Vocal Booth -- Closet

Thatoneguy · Post by **Thatoneguy** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:57 pm

This topic has been touched before and I even posted a few questions on it before, a few months ago. Well I am continuing the project now and have a few questions.

I've already torn out all the existing drywall and ceiling. I'm down to studs, except for the floor, still have my existing floor. The closet is 5'x7" long and 3'x2" wide. I plan on using OC 703 with resilient channel on the studs, with two layers of gypsum board.

My question is, what to do with the ceiling and floor. This will only be a booth for vocals. But still want it to be as isolated as possible. I haven't tore up the floor yet but the ceiling is down to the studs. My ceiling is straight, until the last foot, it curves down to follow the roof. I can straighten this out to be level, but will this make my room too boxy sounding? I've read quite a bit on floors but I'm not sure how to go about calculating the resonate frequency for the floor and the pucks if I should float the floor. I want a lot of isolation, but with only vocals being recorded, will it be a big problem if I just throw pucks down on the joists and add gypsum board?

So to start out with. . .

1) Will the closet sound boxy or unattractive with four parallel walls, and parallel ceiling/floor. With foam on each surface with carpet. All high freq. absorbers.

2) The floor, do I have to calculate the resonate freq.? Or can I just float the floor on pucks and be the best I can get?

One more consideration. I'll add two pictures to show the location of the closet in question. The drawing is not too scale, but a rough representation of where the closet is. The red in the first drawing is where the closet is. The other two pictures show how the closet "hangs" over my staircase on the bottom floor. So the closet is indeed on the second floor hanging over with nothing underneath it. So pouring cement on the floor is probably not a good idea.

Thatoneguy · Post by **Thatoneguy** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 12:49 pm

*bump* I know there's someone with a suggestion or two? Maybe to help me finish this project up?

cfegela · Post by **cfegela** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 1:39 am

Use pink stuff inside the walls. Use 2 layers of sheetrock. Blow off the RC. Surface mount a 4" thick 2'x4' absorber on the the door and the opposite wall, and two 2" absorbers on each side wall (to preserve a *little* space). Hang another 4" absorber down a couple inches off the ceiling. Keep the floor plywood. I bet if you sat on a stool with your back against a side wall, you could even record acoustic guitar in there. Make music. Have fun. Don't get bogged down by design issues...I see a lot of pictures of theoretically correct studios on this board but not a lot of mp3 samples. Yes, folks, you are being called out.

Thatoneguy · Post by **Thatoneguy** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 3:05 am

I am going ahead with your idea on the "pink stuff" also called insulation. But I am not going to "blow off" the RC. This is where my isolation comes in. I didn't come to Studio Construction forum at a recording web site to find out how to put up drywall, I came here to find out how to put up drywall to make it isolated from the rest of the house. And as far as samples go, again this is a studio construction forum, on how to construct studio's, not to post your band's mp3's. Thanks for your comments, but I think I'll wait for a more educated response.

Post by **sharward** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 3:41 am

cfegela wrote:I see a lot of pictures of theoretically correct studios on this board but not a lot of mp3 samples.

Maybe that's because this is...

Not that I mind MP3 samples now and then... But there may be disk space and bandwidth considerations if the samples aren't links out to other sites.

cfegela · Post by **cfegela** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 5:10 am

You are missing the point, but I think you both know that.

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:42 am

Definitely do NOT "blow off" the RC, or other resilient mount, for your walls; the one place RC REALLY helps is in the vocal range. That's its original reason for existing. Bass isolation isn't affected one way or the other, it's all about air gap and the mass of the two leaves.

For a vox booth, if you get bass bleeding INTO the booth you can always use a low cut filter either on the mic or on the board/DAW.

For your floor, this is one area that can get tricky; for that small an area, you may be able to use some Auralex U-boats UPSIDE DOWN over your existing floor joists and fill between joists with rockwool, put some strips of fluffy fiberglass over that (which will be compressed some by the floor) - then, OSB/drywall/osb sandwich floated on the upside-down U-boats.

Wall layers go on after that, hung on RC or RSIC clips/hat channel, and caulked at each layer, using foam backer rod each layer under the caulk.

Not "blowing off" these details will make about 10 dB difference in your perceived noise levels in either direction.

I'd look for 2" mineral wool and cloth rather than use foam in a booth; that will help fight the "boxy" sound more than anything. Start with only the surfaces near the source (your mouth), in about a 2' wide band around the perimeter - full coverage on the ceiling, spaced a few inches away from the ceiling if possible.

HTH... Steve

Post by **sharward** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:56 am

knightfly wrote:. . . use some Auralex U-boats UPSIDE DOWN over your existing floor joists . . .

But... But... Then they'd be "n-boats."

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 1:34 am

Actually, come to think of it, they'd be "N-CAPS"

Post by **sharward** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 2:26 am

That they would -- undoubtedly with the same lack of testing and specs!

Thatoneguy · Post by **Thatoneguy** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 4:07 am

I've been researching and looking around but for the life of me I can not find prices on almost anything. I did find a quote for some insulation, but I can not find any resilient channel. Anyone know of a place around Toledo Ohio to pick this stuff up or even a rough estimate of how much it will cost to cover a 6' x 3' x 8' area?

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 11:05 am

Have you called these companies yet?

Don't be surprised if none of them carry RC - there is a bias against the stuff by most NON acoustic contractors, largely because almost NONE of them have any clue how it's to be installed and so they typically make things WORSE on their first attempt, forever after thinking the stuff's no good.

Another approach - ask ALL the building supply places in your area about Dietrich steel framing; if they're a dealer, they can probably order RC Deluxe for you.

About 18 months ago, I could buy 12 foot lengths of RC locally for $2.14 - with the drastic price increases in steel, it's probably more like $5 per stick.

For 8' ceilings, you need 6 rows of RC - placed at bottom, middle and top of the lower 4 feet where the bottom sheet can attach, and at bottom, middle and top of the UPPER 4 feet. So for your closet, you'd need 108 feet or 9 pieces 12' long, NOT including the ceiling. Add a couple more 12' lengths (for a little bit extra just in case) and you'd need 11 or 12 lengths.

You'll also need FINE thread screws to attach the wallboard to the RC, and COARSE thread ones to attach the RC to your framing. These should be available at nearly any home improvement center.

Check out
this thread for caulking method and reasoning.

HTH... Steve