Tips for Content Creators recording at home
Have you suddenly found yourself creating webinars, podcasts and recorded presentations? Welcome to the world of production and content creation.
It doesn’t take an audiophile1 to know that when it comes to audio quality, a vocal booth is far superior to anything you can record on your phone or your computer.
But you probably don’t have a booth at home to record your webinars, podcasts and presentations, nor do you have the expertise to clean up and master your recording.
So for those content creators recording from home, we’ll share some tips on how to get your recordings as crisp as possible.
Graham Johnson, Audio Engineer with Robinson Creative and “2020 Sound Engineer of the Year” nominee at this year's Gine On Awards, shares his advice.
Your number one consideration recording at home is the room you record in.
In terms of room choice – most people are recording or presenting from home. I’m doing it every day with all kinds of online school ruckus in the background. So I know all too well how difficult it is for the average person to be set up in a dead room.2
But that’s ok. You still got options. Choose a room that’s as small as possible, which isn’t overdecorated with mirrors and hard surfaces. Wide, smooth surfaces (like whiteboards, your framed certificates and awards all over the wall, big desks or countertops) reflect sound just like light, and cause recordings to lose quality.
For example, while many people might shut themselves in the bathroom to hide from children, I mean, to do an audio recording, this is probably the worst place in your home to record. Smooth tiles galore and a large mirror make it a nightmare for sound bouncing around.
Another type of room to avoid is a large, open area which makes the audio sound “roomy”, hollow or full of indiscernible echoes. (Try it for yourself – record a voice note in the bathroom, then record another one in front of a pillow and see if you can hear difference.)
Instead, Graham recommends, “The smallest, quietest room in your house away from noise is the best choice. Even in an office, mirrors and hard desks cause sound to bounce around, so if you can drape soft cloth on your walls (that aren’t on camera) this will improve your sound reflection.”
On the flipside, a bedroom is actually most likely the best place in your home to record audio. It’s probably relatively small, but more importantly bedrooms tend to have lots of soft furnishings like bedding and cushions, which may absorb some sound.
If you’re doing a lot of Zoom presentations or webinars, you might want to invest in a basic USB microphone instead of your device’s built-in mic. This can significantly improve your audio without hitting you with the up-front cost of setting up a studio at home.
For example, a yeti mic, which many podcasters use, is excellent for content creators and is easy to use. We even have one in studio!
Imperfect audio may also be due to dropping in and out of wifi, so try to not to go too far from your router to diminish the impact of attenuation.3
If you are recording frequently, for example hosting podcasts or seminars to promote your business, it may be worth your while to enlist an engineer to professionally clean up the audio. An engineer has the skills necessary to brighten your vocals, remove the hollering kid, balance all the levels of multiple voices who’ve all recorded in different locations, and also EQ.4
“We can pull audio off of any video and fix it to a certain degree.” Graham says. “A big problem people have when recording is noise in the background like if a bus goes by or a dog barks. As well as breaths, pops, lip smacks. Or stuff that’s overdriven.5”
Rather than try to record perfectly without taking a breath or smacking your lips, it may be simpler to pass your audio through professional post-production before publishing.
Email carlie.ester@gmail.com to get a free quote now.
But remember, the real key is to recording well from the get-go. There’s a big difference in a phone recording, a computer, and being in studio.
Terms you just learned:
1Audiophile - A person who loves audio more than life itself.
2Dead room – A room treated so that audio frequencies cannot bounce around. It’s usually covered in soft panels, acoustic foam or in your case of DIY it could be blankets on the wall. A vocal booth is considered “dead”.
3Attentuation – reduction of wifi signal strength the further you get from the source, for example a router.
4EQ – Equalisation, which is an engineer’s process of using frequencies to shape and control your sound.
5Overdriven – overdriven is distortion which can occur if the audio is recorded too loud, causing it to peak, or is compressed too much.
This was great information! Thanks guys!
This was so damn useful! Definitely going to invest in a mic!