What we do at VocalBoothToGo.com

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Audio Book Publisher Gives Recording Using the Carry-On Vocal Booth a BIG Thumbs-Up

Voice over artist and accomplished book narrator, Mary Sarah Agliotta, was about to make a leap of faith. She wanted to move closer to her children, but that meant leaving behind a professional recording studio and facing the challenge of delivering a good sound at an unknown location.

It so happened that she attended the Mid-Atlantic Voice-Over Conference (November 2014) of which VocalBoothToGo.com was a sponsor. Mary Sarah paid close attention to the presentation of the portable Carry-on Vocal Booth, made by VocalBoothToGo.com. She knew her current situation was critical.  She just received a book narration contract from a large client and was in the middle of a move. Her work had to be delivered in a short time and be of the highest quality. She was worried about being able to deliver the work without using her tested recording studio, and no time to build a new studio space.

New Space – New Problems

Having a deep understanding of the technical side of voice over work, she knew that taking care of soundproofing and/or acoustic treatment of her new space was imperative to continue on with her work, so she made sure to include in the rental agreement that the apartment must be able to be soundproofed. Yet, the reality was far from ideal.

With the holiday season and schools on break, neighbors upstairs were making a lot of noise.  Her landlord refused to cooperate and comply with soundproofing requirements.  The quality of Mary Sarah’s audio narration work was on-the-line and definitely on her mind. She just received a book narration contract from a large client and was in the middle of a move. Her work had to be delivered in a short time and be of the highest quality. She was worried about being able to deliver the work without using her tested recording studio, and no time to build a new studio space.

Singer Solves Issue With Disturbing the Peace

Vocal Booth Company in Frederick MD Enters National FedEx Small Business Grant Contest

Small businesses are the backbone of America. Most companies start small and with determination and inspiration . . . and some help in the area of finances…they grow and prosper. VocalBoothToGo, a small company located in Frederick, MD, hopes this will become their story.

VocalBoothToGo creates products that frees voice actors and musicians to work and create anytime and anywhere without disturbing neighbors. They focus on soundproofing and acoustic room treatment products but have started to get a demand for other products for voice actors, musicians and audio engineers.

”Responding to our customers’ demand, we created acoustic blankets that worked so well we got lots of referrals. Then we noticed a need for affordable soundproofing materials for actors and musicians who wanted to work and practice at home, without bothering neighbors,” said Adil Aliev, the president of VocalBoothToGo.

The grant money will allow this small company to improve on products they currently have such as soundproofing materials for windows and doors. Unlike other types of sound booths, VocalBoothToGo’s booths can be shipped easily. ”Our booths can be shipped by FEDEX anywhere,” add Aliev.

The company is working on residential soundproofing products since this is a demand they receive often from customers. Traffic noise as well as neighbor noise is a common problem for many. Customer like the portability of the products.

”Our latest project is residential soundproofing products that can be easily installed without big construction. The first prototype was met very well, and now we have people asking for it, but no product available,” said Aliev.

The grant money will go straight into production of soundproofing curtains and wall covering and will also help the company start production. ”We can make the products available to people sooner,” add Aliev.

Small businesses like VocalBoothToGo work on a small budget and grants such as the one being offered by Fedex will help them reach their potential.

If you would like to vote for this business, please click here.

Portable Vocal Booths Used Everywhere . . . Even in a Hospital

Portable vocal booths have become a necessary equipment in a voice actor’s tool box . . . especially when they travel a lot. However, these handy vocal booths recently have become a career lifesaver for voice over pros who have been hospitalized long-term but still able to record.

VocalBoothToGo.com, a manufacturer and designer of vocal booths and other acoustic and soundproofing equipment, recently found that its own portable vocal booth was used in a hospital by a seasoned voice actress.

Voice actress Randye Kaye unfortunately was recovering from an illness at a hospital but still wanted to continue to work. So…she brought along her own Carry-on Vocal Booth to help her complete projects.

