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Post by Brittany Ann Phillips on May 14, 2018 8:45:42 GMT -8
Hey VAC community,
I was wondering if anyone might have some suggestions for alternative places to record.
In my current living situation, I live in a residence with paper thin walls. It is shared with seven other people, including bedrooms. I am only able to record auditions once a week or two at best. My goal is to record on a daily occurence, which means that I need to find a place to have a permanent set up where I won't bother anyone else. Unfortunately I do not have a garage or a vehicle to use.
After racking my mind over it for several weeks and researching with no answers, I thought to ask here. Has anyone else had this problem where they are unable to record at home and found a way to solve it?
Brittany
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 13:37:16 GMT -8
Yes, I have the same problem (excess of birds, excess of kids, living 30' from a highway and my fence is in the process of being replaced.) Unfortunately you've already ruled out my solution to my issues: recording in the car.
What makes this a particularly tough one to solve is that your fundamental issue isn't acoustic treatment. It's soundproofing. The only real way to tackle soundproofing is to put mass between you and the source sound. You can do this with a DIY booth, but it's going to be a substantial structure.
The most straightforwward way to do this, aside from buying a Whisperroom, is to build a free-standing double-wall box inside your house and pack the walls with acoustic insulation. This is basically interior wall construction. This will substantially reduce outside sound, but won't stop loud housemates from being in the room with your booth.
Provided you can kick them out of the room in which your booth will live, you may be able to do something along the lines of what Duffy was building. He used metal lumber from the hardware store (the Meccano of big stuff), and draped acoustic carpet to make the walls and ceiling, with more acoustic carpet on the floor. He said the acoustic carpet is backed with a HEAVY rubber layer, so the whole thing winds up being pretty substantial. The mass in the carpet helps damp outside sounds.
Past that you're in the PVC/moving blanket kind of thing, which is good for acoustic treatment, but won't stop outside sound from over-active housemates.
Other possibilities:
If you can come up with a fairly mobile setup that you can carry, see if your local library has study rooms with doors that close. The ones at the university where I went to school had terrible acoustics, but not so bad that a moving blanket wouldn't help cut it down.
Past that, check in at local studios. Depending on where you're located, there may be some smaller studios that might be willing to work a deal so you can access one of their voice booths. (I'm trying to swing that where I am. There's one studio I've been recording background ambience tracks for, and another that I've loaned microphones to in the past. Heck, I'd sweep the place if it gave me access!)
Just tossing out ideas.
Cheers!
Tom
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Post by Brittany Ann Phillips on May 14, 2018 13:57:03 GMT -8
Hey Benedict/Tom!
Sound proofing would be nice, but I think that just being distant enough away from other sounds would work out as well.
To give some more detail, my recording area is set up by PVC piping and covered by layers upon layers of blankets.http://instagr.am/p/BS2DE_nAdNa It's constructed in a cube form that covers a four foot by four foot space. It is literally the only space in the room, pressed up against pieces of furniture and leaving no place to walk around. Hence why it cannot stay up permanently.
I live in a pretty small city. Unfortunately there are no studios. The closest one is a three hour drive away.
I was looking into the local university, as they have a music building, but I am worried that they would say no, especially since I am no longer a student and my set up isn't very mobile. :/Brittany
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Post by Bean on May 14, 2018 14:45:24 GMT -8
For what you have to work with, you're making it work. I was going to say build a fort, then I see the picture where that's basically what you did. The only other option I could think of is just flat-out recording under your covers, but that won't be fun in the summer.
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 15:05:47 GMT -8
I agree with Bean. Your setup is ahead of mine! How tall is the ceiling of your booth? How inconvenient would it be to just flip up or remove the blankets and have people walk through the frame of your booth?
On local studios, neither of the ones I've been talking to are in anything resembling a phone book. One is a guy who works at a local school who records on the side. The other are friends I work with who record on the side as well. Can't hurt to ask local musicians if there's anyone local, or check the local coffee shops or live performance spots to see if anyone has left contact info. (I get the small town thing, though. I live in a small cow town. Both studios are the next town over.)
Cheers!
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Post by Brittany Ann Phillips on May 14, 2018 15:26:05 GMT -8
The height is about 5 feet. Unfortunately there is not enough room to pass as the width you see in the picture is the width of the entire room in between the furniture (the chair is pressing up against the dresser,the monitor against the bed, and the far blanket against a book shelf).
I have no problems with the actual set up itself, it works well. My biggest issue that I can't leave it up, which is why I'm trying to think of another place I could set it up and leave it there permanently (the length and difficulty of setting up and taking it down everyday is taking it's toll).
I realize this is a difficult question to find an answer for. Thank you Benedict and Bean for providing some suggestions.
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Post by benedict on May 14, 2018 15:38:38 GMT -8
Bummer.
One other possibility, though I don't think it's any more portable than your existing booth: For the room in my house where I hope to eventually record, I was planning to make some faux rice paper screens out of plywood and acoustic foam. When not in use, they'll fold flat and stow against the wall. When I need to use them, swing them into position and cap with a moving blanket.
Tom
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Post by cbdroege on May 14, 2018 23:34:39 GMT -8
Also check local libraries. Sometimes even small libraries will have a small recording room or two that you can use.
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Post by Rebekah Amber Clark on May 16, 2018 8:11:55 GMT -8
Couple questioms. Are you worried about noise from outside getting in or YOUR noise getting out or both? Are the other people adults or at least older kids you can work with?
Can you do laundry, make dinner, etc. For your housemates in exchange for 1 or 2 hours a day where they do something quiet (like watching or listening to stuff on headphones) while you make noise voice acting?
I have a similar arrangement but only live with 2 other adults not 7 people or any young kids.
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Post by Brittany Ann Phillips on May 16, 2018 8:38:51 GMT -8
Both, but having a permanent physical space for recording is the most pressing issue that I have (especially when it comes to short deadlines or anything short notice. There is a lot of things I had to pass up on because I'm unable to slip in behind a mic, record quickly, and then slip out to proceed with the rest of the day). The people I live with aren't exactly supportive of what I do and I've tried negotiating with them before, but it doesn't work out well. Which is why it would be better if I could find a place where I'd be out of everybody's way and be able to record more often.
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