I don't have a room that is ideal for recording,
and chances are that you don't either.
And yet, a quick internet search will tell you that there are many who work as voice over artists from home.
How do they manage to get high quality recordings, despite working from home?
Well, another internet search will reveal lots of options - some very extensive AND expensive.
Others, very small AND cheap.
I opted for the latter.
Regardless of the room you use, this recording box solution will take away the echo of the room.
See, walls act like mirrors - they reflect sound. When sound waves hit the wall, they bounce off it, and basically just keep bouncing around the room.
To prevent this, professional recording studios will have lots of soft things all over the studio -
on the walls, ceiling, and floor. There is special acoustic foam that they will mount on the walls. The floor will either be carpeted, or they'll have rugs. And there might be a canopy kind of thing hanging from the ceiling.
All of this is to stop the sound waves from bouncing around the room, producing a cleaner sound in the recording.
Instead of treating the whole room, we are going to essentially create a very tiny room, within your room.
Below are the step-by-step instructions for building your own Recording Box.
STEP-BY-STEP RECORDING BOX INSTRUCTIONS
What you'll need:
A large plastic bin, with a cover, that has flat sides. This one is 19 Gallons.
Foam, made for putting on top of a mattress, preferably egg-crate style.
Double-sided tape (or some other kind of adhesive)
Bread knife (or other serrated knife)
I found this 19 gallon bin at Walmart for 122 pesos.
Try to find the cheapest foam you can.
I bought the smallest size available, and that gave me more than enough.
Here in Mexico, I found it at COPPEL for 269 pesos.
I found this double sided tape at Walmart for 55 pesos.
Lay the foam out flat on the floor.
Take your bin, and place one of the smallest sides on the corner of the foam.
Trace it with a marker, and then use your bread knife to cut along the line.
Use the piece you've just cut to trace and cut another piece, the same size.
These will be for the top and bottom of your recording box.
Next, lay the bin on one of its large sizes,
again at the corner edge of the foam.
Start tracing with a marker, just on one end.
Roll the bin onto its bottom, and continue tracing.
Finally, roll the bin onto its other large side,
and trace.
Then, trace along the opening of the bin.
You should end up with a rectangle outline traced onto your foam,
like in the picture above.
This will be one large piece that will fit the 3 sides of the recording box.
Cut out the rectangle with your bread knife,
allowing a little extra.
You can always trim it down later if needed.
You should now have 3 pieces of foam cut out,
like in the picture above.
Two squares, and one large rectangle.
Now you need to do a size / fit test.
Keep in mind that you want the top and bottom square pieces to be snug to all four sides.
The large rectangle piece, though, will be trimmed to go up against the squares, not the plastic.
You'll see what I mean further down.
When doing the size / fit test for the rectangle piece,
you will likely need to do quite a lot of trimming.
My bin narrows and curves, so I had to trim curves out of the rectangle.
Once your pieces are trimmed and you know they will fit,
you can start placing the double sided tape.
Make sure to put in your square pieces first,
before the rectangle piece.
I decided to put the flat side up on the bottom,
to create a more stable surface for the microphone tripod.
In theory.
Along with the double sided tape,
the large rectangle piece will also hold the top and bottom squares in place.
You may see some gaps, like in the picture above.
Using the trimmings that you have left over,
fill those gaps.
The last thing you'll need to check is if you'll be able to put the cover on.
You may need to do a little bit more trimming,
to ensure the cover will fit.
The box will act, not only as your recording box,
but also as storage for your microphone,
and a way of safely traveling with it.
You'll place you microphone on the bottom,
and face the inside of the box,
speaking into it.
The sound waves will be absorbed by the foam on the walls of the box,
instead of bouncing around.
One more thing that will help a great deal is called a Pop Filter.
Pop Filters help to eliminate POP sounds that we produce when we say certain letters.
It will also help to block breath / wind sounds.
A quick internet search will show you what it looks like.
I haven't bought a Pop Filter yet,
but I read that fine metal mesh can be very effective in serving the purpose.
Soooo...
This is from the kitchen.
It's made with fine metal mesh,
and normally serves the purpose of preventing fat / oil from splattering
when you're frying something.
It is also surprisingly effective in acting as a Pop Filter.
You may notice that I have the Recording Box on its long side,
and up high.
This is because you'll get better voice quality if you're standing.
To make the box stable, I needed to place it on its larger side.
This doesn't change the effectiveness of the Recording Box.
Also, I placed the remaining foam on my desk,
and around the plastic hamper that the Recording Box is sitting on.
My computer,
and particularly my external drive,
tend to vibrate quite a bit.
Having foam underneath it can help to neutralize the vibrations,
which can interfere with your recordings.
This simple and cheap Recording Box will help in producing high quality recordings.
What this certainly will NOT do is block background noises.
This box is not soundproof.
You'll have to do your best to record WHEN and WHERE it's quiet.
Future posts and podcasts will talk about choosing a microphone,
and recording / editing computer programs.
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