Another vocal booth?

[milli]

Hello.
First i would like to thank you guys for all informations on the forum! You're the best:)

Let me get to my questions..
I am planning to build a vocal booth (yes i know there is a lot of info and plans on the forum but i have some questions that i didn't find answers to:)).

i would like to build it in my room for practice. Because the place i could use is not so big, i could make the booth in size of 140x130 cm. I know this isn't much for vocal booth but it could be enough to stand in and sing. And yes, i know that the sound in the booth wouldn't be good because it would be too small and almost square, but I am looking more for "soundproofing" so that i wouldn't disturb others in the building:)

In the picture there is my room with doors and placement of vocal booth (green area). Through the doors there is hallway and on behind the further wall of the vocal booth there is another room. I would like not to disturb people in the other room, the hallway and upstairs.

Like I said, i would like to use it for singing and maybe acoustic guitar (if i could fit it in the booth ). I know that I should tell how loud I am in db, but I don't have the dbmeter so I can't.. (lets just say that I am loud, and I would like to reduce loud singing outside my room, and I hope you guys know what I'm talking about:)).

So my real problem and question is about my budget. I know you all built pro studios and boots etc. but i don't really have the money for "pro" construction... what i was thinking about is a booth with 2 layers of drywall and rockwool inbetween (the inner drywall on resilient channel?). There would be no windows and maybe home made door (something like this guy did: http://www.brimstond.com/booth/ , but he used alot of layers on the booth and I don't have the budget at the moment).

So if I sum the money needed for this type of "vocal booth" i think i could make it for 200€, let's say 250€ or am I wrong? So I would like to know your thoughts on this. Would this construction with this budget do any good at all for "soundproofing" loud vocals to the point I wouldn't be heard alot oustide my room, or are my hopes way to high and would do nothing useful at all (in this case i need someone to kick my ass and say it, so i can stop planing it:D).

Sorry for long post and info of my budget at the end
Thanks!

[Soundman2020]

Hi "milli", and welcome!

I know that I should tell how loud I am in db, but I don't have the dbmeter so I can't..

Loud human singing can easily hit 90 dB, or more. The loudest ever measured for a human voice was something like 120 dB, if I recall correctly, but that is exceptional: 75-95 dB would be a reasonable estimate for your typical singing voice level.

I would like not to disturb people in the other room, the hallway and upstairs.

That depends on how loud the other sounds in the building are: the "ambient level" or "background noise level". If there are other noises going on all the time (traffic outside, fans, pumps, motors, running water, radio playing, people talking, etc), that would help to mask the sound of your voice, so you won't need much isolation. But if it is very quiet in there, you would need a lot more isolation to make your voice inaudible.

There would be no windows and maybe home made door (something like this guy did: http://www.brimstond.com/booth/

I would not use that as a good example of how to build a vocal booth! He makes so many mistakes there... A lot of ignorance about both acoustics and also construction is evident in that sequence...

what i was thinking about is a booth with 2 layers of drywall and rockwool inbetween (the inner drywall on resilient channel?).

Wihout resilient channel, that would get you about 30 dB of isolation. So your loud singing at 95 dB would be brought down to about 65 dB outside. 60-70 dB is about the level of normal conversation, so your voice would be heard outside the booth at the same level as someone talking normally.

If you use Resilient Channel on one side, then that would increase to maybe 35 dB, max. If you used sound isolation clips plus hat channel, you could probably get 40 dB, so your singing would be down to about 50-55 dB outside the booth.

Would this construction with this budget do any good at all for "soundproofing" loud vocals to the point I wouldn't be heard alot oustide my room,

No. It would provide a reasonable level of isolation, but it would not make loud singing inaudible.

In order to do that you would need more mass on each side of the wall (for example, use two layers of 15mm drywall, instead of one layer of 12mm drywall, and also isolation clips with hat channel, and also completely filling the interior cavity with mineral wool insulation. That could get you as much as 50 dB of isolation, so your loud singing would be down to about 40-45 dB outside, which is very quiet. It might still be audible if the building is silent inside, but would probably not bother other people.

However, there is a danger here: you MUST install some type of air ventilation system! If not, you will use up the oxygen inside that small space, very fast, and it will soon be uncomfortable in there, from the stale, warm, humid, smelly air: You need to install two vents: one to bring in fresh air, the other to take out stale air. One of those will need to have a fan on it, to force the air to move through the booth. And because those vents are basically the same as huge holes in your walls, you need to make small silencer boxes for them, that allow the air to go through but block sound.

The example that you linked to did not do that: I'm betting that the booth is unusable, because there is no ventilation. Don't make the same mistakes!

- Stuart -

[milli]

Thank you so much on your reply
So I will need to to spend some more money to add mass and do some more thinking on planning..
If I will decide to make it some day, I will post something again;).

Thank you for your time;)