”My clients were very happy with sound quality even from a hospital room! Excellent product,” she said.

The Carry-on Vocal Booth Pro is a portable unit that folds into a carrying-bag. Constructed from sound absorbing blankets, this portable vocal booth has been proven to be excellent provider for acoustic treatment on-the-go. Recently tested in a hotel room when a voice actor needed to record on-deadline, this tool was able to deliver a professional sound for the voice actor without reflection or echo.

“We needed something convenient, portable, and quick to set up in a hotel room to reduce echo and noise while recording a voice over talent for a last-minute job,” said George Whittam, Director and Founder of Technology of VOStudioTech.com, a division of EDGE Studio, and a co-founder of EWAB podcast — experts in home vocal booths and recording studios. ”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 voice actors without the space to set up a proper booth, given their existing environment is quiet enough. ”

Whether in a hotel room or a hospital space or anywhere, the Carry-on Vocal Booth is equipment that has rescued many voice actors and provided the professional sound that they need — and what their clients demand.

Voice Actors Should Consider Their Vocal Health When Using Acoustic Foam

Vocal health is important for everyone but especially when you need your voice to earn a living. There are many ways to protect and keep a voice actor’s vocal chords healthy and strong especially during flu and cold season such as using honey and lemon. But, many are unaware there is a high possibility that acoustic foam in the very vocal booth voice actors use on a daily basis could be causing illnesses over and over again.

Acoustic foam based vocal booths can harbor germs that could affect your health.

So how healthy is acoustic foam? A case study.

After time, acoustic foam used inside a foam-based vocal booth or portable vocal booth absorbs smells and starts to stink. This is especially true if different people share the vocal booth. A communications director from a university from the United States had a similar problem when using a mobile vocal booth for his students, Aside from the smell from sharing the vocal booth, there was a concern over germs spreading because students were getting sick often. This was especially a concern during flu season.

The department tried to use Lysol to disinfect the foam and other types of deodorizers to mask the smell, but after some time the chemicals start to disintegrate the foam and the smell became even worse!  What to do? Maybe forgo using acoustical foam?

Looking closer at acoustical foam, and how it works

Acoustical foam is widely used as means of sound absorption and acoustic room treatment. What makes acoustical foam absorb sound is an open cell structure with long tunnels going through the foam. Sound gets into the openings and loses its energy in the long twisted channels.The acoustical foam has to have the open channels so the sound can get in.

To understand how foam works, you have to think of it like a sponge. Sponges absorb liquid — but what else gets absorbed by the foam? If the open cell acoustic foam behaves like a sponge, then it can also absorb and retain dust, mold spores, allergens, bacteria and viruses. What happens to the germs and allergens that landed on the foam? These warm, dark environments are a breeding ground for mold and fungi to grow. Mold spores, allergens or viruses trapped in the foam can potentially contaminate the next user when the foam gets disturbed.

Because the acoustic foam is an open cell material with long channels it cannot be easily washed. If water gets in, it would stay in those channels and cannot fully evaporate. On the other hand, how can you wash the foam in a vocal booth or home studio?  In most cases it is glued to the wall, you can’t take it off. The foam is too fragile to be properly washed.

How can voice actors keep healthy without using acoustic foam?

There is a healthier alternative to foam -based vocal booths and is truly portable — Carry–on Vocal Booth, available from http://www.VocalBoothToGo.com. The Carry on Vocal Booth is made out of Producer’s Choice Acoustic Blanket instead of acoustic foam. The material has a high Noise Reduction coefficient ( NRC 0.8) The Carry on Vocal Booth gives a great sounding recording – no boxiness and no boominess, Carry-on Vocal booth is a great tool for travelling voice actor.  It is light weight,  durable, portable, easy to set up, versatile and can carry all your recording gear as well! In fact, some voice use the Carry-on Vocal booth for book narration regularly when their publisher told them that it was the best sound they ever had!

