Vocal Booth...need help on materials...

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 12:27 pm

I took everything out of my closet to make a booth. I only want to use it for a vocal booth. Im not using no instruments, just putting in a stand with my audio technica's 4047. It fits 2 people, but one fits perfectly to move around, swing arms, etc... The booth is about 7 to 8 feet tall, 4 feet in length, and 2 feet wide. I dont have no ducts...my closet door will remain open when booth is not in use. So now, what will go on the walls. Should I just use some type of foam by itself, or should I put something before the foam, like some type of wood? I've heard of Plywood and fiberglass...but I don't know what these are used for. (sorry if its a dumb question). What should I use on the floor? Should the closet door get the same treatment as the walls? Anything else I sould know or do?

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:04 pm

I don't know if this will be any help but I just use my Shower to record all the vocals in. I just duct tape the mic to the shower head and point it down in the same direction as the water would spray out, and I stand in there and sing. I don't use no mic stand neither, it would get in the way in there. I can't tell you how many times have I've been singing in the shower and it sounded incredible and I thoughts "damn, I wish I could get that kind of a sound in my own recordings!" SO I DONE IT. And thats what makes me a audio engineer! Confused

Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:25 pm

There's two issues, blocking sound from getting in and conditioning the sound in the closet, but I imagine air quality is going to be the big problem.

Anyhow if you need to block sound coming in that's great use for plywood, etc. But if you're just trying to get rid of reflections within the closet then a thick convoluted foam should do OK. Despite what others here think about fiberglass I stay away from it and would definitley not recommend it in such an enclosed space.

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:07 am

Whats wrong with fiberglass...is it the space is too small? What are the cons of fiber glass...Also, if I do heavy foaming to stop reflection, would this also prevent sound from coming in?

Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 12:28 am

You only need 2" to stop most vocal reflections but that won't stop much sound from coming in.

1. I definitely don't want to start a debate here about the health implications of fiberglass. The mods of this forum have a strong pro-fiberglass bias.

2. Fiberglass is glass fibers. Some of them get in the air if you have a porous cover suitable for absorption panels. In a closet sized room anything which is in the air gets in your lungs, that's a given. Some say a few glass fibers never hurt anyone's lungs, but in my case I'm not trying to find out. Even one fiber is too many for me. So I use foam. Works awesome, looks better, less work, zero health risk.

3. There also used to be an issue with the binders from fiberglass being released. To some extent the major ones have been addressed such as formaldehyde (sp?) but there's no hard/accurate/independent data on health risks associated with exposure nor whwre that issue is exactly at. Put it this way, all the literature comes from the company who makes the stuff, or related trade affiliates/associations. Do you trust them with your health? I certainly don't, not even close.

4. My school of thought is that if you give me a choice between zero risk and a .1% risk, I'll take the zero risk option in this context every single time. I don't mess around with my health, especially for the sake of saving $20.

5. Respectfully, a lot of the people on the pro-side of the fiberglass debate are people with atrocious health, i.e. overweight internet junkies who haven't jogged a mile in 30 years. I have yet to hear anyone in really decent shape advocate fiberglass and I've read up on this a bit.

6. If I were having other people in to use my vocal booth I then view it as my responsibility to make sure it's a zero risk environment for them also. Period. I feel there is no leeway on this point. It's irresponsible to have someone into an environment which may involve a health risk, no matter how infetismal.

7. The people who ultimately "regulate" the U.S. fiberglass industry are a complete joke. I can't think of many people I'd trust less than this lot.

I'm no expert, this has just been my experience. I like foam for absorption and wood for diffusion. To block sound from coming in you need something dense, preferably multiple layers, i.e. a "sandwich" of different materials. But for your space you need something very thin. You may have no choice but to succumb to the Auralex machine and grab some sheetblok. I wouldn't, but that may very well be your best option if outside noise is a concern. You can ask questions of the Auralex staff in the Auralex forum from the main forum menu here. Cheers. Thumbs Up

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 1:31 pm

I'm picking up 2 cases of this stuff to double up across the corners at 45 degrees and in front of the walls... cuz this room sounds like a giant steel gas-s tank-k !!!!!

It has a NRC .70 (70% absorbtion). Pulled snug and tight, combined with sheet rock or any wall, would give you over 80%....for VOCALS/VOICEOVERS not low frequency.

http://stores.ebay.com/ONE-WISH-LLC

It's called AUDIMUTE and he sells it by the box for cheap on ebay. You can look on his lab report in the auctions to see which frequencies it absorbs best. Its almost 200 sq feet for less than $150.

Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:34 pm

I'm not "EBay certified"(I don't understand it), but I did find this link:

http://www.audimute.com/

Looks interesting! Like to see a post of how this stuff works out.....

.70 beats the .55 of the Armstrong ceiling panels I use, from the home center and the price is fine. I do like the panels as I can buy them locally, they only take a few minutes to hang(One screw/washer through each), cut easily to fit, are rigid, look nice enough and cost around 20 bucks for 10(2x4 feet x 5/8" each) = 40 bucks for 160 sq. ft(?), and if you "need more" just double-cover, but Audimute sounds like it has some real possibilities..!

I don't "like" fiberglass in this application, but only because(Around here) I haven't found(Haven't looked very hard...) any dense enough in pre-covered(Paper or something) panel form. Best I've found is like one uses to make-up air conditioning conduit and it is way too light-weight.

Teddy G.

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