One of my first jobs was running live sound for bands at a local amusement park. From this, I learned a lot about about acoustics and noise. (I also learned a LOT about working with demanding customers.) So when I decided to start doing voiceover seriously and set up a studio in my home, I was certain I could construct a recording environment that would work for VO. I found the quietest place in my house I could find – my closet – and using some heavy duty clamps I picked up, I clamped heavy blankets and comforters around the inside shelves of the closet. If you can afford them, heavy duty quilted moving blankets work really well to absorb the sound. If you can’t afford that, just use comforters, regular blankets, or anything you have on hand, as long as they’re thick and heavy. I also bought some cheap throw rugs and placed them on my concrete floor to help absorb the sound there too.
I originally couldn’t afford a mic stand, but thankfully the USB mic I bought came with a desk stand. So I placed the mic on one of my shelves, then surrounded it with a couple of old pillows I had.
And to my surprise, this set up – as ghetto as it was – worked pretty well. The audio that came out of this rig was remarkably noise free.
Never be afraid of what I like to call “creative inelegance.” Necessity is the mother of invention. No matter how janky it may look, no matter how much your friends may laugh when you tell them, if it sounds good, that’s all that matters.
And why in the Hell are you telling your friends in the first place? Just say that you built a voiceover studio in your place. That’s all they need to know. That’s what you should tell a potential client. Tell them that you’ve custom built your studio with a focus on acoustics. Because that is exactly what you’ve done.
A thing about acoustics
There are two kinds of unwanted sounds you’re going to be dealing with when you work on your studio: noise from the outside, and reflective noise – or “flutter echo” – from the inside.
Read the rest of the article at MarleyAudio.com…