Portable vocal booth

Has anyone used these or does anyone have a good design for something like this.  http://www.realtraps.com/p_pvb.htm

I've used the SE before and it helped.  I thought it could stand to be a little bigger so I was wondering about this.  Anyone have any thoughts?

I built something similar to gik acoustics 'screen panel'. Basically made 2 6' x 2' frames, put OC 703 rigid fiber glass wrapped in cotton batting in both. I used vinyl corner bead on the front of the frames to prevent the pieces of 703 from sliding out of the front. Then i covered the frames with burlap and connected the 2 frames with door hinges. I made 2 of them and they work great as a vocal booths among other things. I can give you more detailed construction tips if you want, or pictures. Cost less than $60 to make both..

-jay

Yes please do!

Is this to remove room reverberation or to isolate like a gobo?  My own experiments in DIY'ing one went like this:  My goal was to dry up my vocal.  I mounted some auralex foam on a pair of 18" square MDF panels attached with a hinge closed to about a 90 degree angle.  When I placed the mic in front of these and sang, it sounded like I was inside an 18" wooden box.  Honk, woof, honk...  I repeated the same setup with the auralex taped to a pair of mic stands with no backing MDF.  That did exactly what I wanted.  It sounded like I was in a large dry vocal booth.  The foam by itself seems to let the L and LM pass right through and doesn't set up mini "room" modes/reflections.  I suppose a good L/LF absorber would work too, because the frequencies would die in the absorber rather than be reflected back.

It's still on my to-do list to make a frame for these foam squares without any backing so I can skip the duct tape and mic stands.

Here Dan.. Sorry about the crappy photos but you will get the idea.. Basically you measue out 1x3's so that the inside of the frame measures 2' x 6'. This makes the OC 703 fit nice and snug. I just butt joined the 1x3's. I recommend drilling a pilot hole so that the wood doesnt crack. I also used 1x2's across the back for support on the top bottom and middle.. I still havent covered the back of the panels with burlap but that would make the finished product more neat. It's pretty straightforward and wont take too much time.. Dont put any wood panels on the back as this would probably be similar to what emperor tomato's results were with 'honkiness'. They're pretty versatile, I use them for drums and behind guitar cabs with great results. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

-jay

I want to build something like this... but I want to make it more attractive by painting some cool stuff on the canvas.

People say the canvas needs to be air proof... but is that really necessary? I imagine the L and LM freq would still pass through the canvas even if it has oil painting on it, right? Or should I use different paint? Or should I just scrap the idea and get some funky material to cover them instead?

Thanks in advance...

J

cool.  I got stuff sort of like that but I was thinking more of something to mount on a mic stand. 

I may just have to work something up.

PSSSHHHHHHHHH    all of those things suck. 

Save you money.

Use a guitar case!!!!

funny

mullet i think you've sunk to a new low
(ayyyyyeeee just kidding! )

That's awesome, MC.

For killing reflexings I go with the Emperor's solution - mic stand(s) with big thick acoustic tiles attached. I speared the tiles with tie wraps and mounted on the boom. It's enough to kill reflexions on the back of the mic.

I also bought one of those folding reflexing filters that SE and Thomann sell. It was a waste of money - the tile does the job just fine.

LOL thank God I don't live in that apt anymore!

I could move them around, but they are not portable  :'( ;D

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1650/gobos.jpg

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1492/gobbosall.jpg

what are you talking about?  they got wheels on them.  that means they're portable!!!!  just hook up a trailer hitch to them.

Well yes the wheels allows me to move them around, but their 50 to 70kg makes them a PITA, to move to some place and come back, that's what i meant by portable  , i do nomad recordings, and some little acoustic panels to be portable could be nice...

Matthew Jacobs said:

People say the canvas needs to be air proof... but is that really necessary? I imagine the L and LM freq would still pass through the canvas even if it has oil painting on it, right? Or should I use different paint? Or should I just scrap the idea and get some funky material to cover them instead?

Click to expand...

When building broadband panel absorbers like this you'd be better off using a light cotton cloth to cover it. If anything thick weave canvas would probably just reflect a lot of high frequencies. Which is fine if that's what you want. Just make sure to test it out before spending hours painting it obviously.

You should experiment with fallout's design. Try putting a plywood backing on the absorber: just leave an air gap between the insulation and plywood. You could even try putting egg crates in the air gap. Also some free hanging material (something thick like fake leather) at the back of the absorber. The material would only be attached to the top and would help in absorbing some low frequencies.

Maybe even build a few different designs so you can tune the sound depending on where you are.

Rob

Thanks Rob for the excellent info. I think many people looking into building some of these, including myself, will find this thread very informative. This is what I like about this place and Studio A

J

well, i love this info as well but I was asking about something more portable like the SE filter or the realtraps thing just not 300 bucks!  Any ideas?  Anyone good with metal work and want to make some light weight frames we can do a group on or something?

This thread has inspired me to make some frames for my Auralex rather than tape them to mic stands.  I'm planning on using wood and not metal. I'm going to use 1x2's.  I'll post some pictures if the inspiration lasts. 

When building Broadband Panels or Gobos you should use Rigid insulation like Owens Corning 703, Johns Mansville INSUL-Sheild, Rockwool or similar product.

You can use any fabric so as long as it is acoustically transparent, i.e. if you can breath or blow through it, it should be fine.  I use Guilford of Maine's  FR701 fabric on all my studios and products.  Burlap is another great option  also.

I find that 4" thick gobos work very well. 


Here is a design to a Voice Actors  home studio. He didn't want to convert the entire room, so treating the corner and surrounding himself with gobos will keep this recording area pretty dry.

Here a look and one of my basic designs.