ventilation in home studio

[rakmanenuff]

I once visited some dudes who had soundproofed
a room in the guitarist's house, and basically it
was unbearable, no oxygen in there at all.

I've stuck a vocal booth in my front room (at home), with padded
walls on 3 sides and an opening where i put a partition screen
during recording.
Also a DIY false ceiling over the area where I program
and mix, (the neighbors upstairs and downstairs can't hear me)
ie some simple hardboard with rockwool on top.

Here's my problem: I can't afford a fancy solution with
proper air conditioning, and a system of fans blowing air
in and out is impractical for various reasons.
I might look into portable air con but that means a
hose leading to the outside doesn't it?

Air seems to get stuck and linger in certain corners,
the stale air is making me feel ill. When I had the ceiling
area more open the air seemed less dead, but small particles
of rockwool would drift into the room, when I close it off more
the air gets worse and still seems to seep into the room somehow.

I'm not sure why the stale air is moving around,
I need to either seal the closed areas off *more*
or leave more gaps so the air doesn't get stuck.
I try to open the windows regularily but then I can't play the
music loud because of the neighbors.

So, other than renting studio premises, doing
up the home studio more thoroughly, or just leaving
it at programming with no vocal booth, does anyone
have any bright ideas? It's all a bit mysterious, I'm surprised
it's become such a problem to be honest, I'm feeling
unwell as I'm writing this.

Cheers.

[Don Pearce[_3_]]

On Sun, 31 May 2009 07:07:50 -0400, "Soundhaspriority"
> wrote:

>
>"rakmanenuff" > wrote in message
...
>[snip]
>>
>> So, other than renting studio premises, doing
>> up the home studio more thoroughly, or just leaving
>> it at programming with no vocal booth, does anyone
>> have any bright ideas? It's all a bit mysterious, I'm surprised
>> it's become such a problem to be honest, I'm feeling
>> unwell as I'm writing this.
>>
>> Cheers.
>>
>Since noiseless ventilation is so difficult, perhaps something to allow a
>very quick air change while not recording? It would be very fast, very
>noisy, and you would run it only between takes.
>

Nice idea but it would play merry hell with instrument tuning.

d

[Laurence Payne[_2_]]

On Sun, 31 May 2009 03:01:17 -0700 (PDT), rakmanenuff
> wrote:

>I've stuck a vocal booth in my front room (at home), with padded
>walls on 3 sides and an opening where i put a partition screen
>during recording.

Does the main room sound so bad that you really NEED a vocal booth?
They often strike me as something people think they should have, but
often haven't really worked out why.

[Don Pearce[_3_]]

On Sun, 31 May 2009 12:30:42 +0100, Laurence Payne
> wrote:

>On Sun, 31 May 2009 03:01:17 -0700 (PDT), rakmanenuff
> wrote:
>
>>I've stuck a vocal booth in my front room (at home), with padded
>>walls on 3 sides and an opening where i put a partition screen
>>during recording.
>
>Does the main room sound so bad that you really NEED a vocal booth?
>They often strike me as something people think they should have, but
>often haven't really worked out why.

I've made a small (2ft square) fold-out like Ethan's portable booths,
and I would say it works perfectly. You don't get that feeling of
physical isolation from the rest of the room either, which is great.

d

[rakmanenuff]

On May 31, 12:30*pm, Laurence Payne > wrote:

> Does the main room sound so bad that you really NEED a vocal booth?
> They often strike me as something people think they should have, but
> often haven't really worked out why.

True.

The booth is to stop my neighbors from hearing
the singing, plus it means I don't have to wear headphones
when the singer is on the mic.
Acoustically the room would have been fine as it is.

[Scott Dorsey]

rakmanenuff > wrote:
>
>Here's my problem: I can't afford a fancy solution with
>proper air conditioning, and a system of fans blowing air
>in and out is impractical for various reasons.
>I might look into portable air con but that means a
>hose leading to the outside doesn't it?

Yes, but the key is for the air to be moving out and in very slowly but at
high volumes, and for the flow to be smooth and laminar rather than turbulent
and noisy.

There is a discussion of the whole thing in F. Alton Everest's book on small
studio acoustics, which is well worth checking out. He talks a bit about
doing it on the cheap and still having good noise control.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Paul Stamler[_2_]]

"Don Pearce" > wrote in message
news:4a2b6968.191760421@localhost...
>>>
>>Since noiseless ventilation is so difficult, perhaps something to allow a
>>very quick air change while not recording? It would be very fast, very
>>noisy, and you would run it only between takes.
>>
>
> Nice idea but it would play merry hell with instrument tuning.

Since this is explicitly a vocal booth, that shouldn't be a problem.

Peace,
Paul

[Peter Larsen[_3_]]

Paul Stamler wrote:

| "Don Pearce" > wrote in message
| news:4a2b6968.191760421@localhost...

||| Since noiseless ventilation is so difficult, perhaps something to
||| allow a very quick air change while not recording? It would be
||| very fast, very noisy, and you would run it only between takes.

|| Nice idea but it would play merry hell with instrument tuning.

| Since this is explicitly a vocal booth, that shouldn't be a problem.

I wouldn't want to bet.

|| Paul

Kind regards

Peter Larsen

[crow[_3_]]

Virtually silent air exchange can be achieved by building a baffled
plenum out of rigid fiberglass duct board (6 Lb density). About $60
in materials (I sheet of duct board & a roll of tape), add a fan &
that ought to do it.

jepp
if it sounds good...IT IS GOOD!

