Recording booth

[merendo07]

I've built a small, portable booth for voice recording, utilising my incredible carpenting skills It's basically a U-shaped (viewed from above) wooden frame which I then filled with acoustic insulation panels (glass wool panels from the hardware store). The room in which I do my recording has a nasty echo which can be heard in my recordings, so I'm hoping that the "booth" will fix this.


Wooden frame


With insulation panels


Stapling on white fabric


Inside covered with white fabric

The booth is 665mm (2' 2.2") high (that's the height of the panels plus 40mm from the wood boards), the inner space is 700mm (2' 3.5") wide, so it's sufficiently "spacious" inside

I look forward to doing some recording for the Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius in the booth. Maybe I'll line the inside with some acoustic foam panels to dampen the mid-to-high frequency range. Remains to be seen...

Thoughts?

[tovarisch]

Thanks for sharing your progress and result. Very neat!

My thoughts... An overkill, probably, but hey, when else does one get to exercise one's incredible carpenting skills, right? A couple inches of convoluted open-cell foam in the same U-shaped enclosure would probably do; it'd be a bit lighter... Consider that your ceiling and your desk are likely hard surfaces, so cover one of them to see what difference it might make. A bath towel (OK, two bath towels) folded under your booth should work wonders.

Can you also post the "before" and "after" recordings? You know, so we could ooh- and aah- about the effectiveness of your labours and envy your skill...

[Cori]

I put fairy lights inside my last booth, but I guess that's probably not the kind of finishing off you had in mind.

It looks great! Is it heavy? I agree with tovarisch that some kind of mat or towel over the table could be helpful too.

Very interested to know what effect it has, both on the echo and on how you feel about recording once you use it.

[merendo07]

Thanks for the compliment It is actually rather heavy. Now that it's (more or less) finished, it's already becoming apparent to me what I could have done differently to reduce weight without compromising structural stability. Oh well, live and learn.

Indeed, I do plan to attach some adjustable legs to the frame, so it doesn't sit on a desk with a hard surface which my voice reflects on... That will also allow me to record while standing (which I prefer) - this will hopefully reduce reflections from the floor, and since it's a carpet, it should be ok. I'll check what legs are available at the hardware store some time next year

There are plenty of "before" recordings in the Discourses project (not yet finished) where the echo from the room is quite apparent - they actually make the room sound a lot larger than it is. Of course, the next recording will be made with that contraption, hopefully without any echo or at least, much less.

I have a feeling this project will be a work-in-progress for some time I'm already thinking about adding a Raspberry Pi for recording, as well as a small LCD inside for displaying the script from which I read

[moniaqua]

When you have carpet underneath, you probably won't need a base for the booth.
As long as it sits on the table I'd simply place a bath-towel on the table in the booth, or a pillow, or a plate of acoustic foam. I'd also replace the insulating material with acoustic foam (ist es Steinwolle? Ich mag das Zeug nicht wirklich). On the top I'd put a plate of acoustic foam, too.

Instead of/Additional to an LCD-screen for reading I'd maybe just place a LED-panel/strip to one or two of the edges, so you could read out of books, or an ebook-reader, too. Rasperry pi for recording sounds good

[merendo07]

I've done three test recordings for comparison. One without the booth (terrible echo), one with the booth and the microphone sat on a hardwood desk and one with the booth freestanding (actually, with the booth proped up precariously on folding chairs) - much like I intend the final setup to be like.

Without booth: http://mmikw.altervista.org/1Min_w_o_booth.mp3
With booth, microphone on hardwood desk: http://mmikw.altervista.org/1Min_w_booth_on_desk.mp3
With booth freestanding: http://mmikw.altervista.org/1Min_w_booth_freestanding.mp3

moniaqua: Here's a link to the exact product I used (sorry, the page is only available in German): https://www.isover.de/Produkte/akustic-tp-1-daemmung-fuer-den-innenausbau-leichte-trennwaende. It's not Steinwolle (rock wool), it's a glass wool product - the type that's terribly irritating to the skin if one doesn't wear appropriate PPE when handling that stuff (yes, I did wear gloves ).

[moniaqua]

Without booth: http://mmikw.altervista.org/1Min_w_o_booth.mp3
With booth, microphone on hardwood desk: http://mmikw.altervista.org/1Min_w_booth_on_desk.mp3
With booth freestanding: http://mmikw.altervista.org/1Min_w_booth_freestanding.mp3

I like the third option most. I know that a dry signal is wanted, but with just a little bit of reverb it does sound more natural to my ears.

It's not Steinwolle (rock wool), it's a glass wool product - the type that's terribly irritating to the skin

Outch. I hate that even more, but it's your booth Thank you; I wasn't ware that acoustic damping is available at the home depot, but it makes sense

[lurcherlover]

What do you have above the booth, on the ceiling? Ceilings often reflect quite a lot - so having a blanket or something similar over the top of the booth will make quite a difference.

But the difference is already excellent from the original.

[merendo07]

What do you have above the booth, on the ceiling? Ceilings often reflect quite a lot - so having a blanket or something similar over the top of the booth will make quite a difference.

But the difference is already excellent from the original.

I have nothing on the ceiling, so that probably causes a little bit of reflections. But I think I'll be satisfied with the result for now. There is still a whiff of an echo but it's ok.

I now use a Raspberry Pi (without a screen) for recording, controlling it remotely via VNC (from my phone) and using my old Blackberry Playbook tablet as an eBook reader - works fine and involved no further expenses

[Cori]

If your phone's an Apple, every time you record you have three of your '5 a day'

[Piotrek81]

You'd never see me going to such lengths just for the sake of a better hobby recording. You're clearly more determined than me. May the "contraption" work well for you.

Bonus point for the maps on the wall

[merendo07]

If your phone's an Apple, every time you record you have three of your '5 a day'

I'm not sure I get that joke But my phone is an Android, so I have to keep eating real apples...

[merendo07]

You'd never see me going to such lengths just for the sake of a better hobby recording. You're clearly more determined than me. May the "contraption" work well for you.

Bonus point for the maps on the wall

Thanks

[Cori]

Ah ... https://www.5amtag.de -- Raspberry, Blackberry and Apple. It wasn't the BEST joke I've ever made.

[merendo07]

Ah ... https://www.5amtag.de -- Raspberry, Blackberry and Apple. It wasn't the BEST joke I've ever made.

Ah, I get it now I did know of the five-a-day campaign (having lived in Britain for some time) but I guess "Raspberry" and "Blackberry" have become product names to me, rather than fruit designations

Btw, this is the current setup which I used for making a few recordings already:

The Samson Meteor Mic, the Blackberry Playbook and the Raspberry Pi, which is attached to the underside of the wooden frame. I put an acoustic panel, which I had lying around, on top of the frame