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Using Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blankets During a Live Gig – A Musician’s Own Story

by Byron Santo, Bassist, Producer, Author & Beta Tester

My background is in performing, recording and mastering, but over the last two 2 years I’ve been doing more live sound due to my mixer beta testing.

byronsantologo

One issue that I have encountered as well as many other sound engineers and musicians is bad venue and stage acoustics. I have played gigs that moving one foot on stage resulted in not being able to hear oneself. I started thinking what could live performers do to alleviate these acoustical problems considering that one could not alter the physical structure of the venues or stages. After much research, I discovered VocalBoothToGo’s Producer’s Choice acoustic blankets.

I decided to purchase one blanket to test. I had no experience in acoustic blankets but I did have experience in studio acoustical foam usage. After a few tests in my recording studio I decided to try the blanket in a live situation. Hanging the 6′ x 8′ blanket behind my drummer in an extremely bad acoustical sounding venue produced good results. The early reflections from the drums, amps and monitors were reduced resulting in a cleaner stage and PA sound. Two sound engineers were attending my gig that was familiar with the venue and its acoustical problems also heard a noticeable improvement.

melodycoolI decided to purchase a 2nd acoustic blanket and try it on a stage, which had a back wall made of brick and glass. The side walls were also brick and the physical stage was made of plywood with no carpet and stood four feet tall. It was an acoustical nightmare. I hung the two blankets behind my drummer which resulted in a 12′ wide by 8′ tall section of the back wall being covered. The back wall was close to 18′ wide. The results were amazing — there were hardly any reflections on stage. This resulted in an improved PA sound, no feedback and a better performance for me and fellow musicians.  I was running sound from the stage on that gig, the blankets made my job much easier which allowed me to focus more on playing then sound. The owner of the venue and routine customers heard the difference in my band’s sound quality which resulted in getting booked again. 🙂

My goal is to continue to test the Producers Choice acoustic blankets in a variety of live performance scenarios. I would love to be able to wrap a stage one gig — the entire back wall and two side walls.

Considering the cost of a single blanket, one could easily create an entire mobile acoustic treatment system that could be used in numerous live performance scenarios and not break the bank.

Q) Does fluffing acoustic blankets help to absorb sound better?

A) The difference might be marginal. But in theory, loose fiber would absorb sound better.

This is because in loose fiber each of the filaments have to be agitated individually, therefore more sound energy being spent on “shaking ” each individual fiber. In tightly pressed filler the fibers that are “stuck together”  being agitated together as one — so less sound energy being spent and absorption would be less.

At the same time it is more difficult to vibrate heavier, larger fibers, than it is the lighter and shorter fibers. This is why the longer and denser fibers would absorb more of the lower frequency  sound waves.

Carry-on Vocal Booth Pro Put To Test During VOAtlanta 2014 By Voice Actor and Vocal Booth Expert

Carry-on Vocal Booth Pro Put To Test During VOAtlanta 2014 By Voice Actor and Vocal Booth Expert

michaelVocalBoothToGo.com presented its soundproofing and acoustic treatment products, such as the Carry-on Vocal Booth Pro, at VOAtltanta 2014, the largest voice-over conference in Southeastern United States held in March. The conference boasted speakers, leaders and presenters in the voice-over industry and included voice-over professionals, trainers, coaches, agents as well as service providers.

As an exhibitor, VocalBoothToGo.com demonstrated many of its products including the Voice Over Start-up Success Kit, Soundproofer Sound Booth SB33, Producer’s Choice sound blankets and the Carry-on Vocal Booth Pro. The portable vocal booth was put to a real-time test by a voice actor and home studio/vocal booth expert during the event.

 

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At the conference, voice actor Michael Johnston, needed to record an urgent job for a client. There wasn’t a designated area or vocal booth set-up for live voice over recording. With the help and recommendation from industry vocal booth guru, George Whittam, the voice actor used the Carry-on Vocal Booth Pro, on display at the VocalBoothToGo exhibit, and a Sennheiser microphone.

Whittam is globally considered a top authority in voice-over recording technology. He is Director and Founder of Technology of VOStudioTech.com, a division of EDGE Studio, and co founder of EWAB podcast — experts in home vocal booths and recording studios.

 

“We needed something convenient, portable, and quick to setup in a hotel room to reduce echo and noise while recording a vo talent for a last minute job, said Whittam. We found it [the Carry-on Vocal Booth] large enough to easily position the mic and a laptop inside, yet easy to transport and quick to assemble. It will work great for actors without the space to setup a proper booth, given their existing environment is quiet enough. ”

Whittam edited the audio track in the same hotel room where the demo was conducted.

“I am pretty pleased with the results.” commented Whittam when the job was completed. Johnston was also pleased with the results and that he could deliver his professional recording to his client.

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