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Whisper Room is the original VO Booth that others have tried to mimic and they are still an industry leader for VO, Musicians and more. Today we talk to Gabe White about how they build, ship and help you tune your booth... and we even talk about why there is not a TRIPLE WALL system. Gabe offers up lots of great info on sound treatment and where a booth is the best fit and which type.
Creators and Guests
Host
Charles H. Coats II (aka) Charles The Voice
Meet Charles, the voiceover virtuoso who embarked on his journey into the world of voiceover four years ago and hasn't looked back since! With a heart as happy as his voice is versatile, Charles is the epitome of easygoing professionalism. His love for making connections extends beyond the mic, as he's the go-to guy for national commercial spots, having lent his voice to big names like Valvoline, Mini Cooper, AppleTV+, and more. From Peloton to Caterpillar, Charles's voice resonates with audiences far and wide. When he's not behind the mic, you'll find Charles cruising in his beloved Jeep, exploring the great outdoors with his loyal companion, Levi the Great Dane, by his side. And let's not forget his favorite travel partner – his wife! Equipped with a top-notch home studio, Charles pours his passion and love into every project, delivering reads that truly connect with clients' target audiences. So why worry about the talkin' when you've got Charles on your team? Let him work his magic and bring your message directly to the hearts and minds of your audience!
What is Another VO Podcast!?
REALLY???? Another VO Podcast??? This one is focusing on the business side and the mental health side of VO from the perspective of four guys who are at different stages of their careers and are accountable to each other daily. Jake Sanders, CHarles Coats and Alden Schoeneberg are joined by Troy Holden and they discuss marketing, accountability, staying focused, rejection, branding, email strategy, casting sites and more by sharing THEIR issues, successes, problems and how they are staying sane trying to make their living in VO.
00:00.00
volife
Hey welcome back. It's another V O Podcast we are back from the Christmas break the holiday break. We are all excited. We haven't really done a podcast in a few weeks. We've been playing stuff. We've pre-recorded and now we're back.
00:13.68
Jake
Yeah, it has been a minute I honestly was kind of nervous I was like how do we do this again, but we just talked. Yeah, that's for sure.
00:17.53
Alden
Um, yep, right.
00:18.54
volife
Ah, it's easy to forget. It is. It's easy to forget about it. Um, today we're going to be going into the technical side of things and this is something I have not heard a podcast on this specific product and I'm really excited because Gabe white is with us. From over near Morristown Tennessee or you may be in Knoxville I'm not sure which which office you're in but Gabe is in marketing with whisper room Gabe welcome to the another V O Life Podcast
00:48.95
Gabe White
Thanks Troy thanks for having me. Um I'm happy to be here and share a little bit more about whisper room and tell you what we're all about and how we've helped a lot of voice actors throughout their career setting up a home studio and just just share a little bit more about our product and what we do.
01:06.52
volife
Um, yeah.
01:06.95
Gabe White
I'm currently in Knoxville inside of 1 of our whisper rooms. This is a three and a half by five foot booth I've just set up here in our office. So it's a great spot to come and do calls like this get get on a podcast work on interrupted. We got a few of these set up in our office. So.
01:11.30
Jake
Oh man. Yes.
01:13.34
volife
Mm.
01:17.38
Alden
A.
01:23.47
volife
Yeah, yeah, yeah, one of my first questions one of my first questions is can you put an inside lock on that door to keep people out. Ah.
01:23.95
Jake
Ah.
01:25.42
Gabe White
Ah, we we spend some time hiding out in there. Um, but yeah, thanks for having me.
01:34.95
Jake
Ah, inside lock Oh man, Oh cool.
01:35.95
Gabe White
You actually can That's a great question that the um the door right now. The it's just a standard um handle on. Um, let me see if I can and you can see here. It's just we got a lock here. So right now.
01:36.40
Alden
Ah.
01:40.80
volife
Um.
01:49.98
Gabe White
You'd lock it from the outside to lock all your gear inside if you if you left your computer or everything ready to go but ah, you can simply turn that around and make it a timeout booth or put your kids in there if they're misbehaving or um, yeah, so.
01:51.33
Jake
Sure.
01:54.00
volife
Um, yeah, yeah.
02:04.50
Jake
Oh wow.
02:04.97
volife
Ah I like it I like it I gotta I got a couple of.
02:09.58
Gabe White
But there's that's the cool thing about our product. You can do a lot of ah customization and set it up exactly how you need it to be so.
02:10.24
Jake
Yeah.
02:12.34
Alden
Um, and.
02:16.65
volife
Yeah.
02:16.66
Jake
Yeah I was going to ask about that so you got black and orange in there right now like do you guys I mean do do the does the room come with that or does do people have to buy their own like studio foam to put into the whisper room. Yeah.
02:30.70
Gabe White
So what you see in here does not come with the booth all of our um so whisper room comes with basic features and then we have optional features So the basic features are cable passage ports to run wires into the booth.
02:31.28
Jake
Okay.
02:48.20
Gabe White
Um, to just wire your equipment a window on the door a ventilation system um startup lighting this light in front of me or above me, it's our studio light. It's more fancy than just like an led.
02:49.82
Jake
Right. Oh wow.
03:05.40
Jake
Yeah.
03:06.88
Gabe White
White light and then um, all the booths come with our Le Studio foam as the just the basic acoustic treatment because they're used for. It's like a the standard booth is like a blank canvas for what it's used for. There's whether it's a hearing test. Um, and.
03:18.30
Alden
Her.
03:24.73
Gabe White
Music Lessons R and D with product research. There's just a big variety of uses for a so ah sound isolated room so we don't necessarily want to include bass traps and stuff that's very important for audio recording If you're just in there.
03:28.88
Jake
Oh wow.
03:35.60
volife
Here.
03:38.90
Alden
A.
03:44.66
Gabe White
Um, as a study space or something so um, but yeah this this is ah our acoustic tuning package. It's actually an old product. We recently over the summer we have tailormade acoustic packages where it's ah.
03:45.68
volife
Bright right.
