Voice Actors Should Get A Portable Vocal Booth

Voice actors can work anywhere but this means, you need a vocal booth — preferably one that doesn’t require much construction or money.

A vocal booth helps in creating a more controlled recording. Vocal booths greatly reduce and can possibly eliminate current background and/or outside noise. This will allow you to sculpt vocals, instruments and test materials without unwanted ambient noise.

But how do you choose one?  What size should you get?  How much soundproofing do you need?  Would you need to travel with the vocal booth or will it become a permanent fixture in your house or apartment?

There is no official classification of vocal booths, but in general all sound isolation enclosures such as sound booths or vocal booths (which are basically synonyms for the same thing), can be organized in three basic groups.

• Permanent booths. These booths are professionally built recording studios and Do It Yourself (DIY) projects, such as converting bedrooms into a vocal booth or a basement into a recording studio.  Such booths become a permanent fixture and cannot be removed from the premises. These booths can require major construction and become pricey.

• Modular kinds. Manufacturers do not use the term “modular” to describe their booths. Instead, they use words like “mobile vocal booth” or “portable vocal booth” or ”portable sound booth” to emphasize the difference from permanent sound isolation enclosures, which cannot be moved. These are much like modular homes. These are the true “portable” or “mobile” sound booths that you can take with you when you travel, whether in a car, train or airplane. These mobile vocal booths are light enough and small enough to be carried by just one person.  Portable vocal booths usually are built as small enclosures or just screens that create a beneficial acoustic environment around a microphone by reducing the reverberation and cancelling echo.  These booths are great for a road warrior — allowing voice actors to be able to make great recordings just about anywhere.  The obvious limitation is that they cannot provide a complete enclosure.

Using a vocal booth is essential for a voice actors’ success, but the choice of a vocal booth really depends on the intended use and budget.  As a rule of thumb, the more soundproofing you require, the more expensive it will get.

• In between. Recently, a new kind of vocal booth was introduced at the VOICE2012 Conference in Anaheim. These booths are in between “Modular” and “Portable.” Although these booths are full-size walk in vocal booths, these new booths can be easily assembled in 20 to 30 minutes by one person and transported in a regular-size car!  With a sound block layer, these vocal booths provide a level of soundproofing comparable with the modular sound booth but folds small enough to be tucked under a bed.

Setting up a vocal booth in your home or when you travel should never hinder your work or your personal life. In fact, a true portable vocal booth should make your life, as a voice actor, easier and less stressful by helping you gain better control of when and where you conduct voice over recordings.

Voice Talent: Taking Work on the Road While Traveling

The voice over field is one career option that doesn’t require you to stay in one place to conduct business. You can be a road warrior! In fact, most people in this field can easily take their gear with them anywhere and continue to audition and work with clients.

The key to successful audio recording while traveling is to make sure you take the right type of equipment with you. These things include a laptop, microphone and also a portable vocal booth – something that can be easily assembled and dissembled without tools. It is important to test these items and also pack them carefully.

Some of the things you should consider when working on the road is to make sure you can get internet access during intermediate stops or at the final destination. You may need to invest in an air card in case some areas don’t offer it. Also, try to take your equipment as a carry-on luggage to avoid possible damage in the cargo area of the airplane. You don’t want broken equipment or any possibility of it getting lost in transit.

To get the best sound absorption without the use of pillows or makeshift sound booths, (i.e. with pillows), consider purchasing a portable vocal booth you can easily set up and use anywhere. The Carry-On Vocal Booth can easily be set up in seconds anywhere (even at the airport) plus serve as a convenient carrying case to store your gear. The Carry-On Vocal Booth has 80% sound absorption.

With the right equipment, like a portable vocal booth — such as the Carry-On Vocal Booth, voice over talent can virtually work anywhere. And, this is good news because it means maybe not having to rush back from your “vacation” so quickly.

Moving Blankets or Sound Blankets for DYI Audio Recording Studios?

If you are in the audio recording industry, you probably know someone — maybe you — who have used moving blankets (instead of sound blankets) for sound absorption. It could be for your audio recording studio or simply to create a portable vocal booth.

Moving blankets are easy to find and generally easy on your pocket. But if you are searching for quality materials for sound absorption  – a must in audio recording — you may just want to reconsider using moving blankets, which aren’t even tested for sound absorption. Moving blankets are made for moving, and sound blankets are created for sound absorption.

Many audio recording studios understand the usefulness and the necessity of having sound blankets to absorb sound, especially with less than ideal equipment or studio set up. Acoustic sound blankets require minimal investment of time and money. And, many of these type of sound blankets can be washed and are very durable

Using Sound Blankets In Your Audio Recording Studio

Suspending sound blankets doesn’t require much know-how. You can use light stands with a “knuckle” or some other type of clamp. Or, to make things even easier, you can simply purchase sound blankets that already have grommets added to it. With grommets, you can drape the blankets around the room like a curtain. Easy.

No matter how you suspend the blankets, the surface coverage of the blankets and the distance from the speaker really makes the difference. As sound leaves a speaker’s mouth or an instrument, the closer the blanket is to the source, the fewer surfaces the noise can be reflected off before it gets absorbed by the sound blanket.

Sound Blankets Help Produce Quality Recordings

Acoustic treatment of an audio recording room is an important step in creating quality recordings.
Producer’s Choice sound blankets remain a popular brand of blankets. These sound blankets have also been successfully used for soundproofing for use in vocal booths and acoustic treatment of recording studios. The NRC rating is 0.8 (type G-75 mounting).

If you are searching for sound blankets, acoustic blankets, parts for a vocal booth or even a complete vocal booth, contact us at VocalBoothToGo. We also provide information about acoustic room treatment and soundproofing.