A few noob questions about booth setup:
Is it bad to setup a vocal booth and then setup the mic so u're singing into the corner (at a 45 degree angle)? Should the singer be facing one of the walls?
Are some acoustic foams better for sound control in vocal booths (for vocal frequencies) than others? I get confused looking at pyramids, wedges, tiles, etc..
Also, is it possible to have a booth that's too "dead"? I know reverb effects can be added later but I've heard that some famous vocalists prefer a bit of "room" in their room. Is this a preference thing amongst different vocalists? Right now my booth actually feels a little dumpy. Should I think about livelying it up a bit?
THANKS!
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I thought everybody loved the sound of bathrooms and phone booth
I thought everybody loved the sound of bathrooms and phone booths? What about coffins?? There was this worst sounding vocal booth I ever/never heard. It was about the size you describe completely filled with SONEX foam. I felt like my brain was being sucked out of my ears! I thought I was going to go insane instantly! It was horrible! Horrible I tell you! Ugh!
Now why do you really want a vocal booth?? I don't believe in them. They are an unnecessary phallus, see?
Pretty in practical
Ms. Remy Ann David
Well, why did you think that singing into the corner of a room w
Well, why did you think that singing into the corner of a room would help keep the outside noise from getting to the mic? Were you bad and doing a "time out"?
What mic are you singing into? One with a tight pattern (like a 'live vocal' mic) will keep the room and extraneous noises out to some degree, so will that "hanging blanket" deal I described. But if you're in an environment that is so loud that you can hear babies crying, couples screaming, dogs barking, etc., you really need to find a more suitable place to record. Remember, if you can hear them, they can hear YOU.
Are you in school? How feasible is it to possibly use an unused classroom
after hours? How about a house-of-worship? I regularly help members of my church cut basic tracks in our chapel, it really isn't that hard to put together a small tracking rig for a demo-type recording that can be moved in/out of the room easily. Use your imagination here. Once you realize how important the environment is, you'll figure out something.
"Singing into the corner" can wreak havoc with the mic you're us
"Singing into the corner" can wreak havoc with the mic you're using, depending on its' pattern.
And, yes, a vocal booth can indeed be too dead. Nasty-sounding, too, especially if it is too small. Try placing the vocalist(s) in the middle of the room, and then "gobo" them off. This can be as simple as taking a couple of heavy blankets and draping them over some mic booms to create a makeshift "booth". This is an area where you can be creative and experimental. There is nothing so detrimental to some performances than to close the vocalist in a little box. Especially if you're using a big condenser that can pick up a pin dropping at 50 feet!