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Need to MacGyver a VO booth in a manufactured home
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JBarrett
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Joined: 19 Feb 2007
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Location: Las Vegas, NV

PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:17 am    Post subject: Need to MacGyver a VO booth in a manufactured home Reply with quote

We moved into a new home over the past weekend, and I've been struggling to set up VO recording space in the new house.

My nemesis: a small, boomy closet (52" x 24" x 106-110" [sloping ceiling]) with a shelf at 63"

My available resource: lots of used 3/8" carpet padding (which I've read isn't all that great for sound absorption, but it's what I've got to work with).

My budget (after spending what buffer money we had on moving expenses): somewhere in the range of zilch, possibly just a tad above zilch.

One of the big issues with this closet is that the wall paneling is super-thin (maybe 1/4"), and thanks to a loose panel, I can see that there's no insulation in the 4" gap between the back closet wall and the next room. We're renting, so I can't make permanent structural changes, though I've been given the okay to attach stuff to the closet walls (and secure the loose panel).

I've got a few ideas on what I can do with what I have -- mostly involving layering the padding and/or creatively placing it to create uneven surfaces -- but I'm open to suggestions.
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Bruce
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Covering hard surfaces with the thickest, softest, most textured items you can spare: quilts, blankets, fuzzy coats, animal skins. Maybe it's time to go huntin'.


B
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Rob Ellis
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also will likely depend on what kind of mic you're using.

A good dynamic might be worth considering, maybe a shotgun.
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todd ellis
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

scrounge goodwill, salvation army, the curb on trash day, u-haul for moving pads they might be retiring ...
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heyguido
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Every town has a Rent-a-Center. Well, almost.

They buy moving blankets in bulk, at around 3 to 6 bucks apiece. Cheap and fairly effective if doubled. Ask the manager to sell you a few.
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Monk
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

a couple of 24" x 48" rigid fiberglass covered with burlap sounds pretty freakin awesome.

A real builder supply, not Lowes or HomeDespot, can get you a few for less than 30 bucks. And I bought burlap at the local Agway for 2 bucks a yard.

I love the smell!
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Ed Gambill
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Justin

The furniture blanket (Sound Blanket) is good. They have a good deal of mass that can help some with transmission of outside sound in to your space. The surface of most furniture pads is tightly woven cloth and that will reflect sound energy. A trick that I developed is to place several objects behind each SB. That will accomplish two things in your case. First it will couple the mass of the blanket to the wall and reduce sympathetic vibration from outside sources. The protrusion of the object, maybe an old soccer or basket ball cut on half, will cause the surface of the SB to diffuse the sound energy from you booming voice.

Regarding the rigid fiberglass panel (Owens Corning) the 1” type would help with reflection. I got lucky and bought what I have at a salvage building material yard. There is one large industrial supplier with location all over the U.S. that might be cheeper than the folks who sell it for acoustical applications. Same stuff with a different market focus.

Instead of buying any material for covering, I bought very inexpensive terry cloth bath towels they were cheaper than any material even burlap that I could find. Check for a loose weave. If the ridge 701 1” has foil on the back remove it. I use a hot glue gun to apply nylon screen to the back then hot glued the towel to the front. Some push pins install with an upward angle and string to hang it off the wall and you are done with hanging. Hot glue on some 1” to 1.5” spacers in each corner so sound energy can see the back side and you have more bass absorption. Just give me a howler if you have any question,

Good luck
Ed
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JBarrett
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many thanks for the suggestions. During a Google search of our area for building suppliers (which wasn't terribly successful), I discovered that the Owens Corning world headquarters is just northwest of Dallas. I wonder if they have a storefront.
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todd ellis
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

or an outlet/scratch & dent department
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Frank F
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Boy, the "recording space" is going to be tight. I do not think my shoulders would fit in a 24" space.

Just thinking in text form... Why not use the space to store you equipment (and keep it very quiet) and put together a Gobo system to keep noise to a minimum outside the closet. Simple, movable, and very McGyver-esque.

Japanese screens are useful and cheap. Add some Auralex (not Furrrr-alex) or moving blankets to one side; the side where you will be addressing the microphone, and you have an easy three sided "booth" which will free up the "room" for other uses when not recording. If you need additional sound reducing - add more screens and surround yourself in the "pit".

In your situation the KISS system works better than confining yourself and getting claustrophobia. All considerations aside, the space allocated would be almost impossible to tune due to it's size. Think OUTSIDE the box.

Frank F
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Monk
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

+1 to Frank's idea, a bigger room will stop that boomyness and give you more air to breath!

breathing is good. I try to do it everyday. (in, out, in, out..) thank you Grover for the reminder.
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JBarrett
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I probably should have mentioned that a) the door is in one of the 52" sides, and b) I don't plan on fully closing the door to record. My current plan is to pad the interior as much as needed, then construct an easily collapsible/storable framework that I can stand up next to the partially-open door to form a V behind me while I face into the closet to record.
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JBarrett
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also forgot to mention that my wife called a little bit ago. She offered to stop by a nearby Rent-a-Center while she was out and about, and they had several moving blankets......which they gave her for FREE. Apparently they only accept cash, and as she had none, the rep who she spoke with said, "You can either come back and pay us something later, or we can just make your day." Smile
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Lance Blair
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had this same problem. Then I gave up, put the mic in the upstairs office and got $600 worth of Acoustic Panels from GIK and a bunch of soundblankets.

Light Noise Reduction and slight compander in AA3 is also my friend. Wink
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JBarrett
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I had the means to dedicate an entire room to the job, I would, but due to space restrictions in this new house, I have to share the room with two other computers and our TV (all of which will remain off whilst I record, naturally). There's a chance that I could convince my wife to let me makeover the room to be more acoustically friendly for VO recording, but that will be a long-term push.

The more I think about it, the more I like Frank's Japanese-screen idea. I would LOVE to not hop between computer and booth constantly. I need to get a look at the moving blankets that my wife scored today, and then decide if I'm still going to use the closet, or try something else in the room itself. And there's always hope for the Porta-Booth Plus that I purchased shortly before the move to play a part in the configuration somewhere, though initial tests at the old house had a distinctly boxy/hollow sound, which was disappointing.
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