Setting up a home voice recording studio: New Booth Journal

For reasons I’ll cover in future posts, I’ve been on a search for another vocal booth the past few months. There was no hard deadline of need, so I could afford to be patient. That was lucky because all the booths I might have considered seemed to be for sale on the east coast of the US.

Then a chance glance online at just the right moment scored a used Studio Bricks VO Edition at a fair price. This one was located in the southern California, a few hundred miles away. Through sheer luck, a friend happened to be on a road trip through the same area and agreed to work as hired muscle. This resulted in a van rolling up to our door a few days later, stuffed with the many dense pieces that comprise these particular designs.

The booth was not new. I’ve referred to it in some instagram posts as a “Second Chance Booth” in the manner of shelter pups needing a bit of TLC to restore their spirit. There was about a fist-sized void in one of the components where the chunky, betwixt-the-walls foam was missing. This seems to have been something that Studiobricks just missed when building it, as it had the paint spray over the oddly shaped depression. I packed that with some dense acoustic foam I had lying about.

Patching up the “experienced” vocalbooth

Upon detailed examination, one corner of the booth seemed mildly unhappy. There was a bit of a chip starting in the lower edge on the outer wall of one piece, and the inside of the upper part had a 3-4″ crack in it. As much as I wanted to just set the StudioBricks up as quickly as possible, I took the time to pry the split apart, work wood glue into the seam, set some clamps, and let it cure. Though it was difficult to pause the build, I did not really want to disassemble it again if i didn’t have to.

One Truth about Studiobricks vocal booths

It’s helpful to understand one simple fact: StudioBricks booths are heavy beasts. That is the downside of their generally higher isolation characteristics. One does not simply obtain isolation without mass.

I’ve sometimes described the construction of these booths as “lego-ing together” which makes it sound as though you’ll be picking up lightweight plastic bricks and nestling them on one another. As we often say here in California, “yeah…no.” That’s not an accurate model.

When putting together other commercial booths (such as my booth and the myriad of double/single-walled Whisperrooms and Vocalbooths I’ve put together over the years), I’ve always found the large, full wall sections to be relatively awkward to deal with. That awkwardness comes mostly from the large size of the single wall panels. Studiobricks chunks are smaller, but still awkward because of their density. Also, once you set the lowest layer of wall chunks, you’ll be lifting “up” which gets progressively difficult (though the uppermost section is half the height of the lower three).

It’s also worth noting that (cue Captain Obvious theme music) since you are putting together multiple heavy chunks, the sum of those sections is also heavy. Depending upon where you are locating the booth, it would likely be worth hiring a structural engineer to make sure things can handle the mass. Fully built VO Edition models have a stated weight of 524 kg (1,155 lbs).

The dreaded Studiobricks door installation step

Of course, no discussion of Studiobricks booth weight is complete without mention of the door. Double-paned, tempered glass is not light. Additionally, smooth glass surfaces do not supply much in the way of handholds. In the booths which I’ve set up the door has always been on the hinges inside of the door frame. It’s always a bit of a wrestle to position the door and lever it into place. If your location has minimum overhead clearance, that can cause more complications.

However, the arrival of these booth bits brought with it a new wrinkle. When dismantling the booth, the door had been lifted off the hinges and was now separate from it. The hinges were definitely a “lift-off” style and would easily accept the door once again. But there were four hinge pins to line up when remounting the door, tricky given the door’s mass. Luckily, a neighbor of mine had a set of heavy duty suction cup handles which were designed to lift large pieces of glass. We suctioned them on, re-suctioned them when they slipped slightly, and hefted the door into place. The first three tries landed only one of the four hinges, but with a little detail direction from another neighbor, we positioned it accurately on try number four. The door then functioned smoothly and silently, happily hung back on its hinges.

I do want to say that we never could have safely replaced the door without the proper tools. I am not in any way recommending removing the door as a standard practice when dismantling a Studiobricks. However, I was very impressed with the suction handles, and would consider investing in a set just to give more control, when working with a regular build.

A voiceover booth emerges!

With the structure set up and solid, I’m now looking forward to positioning the accessories. Since there will be a couple different types of workflows I’m looking to support in the new booth, it will be interesting to refine them moving forward. More details as things evolve. In other words, I’m excited for the possibilities and iterative improvements.

Note: For those who asked privately, I’m still loving the sound of my retrofitted Vocalbooth – details on the “Great Booth Upgrade” start here.

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