Erggo

Karen@KarenCommins.com

Karen Commins

Award Winning

Atlanta Audiobook Share-rator™

Studio

Assembly Tips for Custom-Size Studiobricks Booths

At my previous house, we constructed an additional 16′ x 19′ room in 2005 for my studio. I bought a 6′ x 8′ WhisperRoom which fit well in that space. I happily used it for 15+ years.

After moving to this house in 2018, my WhisperRoom seemed a little too large for the room I chose for the studio. I bought a 6′ x 7′ Studiobricks booth earlier this year. It was delivered in 2 large boxes on 11 May.

Drew and I had watched several assembly videos of standard booths and looked through the instructions from Studiobricks. We thought we were prepared and that the two of us could easily and quickly put the booth together. After all, we’d built the WhisperRoom at each house and disassembled it twice. In fact, Drew almost single-handedly disassembled it this last time for its sale.

Reader, we were not prepared, in large part because Studiobricks (SB) did not send the correct instructions for my booth! This article will outline things we learned through the trial and error method over several weeks and tips for assembly of custom-size Studiobricks booths.

Before I continue, I do want to say that SB has been extremely responsive to our messages. However, I would have expected that a company that’s been in business for over 10 years would have all their documentation ready and wouldn’t piece-meal it to the customer as they run into problems. If we’d had all the correct guides at the beginning, we could have saved a lot of time and frustration. I do recognize, though, that the company is greatly expanding its US sales and continuously improving its products and service all the time.

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A Demonstration of My Soundproof Studio

When I started my voiceover career, I recorded in a tiny closet with accordion doors. The room is upstairs on the front of the house and faces the street. The only entrance to our subdivision is about 150 yards away from my house.

Consequently, 99% of my 200+ neighbors must pass my house every time they enter or leave. To make matters worse, we live at the top of a hill. The neighbors step on the gas to get up that hill. I constantly had to stop my recordings every time a car passed.

Moving to a walk-in closet across the hall helped to alleviate some of the car traffic noises. However, it didn’t help with the air traffic, leaf blower, lawnmower, and other noises around here. The county airport is not far from our house, so planes with small propellers are constantly flying overhead.

In 2005, we decided to take drastic measures to reduce the noise. We started by replacing all of the windows on our house with triple-pane, casement windows. Instead of the common double-hung windows, which have 2 pieces that open by sliding them up or down, casement windows are one piece which opens outward. The movement forms a better seal to the house, and the 3 panes of glass with krypton gas between them significantly buffer outside noises.

We also built my stunning soundproof studio employing the following techniques:

  • 2 layers of ceilings with R30 insulation between them
  • 2 layers of 5/8″ drywall (instead of the usual single layer of 1/2″ drywall) in each of the ceiling layers and all 4 walls
  • 2×6 studs instead of 2×4 to provide additional space for insulation
  • sound barrier insulation under the siding and R30 insulation in the walls
  • air pocket between the garage and the studio
  • 2 entrances, each with an air pocket between 2 doors
  • no windows
  • built on a concrete slab

I bought a 6’x8′ WhisperRoom sound isolation booth. The WhisperRoom adds more density and air pockets in my quest for silence. Since the floor is on wheels, it can eliminate the low, rumbling noises that could be generated by passing trucks.

What a joy to record in this room! I can’t remember a time when I had to stop work due to a noise outside the studio.

I thought you might like to see and hear a short demonstration of the effectiveness of my studio. Using my iPhone4, I made a little video today after Drew started his motorcycle. I deliberately left the video in one continuous, unedited take, so I apologize in advance for any jerky movement. Turn your speakers up to really hear the difference!

PS. If you’re considering a room addition on your house, you’ll want to absorb my lessons learned before you hire a contractor. Download your free copy of Karen’s Crash Course in Avoiding Ca$h-Poor Contractors.

Considering a WhisperRoom for your voiceover studio?

After recording voiceover scripts for years while standing in dark, unventilated, small closets, building a soundproof studio was a dream come true! As you can see in the picture below, my WhisperRoom is large component of the studio, both in size and function. I LOVE it and feel that it is a key selling point for potential clients.

