Your Room
Right now, my podcasting world is tucked into the corner of a kitchen in Anchorage, AK. Believe me when I say, it isn’t ideal. Aside from the slow internet (which I bang on about quite a bit), the corner is bordered by two windows. I’m basically facing one of the windows, and the other is to my left.
What that means for my podcast recording is, there is a lot of audio reflection. The sound of my voice travels past the mic, to the glass, then bounces back and around the room (you know, off the stove, to the refrigerator, all over), and finally back to the mic. These reflections are a pain in the butt. It helps that I use a dynamic mic (I’ll save that discussion for another day) that doesn’t have as wide a pickup pattern as a studio mic (condensers like what NPR uses), but it really isn’t enough. At least, not for me.
BSW, an online retailer of audio equipment for broadcast, studio and podcasting, has a post up on their blog about room acoustics for studios:
A typical radio studio, or home-office studio, may be only 8 x 10 feet with a 7 foot ceiling. Reflections come back to the mic’s position much quicker, with enough audio energy to be a niusance. This is part of the reason we speak so close to the mic… well, ego figures into it, but that’s another subject. Basically the equation is: more “me” equals less “room.”
I can tell you that when I designed a studio about 15 years ago, it was in a (roughly) 6′ X 12″ room, and I had to turn the console sideways to get the longer axis in a better position for reflections (not facing the recording room). I also had them slope the false ceiling upwards as much as possible to minimize reflections. None of it was ideal, but it was the space I had to work with.
None of it is ideal. We all have our constraints we have to deal with. Budget is one of them, and our “studio” space is another. In another week, I can get out of the kitchen. That will make me plenty happy, and we will see what the next room challenge is.
What are you guys dealing with? Is any of this a concern to you?
By way of disclosure, I have shopped at BSW before, and will again. I am not affiliated with them, do not take any money from them, and do not have any ads from them anywhere. I got a great deal on my main mic (free shockmount with the purchase of the mic, a $95 deal), and they have pretty good customer service. I’ve bought 5 mics and a few accessories from them, and been really happy. Get your audio equipment where you feel comfortable shopping, but I like these guys. Just saying.
Koomdogg 5:46 pm on September 27, 2009 Permalink |
Alas, my “studio” is simply the room our PC is in, which happens to be a pretty common area in my house. I have two small children, so there’s no room for a “man cave” or studio. I do all my podcast recording after the kids are asleep because where I record is at the bottom of the stairs from their bedroom. I tend to record with the window closed, because we’re near a busy street that can be loud at times. Someday I’ll have some more room to create my show in a optimal environment, but this is what works right now.