https://wiki.librivox.org/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=CliveCatterall&feedformat=atomLibrivox wiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T20:18:59ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.41.0https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=30803Make a Portable Vocal Booth2016-11-22T21:09:28Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood. Plywood is cheap and strong, but can reflect back low frequencies preventing them from getting out into the room leading to a "boxy" sound. You can reduce this problem by cutting holes or windows in the side and back panels.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|900px|thumb|none|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG|600px|thumb|none|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
Here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.<br />
<br />
[[Image:Commercial equipment.jpg|900px|thumb|none|Reducing reflections by strapping a piece of foam around the microphone]]<br />
<br />
Finally, just to show you don't have to be a DIY enthusiast, here is a simple way to cut down room noise with a commercial microphone stand and pop filter. This is a straight microphone stand and shockmount holding another Samson C01U microphone. A small piece of acoustic foam has been wrapped around the microphone and held in place with string. This is very effective on its own, but you can also rest a folded piece of cloth on top of the microphone to prevent reflections from the ceiling entering the microphone. Behind the microphone you can see a music stand to hold a marked-up script. If you don't use the foam wrap you can hear the alteration of sound caused by placing and removing the script! This set-up is adjustable and so easy to store away that now I use it far more often than the plywood booth.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=30802Make a Portable Vocal Booth2016-11-22T20:59:45Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood. Plywood is cheap and strong, but can reflect back low frequencies preventing them from getting out into the room leading to a "boxy" sound. You can reduce this problem by cutting holes or windows in the side and back panels.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|none|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG|600px|thumb|none|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
Here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.<br />
<br />
[[Image:Commercial equipment.jpg|600px|thumb|none|Reducing reflections by strapping a piece of foam around the microphone]]<br />
<br />
Finally, just to show you don't have to be a DIY enthusiast, here is a simple way to cut down room noise with a commercial microphone stand and pop filter. This is a straight microphone stand and shockmount holding another Samson C01U microphone. A small piece of acoustic foam has been wrapped around the microphone and held in place with string. This is very effective on its own, but you can also rest a folded piece of cloth on top of the microphone to prevent reflections from the ceiling entering the microphone. Behind the microphone you can see a music stand to hold a marked-up script. If you don't use the foam wrap you can hear the alteration of sound caused by placing and removing the script! This set-up is adjustable and so easy to store away that now I use it far more often than the plywood booth.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=30801Make a Portable Vocal Booth2016-11-22T20:32:53Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood. Plywood is cheap and strong, but can reflect back low frequencies preventing them from getting out into the room leading to a "boxy" sound. You can reduce this problem by cutting holes or windows in the side and back panels.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG|600px|thumb|left|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.<br />
<br />
[[File:Commercial equipment.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A reducing reflections by strapping a piece of foam around the microphone]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, just to show you don't have to be a DIY enthusiast, here is a simple way to cut down room noise with a commercial microphone stand and pop filter. This is a straight microphone stand and shockmount holding another Samson C01U microphone. A small piece of acoustic foam has been wrapped around the microphone and held in place with string. This is very effective on its own, but you can also rest a folded piece of cloth on top of the microphone to prevent reflections from the ceiling entering the microphone. Behind the microphone you can see a music stand to hold a marked-up script. If you don't use the foam wrap you can hear the alteration of sound caused by placing and removing the script! This set-up is adjustable and so easy to store away that now I use it far more often than the plywood booth.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=30800Make a Portable Vocal Booth2016-11-22T20:26:27Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood. Plywood is cheap and strong, but can reflect back low frequencies preventing them from getting out into the room leading to a "boxy" sound. You can reduce this problem by cutting holes or windows in the side and back panels.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG|600px|thumb|left|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.<br />
<br />
[[File:Commercial_equipment.JPG|600px|thumb|left|A reducing reflections by strapping a piece of foam around the microphone]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, just to show you don't have to be a DIY enthusiast, here is a simple way to cut down room noise with a commercial microphone stand and pop filter. This is a straight microphone stand and shockmount holding another Samson C01U microphone. A small piece of acoustic foam has been wrapped around the microphone and held in place with string. This is very effective on its own, but you can also rest a folded piece of cloth on top of the microphone to prevent reflections from the ceiling entering the microphone. Behind the microphone you can see a music stand to hold a marked-up script. If you don't use the foam wrap you can hear the alteration of sound caused by placing and removing the script! This set-up is adjustable and so easy to store away that now I use it far more often than the plywood booth.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=30799Make a Portable Vocal Booth2016-11-22T20:23:26Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood. Plywood is cheap and strong, but can reflect back low frequencies preventing them from getting out into the room leading to a "boxy" sound. You can reduce this problem by cutting holes or windows in the side and back panels.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG|600px|thumb|left|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.<br />