Voice talent Karen Commins records in her 6’x8′ WhisperRoom

 
Last week, I received another inquiry from a voice talent who is considering the purchase of a WhisperRoom. Like others who have contacted me with the same questions, this person wrote that he couldn’t see a WhisperRoom in person and wanted to get an opinion from someone who has one. I decided to re-purpose my answer to him to help other voiceover talent who are faced with the same decision. Everything that follows below is my opinion, and I have received no compensation from WhisperRoom for my sound endorsement.

In 2005, we built a room onto the house and employed special soundproofing techniques in its construction, including 2 layers of ceilings and 2 layers of 5/8″ sheetrock on the walls. I had to go to extreme lengths to soundproof my house and studio due to the frequent and varied types of external noise at my house, especially from cars and planes.

I considered building a “room within a room” for my booth by adding an interior wall. Building an interior room might have been a cheaper option, but I chose to buy a WhisperRoom because of its portability. If I ever move to another house, I can disassemble my booth and take it with me. Furthermore, the resale value of this house would be greater without an interior wall in my spacious (16’x19′) studio to confuse home buyers. As a bonus, the WhisperRoom is a capital expense in your voice-over business that can be depreciated on your tax return over several years; check with your tax advisor for details.

You can get practically any size and configuration of WhisperRoom to meet your needs. I bought a 6’x8′ booth because I thought I might want to record my harp in there, which hasn’t happened in the almost 5 years I’ve had the WhisperRoom. However, I have had 2 people sharing the same mic in it, and it was roomy enough for that purpose. Since it’s modular, I could expand it to a larger size if I ever had the need, and I suppose I could contract it as well.

I bought the optional ventilation system but don’t recommend it to other voice talent. The hum of the fan is too noisy when I’m recording. I occasionally run the ventilating fan on a break just for air circulation, but I usually tend to open the door and step out of the booth. Due to the additional insulation in my studio, I’m usually pretty comfortable in the booth.

Assembly and Delivery Considerations

Once you’ve decided on the size of the booth that you want, the delivery and assembly parts of the transaction will require some planning. The WhisperRoom is made of Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF), which is a great sound barrier because it is denser than plywood. It’s also incredibly HEAVY!

I always warn people that my booth actually weighs OVER 1 TON (2200 pounds) and is sitting on a concrete slab. Be sure that your floor can accommodate the weight of the booth that you purchase. The WhisperRoom floor is raised on wheels, which gives you additional sound isolation, as well as flexibility in moving the booth.

Also, the booth is shipped completely unassembled in multiple boxes; mine arrived in 41 boxes. Even though we had specified inside delivery, the guy driving the truck would not bring in the boxes. I was thankful for a sunny day because he left them on the driveway.

We were finishing construction on the room for the studio, so some contractors happened to be on-site that day. My husband Drew tipped 2 of them to help him carry all of the boxes into the studio. You may also need similar help available on delivery day.

WhisperRoom provided clear assembly instructions, and Drew and I were able to assemble the booth over Labor Day weekend. Our biggest problem was lifting the door onto the hinges. The glass in the door made it even heavier than the other panels, and keeping it steady until the hinges met and the hinge screw could be turned was incredibly frustrating.

After numerous unsuccessful attempts, Drew had the brilliant idea to use a car jack as a lift for the door! Drew held the door on the jack while I cranked it up. It was relatively easy for him to slide the door into the hinge with the weight of the door supported by the car jack.

The Sound of Silence

I can tell a tremendous difference in the level of quiet once I step into the booth. If you don’t live on a quiet street and/or have your studio in your basement, I highly recommend the purchase of a WhisperRoom if your budget allows it.

You may ask whether Harlan Hogan’s Porta-Booth Pro would serve the same purpose as it does isolate the sound recorded with the microphone. Although I’ve never tried one, I think the Porta-Booth Pro is aimed more as a solution for mobile recordings. It doesn’t have room for a copy stand, and you can pack it away.

