Influential Introvert: Communication Coaching for Professionals with Performance Anxiety - Recording Environment: 11 Tips for Capturing Quality Audio When You Don’t Have a Studio

Episode Date: April 11, 2019

I confess that I’m a little jealous of some of the podcast studios I’ve seen online, with acoustic panels and all this other pro equipment. I don’t have anything like this. (show notes)   I am currently living on the coast of England. I have a big bay window overlooking the ocean, which has always been a dream of mine, and when I’m lying in bed, I feel like I’m in an infinity pool.On a clear day, I can France.   All this might sound pretty magical, and it is. However, my housing situation is pretty random: I’m a lodger living with a Sri Lankan family and two other guys renting rooms here. This is not the ideal podcasting environment.   There are always people chatting in various parts of the house. Seagulls squawk outside my very large, glass window, which lets in a ton of street noise because a little road runs along the coast between my room and the sea.  I have high ceilings. Right now, a helicopter is flying around for some reason and someone just fired up a lawnmower. So, I have a room with a gorgeous view, but also a number of recording challenges. On episode six of Podcasting Step by Step, I talk about how to create a quality-sounding podcast when you’re recording environment is not so great.   Visit sarahmikutel.com for show notes and more articles on how to podcast.   Ready to start podcasting? Download my free guide: “8 Mistakes New Podcasters Make and How to Fix Them.”   I’m your host, Sarah Mikutel. Thank you so much for listening to this show. I know you’re busy and have many listening options, so it means a lot to me that you’re here. You are the best.  Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

Have you been wanting to podcast for a while now, but something's holding you back? Maybe it's fear of putting yourself out there or confusion about the tech. I'm Sarah Mikital and on podcasting step by step, I'll break down how to podcast with a little loving motivation to give you the skills and the confidence you need to finally launch that show of your dreams. Let's get started. I am currently living on the coast of England. I have a big bay window overlooking the ocean.

which has always been a dream of mine. And when I'm lying in bed, I feel like I'm in an infinity pool surrounded by water. And on a clear day, I can even see France from here. Now, this all sounds pretty magical, and it is. However, I am just a lodger in this house. My housing situation is pretty random. I'm living with a Sri Lankan family and two other guys renting rooms here. And this is not the ideal podcasting environment.

There are people chatting in various parts of the house all the time, seagulls squawking outside my very large glass window. I have high ceilings, a ton of street noise because a little road runs along the coast between my room and the sea. Right now there's a helicopter flying around for some reason, and somebody has just fired up his lawnmower. So I have a room with a very gorgeous view, but a number of podcasting challenges. So in this episode, I will talk about how to deal with less than ideal recording environments. When you speak, sound waves bounce around the room, and when they hit hard surfaces like windows and tiles, this can cause an echoy sound in your podcast, and you do not want this.

This is why you should never record in a bathroom, even if it seems like the quietest place in your house. Instead, you might want to try recording in a closet. soft surfaces like clothes can absorb the sound waves, which is why a lot of podcasters record their shows in their closets. If you can fit in there with your equipment, I say go for it. I don't even have a closet. I just have a wooden wardrobe. So if you've got a closet that you can walk into, you are doing pretty well for yourself, my friend. I do have carpeting, though, which is good. And I never thought I would say that. Carpeting is good for sound absorption. You also want to close your windows and turn off any machines that are making noise like air conditioners and fans.

And if your computer is working overtime and sounds like an airplane that's about to take off, restart it. In fact, it's a good idea to restart your computer periodically anyway, especially right before an interview just to give it a little recharge. You also want to cover up any hard services, so close those curtains, lay a blanket or a towel on your desk under your equipment. in a pinch, you can throw a coat or a blanket over your head and the microphone so you can reduce the room reflections that way. MPR reporters are famous for doing this when they're recording outside the studio, and I've seen photos of them in what looks like little pillow forts in their hotel rooms. It's actually quite cute. So that's an example of a very basic voiceover booth. Just throw a blanket over your head. If you can, wait to record when nobody else is

home. If the house is free for an afternoon, I will come downstairs to record in the living room. And this environment isn't the best either because it's got a lot of glass and hard surfaces, but at least I don't have the constant hum of cars. So I lay a towel on the table and then I surround my mic and computer with pillows and a big fluffy duvet. If you are doing a remote interview with the guest, you want to make sure that their recording environment sounds good as well. So if they're in a noisy office with other people talking, that sound is going to get picked up, and it's going to be very distracting to your listeners. So give your guest a heads up on what they need to do to prepare for the interview. For example, if you're doing a Skype recording, tell them to record in a quiet place with strong Wi-Fi, or even better, to plug their Ethernet cable directly into their computer.