04:02.47
Gabe White
Pre-determined amount of autoute fabric acoustic panels which are very good at absorption. They're a lot thicker than this studio foam and for our 26 sizes we have packages where you can order that and it comes with.
04:10.82
Alden
Are.
04:10.99
Jake
M.
04:18.93
Gabe White
The right amount of pieces to to configure in there. So um.
04:20.47
Jake
Oh cool. Okay.
04:22.93
volife
That's neat. That's neat I Love the the automute blankets I have two of those in here right now and they do a fantastic job. Um I have actually taken them down and taken them with me when I travel and I've got a couple of things like photo.
04:26.45
Gabe White
Out.
04:38.65
volife
Photo backdrop stands and I can loop these over 2 of those stands and um, you know you can't make the perfect booth in a hotel but it does a pretty good job. It helps I mean you can't get it perfect but it helps.
04:45.16
Jake
Sure.
04:51.27
volife
Yeah I was reading on the website like 26 distinct types of boosts for all these different industries that you guys do and course us we're were isolated to thinking voiceover. But as you mentioned there's so many other things I've even noticed a trend here lately where a lot of corporate offices are putting in some boosts like you said for.
05:00.19
Alden
Right.
05:10.32
volife
Or people can go and have a quiet meeting or a quiet place to do their their Zoom.
05:12.53
Jake
Yeah I would never have thought about that I if I would have saw one just out and about like oh voiceover you know that. But that's it. Yeah, so yeah.
05:16.60
Alden
Just be.
05:17.99
Gabe White
And is.
05:19.34
volife
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's how we think but look let's get into since we're talking about treatment and such as that za um Zach where do I get Zach. It's gabe gabe black.
05:31.46
Jake
I a you're hosting the episode Troy so you got to be careful gabe yeah I know it says it right there.
05:32.53
volife
But I don't know it just came out like when I when I call when I call Alden all the names I call him I know I know I know and I'm looking right at his name but there is such a difference and new people don't understand the difference in sound.
05:33.00
Gabe White
I Believe yeah.
05:47.66
volife
Isolation soundproofing sound treatment kind of go into that from the perspective when you start working with a client who's sort of unfamiliar and they think I'm going to put this whisper room in and nothing can come in.. That's what they're thinking off the bat but explain to us. Really how this works what sound isolation and sound treatment is versus soundproofing.
06:09.45
Gabe White
Sure Yeah, that's a that's a big misconception when just in this the world of sound proofing. Um people. Yeah, just a simple way to look at it soundproofing is keeping noise out or keeping noise in.
06:18.42
Jake
Um.
06:27.12
Gabe White
Sound treatment is how to make the space sound better. Um, so just putting foam on the walls or a mattress up against your doorway. That's not gonna soundproof the room those are absorption methods So like we'll have it doesn't.
06:30.10
volife
M.
06:46.63
Gabe White
It's not a daily occurrence but we'll have some people be like oh well, why do I need a buy whisper room when I can purchase 48 sheets of foam off Amazon and and say ah well, the foam is will help.
06:55.60
Jake
Great.
07:02.82
Gabe White
Room sound a little better depending on what the room's like but it's not going to sound proof anything So that's there We are our sales Team. We have a small sales team that is excellent at working with clients 1 on 1 to really. Just educate them on what a whisper room can accomplish um and every single space that our product goes into is Unique. So if it's a foyer with lots of windows. The sound outside of or just that that.
07:30.27
volife
E.
07:33.64
Alden
Um.
07:39.74
Gabe White
Space is going to be so much different than a carpeted basement with couches and bean bag chairs and bookshellves and so um, yeah, sound proofofing and sound treatment. They are 2 completely different things but they go hand in hand once you have a soundproof space.
07:44.79
volife
E.
07:53.53
volife
M.
07:59.80
Gabe White
The next step is treating the space so it sounds well um, and with voice over too. That's ah, there's a lot of factors that play into that you if you have ah a very like a deep basy voice. Um, you're gonna have to invest in.
08:04.20
Jake
Ah.
08:18.87
Gabe White
Base traps and thicker panels to help those combat the lower frequencies than if you have a tenor or a higher pitched voice. So there's um, the products and then there's ah, an aspect of tinkering with your gear and your preamps and.
08:25.80
Alden
Ah.
08:35.78
Alden
A.
08:38.53
Gabe White
That noise floor and really experimenting and learning what makes your voice sound the best in that treated space. But yeah, that's he even a whisperroom but they are not 100% soundproof that's an another. Um.
08:45.45
volife
E.
08:57.33
Gabe White
Misconception It's it takes ah a great amount of material to make ah a completely soundproof room and since a whisper sproom is designed to be modular and portable. Um it it drastically reduces noise but it's not the.
09:11.95
volife
09:16.32
Gabe White
100% soundproof room. Um, yeah, so that.
09:19.95
volife
Yeah, and and as you said all of this is so customizable and that's where your your team comes in to be such a big help you know because like you said there could be ah my situation I'm in a room in the corner of the house and I'm occasionally going to pick Up. Street noise or road noise or I'm out in the middle of Nowhere. It's usually more of a a low rumble off a car muffler or something or you know my neighbors can cut their yard I never hear it. They're too far away I don't have to worry about some of that which is ah a great blessing.
09:48.98
Jake
Right.
09:52.90
volife
But a lot of people who live in a subdivision and all they're having to work through that and and like Gabe was saying then you're tuning it to your voice to your your equipment your mic and on all of that I've heard a lot of people say.
10:00.52
Alden
Oh it is.
10:02.16
Jake
Properly.
10:08.31
volife
And I've seen this where somebody went and picked up a used whisper room brought it home set it up and they said oh it does sound so boxy you haven't tuned it in yet. You have to treat it and tune it in and you can work with either a sound engineer that you're used to working with or if you're buying it new. Of course they're going to help you out and help you get that dialed in.
10:14.63
Jake
You haven't treated it. Yeah, but.
10:17.70
Alden
Yeah, yeah.
10:28.26
volife
But there's so many variables that come into play. Um, you know when we're talking about not just you know base traps and foam and we talked about the automute blankets. Um, you know there are you know people in a larger room. They're hanging sound panels and rock wool and you're doing this at any other there's so much it comes into play.
