do you think would be the ideal dimensions AFTER acoustic treatment is applied for a vocal booth? I would like to provide space for such a room in which I will record just vocals not acoustic instruments (altough this might happen very rarely).

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by OurDarkness

What do you think would be the ideal dimensions AFTER acoustic treatment is applied for a vocal booth?

There's no such thing as "ideal," but 15 by 11 feet, 8 feet high is pretty good.

--Ethan

[Mr.HOLMES]

here is my 2 cents...


before my room was treated it was awful we had resonaces around 300 Hz no way to get a good vocal sound. I tried alll tricks including the SE refelction filter nothing helped.

After the room treatment everything sounds great I need no SE Filter wonderful.
Treatment is the only way to get a good sounding room.

[takman]

what about if you are trying to record vocals and drums in the same room?

and my room is fairly large....3 meters v 4 meters.

When i play the drums, it fills the whole room with sound. Even if i place some movable rockwool panels between the singer, the drums bleed into the mic for the vocalists.

I came across this thread because i was planning to build to build a vocal booth in the closet in my room. The closet is really small, but big enough to get a singer, mic with stand, and a good amount of rockwool panels.

The idea with the singer is to record the vocals right...right? You record dry, then add the reverb etc later.....

Yes, my closet is really small. But if i put a fair amount of absorption in it, will it really sound that much different ( boxy?) than vocals recording in a larger room?

[RTR]

Originally Posted by activexjava

Hi .. I know that the vocal booth is a must have for any studio ... but I am wondering if you can manage to get a decent vocal track in a normal room with acoustic treatment ...

I am currently trying to record in one of the bedrooms in my house .. the next bedroom I use as a control room .. I have about 12 acoustic foam panels that I installed in the control room and it does make a big difference in the sound..

will surrounding a number of performers 1 - 3 (only vocals) with acoustic panels .. such as using the primacoustic free ports ( a standing 2 x 4 panel) can give you decent results?..

how can I make a virtual vocal booth that I install when I have a session and remove after ?... can I get reasonably good results with that approach?...


thanks
John

IMO I would not want a dead booth for vocals, I get good sounding VOX right in the middle of one of my rooms (the one with no treatment) and I just set up moving blankets in a hlaf circle around the mic using mic stands to drape the blankets and it sounds very good!

[edtex]

no.

[takman]

Originally Posted by edtex

no.

straight to the point..i like that. thumbsup

[ofajen]

Since this is High End:

ASC Studio Traps. Top of range.

Cheers,

Otto

[MickeyMassacre]

Depends on what the mic is telling you, and what your ears are hearing.

SM7b in a crappy room isn't a big deal, a U-87 it becomes more obvious.

If YOU think that you need it, I suggest buying some moving blankets and staple gun them to sheets of thin plywood or pegboard to build a 3 sided collapsable wall.

Much cheaper than many other solutions, if budget is an issue...

I made a "booth" like this in a pinch for some VO at the talent's home, worked like a charm. Still prefer a good sounding room tho!

What it comes down to it, are you happy with your vocal sound?

[Marogru]

+1

Originally Posted by DirkB

You absolutely do not need a vocal booth when you have a decent bigger space to record vocals in.

Actually, I prefer bigger spaces for any recording situation and rather use some gobos to dampen the ambience into the mic.
In a small booth, the voice can easily get colored in a bad way when the vocalist moves away from the mic.
In general, small booth's are acoustically relatively problematic IMHO.

But lots of people get it to work, so there you have it...

Greetings,
Dirk

[spice house]

you mean a 'muddled early reflection box'. if you have a have a proper room there's no reason to keep a vocal booth take. the acoustics are terrible in there!

unless of course 'the take' happens in it... then your stuck!