a home made vocal booth?? advice requested
Mistara
Posts: 38,675
in The Commons
i'se trying to make a home made vocal booth, to record dialog for my Aiko 3.
saw these studio foams. comes in 12 packs,
thinkin of gluing these to one of those room divider folding thingees to make an isolation shield.
could it possibly make a difference to block outside ambient sounds?
any advice would be appreciated!
thanks
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They look very much like the linings on the anechojc chambers I have seen, so they would dampen sound in one way or another.
Sorry i read wrong.
These panels are for acoustics and not for sound isolation (though im sure the isolate some sound) The isolation works both way.
PS it might be cheaper to just get one large foam cheet and cut it to size.
That foam will work to cut down sound reflections in your room. To block outside sounds, you'll need something more substantial/thick. The regular options are expensive but you can try layers of cardboard strapped together, and it can work if you're in a fairly quiet area. They also sell mic balls for a couple hundred that will cut down noise. But if it's loud outside it will still come through. You may have to use a combination of things, including noise reduction in your audio recording software.
https://www.kaoticaeyeball.com/
https://www.kaoticaeyeball.com/blogs/review/stacey-j-voice-over-actor
thanks.
mic balls?
was just reading this article. https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/studio-sos-building-diy-vocal-booth
mentions how different materials absorb frequency ranges.
Just posted a link above showing one being used by a VO artist.
The big studios I work in sometimes have a lot of insulation and sound proofing tricks. A jet could fly over and you'd never hear it, but for those of us on lower budgets, it's amazing what can be done.
I think you're better off getting the pads that isolate the mic AND NOT create a booth.
1) A FLAT booth is very difficult to create. They have audio professionslas that do that kind of stuff.
2) You can buy an actual (semi-portable) booth.
3) It's easier to make a room sound good than get a super-flat, clean signal.
4) A flat signal sounds flat. You'd then need some mixing skills (and a proper set of monitors) to hear well enough to nail the perfect reverb sound [to match the space your characters are in].
5) If this is hobby level work, you don't need the ultimate in quality recordings.
I suggest you look into these.
https://www.seelectronics.com/reflexion-filter-pro/
And you'd be suprised how much sound dampening you can get from a simple quilt(s) spread across all your flat and reflective services.
another sort of helpful article
https://ehomerecordingstudio.com/soundproof-room/
thanks for the linkies
could try stapling the foams into like an igloo. enough space for me mic and monitor.
and like, glue the foams back to back with the green glue says sound proofs.
or like a foam puptent
Here's some absurdly impcractical advice: I was recently in New York City and took a tour of Rockefeller Center, home in the 1930s and 1940s to RCA and it's division NBC Radio. The building has lots and lots of cool art deco windows except one portion of one wall has none. Zero. Just bricks. The guide said that behind that big empty space were the old RCA radio studios, to block out outside sound they eliminated windows from the design and added a whole lot of concrete above and beyond what is in the other parts of the building.
So if you can get rid of your windows and fill your walls with concrete, that might work.
I found soundthing much better you might want to use yourself
I found a Zoom H2n wave/map3 recorder that eliminates a need for sound booths and etc. you can put in your hand bag and carry it with you anywhere to find sounds, voices and sound effect
Make sure you get the accessories kit which will give you tons of option for a wider range of use worth the recorder. the best part is its very affordable
I bought mine at best buy for $200 & some change, But I seen them on amazon for $150
Allows me to make tons of sound effectsd I could not get other wise. way better than a sound booth the assorie kit comes with a wind sponge ball to dampen echoes and out side wind blowing across the mic
Hi,
I've been working professionally as an ADR director and engineer for over 20 years. You'd be surprised at how little is required to get a good audio track and a booth isn't always necessary. Keep in mind that while a booth does minimize sonic reflection, it's primary purpose is isolation from external noises like people/vehicles going past, air conditioner hum and the sound of your computer running. If you live in a reasonably quiet area and have a large walk-in closet filled with clothing, all you really need to do is to put down a small carpet and possibly cover part of any large areas of bare wall if you're still getting too much slap. The one thing to remember is that the more you deaden the acoustic environment, the "flatter" your recorded dialog will sound and it won't sound "normal" until you play it back with some kind of room resonance added, which is the reason most professional studios have a "live" mixing area and a separate booth/stage with acoustic treatment.
