Suitable boom?

Like I mentioned in another thread, I recently got an Audio Technica AT2035, and I’m looking into proper booms to go with the mic stand I have.

I already have this:
http://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Gear-Die-Cast-Stand-Black/dp/B0018TAITA/ref=pd_bxgy_267_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KEXMVVA5PD2T0W7W2XC

So I’m looking at something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00721Z05A?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A385A0XNQBW8HY

Would this boom be adequately strong enough to hold the microphone?

You should have no problem using it for your needs. I use something very similar for my Face Shield. If you need to, here is an old trick to keep your mic stand from falling over. Go to any sports store and buy a little 5 pound weight and slip it over the stand till it hits the base at the bottom. It works great and stays put on the stand. They sell professional weights for stands but they are a lot more expensive. :wink:

Also concerning your sound issue with the shape of your studio, I apologize for not including a link. You can check out one example here. The reviews are great and the cost is low. When I get ready to do some sound treatment for my room, this is what I will buy. http://goo.gl/2xesnj.

I have weights like that and plan to use them. I did get some acoustic foam, but it was this kind: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TP7C9YY/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687542&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0002ZPLP2&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1D1CN6KQ1P7NMFX5QA5F

It’s not very thick and I don’t know how well it will really do. Also, I’m not sure about proper placement. Should all bare surface area be covered, or is it OK to leave gaps in between sections of foam?

I didn’t go the cast iron route. I bought an On-Stage Stands MS9701B. It’s a heftier version of the MS7701B.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MicStdFBoomL

Fully splayed out, it has a 24 inch footprint and remains dimensionally stable with some heavy microphones. That’s an AKG on the end.

At any time you can easily lift the whole thing and walk off with it. It folds to a straight line and I keep it between the jackets in my closet.

If you do have a dreadfully heavy microphone or system, you put a sandbag on the outside foot. Phone books work OK. Remember phone books?

http://www.sandbagstore.com/filled-heavy-duty-saddle-sandbag-30lb-black.html

Koz

Is that the foam you’re going to make into a Microphone Cave?

That wouldn’t work with the boom, although that’s what my double-recording buddy (on the right) did in that illustration. Did I miss a construction step in there?

There’s a philosophy that says dampen opposing surfaces starting with the one behind your head. Then dampen everything else until you run out of foam.

Note in this pix, there’s carpeting and a moving blanket on the floor.

Koz

This thing looks massive, but it actually doesn’t weigh all that much. It’s all plastic pipes.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/pvcShockMount/final.jpg

It’s hanging on the end of that On Stage Stands boom.

Koz

Your selection of foam should work just fine. You can use Velcro if you want to make the little booth. As far as using the foam to sound proof the whole room, that is another story. Most people will start in the corners of the room and work out. The only time you need to cover the bare floors, is if you will be recording, over them. Most people will just place a rug / towel or moving blanket under the mic stand.

As far as using your boom stand with your mic inside the “Recording Cave”, just turn your mic upside down and it will do fine. You can then just drop the mic in from the top of the Foam. I do it all the time. I will take a picture of my set up and post it here so you can see it. Give me 10 min. OK, the first picture is with the mic upright and the second is flipped down.

There is a big difference between “Sound Proofing” a room and applying “Sound Treatment” to a room. You probably will want the latter. If you want to see all the mathematics and terminologically behind the proper way to do it, check out this article. It is very well written and easy to understand. Acoustic Treatment 101: The Ultimate Setup/Planning Guide | 2023. Just remember that you only need to apply sound treatment to ONE mic, not to host the whole band!

If you notice the second picture, if I was going to record, I would place a beach towel under the base. This is the great thing about using the foam as your booth. The foam will “Absorb” your voice. Once your voice is absorbed, it is impossible for it to fly around the room and create reverb. It really is just that simple. Is it better then a sound-booth? No. Is it $5,000.00 cheaper? Yep! :bulb:


Are you treating your studio? Or are you making a moveable location setup?

If you’re installing fixed treatment, forget about that foam. HD foam exists, but is rather pricey. And the cheap stuff on Amazon en the bay, usually only is MD and doesn’t do much for absorption. It’s too thin anyway to work.

Get some Rockwool board, 15 cm (6") thick, cut to size, make a frame or use a textile “pillow style” cover.

If you don’t want to measure, use the mirror method to guess placement for your homemade absorbers. If you have a small room, treat corners too.

If this is for location use, follow the Koz’ way. Blankets and such generally absorb much better than foam and are way easier to handle and clean. I usually find stuff on location and if not, I use transport blankets.

The one case where you might use GOOD foam, is in building a mic reflection screen.

According to her original post, I think she wants to work with Audio Books. If that is the case, she really only needs to isolate her one mic. That is the great thing about doing a small sound treatment for one mic, it is very easy to do. All you need to do is trap / absorb your voice. Anything after that is over kill and really just fluff. I will be doing sound treatment on my second bed room. I will use the method in the link I provided above.

Since I live 20 miles south of D.C., I will be interviewing / hope to be interviewing singing groups. I have the set up as far as the hardware, I just need to get the room put together, concerning sound treatment. Funny thing, a walk in closet full of clothes, makes a very good recording studio, for one mic. :astonished:

You’d still need to hear your recording. That usually needs room treatment too, unless you use headphones. Of course, if you have a great sounding room, it’s not needed. But most podcasters seem to work from a closet.

