I'm converting a hall closet into a very small iso booth, (3.5 x 3
feet). I know it's not ideal, but it's what I have to work with. I'll
mainly be recording VO's in there, occasionally some vocals.

My question is, how much is enough and how much is too much foam
treatment for the walls? (Aurolex, etc.). Should the walls be
completely covered for minimum reflection, or should there be some wall
surface left uncovered?

In other words, would covering all the wall/ceiling surfaces make the
room too dead for a good sounding VO?

Thanks,
JV

JV,

I'm converting a hall closet into a very small iso booth

A booth like that needs to be completely dead. Small room ambience is much
worse than no ambience, and vocals are rarely treated with natural ambience
anyway. So just record totally dry and add whatever is needed
electronically.

--Ethan

Hi JV.

IMHO, you should try an open room first. Unless you have a totally
noisy situation going, placing a hypercardioid mic oriented so that the
null points towards your equipment (or most problematic noise source)
will likely yield more natural sound and require less EQ'ing when it
comes time to mix. This will, of course assume that your room is of
fair size (either way, we know it is larger than your closet :-). IMHO,
you would do better to treat your main room as opposed to the closet.
Use the closet as a machine room, if possible, placing your noisiest
pieces of gear in there.

Now, an added benefit here is that setting up your main room for
recording will also make it a better place for more precise
editing/mixing.

Check out www.realtraps.com for more precise advice on treatment.

Regards,
Hassan Davis

Some materials people grab to deaden reflections soak up more highs
than anything else, and can make your recording sound dull when you
just wanted it deader. Watch out for standard foam sound squares.
You're almost better off using rags and towels. See if Realtraps has
bass absorption material within your budget. Try to avoid cutting the
highs to much when you deaden.