<br />
[[File:Commercial equipment.JPG|600px|thumb|left|A reducing reflections by strapping a piece of foam around the microphone]]<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, just to show you don't have to be a DIY enthusiast, here is a simple way to cut down room noise with a commercial microphone stand and pop filter. This is a straight microphone stand and shockmount holding another Samson C01U microphone. A small piece of acoustic foam has been wrapped around the microphone and held in place with string. This is very effective on its own, but you can also rest a folded piece of cloth on top of the microphone to prevent reflections from the ceiling entering the microphone. Behind the microphone you can see a music stand to hold a marked-up script. If you don't use the foam wrap you can hear the alteration of sound caused by placing and removing the script! This set-up is adjustable and so easy to store away that now I use it far more often than the plywood booth.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=File:Commercial_equipment.jpg&diff=30798File:Commercial equipment.jpg2016-11-22T20:02:06Z<p>CliveCatterall: room noise reduction by wrapping foam around microphone</p>
<hr />
<div>room noise reduction by wrapping foam around microphone</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13443Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-14T16:24:28Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG|600px|thumb|left|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13442Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-14T16:22:25Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow booth 3.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13441Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-14T16:20:29Z<p>CliveCatterall: picture of pillow booth changed</p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth_3.jpg|600px|thumb|left|A booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=File:Pillow_booth_3.JPG&diff=13440File:Pillow booth 3.JPG2012-03-14T16:18:37Z<p>CliveCatterall: How to use a feather pillow to make a microphone shield to reduce room echo.</p>
<hr />
<div>How to use a feather pillow to make a microphone shield to reduce room echo.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13399Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-13T21:52:54Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkably good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13398Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-13T21:51:58Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a ''zero-cost'' portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is a lot better than an open microphone. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). The idea is to have the microphone pushed as far into the gap in the middle of the pillow as possible so the microphone can only pick up sound from directly in front of it. With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, so the pillow does a remarkable good job of cutting out a lot of echo. But because the voice sound enters the microphone through the front the voice sound is still strong.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=13397Improve Your Recording2012-03-13T21:38:42Z<p>CliveCatterall: link to portable vocal booth page added</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Sibilants: harsh Ssss ===<br />
Some readers find that they have problems with very harsh and loud S sounds. This problem does not respond well to shields or microphone angles, but there are a couple of things you can do:<br />
* '''Move a desktop microphone further away''' The S sounds are only loud quite close to your mouth. If you record between 4" and 8" away from the mouth the S sounds should be reduced. Note that this can introduce unwanted room echo. See below.<br />
* '''[http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/De-Essing_Files: Use a De-Esser]''' This is a special audio compression program that targets this problem. There are Plug-Ins that you can download for Audacity that do this.<br />
* '''Use an Equaliser''' An Equaliser is like a fancy tone control, and is built into Audacity already. You can only use an Equaliser if the problem is a fault in your microphone that makes it is too sensitive to the S sounds. Electret microphones often need an equaliser to help them produce a good sound.<br />
<br />
=== Variations in loudness and voice tone ===<br />
<br />
The most common reason for a recording to vary in loudness is that the reader is unconsciously swaying or moving about while reading, often because the reader is so caught up in the story that they forget to keep still. This type of reader can produce and absolutely captivating recording, but unfortunately both loudness and voice tone are very sensitive to the distance between the mouth and microphone.<br />
<br />
Setting the microphone a little bit further away from the mouth can help to reduce variation, as slight movements will make less difference.<br />
<br />
Although standing while recording is very good for breathing, it does make it very difficult to control the exact distance to the microphone. Most readers find that it is better to find a compromise seating position where swaying is controlled but the body is still upright, perhaps on the front edge of a chair so the knees can be slightly below the hips to help with breathing. However, one reader has reported that he likes to read in an armchair so he can rest the back of his head against the seat to control its position relative to the microphone.<br />
