Welcome back! Have you soaked in and embraced all three top tips found on the previous article? No? Well go back and do that first why are you here! quick, go go go. Ok – if you are still reading I know you are ready for top tip 4 through 7. The good news is I am fully awake and my nap did me good. So where were we? Oh that’s right, soundproofing troubleshooting for an unconventional recording space.
Soundproofing Troubleshooting Tip 4: Don’t Donate your Grandmother’s Giant, Bajillion Pound Antique Furniture, it Will Come in Handy
I didn’t bring a lot of useful furniture with me in the move, of course. So when I had the opportunity to buy some of the previous owner’s bookshelves, desks, and a stack of books on political topics I had no intention of reading, I put them to use in the studio. ALL of them. Books, especially of the political persuasion, are really only good for soaking up a bunch of hot air anyway. I stuffed them into the maze of book shelves I created as a sort of open-air booth.
Soundproofing Troubleshooting Tip 5: Spot Treating
- Microphone boom arms – wrap those puppies with foam or fabric
- Metal pop filters – Stedmans are great, but they are metal after all
- Computer monitors – is nothing sacred??
- Hard desk surfaces – add a cloth mousepad or desk mat, or those cute foamy cloud shaped wrist rests you can get on Amazon! (I love mine)
- Water bottles and coffee mugs – bet you didn’t see that one coming
You don’t have to cover every nook and cranny. Spot treating can be much more economically feasible than covering an entire room floor to ceiling (yes the ceiling, too) with special acoustic panels. Those things add up!
Try clapping or some battle chatter, for my fellow video game voiceover colleagues, to try and pinpoint the most offensive reflections. You might hear your voice ring back at you from some weird sources. Some of my favorite culprits have been the mic boom arm, the pop filter if you use a metal one like the Stedman, the monitor itself, the desk, or a hard surface behind the monitor. I’ve heard some folks even complaining about hearing a bounce from their water bottle, so adjust your favorite coffee mug if you’re hearing something weird in your recordings that you can’t quite put your finger on.
Hard surfaces can be softened with blankets, books or notepads. Put those booth buddy stuffed animals to good use. What’s even better than telling people that you get paid to talk to yourself in a padded room? Talking to stuffed animals in a padded room, of course. My favorite is my little Bruni plushy from Frozen 2, feel free to pick your own favorites.
Soundproofing Troubleshooting Tip 6: Computers are noisy
- Fan Control: Free software to manage system fans
- FireStorm: GPU fan control for gaming cards
- Optional: Consider going fanless – I hear certain macbook laptops are awesome, but I’m already set up with windows versions of everything so I gotta roll with the punches
One of the things I liked about recording in a booth was the ability to keep the noise from my stupidly loud desktop computer outside of my recording area. To fix that in a more open studio, I do have the tower on the other side of a bookshelf, but it still needs a little bit of extra help.
To knock the noise down a little more, I also use two fan programs, Fan Control and FireStorm, to lower my fan speeds when recording, and bump them back up again for gaming. Hey, gaming is legitimate research in our line of work, am I right? AM I RIGHT!?
Soundproofing Troubleshooting Tip 7: Fix it in post – (only as a last resort!)
- iZotope RX – keep an eye out during the holidays for some sweet deals (especially for mouth de-click, but that’s another episode for another day)
- Waves NS1 – I’ve seen others swear by it, especially some audiobook narrators. I have not used it myself, so I can neither confirm nor deny these claims
- C-Suite C-Vox – my absolute favorite! If you have an Apollo, this is really worth picking up during a holiday special.
These are some really great programs and plugins that can help a little as a last resort. Use with care! You can accidentally get a little too heavy-handed with these settings and end up doing more harm than good, so be sure to troubleshoot at the source before resorting to software and editing.
There are also some excellent, marvelously helpful humans who are willing to help troubleshoot technical issues, or who have super helpful courses specifically created to help you get the best sound quality out of your studio and software. Uncle Roy Yokelson and Jordan Reynolds’ Audio Ninja masterclass and ultimate UAD Apollo course spring immediately to mind. I’m not an affiliate or anything, they just really are awesome and have been a huge help to me. 5000/10, definitely recommend.
Personal Touches: Be different, Like Everybody Else
You don’t have to make your recording space look like a UFO bridge console with LED strip lights. Feel free to delete that Govee app. Unless, you know, that’s exactly what you want. This is a judgement-free zone.
Use that old thrift store furniture you’ve been promising to DIY re-finish for the last three years. Stuff it full of books, blankets, pillows, socks, stuffed animals, just plain ol’ stuff, whatever you have handy. Chances are, unless you’re a minimalist, you’ve got too much stuff anyway. Put it to good use!
Spot treat problem areas as needed! Your ear will start to pick up things, and you’ll wish that wasn’t the case when you find yourself lurking around the room clapping like you’ve finally gone off the deep end. Embrace it. We get paid to talk to ourselves in a padded room, remember? If you want a little eye-candy behind you for those zoom sessions, that’s where you can strategically place some acoustic panels, pretty fabrics, or a giant color-changing fireplace. I get a lot of compliments on mine!
Conclusion: It’s Not Rocket Science, Even if it Feels Like it is
All those diagrams that show the exact placement of the microphone at precise angles to each wall in relation to the height of the ceiling during the full moon while the sun is in Aquarius… or something… might look all technical and sciency, and may get you from 0 to broadcast quality eventually. But you don’t have to follow someone else’s blueprint exactly – it’s about finding what works for your specific situation, needs, and budget.
Through trial, error, clapping, screaming, and putting that junk you’ve been meaning to either fix up or get rid of to good use, you’ll create a space for yourself that sounds great, and that you’ll actually *want* to lock yourself away in for hours. You know, you’ll be surprised at how much better you sound. Probably. Now go forth and make a joyful noise… it’s our job, officer, honest.
Soundproofing Troubleshooting for an Unconventional Recording Space by Storm Watters more articles are available here.