Home Recording Spaces

Hey Reader,

When you record VO at home, you’ve probably battled the biggest enemy of clean, professional audio: your room. That slightly hollow, echo-y sound (reverb) can make an otherwise perfect read sound amateur, costing you bookings.

The great news is you don’t need to spend thousands on a full vocal booth (although you certainly can once you advance in your career). You just need to focus on breaking up flat, parallel surfaces and applying adequate treatment as much as possible. Here are three quick, cost-effective ways to "tame the room" and get that dry, professional sound clients expect:

1. The Corner Strategy

Sound loves to bounce off flat, resonant surfaces. If your microphone is set up in the middle of a square room with no treatment, you’re creating an echo chamber. Try moving your recording setup into a corner of the room and facing back out. Place thick blankets, moving pads, or even large, soft pillows behind and to the sides of your microphone. This will help absorb the sound as it comes out of your mouth, and prevent reflections coming back out into your room and eventually your mic.

If you aren't ready to purchase professional acoustic treatment - soft, dense household items and materials are what you want to look for. The thicker and denser it is, the more of the frequency spectrum it will help absorb.

2. The Portable Booth Hack

Don't have a treated space? Create one! Makeshift pillow and blanket forts can be great startup/temporary booths until you move on to a more professional solution. These create an environment of soft dense surfaces like we discussed that your microphone can live inside while you record. Although smaller than would be ideal, and probably a bit cumbersome to use - it's a much better option than simply propping up a mic in the middle of your bedroom or office.

3. Close the Gap (The Volume Solution)

This is simple but effective: Bring your microphone closer to your mouth. When the mic is right up close (but avoiding plosives!), you can turn down the gain (volume) on your interface. By turning down the gain, you reduce the mic's sensitivity, meaning it captures your voice loudly and clearly, but it’s less likely to pick up the faint, distant reverb bouncing off the walls. The signal of your voice going into the mic will be much stronger than the signal of the reflections going into your mic, when it is positioned closer to your mouth.

The trade-off here is that your audio will be more susceptible to plosives and mouth noise, so be aware of that and make sure you are using a pop filter (maybe even 2!) and doing what you can to eliminate mouth noise at the source.

Clean audio is a non-negotiable in the VO industry. Get your room sounding dry, and your auditions will sound professional.

-Michael

Check out all of the past VO Pro Tips here! VO PRO TIP ARCHIVE​

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Thanks so much!

Curious about my own personal VO Work?

​www.MichaelLangsnerVO.com​

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