Vocal Booth DIY

[OnQ]

Whats up everyone,

I'm planning on building a collapsible vocal booth (I don't have a ton of space) and I have a general idea in my head for how I'm going to build it, but I thought I'd check in here for some insight before I start this little project. As of now, I'm planning on making it a 3 side enclosure, with the back wall 4 ft wide and the side walls 3 feet wide. I'm thinking I'd just build the box itself out of normal plywood, connected with hinges, so it can be taken apart, and then coat the inside of it with pyramid foam. I was going to try and make a permanent mic stand attached to the back wall, so I can just screw the mic on and off when I need to use it. Anyone have thoughts on this? Advice?

 

[LDB]

Whats up everyone,

I'm planning on building a collapsible vocal booth (I don't have a ton of space) and I have a general idea in my head for how I'm going to build it, but I thought I'd check in here for some insight before I start this little project. As of now, I'm planning on making it a 3 side enclosure, with the back wall 4 ft wide and the side walls 3 feet wide. I'm thinking I'd just build the box itself out of normal plywood, connected with hinges, so it can be taken apart, and then coat the inside of it with pyramid foam. I was going to try and make a permanent mic stand attached to the back wall, so I can just screw the mic on and off when I need to use it. Anyone have thoughts on this? Advice?

Why do that when you can do this? http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-SEE-RF-LIST

You won't have to worry about space nor will you waste your time building a booth that probably won't work half as well it it does. Throw a pop filter in front of it and it's a wrap! You don't need to be playing your music out loud while recording anyway. Unless you built your studio to where the control room is completely sound proof, meaning no sound from it enters the vocal booth, you'll still have to kill the volume so it doesn't bleed into your make shift booth. If everybody throws on a pair of headphones, "quiet on the set" and you got your iso booth. You can't piece together a good vocal booth with limited space,materials or funds. It'll just be a box that you think is a iso booth. The main thing you want to do when dropin' vox is to take the room out of the scenario and that usually means the area directly behind the mic. Most vocal booths don't do that. That's why you see them implementing some type of fixture (like what the SE does) directly behind the mic.

 

[Relic]

Yeah I want that thing LDB...

 

[Shonsteez]

1st - whats the shape of your room?
2nd - whats the room generally consist of? Tile, Carpet, Furniture?
3rd - what do the existing acoustics sound like to you? Do you get flutter echos etc?
4th - is a booth even necessary?

Depending on the existing acoustics of your room, that will help you determine what you really need to do to treat your room.

....Sometimes a booth isnt always the answer. You might benefit more by diffusing standing waves and absorbing some bass energy instead....just depends.

**Also, keep in mind that having the rooms influence is not always a bad thing depending on the quality of the rooms acoustics.

**Lastly, you should experiment with mic placement first in various positions in your project studio before absolutely deciding you even need treatment. Often, all you need to do is find the sweet spot in your room where your mic shines the best.

**One last thing to keep in mind: When mic'ing vocals, you can typically eliminate the room sound by simply close mic'ing. The performers mouth should be somewhere between 6-12 inches from the diaphragm of the mic.....the further away you get from the mic - the more room you will hear. Also, if your using a dynamic mic rather then a condenser, you can virtually put your mouth directly in front of the diaphragm with no proximity effect. ---- Just some things to consider.

 

[OnQ]

LDB - Good suggestion, I saw that product talked about in some older posts and it looks intriguing. I guess the only reason not to go that route is the price, although $300 isn't all that bad. Have you (or anyone) ever used it? Is it worth the price? Also, I know if I were to build a booth, it wouldn't be entirely sound proof, but, in addition to reducing echoes and whatnot while recording, I'm hoping to cut down on the street noise that I'm sure will exist. Say I used this filter and had it between the mic and the street, I assume it would help alleviate that source of noise. Thoughts?

