Thread by @TonyChurnside

I’ve had a few actors and presenters asking about the best 🎤 🎙 for home studios. Here are a few tips if you want to record broadcast quality audio from your spare room. Please RT if useful! 1/8

The 1st question is always “what 🎙 should I buy?” This shouldn’t be the first question. The first question should be “How do I deaden my room?” There are two things you battle recording in a spare room: early reflections and room ambience. 2/8

Fix early reflections: sit where you will be when you record. Imagine all the walls in your room are mirrors. Where you see your 🎙 in the mirror is where you need to dampen the reflection with something soft. Don’t forget the wall behind you, behind the 🎙 & floor/ceiling! ⅜

Fix room ambience by having lots of absorbent materials in the room, stuff like soft furnishings, pillows duvets. You can also build a DIY mic booth like this one if you have the time ... 4/8

The most import part of your set isn’t obvious, but it’s your chair. When you’re recording the most important thing is your voice, and for that to sound good you need to be sitting (or standing) comfortably. Make sure the 🎙 is the right height and you’re comfortable. ⅝

Plosives like “B”s and “P”s can pop when you record. For this you need a pop shield. You can buy these for ££ or just use an old stocking pulled over a wire coat hanger like this. You honestly won’t hear a difference, but I recommend washing your stocking first! 6/8

But what about the original question? “What 🎙 should I use?” Well if you have deadened your room, almost any 🎙 will be fine. If you want to invent in a 🎙 I’d suggest a large diaphragm USB mic like one of these. 7/8 micreviews.com/guides/top-10-…

Finally, don’t forget if you’re recording for UK radio your engineer will thank you for recording at 48kHz 24bit, but I’ll explain what those numbers mean another time. 8/8

Watching Lady Gaga last night & I realised I missed something out from my recent advice about home recording. Make sure your 🎙 is facing the right way round (especially if you’re using a £20k microphone!) #oops

https://twitter.com/tonychurnside/status/1243982068280963073?s=21

https://t.co/LFeXIcr6Yt