10:28.67
Alden
Um.
10:47.19
volife
But this room where it will take you if I'm understanding everything Correctly, if you're in an area and you are struggling with some of that outside interference. It's going to take a lot of that away not all of it but a lot of it away to get you to where you're in a better place and now you've got to dial it in to your voice your equipment, etc, etc.
11:05.61
Alden
Yeah, yeah, um.
11:06.66
volife
So you are're you're now ready you know to look at. Okay, so um, this is what I want they I see on the online. They have a basic and a deluxe model. What's the difference tell us a little about that.
11:07.13
Gabe White
That's exactly right.
11:20.66
Gabe White
Sure yeah, that's um, um, yeah, that started around the pandemic. Let's just let's just back up to 2020 when there was a surge in voice acting and podcasting and people. Um.
11:30.26
Jake
Change.
11:30.81
Alden
Ah.
11:35.86
Gabe White
I think it's a fascinating point in history where we're all confined to bedrooms and living rooms and have our computers and trying to stay connected and share with 1 another. So we just had a surge of individuals looking for a vocal booth because they'd be at home with their kids.
11:43.55
volife
Right.
11:54.18
Gabe White
Schooling or their spouse working in the other room and they're trying to um, get a podcast off the ground or do do some side work and explore some hobbies that they may have started a couple years before um so rather those packages spawned out of.
11:57.41
Jake
Yep.
12:04.52
Alden
Who.
12:06.72
Jake
Right.
12:13.28
Gabe White
Ah, that period of time because we we looked at rather than the 26 sizes and all these features of like what is a tailor-made like go to vocal booth that we can provide so the 4 by 4 is the footprint of that package. It's a single person booth. Um, and then it includes a studio light base traps a folding office desk which I actually have my computer sitting on right Now. It's just ah, a low profile desk that can drop down when not in use and fold right back Up. Um.
12:45.66
Jake
Cool.
12:48.39
Alden
Um.
12:49.45
Gabe White
And then acoustic treatment. So it all the bells and whistles for voiceover are included in that package and then the difference between the basic and deluxe is the single wall.
13:01.87
Alden
I hear.
13:06.24
Gabe White
Is the basic version. It's our standard isolation and then the deluxe is the enhanced isolation which is a double wall unit. So it's essentially single wall versus double wall. It's twice as many components literally a whisper room inside of a whisper room. Um.
13:16.19
Alden
Ah.
13:21.90
Alden
Yeah, yeah.
13:23.25
Jake
M.
13:23.64
volife
M.
13:26.00
Gabe White
So just depending it like if um, like in your situation Troy the basic single wall would probably be sufficient just completely remove all background noise or if there's other people in your house outside of the room you're in none of that noise is going to get into the space. But if you're in.
13:45.58
Gabe White
Like ah putting a booth inside a living room or in a kitchen or if you live in New York city and your apartment's very noisy then the enhanced deluxe package would be our recommendation and.
14:02.39
volife
Gotcha.
14:03.95
Gabe White
And we can get we get into the the science of the difference of how much does the standard versus the enhance reduce in noise but a good rule of thumb is our single wall gets rid of about 50% of noise and then the enhanced double wall eliminates about 75% of noise. So.
14:19.69
volife
Well, okay, that's a good rule.
14:21.86
Jake
You You know that's a that's a actually a nice little segue into. Um we had a listener question I guess that was aware that you were going to be on the podcast and they wanted to write in and they have a question about the standard single and enhanced double wall. They said um.
14:36.81
Jake
You know, heard that the marketing this is from Brandon Keener by the way. So Brandon thanks for writing in. We always like people writing in. It's awesome. Ah, he said heard that the marketing director of whisper room will be on the show I have kids I'm looking for a booth with superior external to internal isolation I know that they have the the standard single and enhanced double wall is there any potential.
14:37.66
Gabe White
Okay.
14:56.75
Jake
For a triple wall. Thanks yeah.
14:59.14
Alden
Um, you must have loud kids.
14:59.91
volife
Ah, yeah.
15:01.83
Gabe White
And that is a good question. Um, there is potential for Triple wall and I haven't personally I haven't been involved in any design or R and D for that. But when I.
15:12.40
Jake
In.
15:16.20
Gabe White
Started working here I kind and of I was wondering the same thing. Um and it is diminishing returns are so if you add a third layer it it. It will triple the weight of a single wall and then.
15:25.40
Jake
Sure sure.
15:26.11
Alden
Oh but.
15:36.40
Gabe White
That said that roughly 75% of noise reduction of a double wall. It will probably go down to eighty two point five percent so every layer you're adding it. It really doesn't increase the it's just.
15:39.42
Jake
Okay.
15:55.37
Gabe White
Yeah, to add that extra layer. Add that extra way add that extra cost the benefit of what you receive in sound isolation is minimal for those efforts. So um.
15:57.51
Jake
Right? right.
16:04.46
volife
That makes sense.
16:04.84
Jake
Makes sense. Well Brandon I hope that answered your question for you.
16:08.65
Alden
Yeah, yeah, Brandon may have just went wanting to say that his kids were loud and get that on the podcast.
16:12.69
volife
Duct tape would be cheaper branded. Ah yeah.
16:15.50
Jake
So right.
16:17.90
Gabe White
But but bring good if he had an unlimited budget. He could take ah a larger whisper room with a height extension a double wall version of that and then put ah the deluxe vocal booth inside of that and have ah the 4 layer wall booth and.
16:27.96
volife
There you go? Yeah, yeah yeah.
16:30.23
Alden
Um, yeah yeah I think what Brandon needs is one of those car. Yeah I think what Brandon needs is 1 of those cartoon rooms where you go into a room shut the door go into a smaller room shut the door go into a smaller room shut the door.
16:31.90
Gabe White
And that would be be pretty name good.
16:32.80
Jake
Yeah Brandon click that fifteen second back and listen to that again. Brandon.
16:46.85
Jake
It's like a babushka whisper room.