[[email protected]]

On 2009-05-31 said:
>>>allow a very quick air change while not recording? It would be
>>>very fast, very noisy, and you would run it only between takes.
>> Nice idea but it would play merry hell with instrument tuning.
>Since this is explicitly a vocal booth, that shouldn't be a problem.
true, but you and I both know that sooner or later
somebody's going to want to play an instrument in it.
Happens all the time. Yah it's just a vocal booth, until
the guy wants to track his acoustic guitar in there <g>.





Richard webb,
replace anything before at with elspider

[philper]

On May 31, 3:01*am, rakmanenuff > wrote:
> I once visited some dudes who had soundproofed
> a room in the guitarist's house, and basically it
> was unbearable, no oxygen in there at all.
>
> I've stuck a vocal booth in my front room (at home), with padded
> walls on 3 sides and an opening where i put a partition screen
> during recording.
> Also a DIY false ceiling over the area where I program
> and mix, (the neighbors upstairs and downstairs can't hear me)
> ie some simple hardboard with rockwool on top.
>
> Here's my problem: I can't afford a fancy solution with
> proper air conditioning, and a system of fans blowing air
> in and out is impractical for various reasons.
> I might look into portable air con but that means a
> hose leading to the outside doesn't it?
>
> Air seems to get stuck and linger in certain corners,
> the stale air is making me feel ill. When I had the ceiling
> area more open the air seemed less dead, but small particles
> of rockwool would drift into the room, when I close it off more
> the air gets worse and still seems to seep into the room somehow.
>
> I'm not sure why the stale air is moving around,
> I need to either seal the closed areas off *more*
> or leave more gaps so the air doesn't get stuck.
> I try to open the windows regularily but then I can't play the
> music loud because of the neighbors.
>
> So, other than renting studio premises, doing
> up the home studio more thoroughly, or just leaving
> it at programming with no vocal booth, does anyone
> have any bright ideas? It's all a bit mysterious, I'm surprised
> it's become such a problem to be honest, I'm feeling
> unwell as I'm writing this.
>
> Cheers.

Studio ventilation is both necessary and difficult, but doesn't have
to be
ultra expensive. I found a solution that works for me here:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
There are a WHOLE lot of posts to wade through, but lots of good info
about doing this at every
price level. The solution I use is generally called "chiller room",
ie using a cheap window AC unit
in another room and exchanging the air between that room and the
studio. There are many other
good DIY solutions too.

Philip Perkins

[Mike Rivers]

rakmanenuff wrote:

> Here's my problem: I can't afford a fancy solution with
> proper air conditioning, and a system of fans blowing air
> in and out is impractical for various reasons.
> I might look into portable air con but that means a
> hose leading to the outside doesn't it?

The hot air has to go somewhere.

> So, other than renting studio premises, doing
> up the home studio more thoroughly, or just leaving
> it at programming with no vocal booth, does anyone
> have any bright ideas?

I'd start out with some baffled ventilation to at least keep air
moving in the booth. Since you built the vocal booth, you're
probably handy enough with tools to build a couple of
baffled chambers lined with Fiberglas with a few back-and-forth
turns for the air to go through before it goes in or out. Put an
inlet baffle at the bottom and an exhaust baffle with a fan
at the output at the top of the booth. Use a low speed fan.

It will eventually get hot in there, but you can at least work
longer without a break.


--
If you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring and reach
me here:
double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo -- I'm really Mike Rivers
)

[Keith.]

"philper" > wrote in message
...
On May 31, 3:01 am, rakmanenuff > wrote:
> I once visited some dudes who had soundproofed
> a room in the guitarist's house, and basically it
> was unbearable, no oxygen in there at all.
>
> I've stuck a vocal booth in my front room (at home), with padded
> walls on 3 sides and an opening where i put a partition screen
> during recording.
> Also a DIY false ceiling over the area where I program
> and mix, (the neighbors upstairs and downstairs can't hear me)
> ie some simple hardboard with rockwool on top.
>
> Here's my problem: I can't afford a fancy solution with
> proper air conditioning, and a system of fans blowing air
> in and out is impractical for various reasons.
> I might look into portable air con but that means a
> hose leading to the outside doesn't it?
>
> Air seems to get stuck and linger in certain corners,
> the stale air is making me feel ill. When I had the ceiling
> area more open the air seemed less dead, but small particles
> of rockwool would drift into the room, when I close it off more
> the air gets worse and still seems to seep into the room somehow.
>
> I'm not sure why the stale air is moving around,
> I need to either seal the closed areas off *more*
> or leave more gaps so the air doesn't get stuck.
> I try to open the windows regularily but then I can't play the
> music loud because of the neighbors.
>
> So, other than renting studio premises, doing
> up the home studio more thoroughly, or just leaving
> it at programming with no vocal booth, does anyone
> have any bright ideas? It's all a bit mysterious, I'm surprised
> it's become such a problem to be honest, I'm feeling
> unwell as I'm writing this.
>
> Cheers.

Studio ventilation is both necessary and difficult, but doesn't have
to be
ultra expensive. I found a solution that works for me here:
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php
There are a WHOLE lot of posts to wade through, but lots of good info
about doing this at every
price level. The solution I use is generally called "chiller room",
ie using a cheap window AC unit
in another room and exchanging the air between that room and the
studio. There are many other
good DIY solutions too.

Philip Perkins

That 'Chiller room' is a good idea.

If the Chiller room brought air in from outside,cooled it and was well
sealed and if the audio room was adjacent to it and 'leaky' then the Chiller
room with its positive air pressure could leak air around the door frame to
the audio room with the lower air pressure.
Lot of 'ifs' there but it may be worth a try. At least the source of the AC
noise is removed from the booth.

Keith.