Your location
Think carefully about where you will be when recording, and about how you can limit background noise. Recording inside is usually preferable to recording outside.
Consider the room you’re recording in, and its size.
- Big rooms with tall ceilings can cause an echo. If you can’t avoid recording in larger rooms, record to one side of the room, but not in a corner.
- Don’t record too close to bare walls, as you will pick up reflected sound.
- Sound waves reflect from hard surfaces, causing echoes. These are absorbed by soft surfaces, so carpets, soft furnishings and closing the curtains all help.
- The ideal room is small, with a low ceiling.
Think about sources of unwanted sound. Sound travels by vibration and a microphone placed on a table may pick up vibrations caused elsewhere in the room, or in a nearby room. This can be reduced in two ways.
- By putting the microphone on something soft: either use a soft cloth or an insulating layer such as some plastic foam on which to stand the microphone.
- By putting soft felt under the table legs if you don’t have carpet.
Be aware of background sounds - phones that might ring, clocks ticking, air conditioning, fridges and freezers.
- Limit extra noises by recording in a quiet place.
- Televisions, computers and electronic devices will cause a hum.
- Sometimes fluorescent lighting can cause interference.
- Don’t put your microphone near overhead projectors.
If you’re recording on your computer or laptop, make sure the microphone isn’t too close to the computer or it will pick up system running sounds, like fans etc. If you’re using built in microphones, you may find it difficult to get close to the actual microphone.
Next: How to get a good sound