16:46.95
volife
yeah yeah I was seeing those yeah and I noticed too gabe. You mentioned Arle is there a reason you guys stick with Arle I know there's a lot of different cheaper foams thinner foams. But ah.
16:46.97
Gabe White
Today.
16:48.30
Alden
As well. Yeah, exactly that's what Brandon needs. Ah.
17:03.41
volife
Educate our listeners to why why? our Alex is preferred.
17:07.30
Gabe White
Yeah, there they make ah a quality product. They've worked with us for I think 25 30 years they've been we've just had a fantastic relationship with them. They do have a higher price point than just buying foam from. Alibaba or Amazon or something like that but they they're fire resistant their Stc rating and they just make the top of the line foam. It's very thick, very dense. You know you're getting every time it doesn't come shredded or compressed and.
17:24.89
volife
Yeah, ah.
17:39.86
Gabe White
All floppy. It's just a very durable product that they make and they've been just excellent as far as supplying phone for every booth that we've sent out and um, yeah, we we just really like Ales they're a great company.
17:41.23
volife
Um.
17:53.26
Jake
Let's wait.
17:53.53
Alden
Ah.
17:55.20
volife
Yeah I had a I had a friend of mine order a bunch of two inch foam off of Amazon and when it came in he couldn't he couldn't get it to decompress.
17:56.34
Alden
An area.
18:05.75
volife
And he looked on the internet and it said to soak it in water and ring it out and let it sit for a couple days and it did it came to life but it was so lightweight and thin. You know it was just not it. It was pretty on the wall I'm sure but it didn't do anything but there's a lot of junk out there.
18:19.55
Gabe White
Um, yeah, yeah, yeah, over likes yeah their foams all like even the way they ship it. It's all already expanded I don't think they ever compress it and then it's in. Boxes. So You just open the box and pull it Out. You don't have to pour water on it or do any sort of science experiments to make it work. Um, like you know.
18:33.19
Alden
Um, and yeah, yeah.
18:38.80
volife
Yeah, yeah, that's that's good. Yeah, that's great. That's great and look let's talk about something that I hear a lot and I see people talking about this a lot. Let's talk about ventilation. Um.
18:42.78
Alden
Ah, yep, yeah.
18:50.28
Gabe White
Um, yeah.
18:50.35
Alden
Um, and it is.
18:52.46
Jake
That's a good point I do not have ventilation.
18:52.57
volife
and and I know there are some some extra options on ventilation. Um, when I first got started. Of course I was like a lot of people I was on a budget and I had a little small room. It's actually over here to my left and it was about four feet wide and seven feet deep and I foamed it up and did what I could but there was no.
19:10.73
Jake
But got hot.
19:11.26
volife
Airflow Went there and I ended up buying a portable air conditioner in the summer. It would be so hot I'd have to run that air conditioner and cool it down get in there and do my recording get out run the air conditioner Again. I Know you guys have some really good ventilation programs and things so tell us how that works how the air circulation works in the whisper room.
19:30.82
Gabe White
Yeah, so um, ventilation that is a that's one of the unique features of a whisper room to have a ventilation system that works keeps you cool? um.
19:38.18
Alden
Are.
19:38.22
Jake
Yeah.
19:46.77
Gabe White
Customizable and also keeps the noise out when I mean if you have the the vent this this is blocking it but we have vent holes. There's one on the top and 1 on the bottom and then each of our booths. Every booth includes ventilation system. Let's just start with that.
20:01.81
Jake
M.
20:04.90
Gabe White
And then depending on the size of it. There may be 1 ventilation system 2 ventilation systems on a larger room or like an eight foot by sixteen foot room will have 4 ventilation systems on there and the way that those work is there's a duct box on the top.
20:17.18
Jake
Shish.
20:24.10
Gabe White
And a duct box on the bottom. Um, it's a pressure system. So ah, the air for the host room is sort constantly circulated through the booth. Um, so right now our office is set. It saves °
20:35.70
Jake
Oh.
20:40.48
Gabe White
Temperature inside. This booth is about ° if I stay in here for a couple hours. It will heat up a little bit just because of my body movement and the computer sitting here but those vent boxes they constantly pull pull.
20:47.74
Jake
Sure.
20:58.67
Gabe White
Warm air out of the booth and so and circulate in fresh air and then inside of those vent boxes. There's foam baffles. So there's a system of this vent box that is pulling the air in and then there's a sheet of foam that is shaped like a wave to further.
21:17.17
Alden
Are.
21:17.20
Gabe White
Reduce the sound of airflow coming in and then we have a 10 speed adjustable fan. So right here on the controller I have it set on 75% but I can crank it all the way up and that's 205 cfm of.
21:25.74
Jake
Oh cool, it's controlling.
21:36.10
Gabe White
Ah, fan speed. So it's just a lot. It's a it's really blowing air in here. But you can hear. Ah, there's a little like a low hum when the fans on full blast. So maybe if you're recording you can just turn the speed down.
21:37.38
Jake
Um, yeah.
21:52.92
Gabe White
Ah, little bit if that if your mic's picking that up and then crank it right back up when the session's done. Um, and that's just the standard ventilation system and then we have the add-ons. We have one called the ventilation silencing system which is an additional air duct.
21:53.46
Jake
Sure.
22:12.18
Gabe White
For the the vent wall. So there's 2 right here on the back of this wall on the outside of the booth with the ventilation silencing system. There would be 4 so it just doubles that pathway air has to travel to get into the booth. Um, then we have another product called the exterior fan silencer.
22:30.97
Gabe White
Which is for outside of the booth say if you have a control room or there's an audio engineer set up in the corner somewhere over there and they're hearing the fan outside of the booth. It's ah, a box that you can place the the fan inside of to keep. Fan noise outside of the the whisper room ah down to a minimal sound and then um we have hepa filterter attachments. Ah we can mount the ventilation system on the roof to have it coming straight down and save you some space around the perimeter of the room. Um.
22:51.32
Jake
Sure.
23:09.82
Gabe White
And yeah, that there's there's been a lot of thought and r and d and upgrades made to the ventilation throughout throughout the years and I think it's it works very well right now. So ah.
