vocal booth in storage unit

Ok I have built this vocal booth approx 6x4x8 inside a 20x10x10 storage unit and it is not fully treated yet but I tried to do a vocal recording in there with two gik244's and some auralex foam and it sounds horrible. I want some sound proofing but neighbors don't really apply, here. The two walls that the booth is adjacent to are block the other wall is like a tin and the roll-up door is fiberglass I believe. The floor is concrete. The booth is built with 2x4's and 3/4 inch particle board BUDGET: I'm not rich so if it's expensive it'll take longer to build I'm wondering if I should abandon the vocal booth idea and just record vocals in the whole storgae unit or if I wanted to build it larger, how much larger would I need to go for it to sound good? have any ideas?

I was advised to do something like this instead: what do you think?

am I missing some required information before anyone posts?

Aloha, Any chance you could post a few pics of your space? It would help to envision what you're working with. Thanks. :wink: Aloha 8)

OK I'll do that tomorrow

picture here:

picture 1234578

thaz a very small room, if it's just for recording vocals then a booth might do by splitting the space. But ye CR will be too small to be taken serious. Difficult... A one-space concept might be the solution, tho for recording vox it's not the best option (noisy PC I presume... etc) Isolation might not be the factor, but acoustics will. Space still is the biggest concern...

Aloha, Here is a collection of different quotes, links and information pulled from this forum. Hopefully, you will find them useful. But before we go there, a couple of questions if I may: - Is your vocal booth the only use in this space or are their others uses (storage/recording/control room?) - if there is no back door on the wall you are building your vocal on, is it possible to build your vocal booth with the longest dimension along the back wall, thus freeing up more room up front for whatever use needed (storage/recording, etc.) - where is your control room located in relation to your vocal booth? And so, without further ado - here are those excerpts I mentioned: Steve (Knightfly) mentioned that "4' x 5' x 7' inside dim's is about the best modal compromise for a small booth." Modally, with a 6'4" ceiling you'd do well with wall dimensions (inside) of 5 and 7 feet. That combination shows no modal problems at all. This means that vocals in such a room shouldn't be "colored" by the room. You would want to keep the upper half, including the ceiling, absorbed with such as rigid fiberglas insulation boards, covered with a light plastic film (they shed) and fire proofed cloth (they're ugly) - you'd likely get better vocal sounds with the singer seated rather than standing, since otherwise they will be nearly at the ceiling. Being that close to a boundary (especially if it isn't absorbed) will cause comb filtering due to early reflections. Mode-wise, a 5 x 6 x 7 (inside) booth looks very good. It will also fit into an 8 foot ceiling area if necessary, and is big enough for 3 (very) friendly vocalists or 1-2 with a guitar, so that's what I'm going to start with. Once I finish (don't stop breathing while you wait, I have 'way too many projects still open) you could change dimensions to suit, just do NOT make any two dimensions the same, or more than one dimension in even # of feet.

viewtopic.php?p=443#443 A vocal booth need to be quite dead with no apparent room sound if you want a tight vocal sound. When I say dead I mean right across the frequency spectrum which requires various absorbers aimed at different frequency ranges. Have you been to the SAE site? check out absorbers. http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html cheers, john

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=948&highlight=vocal+booth+jpeg Mode-wise, a 5 x 6 x 7 (inside) booth looks very good. It will also fit into an 8 foot ceilinged area if necessary, and is big enough for 3 (very) friendly vocalists or 1-2 with a guitar, so that's what I'm going to start with. Once I finish (don't stop breathing while you wait, I have 'way too many projects still open) you could change dimensions to suit, just do NOT make any two dimensions the same, or more than one dimension in even # of feet. Steve

I used Bob Gold’s Room Mode Calculator to find some ideal dimensions for a Room within a Room construction I am designing for a vocal booth... or so i thought... The maximum internal dimensions I can achieve with my limited space are: 8'L x 5'W x 7'H. Remember this is a vocal room and will mostly be used just for vocals (so I figure relevant frequencies will maybe go down as low as 85hz to capture the harmonics of a very bassy voice). The "Ideal" dimensions I came up with are: 7'3"L x 4'7"W x 6'9"H I have 3 questions regarding the results of these dimensions when entered into this room mode calculator. 1. The resulting room ratio is 1 : 1.47 : 1.58, these numbers fall close but not exactly within the "Bolt Area" graph that i see in my Master Acoustics Handbook, I don’t think its that important but should i be concerned about this? 2. There is a dip around 100 Hz in the Bonello graph, I understand this is not desirable, but is it less desirable than using these dimensions: 7'3"L x 5'W x 6'7"H whereby the Bonello curve looks slightly more flat BUT there is a problem with the modes in the 113hz-116hz frequency group (as indicated by the Yellow warning color). These are Axial and Tangential mode problems so i figure they're treatable since I plan to treat the walls with wideband absorption anyhow. 3. EXTRA CREDIT Question: The test "Fails" the first formula under the Computed Information > R. Walker BBC 1996 heading but the corresponding linked document states that this formula is for a classical music "listening room" is this a problem for my vocal booth? Should I ignore this line altogether? I would guess the first dimensions I indicated (7'3"L x 4'7"W x 6'9"H) might be the best for my situation acoustically, but in terms of width I would also be loosing 5 inches of already cramped space. And if the problems caused by the second set of dimensions (7'3"L x 5'W x 6'7"H) are easy to correct, I'd rather have the extra width. Does it even matter that much? I'm driving myself nuts here trying to wrap my mind around this design.