Portable vocal booth made from sound blankets that can be washed

This booth will keep you healthy because if it gets dirty during traveling or if you are sick and sneezed and coughed all over it, you can easily remove the sound absorbing liner and wash it in a washing machine plus dry it too. VocalBoothToGo also makes upright, walk-in vocal booths that also utilize sound blankets instead of foam too.

Voice actors need to keep their voice sounding great and consistent. Maintaining good vocal health is imperative for this business and choosing equipment wisely may just be the answer.

The Carry-on Vocal Booth is portable, great for in-home studio or travel and is made from sound blankets that are completely washable.

Voice Actor Wins Portable Carry On Vocal Booth Pro During Voice Over Conference

I have told numerous folks about being the lucky winner of the Carry-On Vocal Booth and it has traveled with me from VA to SC up to CT, said Mark Smith, voice actor and attendee of the Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference, held November 8, 2014 at the Westin Dulles Airport Hotel, Herndon, VA. This was one of the first conferences held on the east coast.

Voice actor Mark Smith win the Carry on Vocal Booth presented by Gwen Farrell of VocalBoothToGo.com during the Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference headed by Val Kelly, left.

The group hopes that voice actors, new and old, will walk away with new knowledge about voice over, and with strategies to help them continue success in this rapidly changing field.

Mid-Atlantic Voiceover, LLC, led by voice actress Val Kelly, strived to bring voice actors in the Mid-Atlantic region together to offer unique networking opportunities and educational growth in this competitive industry. As a company located in the area, VocalBoothToGo proudly donated a Carry-on portable Vocal Booth as a prize for this conference and plans to show other vocal booth products during this one-day conference. Mark Smith, a voice actor, was thrilled to have won the portable vocal booth.

”Needless to say, it has already accrued some frequent flyer miles,” Smith shared with VocalBoothToGo. ”I absolutely enjoy the luxury of having such an easy item to travel with, and as you well know it folds up quite easily and it is very easy to pack. I have been looking at them for a few years and am very fortunate to win one.”

Using Acoustic Blankets Instead of Acoustic Foam in Creating A Home Studio

In terms of price, acoustic blankets beat acoustic foam hands down.

Even at the first glance, one can see a huge difference in price versus efficiency:

(NOTE: For ease of comparison, we compare all products to NRC 1.0 as a 100%, not absorption of blankets (NRC 0.8).  For example absorption of 1” foam is 50% (NRC 0.5) and absorption of blankets 80% (NRC 0.8). Therefore, 1 inch acoustic foam is 30% less absorptive and less efficient than acoustic blankets.)

• 1” acoustic foam is 30% less efficient than sound blankets but it is 5 times more expensive.
• 2” acoustic foam is  5% less efficient than sound blankets but it is more than 8 times more expensive.
• 3” acoustic foam is only 10% more absorbent than sound blankets but it is 12 times more expensive.
• 4” acoustic foam is 30% more absorbent than sound blankets and is 16.3 times more expensive. (Just imagine how many blankets you can get for that money!)

Practical Use

Ease of use is important, but it is difficult to quantify.

Acoustic foam comes in different colors and is trendy – looks cool.  It is light and easy to stick to a wall or a ceiling.  Unfortunately, once it is glued to a wall, it is not movable.  It is too fragile and easy to tear to be able to peel off the wall to reuse elsewhere.  Over time, the foam accumulates dust and disintegrates.  We did not find any specific research to quote, but logically, acoustic foam performance has to deteriorate overtime as well.

Perfect for acoustical issues — such as on-stage performances in bars and other in-door settings.

Acoustic foam is an open-cell porous material.  The open cells are the opening of long twisted tunnels.

To get absorbed, the sound has to get into the openings and flow through the tunnels, losing energy through friction.  This is one of the reasons that sound foam has wedges – to increase the overall absorbing surface of the foam.  But, this serrated edge, at the same time, makes acoustic foam a great dust collector!