23:13.20
Alden
Are a yeah.
23:13.84
volife
And.
23:24.25
volife
Good Good Yeah I know that's got to be a concern for people in different climates. Um, because I mean it gets warm and yeah I think it's more of it gets warm versus it gets cold. Um, because you know heat.
23:33.54
Gabe White
And.
23:36.18
Alden
Um, a.
23:37.69
volife
Inside a house if you've got you I would assume if you've got your booth door open. It's gonna you know it's Goingnna pick up some air from the house and you go on there to record it'll probably like you said just keep warming up a little bit I think that's probably more coming into play. Um, for those of you that that don't understand or don't know we're Morristown.
23:46.34
Gabe White
Who.
23:46.72
Alden
Oh yeah.
23:48.62
Jake
Um.
23:56.32
volife
Ah, Tennessee is it's over in East Tennessee the the Knoxville side of the state. The beautiful Gatlinburg Pigeon forge all over there. We just had went up in October and did our annual four or five day get away from the world tour that we love to do every year.
24:11.55
Jake
And it.
24:15.84
volife
But um, beautiful country over there. How did ah give us some history of how whisper room came to be how it landed in Morristown and tell us a little about the facility and the manufacturing process.
24:29.88
Gabe White
Sure. So um, the president and founder of our company. He is from Morrissetown um, just a quick background of how he came up with this product. It's a it's a pretty cool story. He beyond.
24:42.20
Alden
A.
24:45.70
Gabe White
Was in Maryland studying at at the time I think the university of Maryland taking some classes and and working as a software engineer and he started learning to play the the saxophone he loved saxophone music and. He lived in an apartment and ah he needed a place to practice so he he would practice on his back deck during the day and I think he he found out that some of his neighbors heard him practicing and um.
25:18.94
Jake
I.
25:21.75
Gabe White
He was. He came up with an idea of like all right I need need either move to a house if I want to keep playing saxophone or create something that I can practice without my neighbors hearing me and he made the first whisper room and.
25:24.24
Alden
Ah.
25:32.70
Jake
Yeah, yeah.
25:37.40
Gabe White
I Believe he made it just so he could practiceaxophone. He didn't have an intention of creating a company here. Yeah, and then his his friends and buddies. They'd come over and see what he made this. They're like oh this is really cool. You you got a great idea so he um.
25:40.96
Jake
Like creating something. Yeah.
25:43.69
Alden
Moving.
25:55.87
Gabe White
I'm not sure the whole timeline of it but he went all in and and got a patent on it and had the first sound booth on the market back in 1990 and originally he he created it as a place for musicians and then the whole. Um.
26:01.53
Jake
Wow.
26:12.27
Gabe White
World of whisper room and tens of thousands of booths we've sold all around the globe. It's all grummed from there. So it's it's a pretty I think it's it's an awesome story of just trying to play saxophone and do something you enjoy and and.
26:15.67
Jake
Wow man.
26:28.15
Jake
Yeah, yeah.
26:28.30
volife
Yeah, yeah, that's neat.
26:29.20
Alden
A.
26:30.96
Gabe White
And practice without others hearing you and then turned turned into that So then he yeah. Ah yeah yeah, Sos ah.
26:34.79
Jake
Well, how polite to to discover that how polite of you. How polite are yeah like Wow yeah.
26:34.86
volife
It? yeah.
26:42.30
volife
Yeah, whisper room The polite company.
26:44.55
Jake
Yeah, the polite company. Yeah, that's amazing because I mean like even back in 1990 s that is interesting that he that he initially made it for something like the saxophone. But now you know because voiceover wasn't done at home up until like.
27:01.12
Alden
Right? right? um.
27:01.27
Jake
Maybe five six seven years ago well at least not very commonly, not um, not as common. Yeah, right? of course yeah though, especially the but I mean like I feel like and maybe I'm wrong. But I feel like back then you know the people that were starting to do it were the people that were making the bokoos of money and there's like you know what I'm going to build my own studio at home. So I don't have to keep going in there but that's got to be.
27:01.93
Gabe White
Right.
27:02.70
volife
Not as common. Yeah, there were some There was some.
27:13.23
volife
Um, right right.
27:18.00
Gabe White
Um, present.
27:20.17
Jake
Man I bet when that boom kind of happened that was probably a great time for you guys too just because like people. Yeah, oh really? okay.
27:25.75
Gabe White
Yeah, and I think that happened pretty quickly or within the first few years of the company getting off the ground ah a voiceover and narration and and audiobooks and all all that kind of stuff kind of.
27:38.60
Alden
Looking in.
27:41.10
Gabe White
Started to unfold and our our product fit into that but the timeline of once once he started getting things up and running it moved the company to Morristown and that's where it's been for probably close to 30 years
27:41.35
Jake
Right.
27:55.36
Jake
Wow.
27:57.63
Gabe White
Um, and our facility there is is awesome. We have a great crew of guys working everyone. We love our employees. They they do an awesome job or fantastic and just woodworking and everything's still made by hand. We don't outsource any components. So the.
28:12.10
Jake
Wow.
28:17.54
Gabe White
Product you're buying like it's It's really even from a marketing standpoint. It's like you. You really don't until you use a whisper room or you touch it and you look at and you inspect like just how well it's made and that this is the premium product. It's not some.
28:30.36
Alden
Um, yeah.
28:37.61
Gabe White
Joe Schmo making a booth in his garage and selling it. So it's um, just from a manufacturing standpoint. It's we've got it down to a science now and 1 thing that.
28:38.35
Jake
Yeah.
28:38.79
volife
O.
28:47.87
volife
In.
28:52.22
Gabe White
Just awesome too is we keep with our 26 sizes we keep all the components and stocks so if you wanted to order 6 large booths and 5 um, vocal booths or small like just a dozen booths tomorrow when that when that.
28:57.80
Jake
Sixth one? yeah.
29:07.82
Jake
Yeah, yeah.
29:11.47
Gabe White
Payments may we can just pull those components and get that order ready for shipment so that was that was also something during um like when the pandemic set in supply chain going crazy and it was like oh we actually like this is this is pretty sweet that we can just.