<br />
A second, less common reason for tone and loudness variation is comes from recording with the microphone places slightly off to one side in an attempt to reduce popping sounds from problem consonants, such as Ps and Ts. Voice tone is very sensitive to the way the mouth is pointing relative to the microphone as well as the distance. The most natural tone is produced with the mouth pointing directly at the microphone. As you position the microphone off to one side, above or below the mouth (known as "off-axis" positioning) you pick up fewer high frequency sounds and the voice sounds less bright, eventually sounding dull and muddy. These high frequency sounds are very important to the understanding of speech, so it is important to control the off-axis positioning as well as you can. It is easier to control the angle of the mouth relative to the microphone if you place the microphone above or below the mouth rather than to one side. This way you record facing towards the microphone but keep your head level. This is much easier than trying to maintain some imaginary angle between your mouth and the microphone so your breath passes just to one side.<br />
<br />
Probably the best solution is to use a pop filter. A pop filter is made from a very fine mesh material stretched over a metal frame. The filter allows sound to pass through, but it blocks the tiny blasts of air produced by Ps and Ts. With a pop filter in front of the microphone you can record "on-axis" and get the best and most repeatable voice tone. If you mount the pop filter about 7" away from the microphone you can speak with your mouth right up against the filter, making it much easier to keep a constant distance between your mouth and the microphone. If the mesh is very fine and the mounting separate from the microphone you can even speak with your lips lightly brushing the filter material itself.<br />
<br />
=== Variation in loudness and tone between recording sessions ===<br />
<br />
Again, assuming that you have set the recording levels the same and are using the same microphone, the most likely cause of loudness and tone change is variation in the distance and direction of the mouth relative to the microphone.<br />
As in the section above, the most reliable solution is to use a pop filter mounted at a fixed distance from the microphone to help you to maintain distance and direction.<br />
<br />
If you do not want to use a pop filter you could consider measuring the distance between your mouth and the microphone at the start of each recording session. If I stretch out my hand the distance between the tip of my thumb and the tip of my little finger (pinkie) is about 9". I put the tip of my thumb against my lips and shuffle my chair and microphone stand until the tip of my little finger rests against the microphone. If you watch the opening scene of the film "The King's Speech" you can see the actor Adrian Scarborough playing the part of a BBC announcer making elaborate preparations before speaking on the radio. Just before he speaks he checks the distance between his mouth and the microphone in just this way (though he uses two hands and so has a much larger distance than I use).<br />
<br />
If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more you will be picking up a significant amount of sound that has been reflected around your room (Room Echo). The reflected sound will be different in different rooms and even at different places within one room, so try to record from the same place every session. Keep windows and doors in the same position for each session, as these can alter the reflected sound as well.<br />
<br />
=== Room Echo ===<br />
<br />
Unless you are lucky enough to own a recording studio, all of your voice recordings are going to contain a small amount of room echo. If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more your recordings will contain enough room echo to make it a significant part of the overall sound.<br />
<br />
This means that however good your microphone is, your recordings aren't going to be the best unless you sort out the sound of your recording space. The good news is that speech recording is much simpler than music recording; all we need to do is try to make the room reflect as little sound as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a room in your house that has a carpet, curtains and big pieces of soft furniture. Bedrooms are usually a good choice. The fabric, carpet and padding all absorb sound and make the room sound more "dead". <br />
<br />
You can get an idea what the likely difference in recorded sound will be by listening to the audio clip [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc kitchen_and_bedroom]. The same microphone is used to record the same text in a kitchen with hard floors and walls and in a bedroom with carpet and curtains. The audio clips recorded in the kitchen are first followed by the same clip recorded in the bedroom. <br />
<br />
You can also experiment to find which rooms are going to be good for recording by listening to the echo in the room after you clap your hands together loudly. A kitchen with a hard floors and no soft furnishings will usually have a more echoey sound than a carpeted bedroom for example. However, you can probably find somewhere in your house that will have so little echo that you can record there and produce a good audiobook sound. <br />
<br />
In most ordinary houses the rooms are too small to hear a sharp sound (like hands clapping) separate from its echo. The echo arrives so quickly from the reflecting wall that we don't hear a gap and the sound and echo merge. What we do hear is a ringing sound as the echo reflects multiple times around the room. If the room contains soft furnishings, curtains and a carpet a lot of the sound energy is absorbed in each reflection and the ringing dies away very quickly. Hard surfaces, like doors, ceilings, windows and hard uncovered walls will reflect sound with only a small loss of power. This is why opening doors and windows can sometimes improve the room echo: the sound passes through the doorway and is absorbed by the space beyond. This is also why the room echo can vary so much within a room: rooms are rarely symmetrical - in one position there may be a direct path to a reflective wall and in another there may be an open doorway or a large piece of soft furniture in the way.<br />