Steez - It's just a normal 12 x 15 ft room that will double as my bedroom. I'm heading off for my sophomore year of college and am planning on seeking out other musicians to collaborate with. The room is carpeted, and will have all my music equipment, plus normal bedroom furniture - bed, dresser, etc. You're comment about the mic-less sound quality is a good point. I've only been down to my new apartment to build my custom bed and desk, and haven't yet had the opportunity to check the natural acoustics. By the way, the mic I have is a AKG condenser mic.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Shonsteez]

Well from what it sounds, your bed, etc will absorb some of the lo freq energy and possibly some hi.
You would benefit from buying some foam bass traps for the corners and some wedge+diamond foam for segments of the walls where you can hear flutter echos or standing waves.

Lastly, if you buy some sound blankets to either hang on doors, or drape over whatever you can that will help too.

I copped enough foam for my entire project studio and 2 sound blankets for about 100 bucks about 5 yrs back and my studio actually sounds really good in virtually every spot now for the most part. (I also have a standard carpeted square room)

**A while ago I posted some pictures of my project studio in the Show Your Setup thread to give you an example of what Im talking about:
https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/showthread.php?t=837&page=41

Im not saying you have to do exactly what I did verbatim to render good results, but it worked great for me so Im sharing my tricks.

I also track into a large diaphragm condenser. Not the same mic, but its generally in the same class just so you know. I also track through a couple dynamics on occasion for loud vocalists that overload my AD converters and I still get great results.

With the condensers its more about staying as close to the mic as you can without introducing distortion and watching your mic pre levels to make sure your still hot but not overloading your converters. If you do this you'll be good for the most part. (Keep in mind every vocalist is different too so you'll have to just always pay attention to the way they perform and sound to get the best results you can).

 

[OnQ]

Great advice, again. Do you have any place you recommend I buy the foam from? I've looked up a number of sites and have found pretty expensive stuff, with the exception of www.foambymail.com. Maybe I'll go ahead and get some foam for the walls, cop that filter LDB brought up and call it good. Thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

 

[Shonsteez]

No doubt man, glad to help.
I got my foam off eBay from a foam store. I believe I did a search for sound proofing or something like that. It was some kind of wholesaler so I got a ton of foam for super cheap already cut to the way you see it in the photos.

I got the blankets from some internet mail order company @ 25 bucks a pop, cant remember the name tho.

 

[OnQ]

Didn't think of ebay. Good call, some great deals there.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Hell yea! thanks for this everyone. I've been meaning to do this

 

[eldiablo]

yeah, i was going to build a vocal booth at one time. but after doing the research i decided on going with the reflexion filter. check out my old studio here: https://www.illmuzik.com/forums/showthread.php?t=837&page=34 i have used this thing for years now and it works great and i saved $ on materials and time building something that wasnt actually needed. now my (vocal booth) is portable, as long as the room im in doesnt have alot of echo im good.

 

[OnQ]

diablo, thanks for vouching for the reflexion filter. looks like i'll be going that route. do you have pics of your new setup? if you upgraded from that, it's gotta be dope.

 

[eldiablo]

i travel alot now, and dont really need a large studio set-up anymore. truthfully i do most of my production work in my head before i make it happen. But.. i always have a few different things at all times.. a computer, monitors, mic and relexion filter, all of the other things can be brought in as needed. as soon as i settle down a bit i will build another studio and will post pics when its done.

 

[eldiablo]

Basically your trying to accomplish a couple of different goals here.
you want the best sound possible at the cheapest price. now, people can argue for centuries about the different mic set-ups and sound cards/boards. thats something youll have to decide for yourself. what you are trying to get is the flattest enviroment to record vocals in. the reason people think they sound good in the shower singing is because is has a natural reverb because of its enviroment. you dont want that. if you want effects thats something you add later right!. before you go spending tons of money making a vocal booth or fitting out a room with acoustics. test that shit out first.. get your mic ready, pop filter, reflexion filter if thats what your getting and record some vocals and see how they sound.. i have used many of things in the past to deaden a room. and you also have to relize that anything thats in that room will help (block) the bouncing of soundwaves..

