closet into vocal booth--carpet?

[tstu102]

how's it going,
so i know next to nothing about this kind of stuff. i have a closet (i'll post pictures later today maybe) and i have a lot of extra carpeting. my idea was to carpet everything, walls and ceilings, because you want a dead room for vocals right? any more suggestions--like, there are a lot of parellel surfaces, etc. its about 4'x 4'x7', with one wall about 4' high, meeting with a slanted ceiling.
my fear is that there'll be phasing issues, but i won't be able to identify/fix them. is there any advice you guys can offer, from the most basic, before i post a pic?

[tstu102]

also, i think i'm just a little confused about the general purpose of vocal booths. why is it that with vocals, as opposed to instruments, you don't want to have a great room sound/natural reverb? am i really better off recording vocals in a closet, facing a wall, than recording them in a bigger room (which i have)?

is it a stylistic thing? like, hip hop vocals are dry and done in small booths, but i worked at a studio that did vocals in a huge room, with gobo's.
I guess i need this basic understanding before i go any further.
for reference, i generally like wet vocals (long pre-delay reverb, echo) in the mix.
I also melodyne everything, so maybe this is a good idea why i should be trying to remove natural reverb?

slutz, please help me!

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by tstu102

my idea was to carpet everything, walls and ceilings, because you want a dead room for vocals right?

Yes, you want a dead room for vocals, but it needs to be dead at all frequencies, not just 2 KHz and up. Which is about what you'll get from carpet.

its about 4'x 4'x7', with one wall about 4' high, meeting with a slanted ceiling.

Photo not necessary. I'd aim to cover most surfaces with rigid fiberglass or foam at least two inches thick, and get at least two or three corner bass traps in there too. Otherwise, it will be boomy and resonant on some lower male voices.

Also, is there a reason you even need a booth? My preference for self-recording and single overdub sessions is to simply record in the control room.

--Ethan

[tstu102]

I guess that's what i was asking...do i even need one.
thanks

[Jay-]

I'm similarly in the same situation.

I just record vox any old place at the moment.
I mean if your doing ADR or something then vocal booth yeah.

My main bitch was getting my computer ~FAR~ away and I found 20 foot firewire cords thank god..

I do plan on a proper vocal booth and also a proper ISO cab for my guitar when I get that place I always wanted

I vote no on closet sized vox booth unless you have a walk in closet?
Like a really big closet?

We once let our pal rent out the walk in closet till he got on his feet lol.
He even had guests over a few times..
pretty big closet though.