29:15.22
Alden
Oh Wow. Okay.
29:27.51
Alden
Um, yeah.
29:31.32
Gabe White
Get get these voiceover artists and get other clients a product within just a handful of days when.
29:37.51
Alden
Yeah, that is That's good.
29:38.63
Jake
Um, that is considering its size and yeah, you made a good make a good point about the pandemic ah impacting like stock and and with other companies and stuff like that. Yeah wow, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
29:38.83
volife
Ah.
29:44.99
volife
Oh gosh. Yeah, that's why I'm in Voiceover Supply chain management drove me into this. You could You could only do so much now I've seen I've watched some of the videos and and looked at the website intently to to understand better.
29:46.54
Gabe White
Right? and.
29:53.16
Alden
Um, yeah.
30:03.36
volife
Um, it's a pretty good sized shipment. Even if you're getting let's just say a 4 by 6 shipped into your home and and here like where I live. There's no way you're getting an 18 wheeler up my driveway to my house and it can't turn around There's no way I can see in the city. They can pull up on the site by the sidewalk. You know you can if they've got a lift on the back of the truck they can get this thing off and you can roll it into the garage and and get it all into the house. Are are there situations you guys run into where somebody's living out in the middle of nowhere like I am and you've got to get it to them. How do they logistically do that.
30:40.19
Gabe White
Um, yeah, there are situations like that that come up because it's a standard order is delivered on a semit truck. But if you have like we've I don't personally work with a lot of the shipments and logistics. Um, but. I Do know like if we'll make arrangements to use like a box truck or or really call around with our different freight companies that we use and see who can actually get this.
31:02.21
volife
Okay.
31:05.50
Alden
Are a.
31:10.27
volife
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
31:12.36
Gabe White
Delivery to his destination. So we we do the leg work on finding a driver who can get the order there and but it it. It is a big order. It's not like ordering a new t-shirt it comes in a pretty little package that you just open up. It is ah.
31:17.94
Jake
Right? Well, that's nice to you guys.
31:20.94
volife
Um.
31:24.87
Jake
Right? It's not even like ordering a new Tv man like I mean yeah, you just? yeah.
31:25.49
volife
Yeah.
31:32.11
Gabe White
Yeah, it's not it's it's ah, a pal the the whole the whisperroom Every component's individually boxed and wrapped on a palette so it is an event the day to unload and install it. We highly recommend.
31:32.97
volife
Ah.
31:33.30
Alden
Um, yeah.
31:38.23
Jake
Right.
31:47.52
Gabe White
Getting a couple of your buddies over to the house. Maybe Tom you got some free pizza and there's ah something you need help with um, but but it it. It's it's atuitive to put it together but it it I mean once you order it. It is um.
31:52.46
Jake
Yeah, yeah, ah.
31:53.92
volife
M.
32:05.22
Gabe White
Take the palette apart and move the boxes inside your home and um box each component and um stage things How you want it to be whether it's a window on one side of the booth and the ventilation on the other. Um, so there is it's It's not just a.
32:17.60
Jake
Right? right.
32:24.59
Gabe White
You set it up in 20 minutes it takes a few hours or an afternoon to get your booth set up.
32:27.29
Jake
Well just like the voiceover community can't cut corners put in the effort I mean just like talking about treating your treating your area once you set it up. You got to figure out how it works best with your voice. So I mean that I mean you can't cut corners and I like that I mean you got to put in the effort because this this whole gig is an effort.
32:29.54
Alden
Um, yeah.
32:30.10
volife
Um.
32:37.34
volife
Sure.
32:37.62
Gabe White
Right.
32:43.31
Gabe White
Here here.
32:45.10
volife
Right? right? now. Alden and Jake do you guys have some more in general questions you want to ask about these things because I'm um I think I've covered everything and I love talking about logistics sorry.
32:46.55
Jake
Ah, requires a lot of effort.
32:53.28
Alden
Um, yeah, well we talked a little bit. Yeah, we talked a little bit about the tuning to your voice process and how if you're bright buying a new whisper room Gabe does does do you guys offer that service. Do you have someone help listen.
33:01.49
volife
Oh.
33:10.90
Alden
Into their booth or give them ah ideas or feedback.
33:16.35
Gabe White
Um, we don't offer that service directly as a company. Um, but we have a series of blog articles to educate users on that's something that I personally um.
33:25.56
Alden
Oh yeah, well e.
33:32.23
Gabe White
Write a lot of those articles and collaborate with guest contributors to um, point people in the right direction. So they're not spinning wheels trying to figure this stuff out and then we have a couple.
33:48.60
Gabe White
I guess like audio consultants or people that have worked with us throughout the years that will either come in and build the whisper room and treat the entire space and get all the gear integrated so we have we have some resources to.
33:52.52
Alden
Um.
34:05.57
Gabe White
Put people in touch with the right folks to help them out with those services but day day to day. Our main focus is sound isolation booths and getting those the right booth configured for the client.
34:07.23
Alden
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
34:07.67
volife
Here.
34:07.71
Jake
Wow.
34:16.64
volife
Sure.
34:23.50
Gabe White
And shipping it out in a timely vayner. Um.
34:23.69
volife
Yeah, yeah, you're providing a wonderful wonderful tool and they just you know they can dial it in and I know a lot of veo artists. They are tied to an audio guy you know and there's several really good ones and they you and and they'll really quickly tell you.
34:36.54
Alden
Yeah.
34:43.20
volife
You know, change your mic position to here move this to here move this base trap here. Try that then you know, send me another sample and they'll listen and they'll say ah no, that didn't work try this and they can walk you through that and and it is. it's it's it's experimental you've you've just got to do it and and the 3 of us.
34:46.54
Alden
Um.
34:48.75
Alden
Um, yeah.
34:49.15
Gabe White
Um, yeah.
34:58.85
Jake
It takes some tinkering. Oh yeah.
35:02.37
volife
The 3 of us do it even still. We'll send each other something and say does this sound boxy I think I'm hearing myself sound boxy. What did you change nothing but I sound boxy and you know in our ears will leave us. Yeah, our ears your ears will leave you ah huh.