In addition, I like the WhisperRoom for my own concentration. While the mic may not pick up the whir from the refrigerator or other people in the house when placed inside a Porta-Booth Pro, I would hear and be distracted by those sounds. A WhisperRoom would give you all of the quiet space that you need for your recordings.

As a side note, I think a voiceover studio should be both functional and enjoyable. Why have plain walls and a booth when you can design a beautiful area that expresses your personality and beckons you to go to work? Not only do I love my studio, but the WhisperRoom folks liked my picture so much that they put it on their sales brochure. 🙂

If you have any other questions about my booth or studio, please leave a comment on the blog!

edited 8/2/10 to add a missing word

Using my iPad in my voiceover recording studio

Recently, the talented voice actor Paul Strikwerda asked a question on the highly active discussion board of the LinkedIn Working Voice Actor group about using an e-reader in his recording booth. I decided to re-purpose my answers to Paul’s question into this post.

My iMac computer is outside of my WhisperRoom recording booth. I have longed to have a paperless studio and perform my scripts straight off a computer. I can’t place a computer in my booth because my microphone would pick up the sound of even the quietest computer fan. My MacBook Pro laptop is very quiet but not quiet enough, and any computer fan could rev up at unexpected times.

I originally wanted a second monitor in my booth. I could either stretch cable 10′ or more across the center of the studio floor or wind it a greater distance around the baseboards and corners to reach my computer desk. Due to the size of my WhisperRoom and the door placement in my studio, reconfiguring the studio isn’t really an option. I don’t like seeing cables everywhere, especially when my stunning soundproof studio is so incredibly beautiful that WhisperRoom features it on their brochure. Therefore, a second monitor is not an option. Wireless monitors seem to be on the horizon, so maybe a second monitor will be workable for me in the future.

The Apple iPad has solved the problem for me. I use the Wi-Fi on it to connect to my wireless LAN in my house. I’ve been able to read scripts from agents’ and clients’ web sites, as well as long e-learning Word files sent in e-mail.

My view of the world when I’m recording voiceover scripts and audiobooks —
my Neumann TLM 103 mic and Apple iPad

 
I had an Amazon Kindle, but it didn’t work well for me in the studio. It was cumbersome to load a Word or PDF document to it. Scrolling the screen required a click, which could be audible and/or disrupt my flow of narration. I can endlessly and quietly scroll the screen on the iPad while continuing to perform.

I typed my original response to Paul on my iPad, which reminded me of another advantage to it. I was recording a job, and the client sent me some changes in e-mail. I was able to read the e-mail and record the changes without leaving the booth.

My husband is my director, and he also has an iPad. He can keep the script in front of him while maintaining full-screen view and control of Pro Tools on the iMac. When Drew isn’t available to help me, I use a Frontier Design Tranzport to control Pro Tools from within the booth, so that’s another reason the iPad is a good solution for me.

The only downside I have discovered is that I can’t mark the text while recording, like when I want to take notes on direction. I could mark text in Word on my computer before recording. The method is not perfect, but it’s superior to printing.

The iPad doesn’t have a built-in app that lets you edit text in Word. However, as you might guess, “there’s an app for that”. Apple’s Pages app is the most popular. It can be purchased in the App Store for $9.99 and gives you functionality similar to the MS Office suite. This PC World article has more info about viewing and editing Word docs on an iPad.

Your PC can already talk to the iPad with email. If you’re using Outlook, you could set up a Gmail or other web e-mail account. You could then send your edited file to yourself and read the attachment in the booth.

I’m recording an audiobook of a public domain book. I was able to find the book in iBooks by searching on the title, and it loaded in that app. Just like on the Kindle, the on-line dictionary is handy. I can also change the font size and highlight characters’ lines within the iBooks app.

I saw a note on the Yahoo Voiceovers list that someone did an audition with an app called PureAudio ($2.99 in the Apps Store) and thought it came out well. When I originally posted about it, I saw only a handful of reviews were available for that app, and most were reporting various problems. Since the iPad is in its infancy, I know that more and better apps will be available over time.

