Building a vocal booth ?

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Soulja

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Does anybody here have any info on how to biuld a vocal booth? I want to start producing some local talent, but I want it to sound as pro as possible. I already have a good mic and mic pre as well as a good soundcard and fast computer. Now i just need to setup a good recording environment.

Whats size should a booth be?
What materials to use?
Where to buy studio foam cheap?

Any help would be appreciated.

Bishop
 

vitaminman

IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,

Can we assume that you're looking for a 'dry' vocal booth?

Nick
 

Soulja

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
yeah, I guess. what's the difference?

Bishop
 

vitaminman

IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,

The difference is that in a dry booth, you will only pick up a pure vocal signal, you'll have to add reverb and other enhancing features with software or hardware. Some people (though not many) like to record vocals in a room because the room's natural sound gets recorded as well. Some people like this; some don't.

I'm sure on the net there are some good articles on building dry vocal booths, they will tell you what materials to buy and how to build it properly. It will cost a little money, studio foam is NOT cheap!

Take care,

Nick
 

inrctyhoodmusic

Muzik Militant
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
put some studio foam in the bathroom are go real ghetto put a sock on the mic and stick who ever in the closet
 

bigdmakintrax

BeatKreatoR
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 123
You can build a booth but I know a producer that somehow is able to record in his open basement with background sound but his mic is one that does not pick any background noise up, when you hear the mixes you would think they were in an isolated studio.....I was kind of amazed at this technique, I forgot what mic he uses but that is another solution.....I have a booth I cheaply built for about 45 dollars in materials (except the soundproof tiles)....it uses 3 walls made from the styrofoam insulation in a U shape using and existing structure as the back wall......it is about 7 feet hight and I tiled the inside with soundproof tiles and have a sliding curtain entrance, also the roof is done with the insulation and tiles, I then put a plexiglass window in it so I can see the artist and they can see me......it is very simple to do this if you don't have the ghetto setup that innercity is talking about.........
 

light

Producer
ill o.g.
if your looking to do it for super cheap, try going to your local grocery store and ask for there left over apple crate bottoms. they make a pretty good sound dampener. plus there free. there pretty much 2 foot square egg cartons.
 

MadScientist

Geniuz
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 20
Here is something I found on the web.

HOW TO BUILD A VOCAL BOOTH FOR UNDER $300

When I was in the begining stages of getting my studio going, I started looking for prices on professional sound proofing equipment. The prices were outrageous and far beyond my budget. So through asking many experienced players in the recording business, I came up with the following solution:

Go to a store that sells rubber - eg. Clark Rubber - and buy the biggest bag of foam/rubber offcuts. It will cost you no more than $30.

Go to a hardware house that sells timber etc, and buy 4 pieces of MDF with the dimensions of:

180cm high
150cm wide
1cm thick

You can get the wood cut to size at the hardware joint. It usually costs around $1 per cut.
Then buy 8 slats of timber with the dimensions of:

180cm long
4 cm wide
2 cm thick

Buy another 8 slats of timber with the dimensions of.

146 cm long
4cm wide
2cm thick

Buy a tub of screws about 4cm long

Buy a tub of Selleys Quick Grip

Buy 9 door hinges about 5cm in height

So, by the end of your purchasing, you should have:

Foam Offcuts
4 x 180cm x150cm x 1cm sheets of MDF
8 x 180cm x 4cm x 2cm slats of timber
8 x 146cm x 4cm x 2cm slats of timber
1 x tub of screws
1 x tub of Selleys Quick Grip
9 x 5cm door hinges

Now comes the fun part.. the construction.....

Lay out a sheet of your MDF. Place one of the 180cm slats on top of the MDF's edge so the 2cm side is sitting on the MDF, leaving the slat sitting 4cm high on top of the MDF. Put the other 180cm slat on the other edge of the sheet in the same format. Screw the slats onto the MDF. Take the 146cm slats and put them on the other edges of the MDF in the same format of the 180cm slats. Then screw them in. You should then have a sheet of MDF with a frame sitting 4cm high on top of the MDF.

Repeat this for the other 3 sheets of MDF

Then get your bag of foam offcuts and cut them into random shaped blocks that sit no higher than 4cm. You will need to cut up alot of foam pieces. The randomer the shape the better. Once you think you have enough foam to cover the 4 panels, you can stop.

Get your quick grip and smother it all over the inside of the frame on the MDF. Then start sticking the foam pieces randomly all over the MDF. You will need to hold the pieces firmly on the MDF to ensure they stick. Once you have fully covered the MDF sheet, leave it overnight. Repeat this for the other 4 panels.

After letting the foam sit overnight, you now need to attach the four pieces with the door hinges. You will need to use 3 door hinges per connection. We will now call the 4 MDF sheets 1, 2, 3 & 4. Attach three door hinges connecting the backs(the sides with no foam) of MDF sheets 1 + 2 along the 180cm sides. This will mean the 2 sheets can fold back to back on the door hinges. Repeat that with sheets 3 + 4. Attach 3 door hinges to the timber slats along the 180 sides of sheets 2 + 3. Once you have done this, you should be able to fold the booth like this: The back of MDF sheet 1 folds onto the back of MDF sheet 2. The front(the side with the foam) of MDF sheet 2 should fold onto the front of MDF sheet 3. The back of MDF sheet 3 should fold onto the back of MDF sheet 4. This will leave the booth compact and ready to be moved into storage or moved around your house.

When you fold all the pieces out, you need to move them into the formation of a square. When placed in that position, you should then have a 150cm square vocal booth!

For better results, drape a thick blanket over the top of the booth to reduce outside noise getting in.
 
N

new2thegame

Guest
any1 know if that vocal booth in the latest the Jay-z video ( la la la ) is custom?

That was a nice F'N vocal booth!
 
B

Brainstream

Guest
yo i built a vical booth by goin to home depot, gettin some 8 foot 2 by 4's, makin the framework, sheetrockin it, putting heat insulation and then SOUNDFOAM over the studs, also a plexiglass window in the front. Sounds PRO!!
Brainstream
 

vitaminman

IllMuzik Staff
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 1
Hey,

I'm going to try making it as cheaply as possible by hanging old carpet a few inches off the surfaces in a walk-in closet. It won't be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be better than what I've got going right now.

If we're lucky, there won't be any old bong water stains in the carpet to stink the place up. A quick pass of a steam cleaner will hopefully do the trick.

Take care,

Nick
 
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