<br />
The best way to find a good place to record is to walk around all of the rooms in your house clapping your hands and listening to the ringing sound after the sharp clap. You will quickly find the room with the shortest ring - probably one of the bedrooms. Walk slowly around the room and find the place in the room with the shortest ring. In doing so you will probably notice the difference in sound when you are close to a wall, that internal room corners are very strong reflectors of sound, and that in some places you can get "flutter" echo (usually where there are hard walls exactly parallel to one another).<br />
<br />
If you cannot find anywhere with a really short ring try closing curtains, and opening doors and windows (if that doesn't introduce more noise!). If that doesn't work you will have to try hanging up blankets and duvets on the walls or over drying racks to try and reduce the echo. <br />
<br />
If you are still stuck you could consider building a cheap portable sound booth. There are instructions here.[http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth]<br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Turn off noisy appliances.''' Washing machines, dishwashers, central heating pumps and boilers etc. can all contribute noise to your recording, even when they are several rooms away. Pause or switch them off while you record.<br />
<br />
* '''Block fan noise.''' Fan noise is a problem to anyone who records directly into a computer. Try to put a barrier between the computer and the microphone. If you record with the microphone on a tabletop put the computer under the table. Alternatively make a wall of pillows and cushions or use a sofa and put the computer behind it as far away as the microphone cable will reach. Both of these methods limit the fan noise reaching the microphone directly, and the noise must be reflected first (which reduces the loudness of the noise).<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you could always edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13396Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-13T21:25:36Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a zero-cost portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is pretty good. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, but the voice enters through the front, so the pillow does a remarkable good job of cutting out a lot of the unwanted room echo.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13395Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-13T21:24:47Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a booth made from a feather pillow]] <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Finally, here is a zero-cost portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is pretty good. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, but the voice enters through the front, so the pillow does a good job of cutting aout a lot of the unwanted room echo.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=13394Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-13T21:23:38Z<p>CliveCatterall: pillow booth added</p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.<br />
<br />
[[File:Pillow_booth.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a booth made from a feather pillow]] Finally, here is a zero-cost portable booth idea! It doesn't work quite as well as the booth filled with acoustic foam, but it is pretty good. It is made by folding a feather pillow in half and tying a piece of string around the middle to keep it folded. A wand microphone (a Logitech in this case) can then be pushed through the middle of the pillow. Try to keep just the front surface of the microphone exposed (the microphone in the picture is poking a bit too far out). With an omnidirectional microphone like the Logitech most of the room echo enters by the side or back, but the voice enters through the front, so the pillow does a good job of cutting aout a lot of the unwanted room echo.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=File:Pillow_booth.jpg&diff=13393File:Pillow booth.jpg2012-03-13T21:15:36Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div></div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=12944Improve Your Recording2012-03-02T22:00:44Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Sibilants: harsh Ssss ===<br />
Some readers find that they have problems with very harsh and loud S sounds. This problem does not respond well to shields or microphone angles, but there are a couple of things you can do:<br />
* '''Move a desktop microphone further away''' The S sounds are only loud quite close to your mouth. If you record between 4" and 8" away from the mouth the S sounds should be reduced. Note that this can introduce unwanted room echo. See below.<br />
* '''[http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/De-Essing_Files: Use a De-Esser]''' This is a special audio compression program that targets this problem. There are Plug-Ins that you can download for Audacity that do this.<br />
* '''Use an Equaliser''' An Equaliser is like a fancy tone control, and is built into Audacity already. You can only use an Equaliser if the problem is a fault in your microphone that makes it is too sensitive to the S sounds. Electret microphones often need an equaliser to help them produce a good sound.<br />
<br />
=== Variations in loudness and voice tone ===<br />
<br />
The most common reason for a recording to vary in loudness is that the reader is unconsciously swaying or moving about while reading, often because the reader is so caught up in the story that they forget to keep still. This type of reader can produce and absolutely captivating recording, but unfortunately both loudness and voice tone are very sensitive to the distance between the mouth and microphone.<br />
<br />
Setting the microphone a little bit further away from the mouth can help to reduce variation, as slight movements will make less difference.<br />