Oh, and BTW — Drew and I have given up our Kindles. I’m a voracious reader, and I loved my Kindle. After getting the iPad, I didn’t use the Kindle. I can read my Kindle books on my iPad with an app. The fact that the iPad allows me to carry around a library of videos, books, and music is an added bonus to its tremendous functionality in my studio.

If you’re not a member of the Linkedin Working Voice Actor group, you’re missing a lot of fantastic and lively discussions that will help your voiceover career! Another talented voice artist and group owner Ed Victor always “whacks the hornet’s nest” with a new and interesting topic each week. Just as Paul asked the question about e-readers, you can post your own questions about any topic related to voiceovers. As always, I’d love to have your questions or comments about this post, so please share them on the blog.

Soundproofing vs. sound absorption

Right this minute, I’m watching a recent episode of Trading Spaces. If you haven’t watched the show, teams of 2 people trade houses for 2 days and re-decorate one room of the house. This episode features some feuding neighbors who can’t abide each other. Even more interesting to voice talent is that Neighbor A has a small child and craves absolute peace and quiet, while the Neighbor B has active, noisy teenage sons who have a heavy-metal garage band.

Neighbor A is redoing the garage studio for Neighbor B, and their priority was soundproofing. I became somewhat of an expert on soundproofing techniques when we decided to build the room for my stunning studio. Soundproofing is achieved by creating mass separated by air space. I therefore thought perhaps the designer would build a room within a room.

The designer decided instead to cover the ceiling and walls with carpet padding. Carpet padding is in the category of sound absorption. It changes the characteristics of sound within the room but does not necessarily prevent the sound from leaving the room. Given the amount of carpet padding they are installing in almost every inch throughout the room, it certainly will help reduce the noise. However, If I were the teenager with the band, I would be concerned that I am not hearing true sound.

So far, I have seen nothing about treating the door and windows, as those are major sources where sound escapes. I know they have a limited budget of $1000 on this show, but I think the designer doesn’t have a good grasp of soundproofing techniques. She chose to build a stage, which might look cool, but won’t stop the noise problem the way an interior room would have.

Soundproofing is also what Neighbor A would need to do their own home in order to prevent the unwanted sounds from entering their house. I live in such a noisy area that we replaced all the windows with triple-pane windows and built a room according to specifications found in Building a Recording Studio by Jeff Cooper. My room has 2 layers of 5/8th-inch sheet rock, which is thicker than normal 1/2-inch sheet rock. I also have 2 layers of ceilings separated by heavy insulation, 2 sets of doors at each entrance and no windows.

As for the TV show, I guess it’s more important that the warring neighbors gain some harmony and empathy than to be totally accurate in the description of the materials. I have to say that the finished studio really looks awesome!

 

Working with a portable studio

If it’s possible, I love traveling as much or even more than my voice-over work. In the past, I haven’t taken equipment with me on my trips. Since the beginning of this year, I have changed my equipment so that I can voice auditions and projects on the road. I now have a Macbook Pro laptop with Pro Tools LE running with a Mbox Pro mic interface. To facilitate the usual work here in my stunning soundproof studio, I just bought a Tranzport wireless workstation control, which will allow me to control and edit Pro Tools from within my booth while leaving the computer and other equipment outside the booth.

A while back, I had read Harlan Hogan’s excellent article about creating a portable booth. I couldn’t find the Reisenthel Home Box pictured in Harlan’s article at my local Container Store or at that company’s web site. However, I did find and order the box from Amazon.

The company shipped it out immediately. It arrived this week, so I haven’t tried using it as a portable booth. I do have a lot of Auralex foam left over from the days when my recording booth was in a walk-in closet. I had planned to leave my Neumann TLM 103 mic here in my recording booth and take my CAD condenser mic on road trips. The CAD mic is too heavy, and I’m now looking for a smaller, lighter mic to use in my portable configuration.

I also have decided to sell my Telos Zephyr ISDN codec. I really don’t have much occasion to use it since I mostly work in long-form narrations and audiobooks. If you’re looking to buy an industry-standard ISDN unit, let me know soon! Otherwise, I will post the unit for sale on eBay.

Speaking of travel, I need to travel away from home right now in search of brunch!