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Bruce · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 8:21 am Post subject: I can hear your booth

Just an observation on a topic we've covered a bit lately...

I did an ISDN session yesterday with a voice talent elsewhere in the country, a two person spot with a boss and employee having a conversation. Wow, we could really "hear" the other guy's booth, his voice bouncing off of the (I'm guessing) firm insulation and maybe the music stand in his little space. The problem was compounded by his having to yell for part of his role. I'm in a big room that's decently soundproofed so there was no clear sense of room size coming from my end. I could sense the engineer's frustration in trying to match our vocal qualities to make us sound like we were in the same space.

Just thought I'd mention this for those who record in small spaces. Can others "hear" your "soundproof" room? It may not matter much when you record alone...I know it doesn't matter to most of the public and quite a few tin-eared producers...but it can be a problem in certain situations. A change of insulation material may be all that's needed.

Maybe I'm just over sensitive, but it's always bugged me when they do dialogue replacement in films with actors who are in big spaces or outside on screen, but half of their lines sound like they're in a small booth. It just doesn't compute for me.

B
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Deirdre · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 9:48 am Post subject:

The interior of my little boothie is nearly totally soft; Hanging quilts a la Banksey, and the few hard surfaces are covered with upholstery fabric.
My monitor is tilted away from me.
Oh— and although my booth can fold into a square footprint, I don't record with it like that, so I don't end up with the geometric problem of having a 4X4 room. I'll bet that has a lot to do with the integrity of the sound.
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ballenberg · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 2:00 pm Post subject:

DB--You showed us what you've done to tame reflections and eliminate bounce, echo and such. But what is your secret to the other part of the equation: In other words, we know how you keep your voice in--but how are you keeping Burbank out? Soft fabrics aren't doing anything for that, so what's the trick?

Steve Knight · Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2011 5:35 pm Post subject:

I've tried the booth thing with a 4x5 converted closet and got a "boxy" sound no matter how many moving blankets or Auralex panels I hung on the wall,..I've been told by a couple of audio pros that my mic (a Neumann TLM-103) and similar mic's need some space,..so I'm going for the "room within a room" route, so to speak resulting in an 9x9 recording space that'll hopefully keep out the noise from family, and appliances such as TV's water heaters, washers, dryers, etc

georgethetech · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 1:27 am Post subject:

Whenever possible choose the larger space available in your home. So often people cram into a closet and leave the noisy PC outside, where it should be the other way 'round! The ONLY reason to go into the closet is if the room its attached to is so noisy that you need the extra isolation. They require a lot of bass trapping and wide band absorption to sound neutral and dead without sounding "boxy". If you have a closet with nothing but 2" Auralex or moving blankets, it ain't gonna sound good.

Invest in a window or door retrofit if that's where the noise is coming through. You'll also feel much better performing in a larger space because it just feels more natural and sounds better in your ears to hear a bit of liveliness. BUT, that doesn't mean your MIC has to hear that.
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Deirdre · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 1:36 pm Post subject:

Mike Sommer · Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:17 pm Post subject:

DB's place is pretty quiet over all-- She's rather "strategically" located, so that there are no direct paths of sound to the microphone. Most of the noise is the steady drone of distance traffic, and that is being handled pretty well. It's the loud noises, the big trucks, the leaf blower and lawn mowers that really get ya. DB's doors are providing that "added bit of Isolation" that she needs to block out exterior noise. Can she do better? Of Course. But this is not a permeant situation, and in this case she is getting the job done. She is also employing a rather directional mic to cut out any stray noise bleed.

Back to the topic of Echo and Room reassurance. This is why I prefer an acoustically dead room, because there is no such thing as a "Remove Echo" button.

If a room is not properly treated, you will have problems with Echo and Room resonance when you talk or shout.

FYI: To Soundproof a room, is to construct a room that keeps the frequencies of the Human Voice in or out or both of a structure.

Sound Isolation is keeping sound out or contained in a structure that fall within the frequency rang of human hearing and or beyond.

Acoustic Treatment reduced and or absorbs echo/reflection, and resonance of a room.
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ballenberg · Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:09 am Post subject:

Thank you both--

kgenus · Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 8:30 am Post subject:

Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:13 am Post subject:

Ignoring the Voice Acking and on topic. A few years ago I asked for a number of VOs to send recordings to mix together for a project.

Both technically and from a taste point of view over 80% were simply not up to "as advertised" standard. A stick it together and get the levels to match production turned into a full scale audio rescue including heliocopters, Navy Seals, two men called Douglas with a white enamel bucket, paramedics and a man with a clipboard wearing a HiViz Jacket and a hard hat.