The Sound Booth Part 3 - GONE but comin' back all new and different

Its gone. Dismantled. Destroyed. 

But not forgotten and not all for nothing.

Since my last post regarding this topic last fall, some things have changed. The house was put on the market and sold and we moved to a slightly more rural location.Necessary action had to be taken to faciltate the sale of the house. And that was the dismantling of my little VO booth that cost me under $200 to build. It seems people don't get what the booth was for and the vast majority don't care to have one in the house. I was left to record back at my desk with my little box lined with foam that sat over my microphone. It was not ideal but when a client comes a callin', but I don't ever like saying no. 

BUT.......

Change is good.

My new location provides me with a space that is essentially all MINE. It is located in the basement and its a space that can be closed off and away from the rest of the house and family. An 11 X 21 room that can house lotsa furniture and be made comfortable to work in and best of all, the road traffic and neighborhood noise are next to nothing which is one less thing to worry about. All thats left is just the noise from the family, dog and random appliances. They can be switched off. The appliances, I mean. The dog is a pretty good sleeper and the family usually understands that Dad makes money from when he records, so they accomodate me well.

For the time being, what I am starting with is 4 drywalled walls, a bare concrete floor, a huge sectional couch in the corner to lounge on and the usual office furniture to round out  the space. Not exactly a blank slate for a room but a pretty darn good space to make into a nice voice recording/editing area. My challenge is getting rid of the dreaded echos that live in the room. The large sectional couch and other soft surfaces in the room have helped somewhat but still more needs to be done to deaden the space enough that I don't sound like I am recording in a corn silo or storm drain. 

Of course, all of this is to be done on the "not expensive" side. I won't use the word "cheap". I strongly dislike that word. It implies that work was half-assed with no regard for what you are trying to accomplish and junk was used to get it done. I still want some quality and value to what I am attempting to do. And I won't use "on a budget". Arrgh. Everyone is on a budget. Its how deep your wallet is. Get to the bottom, yup, that was yer budget. Mine, for the record, is pretty shallow.

So with all that said, its time to start getting it done. Now that I have a nice, new smartphone with a nice onboard camera, I'll try to share some photos and show you the progress as I go along. 

As always, I am open to any and all feedback you might have from what you read and see. And yes, I am still a voice for hire to record your project. 

Take care and hope your having a great start to Summer 2012.

R