Arts >> Music >> Recording Music

DIY Sound Booth

A sound booth is an isolated environment used for recording live sounds, such as vocals or guitars. A properly constructed and furnished sound booth functions as a "dead space." This means that echoes and sound-reflections are minimized, making for a more accurate recording. It is expensive and time-consuming to create a completely sound-proofed and dead acoustic space like you'd find in a professional studio, but you can achieve similar results by walling in a corner of your room.

Things You'll Need

  • Measuring tape
  • Plywood boards
  • Old bed sheets
  • Hack saw
  • Staple gun
  • Phillips screwdriver
  • 1/2-inch screws
  • Egg cartons
  • Fire retardant paint
  • Paint brush
  • 3 hinges
  • Rubber feet
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Measure the height of your walls. Make a note of the height.

    • 2

      Cut three pieces of plywood board with a hack saw so that they are approximately one inch less than the height of your wall. To reduce sound reflection, the walls should be of unequal widths. This is because perfectly rectangular spaces reflect sounds between the parallel walls. Cut one piece to 22 inches, one to 24 inches and one to 26 inches. For better sound-proofing, cut two pieces of six pieces of wood and nail them together in pairs. The extra thickness will improve the sound isolation of the board.

    • 3
      The leg support makes each board a free-standing booth wall.

      Cut another three lengths of plywood with the hack saw to use a support legs. The length should be approximately half the height of your board.

    • 4

      Lay out an old sheet on your work bench. Place a board on top of the sheet. Pull the corners of the sheet up and fold them over the board so that the downward-facing side is completely covered. Use a staple gun to fix the sheet to the back of the board. Cover each board in the same way.

    • 5

      Screw a hinge onto the uncovered side of each board, roughly one quarter of the way from the bottom of the board.

    • 6
      The support leg functions like an "A-frame" easel.

      Fit the rubber feet to the bottom of the support leg. If necessary, use a wood file to shape the bottom of the support leg so that it fits into the rubber foot. Screw the other end of the support leg onto the hinge.

    • 7
      Egg cartons absorb sound waves.

      Brush the egg cartons with fire-retardant paint. Leave the substance to dry for an hour.

    • 8

      Place the board on your work bench so that the covered side is facing up. Glue egg cartons to the sheet so they cover the entire surface. The peaks and dips in the surface of the egg cartons absorb sound and prevent it from reflecting. Sound reflects more readily off of a flat, smooth surface. Anything you can do to interrupt the reflection will improve the acoustic deadness of the booth. The board forms the "walls" of your booth.

    • 9

      Fix egg cartons to the walls in your corner of your room, from top to bottom and about 12 inches across on each wall.

    • 10

      Prop the three walls up, facing inward to the corner. The edges of each wall should touch and the edges of the side wall should touch the walls of the room. Slide one of the boards backward to access the booth. Drape a sheet over the top of the booth to reduce sound interference.

+:
+:

Recording Music

Related Categories