Here's a few quotes & links from John and Steve on vocal booths: Vocal Booth Acoustic Treatment - viewtopic.php?t=134&highlight=vocal+booth+jpeg Venting a Vocal Booth - viewtopic.php?t=388&highlight=vocal+booth+jpeg Vocal Booths - viewtopic.php?p=443#443 Building a Vocal Booth - viewtopic.php?t=744&highlight=vocal+booth+jpeg Iso Booth Ideas - viewtopic.php?t=948&highlight=vocal+booth+jpeg Aloha 8)

wow that's alot of info thank you so much

kendale wrote:

- Is your vocal booth the only use in this space or are their others uses (storage/recording/control room?)

It is primarily for storage but I thought I'd use the space fora little recording. there probably won't be any room at the end for a control room so I'll figure that out later

kendale wrote:

- if there is no back door on the wall you are building your vocal on, is it possible to build your vocal booth with the longest dimension along the back wall, thus freeing up more room up front for whatever use needed (storage/recording, etc.) )

the back wall is actually a little over 9' like 9'2'' so I decided to use 7' (odd) of it for the booth and the rest for storage which worked out well because I put the mattress and box spring back there and it will act as insulation. so that's the only thing that is really set in stone: there will be a 7' wall. the other wall I can still make several different lengths and the ceiling...I don't know if you noticed is 8' on one end and it slopes up to 8'4'' what would you suggest for the other length and ceiling? thanks again

Ro wrote:

A one-space concept might be the solution, tho for recording vox it's not the best option (noisy PC I presume... etc) ...

what would I have to do to use it for both control room and tracking room? I think I will do like that first link:http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=134&highlight=vocal+booth+jpeg he has a similar style room. when you add bass traps like my gik244's does that count as part of the room dimensions? ex. can you get rid of parallel walls by angling them in the corner?

Room dimensions (and modes) are taken from the hard surfaces, so walls etc. Basstraps and a like are not walls. There you go. A one room setup might work perfect but you've gotta make sure there's no external noise from either outside or inside (computer, equipment etc) Acoustics are not gonna help you isolate sounds, its just to make the room sound 'better'. Is there another door, except for the main door, in that room? If not, a booth might be possible. It's gonna be tight, but it'll do for just one person. (unless ye wanna get cozy :) ) 20x10x10 is not much but it sure can work for just recording vox. If there's no backdoor I'd just add a 5'x10'x9' (extra ceiling) section in the back for vocals with a door and glass. That is, if you wanna spend some money onnit (whaz the budget on this project?) Add acoustics on the inside AND the outside which will be your control room. But let's first focus on a floorplan.

Ro wrote:

Is there another door, except for the main door, in that room?.

no

Ro wrote:

. But let's first focus on a floorplan.

is the one above OK in your view?

you "plan"... it's far from complete to begin with, but hell... How far do you wanna go? What's your budget? Are you a skilled carpenter or have some one doin' that for ye? It's only gonna be vocals? You need a quick and dirty solution or more semi-pro? I'd do a split room design if it's only vox, a small booth (1/3) and a bigger CR (2/3). Moneywise it's about $3k plus... if you want it good. You can, however, do it for less but then I've gotta ask you, again, "what exactly do u want and how far you wanna take it" I know.. I know... why can't live be simple, eh?! Now here's a quickndirty2minutesketch (I'm on my worklaptop, sorry for the bad drawing) CR can be turned 90degr but it all depends on your entrance door (it's big and ugly) just to give you an idea... :horse:

I over-think things I've been told quite often

Ro wrote:

How far do you wanna go?

I want a good vocal recording, however far that is.

Ro wrote:

What's your budget?

I already have a door and a bunch of 2x4's and 3/4'' plywood so without the treatment I''l say an additional $300 USD

Ro wrote:

Are you a skilled carpenter or have some one doin' that for ye? It's only gonna be vocals? You need a quick and dirty solution or more semi-pro??

unskilled but I'll be doing it; vocals and guitar; more quick and dirty but not a total piece of poo your design looks great but I've already began on something like this b/c of the storage in the room (couch) would this work?

actually, I think I'll do this, like the other thread: but now I don't know what the other two walls lengths will be from what I've been reading this should be good for vocals but what about if I tried to use it as a control room too?