need help with new vocal booth.

[Danny Downer]

Originally Posted by bruvvamoff

This post is simply ridiculous
Everyone knows 2 cats are no substitute for a dog when it comes to absorbing high mid frequency waves.

I use Chiwawa's exclusively because they have the best absorption!

[damien907]

i read a few replies to this thread so bare with my if my statement has been covered, but there are 2 different kinds of foam, the stuff youll find at walmart or a craft store, and also acoustic foam which is more dense.

acoustic foam will help you treat your room, but it is very expensive, if your handy at all, buy some rigid fiberboard (roxoul or oc703) and wrap it with a cotton cloth (just any one that you can get at your craft store and buy buy the foot.)
then fasten these to your walls, or make frames and baffles with them.
this will be cheaper than buying foam, and also this is what most recording studios use. well this and a combination of other things like diffusers, bass traps ect.

and im gonna say one more thing, your closet might sound boxy, but i have recorded in a 2.5 foot by 8 foot closet with sliding glass doors, and i had hideaway couch matress, foam (not acoustic foam) and heavy blankets/pillows covering almost everything in there. i found that my vocals were a bit boxy but not unusable, i just couldent put too much compression or the boxyness was very apparent.
when i slid open one side of my closet door, and hung a couple heavy blankets over that part my vocals got wayy better because they had some room to breath.

so yes, you can get good recordings out of a closet, but leave some room to breath, if your other room is big at all, this might be just what you want to do.
experiment with mic placement ect.
if you have a big enough closet, i would probably stand in the closet (as insulated as you can get it) and face the main room. i would then put a blanket a foot or 2 in front of the mic, that way you would be directing your vocals to the bigger room, and the blankets would help kill the flutter echo. this may be kind of hard to do, or require screwing some holes in your ceiling to hang the blankets though.

alot of people are gonna disagree with what im saying, but truth is, in most cases you can get better sounding recordings with blankets and matresses, than you can without treating your room at all. if you experiment around a bit with mic placment ect, i think you'll probably be able to do something similar.

the breathing room for your vocals is key though.

[tdot]

Treat room! I did a few months ago and it sounded like I got new monitors
Also - tracking in my room sounds perfectly dry now (I'm assuming its not DEAD, but there's nothing even slightly noticeable)

You can get a room kit of acoustic panels for ~$800 which will easily treat a medium sized room. I did this, and filled in the rest of the spaces that were causing some echos with foam (much cheaper, and my biggest problem was I was getting a shitload of slap echo ... fire a clap sample and check ... I had like a 3 second trail on that).

Now my room acoustics measure very very stable until it gets to the lower frequencies ... which are much harder to fix and, I doubt are possible to get *perfect*. But the difference the maybe $1000 of treatment made, I would have gladly spent $2000 on, if I knew the difference it would have made (nobody likes spending money on acoustics, I could have got more gear!!!! Until you realize how much it improves your existing gear....)

[L-Fire]

Not sure if you made a decision yet but DIY treatment is the way to go. I tried foam when I didn't know any better. Since I started reading the Gearslutz Acoustics forum and John L Sayers forum I'd never use it again.

I did this with no power tools in a week. When you walk in the room you can tell sound isn't bouncing around. It feels relatively dead. My mixes translate perfectly. Put decent monitors it a good sounding room and you have a reliable mixing room. We also record vocals in the room as well.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/89304291@N03/8130960340
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89304291@N03/8130936463
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89304291@N03/8130964064

[Vintageidiot]

I bought about 14 moving blankets off of Craigslist for $40 bucks, and hang them in as large an area as I need. Works great. The thicker the better.

[Stackx]

Originally Posted by Vintageidiot

I bought about 14 moving blankets off of Craigslist for $40 bucks, and hang them in as large an area as I need. Works great. The thicker the better.

Yea if you want your vocals to sound like a $40 fix.

[Moraha]

Obviously I'm not sure what else was done in this studio, but Jay-Z and Linkin Park recorded some songs with moving blankets behind them and their vocals sounded pretty good to me on Collision Course (don't know if the whole thing was recorded at this studio though)

Linkin Park & Jay-Z [Collison Course] - Jay-Z Arrives - LIVE HD - YouTube - 6:10

[Stackx]

I swear people try to justify everything they can to get around the true fact.

1. He's not recording in a bedroom or closet....

2. Those blankets are hung over huge gobo's that look at least 8" if not thicker. Set inside of a already live room that I'm sure is somewhat treated for drum recording and bands.

Don't get me wrong moving blankets will help stop the fluttering echo in your room but it will still not sound great. At the end of the day you will still have to throw them away and fully treat your room.

[Moraha]

Originally Posted by Stackx

I swear people try to justify everything they can to get around the true fact.

I wasn't trying to justify anything....

I was simply showing a video where even big named artists use those moving blankets. I haven't used them and don't know how effective they are so I can't say whether they're good or not. I clearly said that I don't know what else was done in that studio.

However, chris carter himself said on here that they are a great to record with: whats the best Portable vocal booth or vocal shield??

[bruvvamoff]

Originally Posted by L-Fire

Not sure if you made a decision yet but DIY treatment is the way to go. I tried foam when I didn't know any better. Since I started reading the Gearslutz Acoustics forum and John L Sayers forum I'd never use it again.

I did this with no power tools in a week. When you walk in the room you can tell sound isn't bouncing around. It feels relatively dead. My mixes translate perfectly. Put decent monitors it a good sounding room and you have a reliable mixing room. We also record vocals in the room as well.

IMG_0186 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_0181 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
IMG_0165 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

L fire, what are those things hanging on the wall?
Exactly what frequencies to they absorb?

[L-Fire]

Those are 1'x4' panels made with 2" OC703. They absorb everything from about 1k up. I also have 2x4 panels behind the mix position and floor to ceiling superchunk bass traps in 3 of the 4 corners in the room.

[bruvvamoff]

Originally Posted by L-Fire

Those are 1'x4' panels made with 2" OC703. They absorb everything from about 1k up. I also have 2x4 panels behind the mix position and floor to ceiling superchunk bass traps in 3 of the 4 corners in the room.

OC703 is expensive and hard to find where I'm at.
I live near a builders yard, anything there that'll do the job?

[Stackx]

I went to lowes the other day and actually saw Eco fiberglass in the carpeting section. Then it hit me.. That's the same thing they put under the carpet for padding. I believe it's only 1" but if forced to only go that route it would work. Also rockwool will work great for basstraps you'll just have to make them thicker then normal.

[L-Fire]

Originally Posted by bruvvamoff

OC703 is expensive and hard to find where I'm at.
I live near a builders yard, anything there that'll do the job?

I've heard Roxul will do the job. I"ve done several rooms with 703 though. I'm currently in Baton Rouge and I had to order the 703 from
Owens Corning 703 : Ready Acoustics!, Hear - Sound - Better.

In AZ I had an insulation warehouse order it for me.

[mylesp]

I'm going to keep these suggestions in mind. This DIY will be a great option for me