DIY Home Studio: Vocal Booths Large and Small

In the Home Studio World, the Holy Grail seems to be your own Iso, or vocal, booth.  This seems to be the measuring stick by which your home studio will be judged.  The reason being is that you can find at least 10 different variations to create or record vocals from home.  The most popular being a closet with clothing in it or even miniature versions big enough to hold a mic.  Based on budgets, time, need and space, you can pretty much create your “Booth” for the that “Real Studio Feel”.  Truth is, with a little ingenuity you can create something pretty dang close.  So rather than feature 1 way to do this, we will show you a couple ways to do it.

Always remember with a DIY project you are always going to get something different and spend a different amount on materials.  Here’s the Round up!

1. The “Miniature Booth”

The Mini booth seemed to come around after the popularity of the Mic mounted Gobo gained momentum.  These nifty little creations can actually be quite effective.  The Only problems are that you are still leaving one side open that is still receiving ambient noise and bleed.  But for a better sound on a tight squeeze, you can make one and it’s better than not having anything at all.

This funny man with a cat builds his out of Foam core board, the over used egg crate mattress cover, some glue and tape.  Total Cost: $38

Now if you are in a pinch in a Walmart, this is the way for you to go.  However, You might as well sing with a comforter over your head.

The Closet

Who doesn’t have a closet?  Why not use your Winter 09 wardrobe as acoustic panels?  I’ve actually heard some pretty good results with this method.  It’s not Sound City, but if you don’t have the money, space or budget, this is for you!

This actually works pretty well.  They only things you have to take into account are the heat factor (standing in a small closet in July surrounded by wool can get toast A/C or no A/C) and the need to control your mix and monitor.  Carol has a really great idea using the bluetooth keyboard.  If you have a spare monitor and mouse you can even use those in there.  You also have to buy a headphone extender to reach in there.  Once again, step up from singing under a comforter.  Total Cost: $40

The Folding Door Booth

This idea I love!  At the studio we will use huge standing styrofoam baffles to make a large room smaller.  So this is a great way to make a cheap version.  The idea behind it is to purchase folding doors and put foam on one side, they can stand on their own and you can store and move them really easily.  If you can’t do major modifications on a room, than this is the way to go.  Check our the video and you can see what I mean!

Greatest part might be that you can suspend a roof therefor leaving a gap to keep it cool. What this also does is gives you a flexible space, so it you need to add a couple sections you can even fit a drum set.  Total Cost: $250

Of course I could keep going, but these are three ideas you can use when building a Iso booth.  Just remember the goal is to have a great product, it doesn’t have to be pretty or completely sound proof.  Play around with some ideas and make music fun!

If you have any ideas you would like to share, please let us know and post your pics of your home studio on our face book page for a chance to win a copy of “Modern Recording Techniques” at the end of the month!

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