So, I'm trying to make a recording booth...

[162]

Do you guys have any tips of soundproofing/reduction? I was planning on turning my closet or my room into my "recording booth."

[Chris Ollis]

Do you guys have any tips of soundproofing/reduction? I was planning on turning my closet or my room into my "recording booth."

Put a duvet over your head, that's a standard low budget option

[Ben_S]

There have been sugestions that doing it in a car in a garage is quite good too; cars generally have good sound insulation.

[andy_price]

I have heard that sticking egg cartoons to the walls is good

[writerly]

I have heard that sticking egg cartoons to the walls is good

Buy some thick blankets at a second-hand shop. Nail them to the walls.
C

[Mneros]

this is something I have been fighting for a long time. All the options here are good. they help with the background noise. but I have discovered that not all that noise and static is from the background. Some of it is from the electronics you are recording with, example: Computer. the "noise floor" from a computer is horribly high, all that electrostatic interference. my solution.
1: buy a surge protector ones used for HD tV's and stuff. it cleans up a fair bit of that noise.
2. record 1st though an analog mixer, that then plugs into the Computer. Have the Mic volume hi and master high on the mixer and have the rec programs "IN line" or "Mic lvl" low, about 4 points below seeing any bar movement. This set up took my noise Floor lvl from 43db to 90-98 db.

lastly have a nice thick isolated microphone cord. and have it only to the length that u need. if the cord is long keep the length u need, and coil up the rest

this set up however no longer works for me since I up dated my Computer with a 1000w power supply, from a 550w. There was nothing I could do to kill the noise Floor, despite what my sound card supposedly said it could.

so Taking the same set up I now plug in to my Iphone and not the Computer. Low power emissions easy to crush the Noise floor. The App is Daw. Multitrack.

hope this helps save you from hours of head aches.

[corthew]

A good microphone is your first step. Shure or Behrringer<sp> have good options.

You want the pattern to look like an off balance figure 8. You want one that picks up the sound close to its front but not much sound beyond a couple feet away. That will eliminate the majority of your background noise by itself.

Also, any furniture you place in the room will break up the noise and absorb it. Less echo. You may notice that your bedroom has practically no reverb while your bathroom is nothing but.

Hard objects scatter sounds. Soft objects absorb it.

When I first moved into my new house I was trying to set my room up for sound. I considered egg cartons, heavy quilts, etc.

An important point to note is that the thickness of your absorption material is important if you go with foam or egg cartons, etc. To do it right following that path will likely be expensive.

Placing normal comfort furniture in the room will provide the same result with dual functionality.

You only need to keep the sound from bouncing all over the room and back to your mic.

A professional grade mic and some soft furniture is all you need.

Then if you need that reverb you can easily add it back in with any decent software.

But you'll not have to filter it out if you don't want it.

Filtering out reverb...is that even possible?

[luxaeternam]

I'm with Corthew on this one. A good mike makes a world of difference.

I first tried an external sound card. That reduced a lot of the noise, but still wasn't perfect.
Recording onto a mobile phone also produced better results than a standard mike or headset just plugged into the computer.
Going into the car and recording was also a relative improvement (but only if you either live in a quiet place or have very good sound proofing in the car)

I begged my better half to buy me a Zoom recorder mike for my last birthday (the H1, which is fairly modestly priced) and the sound it records is of very good quality (although you need to remember to remove the battery when not in use because for some reason it just drains it when it is switched off).

[ed]

Ricky Grove offers some really useful tips here:

http://vimeo.com/11180970

[Armanus]

Egg carton really does nothing to help. Thick moving blankets are really good ad absorbing high frequencies, but low frequencies pass through and will reflect off of hard surfaces, which could taint your recording by having too much low/mid-low end. For the best option, I would suggest recording in a room with lots of furniture and such that will absorb or diffuse sound. Use treatments only where needed as needed. High ceilings are a plus. Record facing a corner (but well away from the corner) if you have the room. This avoids having parallel walls which increase reflections. The biggest tip is to make sure you pick a room that doesn't share the same measurements on all three dimensions. A rectangular room with a height that is not the same as any of the wall measurements is best. A square room is bad. A cubic room is a nightmare.

[rgr]

All of the suggestions here seem like good options, but the best one is to get a good mic. There are a lot of different types, but for singing (or really even speaking if you want great sound) you should consider a condensor mic. Audio Technica has a very highly regarded model (AT2020) for about $99US. There are other mics in that range that will generally be better than a dynamic mic. The issue with noise can be dealt with better with a better mic. In general, if you find you need to turn up your mic gain to get a good sound, that's a problem. The more gain, the more of the mic's self noise level you will be subject to. Condensor mics typically need less gain and are thus more quiet.

Another suggestion I often hear is to put your computer under your desk so the fan noise is farther away from your mic. That should help with eliminating that part of a noise problem.

I personally like the duvet idea. It not only helps keep unwanted noise out but also keeps the sound you want to capture from rattling around the walls in your space. I use a duvet in a car when I can (using a portable 4 track recorder).

Good luck!

rgr

[scripter]

1) Try to buy a microphone or headset that doesn't use a standard jack. Jacks often pick up the hum vibration from your system. A headset or microphone that has a USB connection is the best option.

2) Buy a good programme to record your voice on. There's a lot out there to choose from. Personally I use Magix Movie Edit Pro HD. Not only can you edit your movie footage with this programme, but it's great for recording your voice on, sound fx too. There's a lot to play around with. I think it's currently around $69. I've had over 40GB of footage in this programme while editing and it's never froze once. I know there's loads of programmes out there, each better than the last, but this is fantastic for the price. (Renderosity is supposed to be pretty good for voice recordings too.)


And finally, number 3) Buy ol' scripter a nice bottle of wine on this sunny, but cool day HIC!

[urbanlamb]

Put a duvet over your head, that's a standard low budget option

I use the duvet thing but its more of a sleeping bag it works haha. I look really dumb doing it but it works I hang it over the pc monitor which doubles as the area I read the script from and a light source.

[scripter]

I use the duvet thing but its more of a sleeping bag it works haha. I look really dumb doing it but it works I hang it over the pc monitor which doubles as the area I read the script from and a light source.

I hope your pc isn't near the window. Would love to know what your neighbors think

[corthew]

I hope your pc isn't near the window. Would love to know what your neighbors think

I don't know about her but reading scripts can be a bit embarrassing when I know my neighbors can hear me through the window.

I've been surprised a few times that the police haven't come knocking to make sure no-one is dead.

[scripter]

I've been surprised a few times that the police haven't come knocking to make sure no-one is dead.

[jamesmackie123]

You don't need to do that. Buy the 'EditorsKeys' Portable Vocal Booth Mobile Studio includes the SL300 studio condensor mic. with USB directly into your computer. Excellent Analogue to Digital convertor using USB output. The Vocal Booth blocks out extraneous sounds. See on Internet From Jim Mackie

[primaveranz]

See on Internet From Jim Mackie

Are we meant to Google it?

[corthew]

Are we meant to Google it?

I just did and its ingenious.

It won't keep the neighbors from wondering who I'm killing in here but it does look like it'll significantly reduce background noise to the mic.

Only one problem, (for them, not for me)...My job takes me to quite a few construction sites and they throw out material that I could build my own from for practically free.

So I won't be buying one but the prices are very reasonable.

[spenayoung]

If you are having issues with neighbors, etc. you may want to ask around your local university, high school, and/or church (which often has great acoustics). There have been some really great suggestions, but I thought I'd throw these in there in case you hadn't thought about looking outside your home. I can feel your pain. I have a music studio in my apt. not fun!