How best to soundproof a room with thin windows?
March 8, 2019 12:45 PM Subscribe
My fiancee does freelance voice work. We just moved to a place with weird slat windows that are great for everything except blocking sound. Home recorders/engineers/film people of MeFi, what are your favorite products for soundproofing? Acoustic blankets? Regular blankets? What's the solution here?
I’d get acoustic egg crate and glue to light foam panels you can put over the windows when recording.
posted by tilde at 1:19 PM on March 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tilde at 1:19 PM on March 8, 2019 [1 favorite]
This may be more low-budget than what you're looking for, but Transom did a great article with audio clips demonstrating different DIY soundproofing solutions. They tested several options, and their final recommendation was:
- sit in a closet with clothes (or a blanket) hanging behind your head
- place cardioid mic into "portable sound booth" made of a $5 fabric cube filled with 2" thick pyramid acoustic foam
posted by ourobouros at 2:17 PM on March 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
- sit in a closet with clothes (or a blanket) hanging behind your head
- place cardioid mic into "portable sound booth" made of a $5 fabric cube filled with 2" thick pyramid acoustic foam
posted by ourobouros at 2:17 PM on March 8, 2019 [3 favorites]
Egg crate is mostly pointless in this regard, I'm afraid. In general acoustic foam is kind of a rip off, as are those "vocal shield" thingies for the most part, unless you really like comb filtering.
If you're just trying to block sound from the windows, but ordinarily want the windows to be free, moving blankets or a Gobo are probably the way to go. You can build an effective one yourself with Owens Corning 703 or Roxul, or get them made for more $$$.
I'd probably start with something more like a DIY vocal booth made out of cheap moving blankets or comforters draped over mic stands. Avoid a common amateur mistake: the singer faces *out* of the booth and the microphone points *in* toward her.
She should also consider using a dynamic mic with a hypercardioid pickup pattern (better rejection of things the mic isn't pointing at). And using a high-pass filter around 100Hz, since the hardest sounds to block are low rumbly things like a big truck idling or a plane going over.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:52 PM on March 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
If you're just trying to block sound from the windows, but ordinarily want the windows to be free, moving blankets or a Gobo are probably the way to go. You can build an effective one yourself with Owens Corning 703 or Roxul, or get them made for more $$$.
I'd probably start with something more like a DIY vocal booth made out of cheap moving blankets or comforters draped over mic stands. Avoid a common amateur mistake: the singer faces *out* of the booth and the microphone points *in* toward her.
She should also consider using a dynamic mic with a hypercardioid pickup pattern (better rejection of things the mic isn't pointing at). And using a high-pass filter around 100Hz, since the hardest sounds to block are low rumbly things like a big truck idling or a plane going over.
posted by aspersioncast at 3:52 PM on March 8, 2019 [2 favorites]
You don't list a budget, but for full time voice work, you may want to consider investing in a sound booth. Here's a past question with some good points about that.
posted by ananci at 4:46 PM on March 8, 2019
posted by ananci at 4:46 PM on March 8, 2019
Oh and if you're going for acoustically dead, the suggestion above about a closet lined with something is probably best, although rather than foam I'd use either layered moving blankets, roxul or corning 703, the thicker the better. A nicer vocal booth will be even better, although on the cheaper end you'll be better off saving your money and using gobos/closet.
Finally, depending on the kind of voice work she's doing, acoustically dead isn't necessarily what you're going for, especially if the room sounds good otherwise and you're just trying to block outside noise. E.g. recording a speaking voice in my living room generally sounds quite nice compared to a truly dead room (as opposed to loud amps or drums, which very much benefit from a more dead room).
posted by aspersioncast at 11:04 AM on March 9, 2019
Finally, depending on the kind of voice work she's doing, acoustically dead isn't necessarily what you're going for, especially if the room sounds good otherwise and you're just trying to block outside noise. E.g. recording a speaking voice in my living room generally sounds quite nice compared to a truly dead room (as opposed to loud amps or drums, which very much benefit from a more dead room).
posted by aspersioncast at 11:04 AM on March 9, 2019
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posted by amanda at 12:58 PM on March 8, 2019