Looks like WordPress has integrated generative AI now. It suggested as a title for this post, “Massachusetts Home Sale: Why We Decided to Demolish the Vocal Booth”. That bland-ass basic bitch title probably would drive more traffic. I’m not doing it though. 100% of the writing here is, and will continue to be, me, shitty post titles included.

I’m preparing our Massachusetts home for sale. There is now urgency because next month, we will be paying two sets of bills in two countries given we close on the Canada house May 1.

We had been on the fence about whether to keep and convert the USA property to rent for some asset diversification but ultimately decided no. It’s an old house from the 1930s and upkeep would only be possible through a property manager proxy. There’s also risk that the tenants would be a family with a young kid and we could be lawfully compelled to de-lead the house. That would be costly. So I’m prepping to sell.

We moved in back in 2011. A major modification I made to the house back in 2016 was to install a custom DIY vocal booth in the basement for Claw’s voice over career. This was a major project. To negate the sound from our busy street something custom was required. One of the principals of blocking sound is to use as much mass as possible. You want heavy, dense objects to impede sound waves. Sound also tends to travel and reverberate through physically connected objects. So things like disconnected framing and air gaps help reduce sound permeation. Certain insulation products like Rockwool can significantly help too.

Here’s a couple of the 2016 build pics: Framing, Insulation, Drywall

I really went all out. The structure had double framing so that each wall and roof could have two sets of Rockwool insulation separated by an air gap. Each wall, ceiling and roof also had 2 layers of drywall. Very heavy everywhere. I used acoustic glue and caulk to obsessively make everything airtight. The entrance was two custom cut solid core doors with extra wood to add mass attached. I used latches and vehicle trim molding to make them close perfectly. I painted the drywall inside and out, made custom sound treatments covered by fabric and hung them on all the walls and doors. I made a special baffle lined with rockwool for passive air exchange between the inside and outside of the booth. Integrated a small opening to thread a microphone, USB and monitor cord through. This thing was truly a DIY marvel. When you clapped inside, the sound was absolutely dead. The vocals that came from Claw’s high end microphone produced that type of crystal clear intimate voice-in-a-vacuum that audio engineers are looking for.

Claw’s voice over career was moderately successful. She took acting classes and lessons from well known VO artists, built up her skill to augment her natural talent. She booked quite a few gigs, had a NYC agent. Networked at GDC and similar conferences. Had a podcast. Her income was never enough to come close to replacing her day job like she had hoped, but she made enough to pay for the expenses. Claw has come to terms that VO would probably always be more hobby than business. She’s putting it all on hold for now. I don’t have a shred of resent or bitterness at the effort I put in to help her. I was, and still am, happy that I did this project for Claw and supported her all throughout.

Now it’s demolition time. I built this temple to silence, and now that not enough people listened, I have to tear it down. Maybe the right buyer would want a bespoke vocal booth in their basement, but most people would consider this a liability. So, I rented a big 20 yard dumpster for two weeks and got to work. The main tools were a crowbar, a prybar, a reciprocating saw, a rubber mallet, and, the MVP, a sledgehammer. Got a few N95 masks and cut resistant gloves and started destroying. It’s all done except the cleanup. Intact booth, sound baffle remove, tools, doors off, drywall off, insulation off, final frame standing, current status, dumpster.

On to the next thing… once my back stops hurting.