And like you, they will need to wear headphones to prevent feedback. And they should also turn off any computer programs that are not essential to the interview, as well as any notifications. So, you know, sometimes you probably heard podcasts and somebody's email has gone off or other, like, their cell phone is buzzing. Just to make sure that you and your guest have all of these distractions turned off. Or edit them out later. I'm not really sure why people don't edit those things out. As I mentioned in the last episode on podcast equipment, most podcasters would benefit from using a diner. dynamic cardio microphone, like the ATR 2100 or the Samson Q2U.

And again, the cardio polar pattern on these mics, that means that they are picking up the sound that is directly in front of them. These dynamic mics are less sensitive than condenser mics, like the Blue Yeti, which is going to pick up all the noise around them. When recording, point your mic away from the noise that you don't want it to pick up. So if I have to record in my room, I will sit as far away from the one. window as I can, and the mic will be facing me and opposite the window and its street noise. And I speak about a fist away from the mic, slightly off access rather than straight into the top of it,

so I can avoid those harsh, close of sounds made by those P and B words. And the farther away I move from the mic, the quieter I'm going to get. I don't want to stray too far, so you have to stay close to these mics. F.I, if you already have the Yeti and you don't feel like investing in another mic, just know that this is a side address microphone, and that means you're not supposed to speak into the top of it, but from the side of it. And you can also choose different polar patterns for this microphone. Make sure that you have it set to cardio when you're doing your podcast. Whichever microphone you have, record five seconds of silence before you start speaking. Most rooms in which you record will have some kind of noise to them, and capturing a few seconds of room tone without your voice,

this will make it easier for you to remove that white noise buzz of the room later when you're cleaning up your audio. And you'll do this by a process called noise reduction, which you'll find in your digital audio workstation like Adobe Edition or Audacity. You can also soundtreat your walls. if unlike me you're a normal person and you have a home, you could build your own studio if you have an extra room. So this would mean rugs or carpet for your room and acoustic foam for the walls. Or you could just use mattress foam or packing blankets or any type of blanket you have to hang around your room.

I recently bought a portable vocal booth which basically looks like a U-shaped piece of gray acoustic foam. And the package says it's designed to give outstanding, Absorption Efficiency. I'm not sure this is actually doing anything that a duvet can't do, and I also question the portability of it. My can is quite small. I'm not going to carry this thing around, so I don't think I'll be recommending this one,

but I will link to some videos of Do It Yourself sound treatments that other podcasters have come up with for their recording space, and you can find that at sarahmicatel.com slash environment. If you have a bit of a budget and you don't want to glue things on your walls or you're not allowed to do that, you could see if there's a recording studio near you that you could use. I'm not living in a massive city, but I learned there's the seagulls. I learned that there are actually several studios near me and they're not outrageously expensive. They rent space by the hour or by the day. And it's cheaper, the more. hours that you book. So you could plan out several solo episodes or line up several interviews

back to back and then go into the studio and you've got a month's worth of shows recorded in one go. You could also look into community centers that might have a space you could use for free. And this could be a good opportunity to give something back like giving a talk or a workshop on whatever your podcast is about. Local community radio stations might also be willing to give you recording space. And what would be really cool is in exchange if they aired your show, that would be a win-win for everyone. So it never hurts to ask. Your recording environment is so important. Yes, unexpected things happen. I was once about to record a remote interview and a neighbor started drilling, so I ran next door and kindly asked him if he could wait an hour. And he did.

And that was really nice of him because he didn't know me at all. To someone, of this up, there's the adage, garbage in, garbage out. Meaning, if you record bad audio, that's what you're going to end up with. There is only so much that even the best audio engineer can do to fix things. So record as cleanly as you can to make your editing and your mixing life much easier later on. Again, if you're feeling ambitious and you want to build your own do-it-yourself podcast recording studio, I will share links to videos on Sarah Mickey's, Thank you for listening to podcasting step by step. You are now one step closer to launching that podcast you've been dreaming about. But I want to get you even closer. I created a free guidebook for you with actionable worksheets called eight mistakes new podcasters make and how to fix them. To find that, head on over to sarahmicatel.com slash fix. Do you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free conversation.

sheet sheet with simple formulas that you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you're in a meeting or just talking with friends. Download it at sarahmicatel.com slash blank no more.