35:04.80
Alden
Um, yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:10.88
Jake
Yeah, that's a lot of times that's me too. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:14.28
Alden
Yeah, probably your Mike Moved you know five inches yeah
35:14.86
Gabe White
Yeah, yeah.
35:20.36
volife
Yeah, and it and it does I mean it's that simple I'll see somebody in a video and their their mic is up higher and pointed more at an angle and I thought well maybe I should try that and then I try that and I'll listen back I'm ah ah that doesn't sound right? put it back where it was and and it's it's teeny tiny things and you just have to dial it in. It's just what you have to do.
35:25.70
Alden
Um, yeah.
35:31.27
Jake
So.
35:31.74
Gabe White
Yeah.
35:39.34
Alden
So.
35:39.98
volife
Um, it's just part of it. But these are man these are such great tools that if you are having.
35:40.92
Gabe White
It sure is.
35:45.74
Jake
An integral like imperative that you have something like this if not a whisper room I mean like in in may hopefully you can upgrade to 1 if you're if you can't quite afford one but I mean like they're they're they're super necessary if you want to do something in voiceover.
35:45.76
Alden
Um, yeah.
35:50.45
Alden
Um, yeah.
35:53.59
volife
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, the room the room within a room you hear that all the time people say you need that room within a room to eliminate that outside noise and.
36:00.27
Alden
Um, for sure.
36:01.73
Gabe White
Um, okay.
36:07.67
volife
You know, even here I do the best I can but the wall behind me goes to the outside world and there's dogs and horses and noise out there and if I were to drop a whisper room right here. It would take all that away and that's what we're trying to get at here to you know, let people know that.
36:12.46
Jake
So yeah.
36:13.72
Gabe White
Me.
36:19.73
Alden
Then yeah.
36:24.90
volife
Yeah, you might get away with certain things for a while but you need to isolate better and this is definitely one of the number 1 tools out there in the business to help you isolate because these guys first it was the first name I heard when I got into vo you should look for a whisper room you know? And yeah.
36:29.36
Alden
Um, yeah, well and because we you know? yeah I heard it very early on as well. You know we talked about the education process of the difference that a lot of people.
36:29.97
Jake
Hundred percent right
36:35.95
Jake
Was whispering.
36:42.13
volife
Yeah, very popular.
36:47.98
Alden
Who want to get a whisper room. Don't understand the difference between soundproofing isolating versus you know, making your the echo making your room sound good. What other things I'm sure you probably have ah frequently asked questions but maybe somebody buys that whisper room and.
36:56.28
volife
Here.
37:06.28
Alden
All of a sudden. There's something they didn't know that they didn't know right? They didn't know what they didn't know Gabe what would be some of those things that people need to know upfront because like we said this is not like buying a new Tv this is a pretty big investment and you need to be educated on on what your needs are so that you get the right whisper room.
37:12.73
Gabe White
Is. Yeah, yeah.
37:25.73
Alden
For what you for what you're doing for obviously for us. It's for voiceover.
37:30.83
Gabe White
Sure, Um, so in regards to just a whisper room be the need. Well.
37:35.20
Alden
Um, a.
37:43.85
Gabe White
We we never try to push products. So if someone we try to get people exactly what they need if they're um, a single wall booth that's and then they're planning on moving somewhere. It's like to let's start with the standard single wall and if that isolation isn't enough for you.
37:44.28
Alden
Quick.
37:46.51
Jake
Yeah.
38:01.69
Gabe White
Then you can upgrade to the enhanced double wall unit down the road if if that like but let's let's start here. Let's start here as a foundation then you get your gear in but a lot of the the questions that um.
38:05.24
Alden
Um, yeah, yeah.
38:17.21
Gabe White
Are more like technical questions they they actually don't necessarily apply to our product. They're more like the microphone placement or they'll ask about I mean we've gotten the noise floor several times and it's it's like well are you using a dynamic microphone or a condenser microphone.
38:25.17
Alden
Okay.
38:33.32
Alden
Um, ah, ready now.
38:35.57
Gabe White
Where you placing that at what's your the interface input volume that like there's so many factors that play into getting that recording and even like our rule of thumb by will it's good to.
38:42.24
Jake
Yeah, oh absolutely.
38:45.80
Alden
Um, yeah.
38:54.90
Gabe White
To do voiceover directly into a corner towards the bases traps far as from what I've tried out with ah with a male voice. But once you have all that set up if you move the microphone here. It's going to sound completely different but I don't know if I'm really answering your your question alden.
39:01.96
Alden
Um.
39:05.38
Jake
Yeah.
39:10.69
Alden
I Think you are I think you are I I was a little bit vague on purpose because I wanted to give you some room in that question. But I think that you know, um, some people invest in a product and decide. They're not happy and it's probably because they had the wrong ideas of what what.
39:13.71
Gabe White
But sure.
39:24.47
Gabe White
39:29.88
Alden
Was going to be solved by that problem and that the whole idea of people not understanding the difference between um, soundproofing and sound treating. You know was a part of what led me to that question.
39:35.67
Gabe White
Um, yeah, okay.
39:39.67
volife
Ah.
39:41.40
Jake
Do you guys include any kind of information like when you send the room like ah maybe like a packet like just maybe some tips to like help them treat their whisper room once they get it set up like is there anything like that like you know. Because like you know if there is someone like Alden was saying who might be maybe a little bit more on the newer side of things and they just maybe they you know they had the money so they went ahead and purchased ah a whisper room but they weren't quite sure what they needed to do once they get it set up. Is there anything that you guys include when you send these things that just help people maybe help them kind of get a start or get their.
40:06.64
Gabe White
Is.
40:15.56
Jake
Get started setting it treating it up for their voice and whatnot.
40:18.38
Gabe White
Yeah, with the um, ah our acoustic packages that that we provide for each booth those have instructions and recommended placements on where to put those panels and so it's the autoute panels and the Rlx.
40:27.86
Jake
Cool.