Porosity and the flow resistivity are the most important parameters in determining the sound absorption. Imagine if the pores, or the openings of those tunnels, get clogged by dust — sound cannot get in, and therefore, sound absorption efficiency is reduced.  Regardless of how thick the foam is or how well the tunnels are twisted, if the opening of those tunnels get blocked – the sound can not get it and, and therefore, sound absorption will be reduced.

Sound absorption mechanism of acoustic blankets is different. It is based on the sound waves spending their energy on vibrating the fibers of the inside filler. The sound gets in and goes through the blanket. As each fiber vibrates, sound energy gets lost by converting into heat.

Blankets do not need to be glued to the wall. In fact they are more effective when there is an air gap between the wall and the blanket.  Acoustic blankets make it very easy to create a vocal booth or dedicated recording space simply by hanging the blankets off the ceiling.  This makes acoustic blankets an irreplaceable sound absorption choice when there is lack of space, living arrangement in a rental property or anticipation of frequent moving from one location to the other.  If the blankets get dusty or dirty, they can be easily be taken off – shaken up and/or washed.

Any way you look at it, acoustic blankets are more efficient, less costly and a healthier product than acoustic foam.

Interview with Podcaster and Drummer Michael O’Neal on Creating a Drum Room with Sound Blankets

‘’Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets are so worth it. They are a Godsend.’’

This comes from award winning podcaster Michael O’Neal during a video interview with VocalBoothToGo.com. Michael is the founder and host of a nominated 2O13 Stitcher Award Best New Show, The Solopreneur Hour – Job Security for the Unemployable.  Aside from podcasting, he also is a professional drummer. The challenge of having multiple roles created a need for a professional studio space to record his podcast show but also soundproof enough so he could create a drum room – and not get into noise disturbance trouble.

‘’The houses in my neighborhood are in close quarters, about 100 years old and the rooms couldn’t be less sealed,’’ Michael told VocalBoothToGo.com.‘’ I used Gobos in the corners and behind my drum set but they really didn’t do much at all.’’

Worried mostly that his drumming would cause issues with his neighbors, Michael was on a mission to stop the drum sound from escaping his studio and also create an acoustically treated area to record his podcast. He turned to VocalBoothToGo.com for advice.

In creating his space, Michael hung two layers of Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets around the room and also covered the windows with additional layers of acoustic blankets. This allowed him to create a completely dead sounding recording studio and soundproof his drum room at the same time.
‘’The first time I walked in my studio with the sound blankets up and then shut the door, my ears popped,’’ Wow! It’s like being in an airplane – the SPL (sound pressure level) is so low,’’ Michael shared. ‘’I have a pretty nice set up, and I can record pretty well down. I can’t endorse them enough, especially if you are a podcaster or vocal person.’’

View the complete interview here: http://youtu.be/nHS9FMs32bo
You also can listen to Michael’s award winning show at http://www.solopreneurhour.com.

Traveling with a Vocal Booth for Voice Actors on the Go

Using the Carry-on Vocal Booth at the airport.

Everyone travels these days. And, so do professionals in the voice acting and audio recording industry. Often times, traveling and working for these professionals mean making sure to pin down a recording studio in the visiting city, reserving a time slot and then driving to the destination studio to do the actual work. Lots of steps, and lots of work to get the job done.

One option that professional can look into in investing in portable vocal booth. VocalBoothToGo.com created on called the Carry-on Vocal Booth, which folds into a portfolio type case and has enough room inside for other accessories. The booth is created using Producer’s Choice Sound Blankets, lab tested to absorb 80 percent of the noise. The booth can be easily assembled and dissembled — pops in and out. The good news for travelers is that it can be checked in as a — yep, a carry on.

In a deadline driven world, being able to deliver results — such as your recording work — is important. For audio recording professionals such as voice actors, owning your own recording booth can make you more competitive and life less stressful.

At the airport with the Carry-on Vocal Booth as a carry on.