<br />
Although standing while recording is very good for breathing, it does make it very difficult to control the exact distance to the microphone. Most readers find that it is better to find a compromise seating position where swaying is controlled but the body is still upright, perhaps on the front edge of a chair so the knees can be slightly below the hips to help with breathing. However, one reader has reported that he likes to read in an armchair so he can rest the back of his head against the seat to control its position relative to the microphone.<br />
<br />
A second, less common reason for tone and loudness variation is comes from recording with the microphone places slightly off to one side in an attempt to reduce popping sounds from problem consonants, such as Ps and Ts. Voice tone is very sensitive to the way the mouth is pointing relative to the microphone as well as the distance. The most natural tone is produced with the mouth pointing directly at the microphone. As you position the microphone off to one side, above or below the mouth (known as "off-axis" positioning) you pick up fewer high frequency sounds and the voice sounds less bright, eventually sounding dull and muddy. These high frequency sounds are very important to the understanding of speech, so it is important to control the off-axis positioning as well as you can. It is easier to control the angle of the mouth relative to the microphone if you place the microphone above or below the mouth rather than to one side. This way you record facing towards the microphone but keep your head level. This is much easier than trying to maintain some imaginary angle between your mouth and the microphone so your breath passes just to one side.<br />
<br />
Probably the best solution is to use a pop filter. A pop filter is made from a very fine mesh material stretched over a metal frame. The filter allows sound to pass through, but it blocks the tiny blasts of air produced by Ps and Ts. With a pop filter in front of the microphone you can record "on-axis" and get the best and most repeatable voice tone. If you mount the pop filter about 7" away from the microphone you can speak with your mouth right up against the filter, making it much easier to keep a constant distance between your mouth and the microphone. If the mesh is very fine and the mounting separate from the microphone you can even speak with your lips lightly brushing the filter material itself.<br />
<br />
=== Variation in loudness and tone between recording sessions ===<br />
<br />
Again, assuming that you have set the recording levels the same and are using the same microphone, the most likely cause of loudness and tone change is variation in the distance and direction of the mouth relative to the microphone.<br />
As in the section above, the most reliable solution is to use a pop filter mounted at a fixed distance from the microphone to help you to maintain distance and direction.<br />
<br />
If you do not want to use a pop filter you could consider measuring the distance between your mouth and the microphone at the start of each recording session. If I stretch out my hand the distance between the tip of my thumb and the tip of my little finger (pinkie) is about 9". I put the tip of my thumb against my lips and shuffle my chair and microphone stand until the tip of my little finger rests against the microphone. If you watch the opening scene of the film "The King's Speech" you can see the actor Adrian Scarborough playing the part of a BBC announcer making elaborate preparations before speaking on the radio. Just before he speaks he checks the distance between his mouth and the microphone in just this way (though he uses two hands and so has a much larger distance than I use).<br />
<br />
If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more you will be picking up a significant amount of sound that has been reflected around your room (Room Echo). The reflected sound will be different in different rooms and even at different places within one room, so try to record from the same place every session. Keep windows and doors in the same position for each session, as these can alter the reflected sound as well.<br />
<br />
=== Room Echo ===<br />
<br />
Unless you are lucky enough to own a recording studio, all of your voice recordings are going to contain a small amount of room echo. If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more your recordings will contain enough room echo to make it a significant part of the overall sound.<br />
<br />
This means that however good your microphone is, your recordings aren't going to be the best unless you sort out the sound of your recording space. The good news is that speech recording is much simpler than music recording; all we need to do is try to make the room reflect as little sound as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a room in your house that has a carpet, curtains and big pieces of soft furniture. Bedrooms are usually a good choice. The fabric, carpet and padding all absorb sound and make the room sound more "dead". <br />
<br />
You can get an idea what the likely difference in recorded sound will be by listening to the audio clip [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc kitchen_and_bedroom]. The same microphone is used to record the same text in a kitchen with hard floors and walls and in a bedroom with carpet and curtains. The audio clips recorded in the kitchen are first followed by the same clip recorded in the bedroom. <br />
<br />
You can also experiment to find which rooms are going to be good for recording by listening to the echo in the room after you clap your hands together loudly. A kitchen with a hard floors and no soft furnishings will usually have a more echoey sound than a carpeted bedroom for example. However, you can probably find somewhere in your house that will have so little echo that you can record there and produce a good audiobook sound. <br />
<br />
