does anyone use futon mattress as a bedroom vocal booth???

[mylesp510]

so i just moved into a new house. my current bed is quite big so i cant fit a desk with all my music stuff in my room. i am deciding on getting a futon since i can also use the matress as acoustic treatment for my mic then put it back on the frame when done. i have a voxgaurd right now and i cant buy any acoustic treatment as i am buying a futon.

does this idea work ok and who uses it? if anyone uses it can you post pictures of how it looks?

 

[City Beats]

No... A. you'll look like an idiot ... B. it won't work.

Save up for a reflection filter and attach it to your mic stand

 

[mylesp510]

No... A. you'll look like an idiot ... B. it won't work.

Save up for a reflection filter and attach it to your mic stand

people say use a mattress all the time and i've read threads with people using it. i have a vox guard which is essentially the same as a reflection filter. i think it only works if the room is relatively dead.mine isn't but i'm going to record a test vocal soon and see what i get in the new room.

 

[City Beats]

But the thing is, a futon/mattress/any other kind of "acoustic treatment" doesn't really get the job done because if you look at acoustic treatment, the foam is a completely different material, and also the design of it has all of those sharp edges at different angles for a reason... and a futon doesn't.

 

[Cyko]

so i just moved into a new house. my current bed is quite big so i cant fit a desk with all my music stuff in my room. i am deciding on getting a futon since i can also use the matress as acoustic treatment for my mic then put it back on the frame when done. i have a voxgaurd right now and i cant buy any acoustic treatment as i am buying a futon.

does this idea work ok and who uses it? if anyone uses it can you post pictures of how it looks?

I've see people use it and it does work, it really depends on

Size of the room
how much reflection is already there
Your mic positioning etc
type of material on that futon some are good some will have the sound bouncing right off

I've been in studios where they've used shag carpet as well. The goal in acoustic treatment is to kill reflection.
Now if you're trying to create something sound proof .. foam (alone wont get the job done).

You can use anything to kill reflection, a book shelf (full of books) will diffuse sound. What I would do is
set it up and test the reflection. If your area is too small you could end up with a boxy sound, again
it really depends on the size of your room (recording area).

 

[pmg4ever]

This is pretty getto...

But i made "reflector foam" out of cardboard once to treat my walk in closet walls which was my booth...

It actually worked well and gave my artists that "oh shit i sound pro" swag

 

[mylesp510]

I've see people use it and it does work, it really depends on

Size of the room
how much reflection is already there
Your mic positioning etc
type of material on that futon some are good some will have the sound bouncing right off

I've been in studios where they've used shag carpet as well. The goal in acoustic treatment is to kill reflection.
Now if you're trying to create something sound proof .. foam (alone wont get the job done).

You can use anything to kill reflection, a book shelf (full of books) will diffuse sound. What I would do is
set it up and test the reflection. If your area is too small you could end up with a boxy sound, again
it really depends on the size of your room (recording area).

well the room has a nice reflection. not too bad, but its worse in the closet. i got this from just talking a little loud in the room. i havent done a test recording here to see how bad it is, but i was thinking of putting the mattress against the corner and record facing it. the other idea i had was the same as the first one, but record with my back to the matress.

 

[CPhoenix]

In my honest opinion, you do not want to KILL reflection.

All reflection isn't bad. In fact... I've found that the right reflections can make or break a recording.

You really want the right balance of absorption and reflection. No reflections is just unnatural... and will hence sound unnatural. You want a natural, crispy sound in most cases. For that... you need to properly reflect some found.

This is the reason why closets are horrible.... you don't have enough space to get good reflection. It's just too damn much. And foam in the closet makes it sound horribly dead. The best is to record in open space. How big is your space? Only put the mattress up if it has a specific purpose.. ie, to block some type of sound, usually the computer fan.

Also.. what type of walls is it? Is it regular dry wall? If so.... you may want to consider hanging a moving blanket over your recording area, or grabbing some acoustic foam to break up the sound in the room. If you have wood panel walls and open doors (so it's not a box).. it might sound better than you think and no treatment may be needed.

---------- Post added at 09:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:39 PM ----------

This is pretty getto...

But i made "reflector foam" out of cardboard once to treat my walk in closet walls which was my booth...

It actually worked well and gave my artists that "oh shit i sound pro" swag

Like I said above... it's bes to stay out of the closet. Small spaces tend to sound dead and lifeless. However... i think the cardboard def helped b/c it's paper/wood. I don't know what it is about wood products... but they sound pretty good in most situations.