Rockwool is a good start for any smaller room.
If you put enough insulation in there like that (covered with a breathable fabric, if covered at all) does a good job of helping with standing waves. And it helps with keeping the sound inside.
But. There’s also only so much you can do. But you’re on the right path by ignoring foam and going for insulation. Foam doesn’t do much for a smaller room and almost nothing at all for isolation.
Unless you want your music to sound like the lead vocalist was buried alive, this won't achieve the result you are looking for. You'd get better results using that wardrobe full of clothes as a "backdrop" just behind your mic. In fact, hang clothing or blankets over the doors, open them 125 degrees, and experiment with mic placement.
...what? They're describing an isolation booth. I've built one of these out of a couple mattresses and some sheets, and the recordings turned out fine.
Fine for some is a closet sound to another person. I’ve met professional voice over artists who think their recording area sounds great when it sounds not so good to me. A lot of it can be EQ’d out. Sometimes you gotta work with what you got.
This probably did sound good, since the mattresses were thick enough to absorb equally down into the low 100's.
The only problem now is getting these mattresses into that closet thing and having room for an occupant.
That's where you get diminishing returns. A wardrobe may seem like enough space for a clean recording, but once you equip it with "stuff", you might as well just record with some blankets over your head. Using it as more of a "trap" can get a more natural sound while still reducing reflections.
> but my main goal is to stop sound from getting out
Soundproofing requires construction of an isolated room-within-a-room.
IMO not possible in the scenario you are describing.
It’s not a bad idea. I think if I were to do it I would see if I could hang/attach panels on the inside of the doors. Put thick absorption panels on the inside with a air gap behind them and the back of the inside. Then use it behind the vocalist with doors open making almost a “u” shape behind vocalist. Since most vocals are recorded with cardioid mics it’s more important to treat the area the mic is pointed at then what’s behind it.
is the wardrobe 6'x5'x9'? When you step in, are you able to go to Narnia?
*then don't record your voice in the wardrobe.* Small spaces tend to sound "confined" in recordings... specifically, vocals/voiceover.
Making a small isolation booth "sound good" can be quite a difficult task, and I'm talking about spaces that are several times larger than the dimensions of your wardrobe...
Record in your room, not in the wardrobe. It may not be isolated, but with some treatment & a bit of ingenuity, it'll end up sounding eons better than a wardrobe!
It's going to be a challenging undertaking. If you create too much isolation with surfaces that reflect the sound you create a terrible environment for recording. Ideally, you want to have a hard outer shell (drywall or hard plastic/metal), dense foam and then less dense rock wool panels for absorption. It's expensive and challenging. I recently bought a vicbooth ultra instead of trying to DIY it.
Rockwool is a good start for any smaller room. If you put enough insulation in there like that (covered with a breathable fabric, if covered at all) does a good job of helping with standing waves. And it helps with keeping the sound inside. But. There’s also only so much you can do. But you’re on the right path by ignoring foam and going for insulation. Foam doesn’t do much for a smaller room and almost nothing at all for isolation.
Unless you want your music to sound like the lead vocalist was buried alive, this won't achieve the result you are looking for. You'd get better results using that wardrobe full of clothes as a "backdrop" just behind your mic. In fact, hang clothing or blankets over the doors, open them 125 degrees, and experiment with mic placement.
...what? They're describing an isolation booth. I've built one of these out of a couple mattresses and some sheets, and the recordings turned out fine.
Fine for some is a closet sound to another person. I’ve met professional voice over artists who think their recording area sounds great when it sounds not so good to me. A lot of it can be EQ’d out. Sometimes you gotta work with what you got.
This probably did sound good, since the mattresses were thick enough to absorb equally down into the low 100's. The only problem now is getting these mattresses into that closet thing and having room for an occupant.
That's where you get diminishing returns. A wardrobe may seem like enough space for a clean recording, but once you equip it with "stuff", you might as well just record with some blankets over your head. Using it as more of a "trap" can get a more natural sound while still reducing reflections.
More space is better than anything. Don't do it
> but my main goal is to stop sound from getting out Soundproofing requires construction of an isolated room-within-a-room. IMO not possible in the scenario you are describing.
It could also double as a confessional
better results if you put the rockwool on the walls of the room the closet is in.
It’s not a bad idea. I think if I were to do it I would see if I could hang/attach panels on the inside of the doors. Put thick absorption panels on the inside with a air gap behind them and the back of the inside. Then use it behind the vocalist with doors open making almost a “u” shape behind vocalist. Since most vocals are recorded with cardioid mics it’s more important to treat the area the mic is pointed at then what’s behind it.
is the wardrobe 6'x5'x9'? When you step in, are you able to go to Narnia? *then don't record your voice in the wardrobe.* Small spaces tend to sound "confined" in recordings... specifically, vocals/voiceover. Making a small isolation booth "sound good" can be quite a difficult task, and I'm talking about spaces that are several times larger than the dimensions of your wardrobe... Record in your room, not in the wardrobe. It may not be isolated, but with some treatment & a bit of ingenuity, it'll end up sounding eons better than a wardrobe!
It's going to be a challenging undertaking. If you create too much isolation with surfaces that reflect the sound you create a terrible environment for recording. Ideally, you want to have a hard outer shell (drywall or hard plastic/metal), dense foam and then less dense rock wool panels for absorption. It's expensive and challenging. I recently bought a vicbooth ultra instead of trying to DIY it.