VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Neil K. Hess]

I was wondering if anyone else out there has any phone patch horror stories about a neighbors barking dog, unexpected neighbor lawn mowing, impromptu parades or other such events that make a phone patch a nightmare? ( I have my first big phone patch gig next week).

Also, what do you do to minimize the chances of these things happening? I have started making notes of when lawn care is done by neighbors and what not, but I feel like a lot of it is out of my control. How do you handle these situations when they come up?
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http://neilkhessvo.com

[Jason Huggins]

Build a soundproof room, and you'll be good to go.

[Jeffrey Kafer]

I avoid phone patches whenever I can for just those unexpected sounds. Especially during the summer.
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Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com

[Bish]

This is where I feel lucky that I'm in an underground bunker and completely immune to neighbours or landscapers (even my own). The problem with extraneous noise (apart from the obvious one) is that if it comes up during a session (phone/skype/ISDN), you completely blow the image of professionalism. I certainly don't want to have to apologize for the neighbour's lawnmower in the middle of a session!

Are all the neighbours a problem? If it's just one or two, then it may well be worth just having a chat with them. Smile sweetly and tell them the situation and ask for a quiet window. Chances are they'll be co-operative and actually ask you more about what you're doing.

Maybe I'm a tad naive, but I think most people are decent and will respond well to a straight request. Worst case will be they say they have no control over when their landscapers turn up.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[ballenberg]

So Bish, tell us about that bunker...because usually even in basements, the whine of leaf blowers and lawnmowers, get right through. Did you build a dedicated room down there? What do you do about the home's mechanicals, which must be in the same general area?

Neil--when you say phone patch, I imagine you're referring to any directed session that the client is listening to live--so it could be Skype, analog patch or ISDN--It's true..without noise-proofing, you're at the mercy of 1) whatever is going on outside and 2) your client's schedule. Avoiding accepting sessions that require direction doesn't seem to be a very practical solution...and finding the ideal time? Well, that's fine if it's the clients ideal time. Other than doing whatever quick fixes you can--window plugs, stashing yourself and mic inside a closet, you're pretty much dependent on luck of timing. Truthfully it's leaf blowers that have probably caused more money to be spent on WhisperRooms and studio construction than any other single cause. They're an obnoxious multi-band sound, and they're hard to ignore.

Also, you may want to try a noise gate. I'm not referring to a software gate, but rather a downward expander, similar to a Symetrix 528 or DBX 286a. Not sure what's still available , but they can work wonders, within reason. And I guess if you were inrterested in that, it would be a good topic for a Search..or for Gear.

Good luck!

[Bish]

It's really a standard basement... I guess it's quite deep (deep enough so there's no room for high-level windows). The (8x12) room I converted has a crawlspace between it's walls and the outside concrete. The only weak spot is the ceiling which was a standard drop type which I modified with some OC703 panels mounted in place of the regular ones. My only weakness is when someone jumps up and down directly above my head or turns the surround-sound up high. This occasional internal noise is controllable with threats and bribery. Across the hall from me is the washroom with washer and drier... I can't hear them when they're going... the central air is not connected to my room, so no issue there. Really, my landscapers can come and go without me even knowing.
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Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

[ballenberg]

Definitely bunker-like. Quiet is good. Thanks Bish

[Neil K. Hess]

Yeah after fretting about this I know that a Whisper room is absolutely in my future. Thanks for all of the feedback.
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http://neilkhessvo.com

[jsgilbert]

I had a 400 square foot room built on to the outside of the house. There's a walk-in basement and I annexed about 400 more square feet to add on to the room and make a complete studio. A former employee of a major acoustics building firm helped me design a room within a room in that basement. Externally, it is 10.5 feet by a little over 7 feet. Inside is approximately 6 x 9. We used a process of offset studs, along with rubber grommets and rubber against coupled parts, to cut down on vibrational noise. We also used Quietrock sheet rock, green glue and created a 1/2" air pocket. The door to the booth is a triple paned heavy duty patio door. It doesn't have a floating floor, but the walls are decoupled to the floor and grommeted at those points. The floor is simple rubber padding you might use behind a bar. I have a whisper quiet fan installed in the booth, but I tend not to record with it on.

The total cost to build the booth was probably around $2,800 - all materials, my labor (I was in better health then) and the guy who helped me was working with me on trade. The major expense was the patio door, although I lucked out and got one that had been custom made for someone else and didn't fit.
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j.s. gilbert

js@jsgilbert.com
www.jsgilbert.com

"today is the first day of the rest of the week"

[vkuehn]

[jsgilbert]

In Sound Forge, average levels are -6 to -9, with peaks to around -3db

Noise level is a fairly consistent -63 to -61, If I have the air on, it goes to -60 to -58. I could easily correct in noise reduction, but I prefer not to monkey around if I don't have to.

The only exception is one small area upstairs in a back bedroom. If the tv is on loud in there or my wife is loud on the phone, watching baseball, etc. it can raise the noise floor 2 - 3 db's, but it doesn't "print" on the recording, mostly just vibrational noise. I'm pretty sure we didn't isolate the ceiling all the way. It's rarely an issue. The original spot for the booth was 2 feet from where it is now, directly under a linen closet, but for various reasons it needed to be moved.
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j.s. gilbert

js@jsgilbert.com
www.jsgilbert.com

"today is the first day of the rest of the week"

[jsgilbert]

I might also mention that I have had leaf blowers going on in the backyard, neighbors using earth movers, etc. and I'm located under a pretty active fly area from SFO airport and none of these has bothered the recordings. The only barking dog problem is my dog and she's not allowed in the booth.

As much as possible I've tried to recreate the overall quality of a professional studio. I would have like my booth to be bigger, like 15 X 12, only because this would alleviate the need to have the room be dead quiet. In smaller sized booths, there is really no option.
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j.s. gilbert

js@jsgilbert.com
www.jsgilbert.com

"today is the first day of the rest of the week"

[Jason Huggins]

I spent about $3k on my 8x8 room, and I sit at a consistent -72db at recording levels that peak at -3db. I also have my iMac 4 feet from my mic. With AA noise reduction I can get the noise below the meter picks up...but I usually don't because it just isn't necessary.

[Quicksilver]

I patched into my old 528e's expander the other day on a whim.

I love it now, I don't really need it, my room is quite, ~66db peaking at ~3db,without it but I can now leave my air conditioning on and it makes editing and clean up easier. I can also compress a little more without it being so obvious if I need to for car spots or imaging or something. It takes my noise floor down to like -87 and the 528 is so good you can't tell it's on (outside of from the ridiculously low noise floor)

If its a super important session with a promising new client I would probably buy some beer for the neighbors to be quiet or go rent a studio.

[vkuehn]