lets see what i have used in the past.. indoor/outdoor carpet,, milk crates,, acoustic foams,, and some of the best sounding vocals i have ever done was in a walk-in closet filled with clothes with my audio technica at 4040 and the reflexion filter, no treatment on the walls at all, just the clothes!!!

so dont make the mistake of spending tons of $$$ on things of a acoustical nature, that you will probably not be able to hear the difference in audio quality. in the past i was interested in building a "real studio" and after months and months of research the truth fell upon me.. i dont have millions of dollars that it takes to make these "so called" perfect enviroments. and with hip hop, were not recording a bands worth of instruments all at the same time.. as long as you get your vocals recorded flat and mix your shit properly you will get the best sound available to you..

 

[OnQ]

you speak the truth diablo, i think sometimes it's easy to get caught up in what new gear is on the market or how dope you can make your studio look when it's really just about the sound you get. and like you said, if a good acoustic space presents itself to you (closet. nice.) then there's no reason to be throwing that hard earned money at pointless gear. i was thinking about buying that reflexion filter now, but i might as well wait and see how my room, or closet haha, sounds as is. thanks for the input.

 

[wrightboy]

Basically your trying to accomplish a couple of different goals here.
you want the best sound possible at the cheapest price. now, people can argue for centuries about the different mic set-ups and sound cards/boards. thats something youll have to decide for yourself. what you are trying to get is the flattest enviroment to record vocals in. the reason people think they sound good in the shower singing is because is has a natural reverb because of its enviroment. you dont want that. if you want effects thats something you add later right!. before you go spending tons of money making a vocal booth or fitting out a room with acoustics. test that shit out first.. get your mic ready, pop filter, reflexion filter if thats what your getting and record some vocals and see how they sound.. i have used many of things in the past to deaden a room. and you also have to relize that anything thats in that room will help (block) the bouncing of soundwaves..

lets see what i have used in the past.. indoor/outdoor carpet,, milk crates,, acoustic foams,, and some of the best sounding vocals i have ever done was in a walk-in closet filled with clothes with my audio technica at 4040 and the reflexion filter, no treatment on the walls at all, just the clothes!!!

so dont make the mistake of spending tons of $$$ on things of a acoustical nature, that you will probably not be able to hear the difference in audio quality. in the past i was interested in building a "real studio" and after months and months of research the truth fell upon me.. i dont have millions of dollars that it takes to make these "so called" perfect enviroments. and with hip hop, were not recording a bands worth of instruments all at the same time.. as long as you get your vocals recorded flat and mix your shit properly you will get the best sound available to you..

spoken like a true OG!

 

[Shonsteez]

Its all about budget man. Thats why i never bothered coppin those Auralex brand diffusers or foam pannels......They do have a better membrane foam for absorbing sound but you can come super close to the same results with cheap ebay foam and proper placement, hence why i only paid 50 bucks to do my entire project studio.

Ive found the blankets help tremendously tho, and even those were only 25 bucks each. Just gotta hunt for a good buy like anything else.

 

[2infamouz]

Why do that when you can do this? http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-SEE-RF-LIST

You won't have to worry about space nor will you waste your time building a booth that probably won't work half as well it it does. Throw a pop filter in front of it and it's a wrap! You don't need to be playing your music out loud while recording anyway. Unless you built your studio to where the control room is completely sound proof, meaning no sound from it enters the vocal booth, you'll still have to kill the volume so it doesn't bleed into your make shift booth. If everybody throws on a pair of headphones, "quiet on the set" and you got your iso booth. You can't piece together a good vocal booth with limited space,materials or funds. It'll just be a box that you think is a iso booth. The main thing you want to do when dropin' vox is to take the room out of the scenario and that usually means the area directly behind the mic. Most vocal booths don't do that. That's why you see them implementing some type of fixture (like what the SE does) directly behind the mic.

glad u posted this ive been looking for something similar,,, DEF GONNA COP this lol ...