For a home recording setup, it's more important to pay attention to your microphones and get something that allows you to adjust recording for a narrow pickup field. The best thing I've found for those on a budget is the Snowball by Blu, which runs between $50 and $60 US, runs on USB and has two cardoid pickup patterns as well as an omni mode. If you've got more cash to spend, I'd recommend a Blu Yeti (runs a hundred and up) or, if you want something even better with more future-upgrade potential, the Rode Procaster with a decent USB to XLR preamp. One of my sound designers and I recently put together a pretty sweet home studio package for my ex as follows: Rode Procaster, Rode PS-1 Shockmount, Rode PSA-1 Swivel/Boom mount, Focusrite Scarlet Solo USB preamp/interface w/ protools, LyxPro Balanced XLR cable, Sony MDVR6 Pro Headphones, and she's used it for quite a few professional gigs now with no quality issues. All bought together on Amazon for under $600, not counting the computer she already had... and prior to using this, the system she was using was just a Snowball Pro with Audacity for audtions, just hanging a blanket behind her and keeping the Snowball in a record box lined with acoutic foam scraps. It looked pretty slapdash but actually sounded better than the "professional" booth at her agent's office.
One last note on the Zoom personal recorders - they don't replace the need for sound isolation, they just give you portabililty and as the base line H1 and H2 models have omnidirectional mic pickup patterns, they're pretty bad when it comes to external noise issues. I actually have a first generation H2 that I still use for capturing wild background sounds when I'm traveling (i use a c-clamp/tripod mount rather than hand-holding) but FWIW, the new H4n models aren't that much more ($229 on Amazon) and they're a lot better both in terms of their audio quality (via better encoding options, better built-in mikes with a cardoid option, and the ability to use an external XLR mike.) If you see indie filmakers shooting using a DSLR, odds are that the mocrophone they'll have sitting on the camera is an H4n.
I use the H2n for all my sound recording. and never had a issue with it, it s tons of fliter options and you can record live up to 4 mics in quadraphonics , it comes with mixing tools and effect if you want to sound like your in a big room. I never used a paded room to record in with it and I used it on the streets and was able to record the sound i wanted like traffic driving by without the background noises like birds and people talking, all filter out, I have paid for ones costing more money & not as good as recorder . I like to carry it with me when I am out and get sounds files. and I also use ti sometimes to get strangers off the street to do voice files. its a fun gizmo with a lot of filter and tool options.
I guess people like to use what they are use to . But I will recomend the Zoom h2n any day.
As I said, I use an H2 for location recording when I'm traveling... I worked on a pair of films a few years ago where about half the ambient sound we used was recorded on my H2 at various locations in Tokyo... and for the dollar it's a very impressive piece of tech. That said, it's designed for exactly what you're using it for - recording on locations, not studio work. if you're recording for the purpose of remixing for film sound, you're going to be combining multiple channels of audio, so it's best to remove all ambient audio reflections and get the cleanest possible signal... otherwise things start sounding odd when you start adding the different channels together and the room characteristics don't match. With that in mind, the next models up in the Zoom line, starting with the H4n are better suited for that task since they give you the ability to use cardoid and shotgun mike configurations for only a small amount more... though none of them offer the ease of recording that you get working with a dedicated sound editing program like Pro Tools or Adobe Audition.
Molded pulp egg carton... used as sound insulation in ever german home-made soundstudio (up to semi-professional grade) from the 1960's until the emergance of the internet "we can buy everything online" trade.
eggs brand i eat comes in plastic these days. lol
ended up ordering a 6 pack of these to start the project. try like a tent first, test how quiet it is inside it.
if it does actually block noise, thinkin put reflective material inside the "tent" around the microphone.
This. I use my 4n's line in jacks and shotgun mics for dialogue and use the two built-in mics on the top for recording room tone.