Hi,
I am renting a condo where I am building a home studio.
Bought a great mike and then started thinking that given my singing abilities my neighbors would really start to hate me very soon...

I DON'T want to soundproof the whole room. My studio really only takes a part of a small room, which I use as my office, where I watch TV with my wife etc.
I don't care at all about reflections, noise getting into the mike.
There is no way I could possibly soundproof the whole room either.

So I have this really weird question.

The ONLY times I would want to have SOME soundproofing would be the times I would actually sing. I would not need the soundproofing for all other tracking and mixing.

Would anybody have any ideas as to how I could make this comfortable both for myself and my neighbors?

Thanks


PS Is there a way to have a REALLY small soundproof spot in the room? Like only for 1 person standing in front of the mike?

Make a vocal booth. If you've got the cash buy a whisperroom (although I think you could do it yourself better and far cheaper). Heck, my booth was made from plain old insulation bats (thickest I could find) backed with hollow-core doors and soundboard and it had a "door" made from a moving blanket with a clear vinyl rectangle sewn into it for a window. Of course, it was in a basement where I was only really concerned with soundproofing, but the room was really dead and cut the bleed into the room by a large amount.
I am mostly mobile right now so I am making plans to make a modular booth out of PVC pipes and moving blankets. Don't laugh! I've actually used it and it doesn't sound bad. Really...

Hi thanks for responding.
Is there a way you could post a photograph of what you are talking about? It is really hard for me to understand by reading...
Thanks.

"Soundproofing" isn't the same thing as "treating" a room. If you don't care about reflections getting into the mic, then you're talking about eliminating noise transfer, which is a big elephant to tackle. The only way to do it effectively is to add mass...in other words, it takes construction. Fortunately for you, minimizing transfer in the vocal range is easier than doing it in the low-end of things...you might get away with exactly what Robn suggested (the blanket). It won't eliminate it, but it'll probably help.

Weez

When you say blankets - what is it that you mean?
I am looking for a temporary solution that I would be able to use for a week in every 2 months and then take it down.

I am having difficulty trying to imagine what exactly you meant... I need some visual help. PLEASE!

I think they mean these: Mover's blankets
DIY Sound panels worked for me.

VO Mic Tests

Aha!
And how do you get them set up around the mic?
How's it working?