Walking Closet into Vocal Booth? (pics inside)

[penz]

I realize I have to deal with room acoustics to get a better vocal sound. My walking closet is the closest thing I've got to a booth so I might as well work with that, right? With the door closed there's a little verb and it sounds alright, but nothing flattering. I'd like to eliminate reflections and just do reverb in production, so I'm just looking for a pleasing dry signal. Pics don't show it but the floor is carpet. I'm willing to take everything out of the room if I have too. Suggestions?

[

[Makinithappen]

Auralex?

I don't know if I would want "a little verb" in a booth like that.

[picksail]

What is a 'walking' closet?

[James Guitar]

Originally Posted by picksail

What is a 'walking' closet?

i think he means walk-in.
-J

[Sqye]

dudes, i'd pay good money to see a walking closet.

hey, at least it's not a talking closet.

[Chuck B]

I had some great success using a walk in closet as a vocal booth. I used two layers of 3/4 inch carpet padding on the walls and ceiling because at the time i was too broke for any sort of "studio foam". it worked great and it cost me about 50 dollars!

[penz]

Originally Posted by Chuck B

I had some great success using a walk in closet as a vocal booth. I used two layers of 3/4 inch carpet padding on the walls and ceiling because at the time i was too broke for any sort of "studio foam". it worked great and it cost me about 50 dollars!

Thanks for the serious reply! Did you have anything else in there like clothes or was it empty?

[numrologst]

maybe you should use it as just an iso booth.

I have a closet at my studio that i converted into a iso booth... It's about 10x6... I wouldn't dream of recording a final vocal take in there. It's too dry and thing sounding. To make a room that small usable for tracking, there has to be alot of absorbtion going on. And at that point everything will sound so dead and lifeless.

But it is definately good to put a singer back there to play and sing while a drummer records in the live room. Don't get me wrong, the room comes in handy and gets regular use, but not for a real vocal take.

Sometimes I will put a guitar amp back there for a dry effect, but thats it.

As an aside, at my old studio, we had a beautiful booth. Maple floors, asymmetrical walls-ceiling-floor... It was about 10x10x12... I still hated it, everything sounded super thin.

Now I just record everything in the live room

[gainreduction]

If you wanna record good vocals in there, make sure you have good air-supply/exhaust.

A singer fades fast without oxygen. stike

[soundawg]

Originally Posted by gainreduction

If you wanna record good vocals in there, make sure you have good air-supply/exhaust.

A singer fades fast without oxygen. stike

Here Here!

I Used to have a Voc Booth made from a walk-in, dimentions = 8x8x8... but we could only last about 15-20 min in there. In the end it ended up being a - uh - walk in closet.



Soundawg

[dim light]

I moved away from small places when I started to train on gym... It's nicer to have a room with a open sound and some reverb. You will be more inspired to sing.

[gsilbers]

Danm , i was expceting to see a walking closet and how it could fit in a booth

[Chuck B]

Originally Posted by penz

Thanks for the serious reply! Did you have anything else in there like clothes or was it empty?

nothing else was in there when i did it but some fluffy sweaters could only help the absorption. just don't put any dry-cleaned ( starched ) shirts in there or you'll get a mean flutter echo.
chuck

[penz]

[Crash]

Pack it full of clothes. I have had to use a small closet, smaller than what you have there, and had pretty good results. The difference is mine was absolutely crammed with clothes on the rods. I put up packing blankets on the bare walls. It worked out pretty well.

[penz]

Alright, I'm gonna go the carpet route! Does anyone know what type of carpet gives the most balance absorption of bass and treble frequencies?

[Chuck B]

I would use carpet padding instead of carpet. it's much cheaper and softer. I would assume that it absorbs the high frequencies better than carpet. my 2 pennies.
chuck

[mtstudios@charter]

For a cheap solution, foam from markertek, and the reflection filter from SE Electronics.

To do it properly I would get some 2X4 sheets of 4 inch rigid fiberglass cover it with nice burlap, and attach to walls and ceiling, with no space between. You don't want any natural reflection coming from that space. You could use the 1 inch rigid fiberglass if vocals is all you plan do to.


www.bluethumbproductions.com

[centurymantra]

Originally Posted by Sqye

hey, at least it's not a talking closet.

For information on this, please refer to the current "Ghost in the Studio" thread...

[4stringerfinger]

I use our fuctional master closet for an ISO. It is chock full of clothes on all the rods (even modded to add a 3rd tier at top ala vaulted ceiling.) The clothes are a natural deflection material. I can have a singer or tube combo in there and you can't hear it in the living room. My son can sleep at night and I can practice, record whatever without issues. My girlfriend can hear the TV without turning up the surround. I'll post pics tomorrow. When its not an ISO room it is a closet. Dual feature. Practical.

[Acoustic Cloud]

MAN!!!
That closet is a goldmine!! Treat the heck out of it, with permanent or temporary stuff. People pay a 2-5 thousand dollars for a whisper room, (which aint worth it) to try to block outside noises from reaching a mic with acoustic instruments and singers.

You have a built in one!!!

And no, no small rooms acoustics are worth using, IMO. Keep it dead, you dont want to hear any "small room"...unless you are going for the lo-fi bedroom sound.

Thats a cool closet..... you wanna sell it?!?!

If its a walking closet, have it mosey on over here!

[excellrec]

I predict a thread entitled "All of my vocals sound like they were recorded in a closet, any suggestions?".

[tomdarude]

Originally Posted by excellrec

I predict a thread entitled "All of my vocals sound like they were recorded in a closet, any suggestions?".

480L/PCM91/EMT-140 plate (solidstate)/Altiverb/Sony DRE777

[u b k]

Originally Posted by penz

Suggestions?

i suggest buying some clothes that aren't black or grey.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[H-Rezz]

You guys are cruel

[4stringerfinger]

This is my ISO closet.

[4stringerfinger]

Yea, that's one of them clothing store extendo sticks. We installed a third tier that required quite a reach and luckily we have a commercial fixture store in town.

[el cochino]

Originally Posted by 4stringerfinger

Yea, that's one of them clothing store extendo sticks. We installed a third tier that required quite a reach and luckily we have a commercial fixture store in town.

Damn, you got everything in there - clothes, shoes, toilet paper, lube...

[4stringerfinger]

I cut a piece of plywood, glued carpet on it and use it on a furniture dolly to move amps in and out of the ISO booth.

[MattiMattMatt]

That's a combination of

cool

vs.

too much information.