Acoustic Improvement of Isolation Booth

[Nigel451964]

Hi

I have an isolation booth which I use for recording my guitar amps but the problem is dealing with the boxy and rather harsh sound it creates.

Unfortunately the only option I have for recording loud amps is to use the booth which muffles the sound so the neighbours don't hear so it's useful from that angle. I've been using a Shure SM57 to try and reduce the room sound but I still need more absorption so has anyone had success by using blankets or duvets in this kind of situation?

I hope someone can help with advice and ideas.

Cheers
Nigel

[brandondrury]

A small booth SHOULDN'T cause harshness. However, if you are trying to solve boxiness issues with EQ, that can lead to harshness.

I remember when I got a chance to record guitars in a big ass room. I was expecting the amp to open up like drums do in big rooms. I have to say that I was disappointed. I was expecting something magical to happen simply because of the big room. The truth was I still fought all the problems I deal with in tiny rooms.

So, I don't think you should be at too much of a disadvantage here. Blankets will do the trick, but if you can get some 703 or Rockwool, that would be best. The Rockwool is nasty and needs to be wrapped in fabric but it is the best stuff on the planet for sucking up reflections. For guitar amps, I consider it absolutely required.

If you are just doing guitars, I'd deaden it hardcore. Go all out. Take a look at my Guitar Fort and the Member's Only section.

Brandon

[Nigel451964]

Hi Brandon,

Thanks for your advice. I've been experimenting with different amp positions within the booth and that's helped. I have a Cornford Harelquin that never sounded right so I moved it up a couple of feet or so and the sound wasn't boxy anymore. I don't entirely know why that should be but it worked.

Similarly with a small Marshall guitar cab with I've just acquired. I first placed it on the floor of the booth and couldn't a decent sound no matter what mic placement I used. Eventually I put it on two small stools which raised it up about 8 inches or so and it worked, the sound was much improved. Once again I don't know exactly why this worked although I've been thinking it could be something to do with the sound going through the floor and up the micstand or something.

I have to admit I always imagined that cranking up a guitar amp in a decent sized or big room would yield great results without too much hassle but clearly acoustic problems persist no matter where you set up.

I will attempt to deaden the space as much as I can around the amp and cab and let you know the results. Does volume help a guitar sound in your opinion? I have to keep things reasonably low but the booth does help muffle the sound quite a bit so maybe if I turned the amps up and the mic volume down I could improve things?

As for the harshness issue this could be due to me dialling in the wrong tone for the recording environment or it could be having the mic too loud. Certainly mic placement away from the cone helps.

Cheers
Nigel