Hi there Ethan and greetings from across the Ocean.
I'm wondering if you would kindly offer some advice for acoustics in very small booths please?
I am about to convert a 6 x 4 garden shed into a vocal booth. Actually a voiceover booth. I'm aiming to line the interior with slab rockwool then cover that with MDF. There is no window and I'm going to uprate the door with MDF too. Soundproofing isn't much of an issue really, since it's going to sit in my spare room and we live in a quiet area. I'm hoping that will be enough to tame the birdsong and computer fan noise from the "control room".
My concern is how to tame the bass in such a small space? I don't want to suck out all the mid range and be left with a muddy mess!
I'm thinking that I'll treat about 70% of the inside surfaces with inch thick rockool covered with fabric. That should be enough to get the mids and highs under control. I may have some tiny space in three of the corners for some kind of bass trap, but the ceiling probably offers the most scope. It's a pent roof, which means that it slopes at quite an angle. So the ceiling is 7 foot high on one side, sloping down to 6 foot on the other side. I can sacrifice some space up there, since 6 ft or so is fine headroom for me, and it's unlikely that anyone else will use the booth - if they do they can crouch or sit!
Any thoughts would be gratefully received. I've searched the forum and the FAQ's but not found too much on bass in voice booths.
Registered: 06/12/00
Posts: 5227
Loc: New Milford, CT, USA
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Bass is a problem in small booths. Your 70 percent plan is fine, but some of that should be 4-inch thick panels straddling corners. Just as for a control room.
_________________________ www.realtraps.com The acoustic treatment experts
Ethan, Wouldn't another approach be to NOT try to absorb or even reflect any of the bass frequencies with the "booth" only use the booth to stop the higher frequency computer noises from getting into the booth? That way the larger room is handling the bass and less mass (hopefuly less expensive less trouble) is needed for the "booth". More of a vocal area with just enough of a structure to keep out the computer noise - such as walls and roof of blankets or something???
If so, what would you recommend? Blankets? 1" Mineral wool "gobo" type thing?
Registered: 06/12/00
Posts: 5227
Loc: New Milford, CT, USA
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Good point, and one of my favorite room "design ideas" is having walls made of cardboard. But in that case why even have a booth at all? The main advantage of a booth is its higher noise blocking compared to blankets etc.
_________________________ www.realtraps.com The acoustic treatment experts
