Home recording with condesor mics

[The Hickman]

     What are some suggestions to eliminate room sound and street noise while recording with condenser mics? I do not have room or money to build an ISO booth, or invest in expensive studio quality sound dampening materials. I'm looking for more of an effective "at home do it yourself fix". I've heard of people using a shower curtain bent into a "horse-shoe", attached to the ceiling the draping thick blankets downs to create a sort of vocal closet. Also, I've seen theese things made by Real Traps called Portable Vocal Booths (PVB Click on this link to  see what I'm talking about).
     Does anyone know how I could make my own effective, yet, inexpensive PVB? I'm not really much of an engineer, but I sure can follow "ABC Directions". Plus, I thought it would be nice to have something that others could reference as well.

[The Hickman]

I just found this website. ATS Acoustics
This is a good place to get the materials to make your own sound proofing panels or to buy pre-made ones. Very inexpensive (comparatively). What does everyone else think?

[ronmac]

Soundproofing (shutting out all outside noise) and room treatment (smoothing out room nodes and frequency response) are two distinct issues that require completely different approaches.

Soundproofing can only be achieved by a complete acoustic separation of your recording environment and placing enough mass to absorb sound energy (double or triple layered sheet rock on staggered walls, floating floors, etc.) between you and the outside world.

Acoustic treatment is the art/science of sound absorption and diffraction to create an environment that does not have a wildly varying frequency response as you move about the room.

[The Hickman]

Soundproofing can only be achieved by a complete acoustic separation of your recording environment and placing enough mass to absorb sound energy (double or triple layered sheet rock on staggered walls, floating floors, etc.) between you and the outside world.

So "eliminating" all external noise (outside and the rest of my house) is only possible if I completly sound proof the room or construct a sound proof studio?

What about ideas to simply "reduce" much of the unwanted noise?

[sdelsolray]

So "eliminating" all external noise (outside and the rest of my house) is only possible if I completly sound proof the room or construct a sound proof studio?

What about ideas to simply "reduce" much of the unwanted noise?

The simplest way to mitigate external noise (i.e., environmental sounds) is to use a recording technique called "close micing".  Using mics with cardioid or hypercardioid patterns, place them rather close to the source, say 8" from the 12th fret for the guitar and a similar distance for vocals.  This will increase the volume of the source relative to the outside noise.  You need to turn your preamp down a bit when doing this.  Also, cardioid mics add more bass response when using close micing (aka "proximity effect"), so you might need to adjust the low frequencies by cutting those frequencies with an eq software plugin after you have finished recording the tracks while you are mixing.  Another thing you can do is turn off the heater, air conditioner, etc., and record at a time when the street noise is at a minimum, like at night.  That will help too.

[The Hickman]

Thanks sdelsolray! Would it much of a difference if I constructed a "vocal booth" with some 24" x 48" acoustic panels? Also, what about using a noise gate?

[SMan]

I used to work as a facilities project manager for a large airplane manufacturer and access to their anechoic chamber.  A huge room filled with all kinds of sound deadening foam.  You could hear a heart beat when inside.  I would have loved to bring a guitar in and play it.  Wish I'd have thought of it then.

[sdelsolray]

Thanks sdelsolray! Would it much of a difference if I constructed a "vocal booth" with some 24" x 48" acoustic panels? Also, what about using a noise gate?

That is an complicated question.  Ronmac (as usual) provided some of the answer above.  A noise gate won't help much.  It will cutoff extraneous noise when you are not playing the guitar but once you start playing it is not functioning.  As to your room and possible treatment, 2' x 4' x 4" fiberglass (Corning 703) panels are great.  I have 6 of them in my 16' x 12' x 8' room, along with some other treatment.  But they don't help much with outside noise.  My room is underground, so it is nearly dead quiet in the first place.  I use the room treatment items to tame the room - mitigate standing waves, slapback, etc.

The things you can do to minimize unwanted noise are cumulative.  They all help, but none alone will make the problem disappear.

Again, for your situation, close micing will help alot.  Consider learning about that through experience and experimentation.

[ronmac]

So "eliminating" all external noise (outside and the rest of my house) is only possible if I completly sound proof the room or construct a sound proof studio?

What about ideas to simply "reduce" much of the unwanted noise?

I am not sure what sort of space or external noises you are dealing with, so very difficult to give definitive answers. Can you describe your space and the outside environment, please.

It is possible to make excellent recordings in less than ideal locations. I just learned yesterday that a song that was selected to be part of a recording project by our national broadcaster (CBC) was self-recorded in the middle of the night in a downtown clothing store! The recording features a variety of acoustic instruments and gorgeous 3 part vocal harmonies. It is easily on par with other work this artist has produced in some of the best studios this country has to offer.

Careful consideration and planning will save you a lot of time, frustration and money.

[frankhond]

Sound on Sound magazine has a long series of articles about home recording. Here are some examples online:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun09/articles/studiosos_0609.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr09/articles/studiosos_0409.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar09/articles/studiosos_0309.htm

And soundproofing....

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may08/articles/soundproofing.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may04/articles/qa0504-5.htm

All kinds of neat tips like hanging a duvet behind you on a shower curtain, placement of acoustic panels etc etc. It seems to be a case of knowing what to listen for and inventing techniques to eliminate.

[rockstar_not]

The simplest way to mitigate external noise (i.e., environmental sounds) is to use a recording technique called "close micing".  Using mics with cardioid or hypercardioid patterns, place them rather close to the source, say 8" from the 12th fret for the guitar and a similar distance for vocals.  This will increase the volume of the source relative to the outside noise.  You need to turn your preamp down a bit when doing this.  Also, cardioid mics add more bass response when using close micing (aka "proximity effect"), so you might need to adjust the low frequencies by cutting those frequencies with an eq software plugin after you have finished recording the tracks while you are mixing.  Another thing you can do is turn off the heater, air conditioner, etc., and record at a time when the street noise is at a minimum, like at night.  That will help too.

This is the method I use.  Also consider recording in a room with a closet 3/4 full of clothes - open the closet door, place the back side of the condenser up near the clothes - even make a 'wedge' out of the hung clothes, and you'll cut out a great deal of extraneous noise from outside the room - but you can get rid of most of it by close miking, and making sure the back side of the mic is in as dead of a place in the house as you can find.

-Scott