I need to build a vocal booth. Suggestions?

[kevinmathie]

Hi all,

I currently find myself in the position of needing a stand-alone, sound-proof vocal booth. I've never needed to do this before. The last time I did lots of sound-proofing, I sound-proofed entire rooms (or closets). But because of space restrictions, I have to build a vocal booth inside the room that is my studio.

Fortunately, it's a decent-sized room, so space for a vocal booth shouldn't be a huge problem. But, what do I do about ventilation? A/C? Window? If any of you have done this before -- or better yet, if any of you have blueprints of awesome vocal booths -- I'm very interested in your advice. I'll have to start construction quite soon.

Thanks!
Kevin

[ernstinen]

Hi all,

I currently find myself in the position of needing a stand-alone, sound-proof vocal booth. I've never needed to do this before. The last time I did lots of sound-proofing, I sound-proofed entire rooms (or closets). But because of space restrictions, I have to build a vocal booth inside the room that is my studio.

Fortunately, it's a decent-sized room, so space for a vocal booth shouldn't be a huge problem. But, what do I do about ventilation? A/C? Window? If any of you have done this before -- or better yet, if any of you have blueprints of awesome vocal booths -- I'm very interested in your advice. I'll have to start construction quite soon.

Thanks!
Kevin

Kevin! You're on the right track with a "room inside a room" idea.
Walls: Staggered studs. 2x6" on bottom and top, staggered 2x4" on the interior wrapped by sound proofing materials.
Door: Solid core.
Window: Double panes at a slight angle from each other.
Ventilation: That's tough. I've used AC piping from an exterior unit with a "whisper fan" in the ceiling. Didn't work very well. Last time I just opened the door between takes!
Interior: Carpet or foam. Make sure it's not flammable, though!
Exterior walls: Soundproof board, plywood, etc.

Very complicated, but worth it in the end! Good luck...

Ern

[andygabrys]

I would also float the floor of the booth on your existing floor, at least some neoprene or other kind of rubber to insulate.

[kevinmathie]

Great suggestions! Thank you!

[mazz]

No need to reinvent the wheel:
http://www.vocalbooth.com/
http://www.whisperroom.com/

If you really need to build something then by all means do so. It might be a better use of your valuable time to have one delivered already built by experts. But I don't have skills to build stuff and I'm too busy anyway. If you have the skills and the free time then go for it!

[guitaroboe]

Hey man,
I own a booth made by whisperroom.com that Mazz suggested. Excellent value for money, amazing results!
No need to re invent the wheel at all. They even shipped it to Europe for me!

cheers
Adonis

[Casey H]

Make it 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.

Oh wait, that's an ark, not a vocal booth... Nevermind.

Mazz's idea of buying one sounds like a good one. But this is something I know absolutely nothing about.

Best of luck with it!
Casey

[kevinmathie]

Mazz and Adonis,

Thanks for the links. What size booth do you have? I notice that they have a couple standard sizes, and then you can customize. Also, how thick are the walls, and what are they made out of?

I'd mostly use this for vocals, although very possibly also for some occasional acoustic guitar and ukelele tracks. So, what size works best?

And could you convert the measurements to cubits, since Casey introduced this superior mode of measurements to the conversation?

[kevinmathie]

Oh! Also, any thoughts on the shape of the room -- ie., the diamond shape versus rectangle? VocalBooth seems to bill the diamond shape as a "space saving" option. But, it seems like it might also be a great for eliminating standing waves. Although, maybe their rectangle rooms don't have that problem either, what with all the wall treatment.

Thoughts?

[yammer107]

Kevin

I used to have a great link for stuff like this but couldent find it, basically it was a page full of posts from guys around the world and what they did in their studios, lots of photos and detailed works in progress... was cool to check out as new posts were contributed.

Anyways this ones not bad... I'm sure theres something here you'll learn.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar06/a ... diosos.htm

One thing they've poo-poo'd for years is the old carpet trick, stating it does little and your better off placing blocks of studio foam. Personally I've had good success with carpet or blankets if you allow them to hang with deep folds like a curtains... creating ridges or waves...


~ Chris