40:35.90
Gabe White
Foam. It's a combination of the 2 and how to position those around. Ah your doorways or this desk or even alternate like if you have foam on one side then the panel across from it so you don't have foam across from foam. You have foam across from the fabric panel. And then like in this booth right now I have a window in front of me and maybe I'm getting some echo or reverberation and it's not like my recordings I'm not very pleased with them. It's the recommendation would be to to take a panel and simply place it over the window if that's bothering you or to.
40:54.22
Jake
Ah.
41:09.95
Jake
Right.
41:13.20
Gabe White
Um, we we don't have like when we in your initial order.. There's not like this tips and trick guide which may be something that to look into to do but it's just with Um. Just the variety of what a whisper room's used for. Ah, we just we provide very detailed instructions on how to assemble it correctly and um, ah and then really we encourage people to reach back out to their product representative. So There's this.
41:33.50
Alden
Um.
41:36.40
Jake
Right.
41:37.64
Alden
Um, yeah.
41:47.88
Gabe White
Ongoing relationship where we can address needs after post sale and ah it it from from my understanding we we have very very good reviews and very like very happy clients. Um, if you look.
41:50.65
Alden
Yeah, yeah.
42:04.84
Jake
Oh I'm sure.
42:07.71
Gabe White
Yeah, and it's there. There are these situations that pop up that are that are unique and it's like all right? Well let's let's get in a booth here on our office and try to replicate what they're experiencing and then we'll we'll reach reach out to them directly. So it's a very 1 on 1
42:19.10
Alden
Mm.
42:25.60
Gabe White
um um I guess consultation where we where we work with individuals to help them be happy with where they're at. But I think the the question about the misconceptions would be like is it. Oh I bought this booth and it's not 100% soundproof
42:30.85
Alden
Um, right.
42:33.20
Jake
Well, that's great. That's great.
42:35.92
volife
Yeah, and it really.
42:43.84
Jake
Yeah, right.
42:44.48
Alden
Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
42:44.85
Gabe White
It's like well we we covered that and sent you a lot of this were you and did did you not read it or did you miss that part. Um, and then the sound treatment aspect after you put the room together that's 2 different worlds sound treatment and sound proofofing. So.
42:50.53
Jake
Um.
42:51.31
volife
Yeah.
43:00.31
volife
And.
43:00.78
Jake
Right? Well we always stress that people that want to get into voiceover do their research and it sounds like I mean and you should You should always do your research in whatever you're getting into period. So I mean when people miss stuff like that. It's like okay but did you.
43:04.30
Alden
Um, yeah.
43:17.42
Jake
Read this you know I mean like people still have a hard time reading even as we get into. Ah ah the adult world. So yeah, we learn how to read for a reason people.
43:22.75
volife
Um, yeah, they do they do, but it sounds like they have the ah you know the pre.
43:28.67
Alden
That's right.
43:32.71
volife
Ah, the pre-bi interview and things are doing to figure out how you're using it where you're using it what you're looking to accomplish they're building that off that and it really sounds like the customer interaction and and the customer service is excellent. They're they're right here in Tennessee you couldn't ask for them to be in a better place I mean.
43:39.21
Alden
Um, it's good. Yeah I Love that.
43:49.25
Jake
True true.
43:52.46
volife
Anything made in Tennessee is top quality top shelf. It is the best. So be sure you buy Tennessee and no not at all, not at all not being you know here just outside Nashville um, but it is a great product. We hear so much about it and and we're so glad gay.
43:52.55
Gabe White
That's right.
43:57.90
Jake
Um, and he's not biased folks. He's not. It's not at all, um at all.
44:09.77
Jake
Yeah man, it's really cool.
44:10.10
Alden
Um, yes, this has been great.
44:10.73
volife
Took time to come on and be with us because we we really want want people to hear about these because there are some people that go really I can get a room for that I can buy this thing and put it in.. It's going to help. Yes, it can. And as we've said all through the podcast 3 or 4 times you're going to have to dial it in and tune it in to you your voice your timber your equipment but you will be very pleased when you go in there and you got it. You have it dialed in you close that door and you send that job off and your client goes man that sounds so good and that's what we're all after.
44:27.54
Alden
Right? Yeah, do.
44:39.52
Jake
Am.
44:43.10
Alden
Um.
44:43.84
volife
You know? and and I'm almost sure Gabe wouldn't mind getting that feedback from somebody you know hey I did my first job in my new whisper room and my client loved it. You know and and it's great. Um now Gabe tell everybody how to find you guys. We know you're on yeah, you're on the internet.
44:46.99
Jake
Yeah.
44:50.17
Alden
Yeah.
45:01.74
volife
There's lots of things to see there. You guys are advertising in different places I see you on Facebook quite a bit um tell everybody how to get in touch with you and how to get that conversation started because they need a whisper room.
45:14.68
Gabe White
Yeah visit Whisper Room Dot Com Check out our products see what catches your eye. We are very transparent on pricing. All prices are listed on our website so you don't have to submit any information just to see our product catalog. Um.
45:28.32
Jake
Awesome. Okay.
45:31.42
Gabe White
And then follow us on Instagram to see client stories and just some unique setups just what was sprooms look like in different environments and just ah real life examples of happy clients using our product and um.
45:32.83
Jake
I Was gonna stay. Yeah, so it's cool.
45:47.90
Jake
Sure yeah.
45:48.48
Alden
Um, yeah.
45:50.79
Gabe White
And just yeah, just email us at info at wisbroomome.com or give us a call um at 8 six five Five five eight five 3 6 4 and that's I think that's the right number. Um. But yeah, whisperroom.com give us a call fill out a form. Let us know your questions and 1 of our product representatives will be happy to work with you and show you what we can do to help your situation out.
46:05.25
volife
Um.
46:05.28
Alden
Um.
46:18.15
Jake
Sweet. Thank you very much man. Absolutely Of course.
46:18.33
volife
Awesome! Awesome! sounds like some great customer service and gabe again. Thanks for your time Alden Jake as always thanks for your time and thanks for joining us right here on another vo podcast.
46:19.43
Alden
Um, cool. Yeah.