Vocal Studio Design
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Metallitubby
Well-known member
We built one in our video/photo studio at work, which is in-essence just a larger garage-type room. Sound isolation is key, so using curtains/blankets and sound panels are key. We purchased almost everything from B&H Photo. Note that the room is mostly used for voice-overs for Honda commercials and social media posts, but it definitely took some adjustments and honing to get the echoes down and HVAC noise canceled properly.
This was written by a friend of mine, I've shared moderation duties with him on a couple of sites - I've been studying acoustics for about 20 years and he's light years ahead of me - including engineering sound stages for Spielberg (him, NOT me...)
Seems a bit high, but for what you want it should be the ONLY book you'll need... Steve
Seems a bit high, but for what you want it should be the ONLY book you'll need... Steve
bwringer
Well-known member
I've used a local sound engineer many times who built an amazing studio in his basement. Basements are a great starting point because you have a lot of isolation from being underground.
That said, he also had to live alone or toss everyone else out of the house when a recording session was underway; obviously you can't have people tromping around upstairs. The recording chamber was lined with anechoic foam and such, but the rest of the basement was equipped with soft surfaces everywhere, anechoic foam in strategic spots, several couches for resting musicians (and sound deadening), etc.
I've also used a larger studio in an industrial park. You can make damn near any space work with enough isolation, and there were places they had three or four feet of various layers.
All that said... single voice recording with a good close mic may not require such extremes. I've worked with talents who have something like a phone booth in their living room.
That said, he also had to live alone or toss everyone else out of the house when a recording session was underway; obviously you can't have people tromping around upstairs. The recording chamber was lined with anechoic foam and such, but the rest of the basement was equipped with soft surfaces everywhere, anechoic foam in strategic spots, several couches for resting musicians (and sound deadening), etc.
I've also used a larger studio in an industrial park. You can make damn near any space work with enough isolation, and there were places they had three or four feet of various layers.
All that said... single voice recording with a good close mic may not require such extremes. I've worked with talents who have something like a phone booth in their living room.
Hohn
Well-known member
$40 for a book that will help you avoid making mistakes on a project that will cost thousands is a bargain at twice the price.
jmarkwolf
Well-known member
I would think DIY info on building a home recording studio would have parallels to what you're hoping to do. Lot's of that available on-line and in books, etc.
Hohn
Well-known member
A vocal booth is MUCH easier to construct than a larger recording space.
Grab a bale of Roxul Safe N Sound batts. Build a basic structure to hold them, maybe even just attach them to a booth made of 2" pink EPS or blue EPS.
Get one of those mic-isolating things to shield the mic, a variant of this:
As important as acoustic isolation is, electric noise is critical too. Use a quality mic preamp and/or interface with good S/N ratio. Prefer a mic with higher output (look at the sensitivity spec).
Ensure you have very clean power running your interface/computer, etc. I'm not sure a Furman is anything beyond an overpriced surge suppressor, but some kind of power management/filtering/UPS etc might be a good idea of your local power is bad.
(Most rack noise issues are caused by other items within the rack-- just breaking down the items and getting them out of the rack will often fix noise issues).
Finally, you'll want to spend some time figuring out which mic is most complementary to the natural timbre of aspiring voice actor. Many mics will sound "good" but people with particularly sibilant or darker-timbred tones will definitely want to avoid particularly bright or warm mics.
If you have a sibilant-voiced person, don't overlook a ribbon like the Royer R121. They are a famous ability to tame harshness (like trumpet brass) while still having amazing clarity.
If you have a person with a naturally warm and less detailed voice, don't be afraid to go as far as a small diaphragm condenser. There are many compelling options now from relatively new companies (Lauten audio, Austrian Audio, etc).
cvairwerks
Well-known member
A used audiometric testing booth would give you a decent start while actually building a top notch studio. When I worked of a network, we had a number of these in various locations, sometimes even within a vocal studio.
billconner
Well-known member
I've spent last 40+ years designing buildings for the performing arts. Is this for your partner to practice or record? Just speech, not vocal music? No instrumental?
What are outside noise sources? Airports? City? Interstate?
Can you say where this is located, even generally?
What are outside noise sources? Airports? City? Interstate?
Can you say where this is located, even generally?
Metal-Marc
Well-known member
Once we recorded vocals in a big closet lined up with moving blankets. The last time I recorded vocals, it was just in my (big) living room with about a 1.5 seconds of natural reverb.
On an 80 acre farm about 200 yards from a 2 lane road. Sound engineer was here yesterday tweaking setup. Main focus will be voiceover and audiobook recording
dcg9381
Well-known member
My spouse has a music degree (cough cough as an engineer).. She's an amazing vocalist (singer) and has been a voice coach. We've dedicated about 25% of the shop to to that profession. She's been on TV numerous times in various commercials. To shoot a demo, we rent a studio. There really is no adequate and financially feasible substitute.
Is a dedicated space necessary? I don't think so. I'd wait and see "where the money is" before investing. Initial point of entry is a good mic and some sound barriers that can be accomplished with stands (as posted up). Most of the spouses gigs, when produced, are done in professional voice studios or video production studios. She's getting gigs (honestly) that are based on more than he voice. But I know people who do voice gigs, they take the same route as commercial/actors and are all in-studio with professional photos and voice demos that are recorded in studio. It may be different where you are.
Can you sell "voice over" at home? Perhaps. I can hire Darth Vader (or similar) voice overs for one-off things for not much money. But commercial voice over (with a real budget) requires a studio and I don't think they're doing it at home.
There is a lot of studio tech that is now 100% available to the average person at home, but I wouldn't want to build a production space.
DGersic
Well-known member
A friend built a voice recording booth for his daughter in her in-city apartment, basically filling a bedroom. She is actively working as a voice actor from the space, and has appeared (voice) in many commercials, video games, and movies that you would have heard of. It is very possible to do, but it’s not easy. She’s good, and works hard at it.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
One of my former neighbors had a commercial recording studio in his house, he did some musical recording there but I believe it was mostly used for voiceover work for TV ads and such. In addition to using that egg crate style acoustical foam on exposed surfaces, what he did was build a room inside a room, with the space between the walls filled with sand. They were more or less conventional wood stud framing, with the inner and outer walls about a foot apart. I'm not sure what the walls were sheathed with, I assume it was plywood so they were strong enough to withstand the weight of the sand. His place was unique, it had been a fourplex apartment building but the interior had been revised so there was a large studio space big enough to accommodate all this stuff (and the floor was reinforced to handle the weight). I live in the inner city where there's plenty of ambient noise from traffic, fire truck and police car sirens, etc. but inside his studio it was dead quiet.
In your case, since it's just a single person talking on a microphone, you could maybe build a smaller version that would fit inside a large closet or a spare bedroom.
In your case, since it's just a single person talking on a microphone, you could maybe build a smaller version that would fit inside a large closet or a spare bedroom.