First of all I’ll start off by saying your vocals are not going to sound like Drake. You’re not that good and your wallet is not that fat. Soundproofing can cost upwards of 5 bills ($500) for a complete kit, which is some BS for pieces of foam. With that being said, I’ll breakdown a handful of tips to soundproof your room on a budget.
Why Soundproof Your Room?
Well this is easy. Do you want your vocals to sound like an old UGK tape recording? Or do you want a crisp clear sound like the rapper Logic? Basically, you want your vocals to record dry without a bunch of extra stuff in the background. While having good equipment can be expensive, DONT DO what the guy from Hustle and Flow did and hang egg cartons and carpet on the wall, unless you want to be true to the game.
You can read about the basic principles of soundproofing at Noisehelp. They explain how you need a solid object to block sound (mass), convert sound energy to heat (dampening), add gaps to your room (decoupling), and add in types of insulation (absorption). But I will focus on the bare minimums needed to help you get up and going today.
The Basics
If you are a professional audio engineer, you’re probably not going to agree with some of my tips here. But then again, why are you reading this article?
If you need a quick soundproofing fix, grab a couple of heavy blankets and hang them on your walls. Try to cover the doors and windows to make sure your sound wont leave the room. The better you cover all the cracks and crevices around your recording equipment, the better! If you really want to recreate a trap house, try using other sources of cheap ventilation and trash bags to do the job.
Another tip is if you dont already have a pop filter, get one. This is the filter that goes between you and the mic and will help remove those speaker killing “Puh” and “Ch” sounds. Either you can grab your mom’s pantyhose and make one yourself or you can spend $6 on Ebay buying a good one. Having one of these is another simple solution to having better sounding vocals.
If you have hardwood or tile floors in your recording studio, you need to change that ASAP. Sound travels and bounces off the floor and can cause unwanted echos in your vocals. With that being said, stop recording bangers in your bathroom, just drop them. Consider calling up your grandpa and asking him for those old shagg carpet pieces he has sitting in the garage. Carpet will help absorb some of that sound and help soundproof your room. Wouldn’t want the neighbors complaining about your mixtape.
Soundproofing the Right Way
If you want to soundproof your room the right way, get ready to start tearing down and ripping up some walls. As crazy as it may sound, it may be cheaper in the long run. You can read more about the “proper” way of soundproofing your walls at TMSoundProofing.
Can You Spot the Recording Differences?
