vertical futon = vocal booth

[jc]

discuss!

[heylow]

A friend of mine had to resort to doing some vocals in a very square living room....he turned the couch and love seat on end slightly apart, put the singer inside and stuck a blanket over the top for a "roof". Yep.

I always make my booth out of cube walls up on chairs....well....it works.



heylow

[I'm Painting Again]

I always think to myself when i hear about singing into a booth..why would anyone want such a dry sound..of course it makes sense too..for many reasons..but i feel like i would rather have the environment in the recording for more character..maybe thats because i dont have a terrible sounding room..i dunno..i think its worth a try if the room sounds 1/2 way interesting to not deaden the vocal mic..

anyway i think a verticle futon could perform quite nicely in this function..really though it depends on the mattress material's absorbtive and reflective properties..a frame with OC 703 and foam attached might be the cats pajamas..who knows really..i guess you just have to try..

[bigtoe]

how do you get the mattress to stay up?

i've used two couches before... but i seem to be in the never ending phase of the people i record saying...

"boy the bathroom sounds good!"

me...

"um..."

Mike

[I'm Painting Again]

how do you get the mattress to stay up?

Powerful state of the art electro magnets..*wiggles fingers together*

i dunno..good question..maybe rope around the whole thing..

[jc]

i dont do dry voice very often either, but these guys want to keep the live voice take.. with the drummer 5 feet away.
enter the 'booth'
i used bungee and duct tape to keep the mattress up.
it sort of worked!

[bigtoe]

how do you get the mattress to stay up?

Powerful state of the art electro magnets..*wiggles fingers together*

hilarious!

re: futon: you know what...i'm doing the same thing this weekend...and i have two futons...i honestly think i'm gonna do it for stand up and mando! thanks for the tip...

MIke

[rolandk]

Another cheap vocal booth is to get 2 mic stands, extend them up as high as possible and make a 'T' with the boom. Throw a blanket over each boom and set the 2 stands in a V shape. Put the mic in the small end and away you go.

[inthered]

Just drill your futon for a mic cable and a headphone send and you're golden!

1. In our big (100x40x12) room we use a combination of 6' high cube panels and hollow-core doors covered with 703 and burlap. However, we're looking for something to give us a little more isolation without it being too permanent a fixture. So...

I'm taking a 5x6 sheet of 3/4 plywood and covering it with parquet tile over a rubber sheet, and we'll use it for either the floor or ceiling depending on the sound we want (the studio has cement floors). Then, we've got a same-dimensioned square of carpet. The part I haven't completed: we've got a bunch of salvaged doors, some of which have windows. I'm going to cover these with 1-2" of 703 and burlap, but leave the windows exposed so that the singer or whoever can have eye contact with the outside world. Then, I'll join the doors together at the hinges (they don't all match, so I'll be re-mortising a few of the hinge openings) and make four double-door walls. I don't have a good idea for how to stand them up, other than keeping them at a very slight angle.

The whole project is costing about $100, since I'm using principally found/used materials. However, I think we're going to get a really flexible set of tools for creating a small, fairly isolated space. We're not exactly averse to bleed, so this isn't for everyone. However, while what we're doing doesn't have a dual-use like a futon does, the whole thing will fold flat against a wall when not in use (or we'll just leave it up all the time).

2. In my home space I'm just lining the walls with crap, mainly lots and lots of books, and in my experience I get a much more balanced sound than if I cover the performer with blankets. There's also something alienating about being isolated in a 'dead' space that might yield a worse performance, and having greater acoustic control can't fix that.

Happy Day,
Colin from Supraphonic

[scott anthony]

A large beach umbrella can be used as a roof for an improvised vocal booth. It can lend that extra 5% isolation form unwanted room reflections.

[lee]

why would anyone want such a dry sound

i know!

you know, i think that in every room there is a sweet spot. no matter how many couches, and TVs, and tables, and people, and LPs, and stereos there are laying around. no matter what the walls are made of. if you can find a corner, you can find a good sounding spot.

but then again, ive never really tryed to deaden the room completely.

but then again, i have the most horrible sounding reverb since the last john cougar meloncamp snare hit.

...i ll give it a shot...

[vvv]

The thick quilt hung on one wall, the book shelf, and the heavy curtains help in my bedroom studio, along with the opened walk-in closet full of clothes (dual-use bass trap!).

Did I mention the queen-size waterbed? (Talk about dual-use; I just don't get enough of that dual-talent in here. )

[kayagum]

You may want to check out our good friend Ethan Winer's newest creation:

http://realtraps.com Look for the "GoboTraps".