Since I live 20 miles south of D.C., I will be interviewing / hope to be interviewing singing groups. I have the set up as far as the hardware, I just need to get the room put together, concerning sound treatment. Funny thing, a walk in closet full of clothes, makes a very good recording studio, for one mic. > :astonished:

Recording, yes. Playing back isn’t so great in a closet.

I happen to have a large fridge (3 by 2 meters) at hand. Sound proofing isn’t a problem, since there’s a double brick wall, layered with cork. And even the doors are “soundproofed”. The inside walls are tiled, which is very reflective. I’ve already put in electricity and am in the process of treating the walls, floor and ceiling. It sounds like a bathroom now and can’t be used. Once the absorbers are in place, I’ll measure again.

I once recorded a small punk band in an industrial freezer cell. Didn’t sound too bad, but that one was 10 by 25 by 3 meters or so. We stuffed the walls with lots of cardboard that was laying around and draped that with carpet. Before doing that, I couldn’t even record, because of feedback… We did the video first, walls painted with graffiti and some smoke to suggest cold. Then the cardboard was put in and the recording was made.

Really! Podcasting has just about put NPR out of business! We don’t work from a closet, we just produce audio from our home, that is 99.9% as good as if it was produced in a 4.8 million dollar studio, which I visit often. Everyone wants to make it so complicated.

Podcasting is recording the “Spoken Word”. It really is just that simple. You can throw in the lingo, tech terms, DAWS and anything else you want to, it really is just fluff! As far as listening to audio, your walk in closet is the best place to do it, unless you use $60,000 Limskies to listen to your audio, then you would want to be sitting back and relaxing. Headphones in the closet, ya, that is exactly what you want to monitor your recording with!

I’m going to bookmark that for future consideration.

Phone books work OK. Remember phone books?

I’m old enough to remember phone books, yes. And many other things. :smiley:

Yes, that and/or to put on the bare wall and ceiling space in my little vocal cubbyhole under the stairs. I only have 12 pieces of foam though, so I figured that after I constructed a portable booth/(microphone cave), I’d use the remaining pieces in my current vocal space.

There’s a philosophy that says dampen opposing surfaces starting with the one behind your head. Then dampen everything else until you run out of foam.

Note in this pix, there’s carpeting and a moving blanket > on the floor> .

That’s not too different from what I have except my space is much smaller. I have a moving blanket hanging from the ceiling, in a U shape. The small square of ceiling above is bare, as is the opposite slanted ceiling/wall. I should probably take a picture so you can visualize what I’m referring to.

The corners. OK - that’s where I’ll put my leftover foam (after I make my portable booth/microphone cave thingy).

As far as using your boom stand with your mic inside the “Recording Cave”, just turn your mic upside down and it will do fine. You can then just drop the mic in from the top of the Foam. I do it all the time. I will take a picture of my set up and post it here so you can see it. Give me 10 min. OK, the first picture is with the mic upright and the second is flipped down.

I was looking at your pics and another question came to me - I see you have the microphone turned so that the plastic trim on the sides of the microphone is facing outward. is that how you address your mic? You turn it sideways? My AT2035 came in today and I was playing around with it - but I addressed it from the front (where the Audio Technica brand is printed), not sideways like that. Does it make a significant difference? Maybe I’m just seeing the picture wrong.

I already sort of have my “studio” treated (except for the ceiling and part of the opposite slanted ceiling/wall space), but I was also thinking about making a portable booth type of setup. Something a little similar to this:

My thought was to use it in my small recording space but also to use it if I needed to go portable for whatever reason (say, if I’m out of town and need to work on a project).

That’s exactly what I want to do - make it simple, but also sound good. I consider myself very inexperienced though and sometimes confuse myself with what I should or shouldn’t do. Then my head proceeds to explode.

You are seeing the picture correctly. The mic has a sweet spot and the logo is hidden by the Shock Mount. I use the off set technique for my mics, so I do not have to use a Pop Filter. I place the sweet spot of the mic off center about 10 degrees and talk past the mic, instead of into the mic. That way when I say “Peter Piper Picked A Peck of Pickled Peppers”, you will not hear the “Popping Noise”. Play around with your mic, turn it ever so slightly, make some test recordings using the “Peter Piper” method and you will find your own “Sweet Spot”.

Every type of mic will have a different way to set it up, regardless if it is a condenser or dynamic. I have a old Shure SM 57 Dynamic mic that I can record with, as my stereo is playing 2 feet away, the music will never make it into the recording and my voice will be crystal clear. :laughing:

Well, you came to the right place to learn. Never forget, podcasting / audio book production is no different than any other profession! Put 10 people in the same field, in the same room, and you will get 10 different opinions how to do it! :stuck_out_tongue: That is just human nature.

Doing this in printed text is a lot like driving a very large truck via rubber bands on the steering wheel. The path wanders.

Koz

I love your quote!!! Short story. I spent 4 years at Fort Carson, Co. M60 A-1 Tanks. Two years in, 60 day re-forger in Calie Dessert with M48 Tanks. 105 degrees in the day, 29 degrees at night. Nothing but flat sand / ground for miles and miles. I was the driver. I hooked two ropes to the Stearing of the M48 Tank and sat outside with the rest of the crew, steering like you were on a horse. Two hours in, at 35 mph, hit a ditch and three of us were thrown off. If the Gunner had been outside, the Tank would have ran till it was out of fuel. TRUE STORY!! The things you do when you are young and invincible :blush: :laughing: :smiley: .