In most ordinary houses the rooms are too small to hear a sharp sound (like hands clapping) separate from its echo. The echo arrives so quickly from the reflecting wall that we don't hear a gap and the sound and echo merge. What we do hear is a ringing sound as the echo reflects multiple times around the room. If the room contains soft furnishings, curtains and a carpet a lot of the sound energy is absorbed in each reflection and the ringing dies away very quickly. Hard surfaces, like doors, ceilings, windows and hard uncovered walls will reflect sound with only a small loss of power. This is why opening doors and windows can sometimes improve the room echo: the sound passes through the doorway and is absorbed by the space beyond. This is also why the room echo can vary so much within a room: rooms are rarely symmetrical - in one position there may be a direct path to a reflective wall and in another there may be an open doorway or a large piece of soft furniture in the way.<br />
<br />
The best way to find a good place to record is to walk around all of the rooms in your house clapping your hands and listening to the ringing sound after the sharp clap. You will quickly find the room with the shortest ring - probably one of the bedrooms. Walk slowly around the room and find the place in the room with the shortest ring. In doing so you will probably notice the difference in sound when you are close to a wall, that internal room corners are very strong reflectors of sound, and that in some places you can get "flutter" echo (usually where there are hard walls exactly parallel to one another).<br />
<br />
If you cannot find anywhere with a really short ring try closing curtains, and opening doors and windows (if that doesn't introduce more noise!). If that doesn't work you will have to try hanging up blankets and duvets on the walls or over drying racks to try and reduce the echo. <br />
<br />
If you are still stuck you could consider building a cheap portable sound booth. There are instructions here.<br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Turn off noisy appliances.''' Washing machines, dishwashers, central heating pumps and boilers etc. can all contribute noise to your recording, even when they are several rooms away. Pause or switch them off while you record.<br />
<br />
* '''Block fan noise.''' Fan noise is a problem to anyone who records directly into a computer. Try to put a barrier between the computer and the microphone. If you record with the microphone on a tabletop put the computer under the table. Alternatively make a wall of pillows and cushions or use a sofa and put the computer behind it as far away as the microphone cable will reach. Both of these methods limit the fan noise reaching the microphone directly, and the noise must be reflected first (which reduces the loudness of the noise).<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you could always edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=12943Improve Your Recording2012-03-02T21:59:47Z<p>CliveCatterall: /* Room Echo */ audio link added</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Sibilants: harsh Ssss ===<br />
Some readers find that they have problems with very harsh and loud S sounds. This problem does not respond well to shields or microphone angles, but there are a couple of things you can do:<br />
* '''Move a desktop microphone further away''' The S sounds are only loud quite close to your mouth. If you record between 4" and 8" away from the mouth the S sounds should be reduced. Note that this can introduce unwanted room echo. See below.<br />
* '''[http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/De-Essing_Files: Use a De-Esser]''' This is a special audio compression program that targets this problem. There are Plug-Ins that you can download for Audacity that do this.<br />
* '''Use an Equaliser''' An Equaliser is like a fancy tone control, and is built into Audacity already. You can only use an Equaliser if the problem is a fault in your microphone that makes it is too sensitive to the S sounds. Electret microphones often need an equaliser to help them produce a good sound.<br />
<br />
=== Variations in loudness and voice tone ===<br />
<br />
The most common reason for a recording to vary in loudness is that the reader is unconsciously swaying or moving about while reading, often because the reader is so caught up in the story that they forget to keep still. This type of reader can produce and absolutely captivating recording, but unfortunately both loudness and voice tone are very sensitive to the distance between the mouth and microphone.<br />
<br />
Setting the microphone a little bit further away from the mouth can help to reduce variation, as slight movements will make less difference.<br />
<br />
Although standing while recording is very good for breathing, it does make it very difficult to control the exact distance to the microphone. Most readers find that it is better to find a compromise seating position where swaying is controlled but the body is still upright, perhaps on the front edge of a chair so the knees can be slightly below the hips to help with breathing. However, one reader has reported that he likes to read in an armchair so he can rest the back of his head against the seat to control its position relative to the microphone.<br />
<br />
A second, less common reason for tone and loudness variation is comes from recording with the microphone places slightly off to one side in an attempt to reduce popping sounds from problem consonants, such as Ps and Ts. Voice tone is very sensitive to the way the mouth is pointing relative to the microphone as well as the distance. The most natural tone is produced with the mouth pointing directly at the microphone. As you position the microphone off to one side, above or below the mouth (known as "off-axis" positioning) you pick up fewer high frequency sounds and the voice sounds less bright, eventually sounding dull and muddy. These high frequency sounds are very important to the understanding of speech, so it is important to control the off-axis positioning as well as you can. It is easier to control the angle of the mouth relative to the microphone if you place the microphone above or below the mouth rather than to one side. This way you record facing towards the microphone but keep your head level. This is much easier than trying to maintain some imaginary angle between your mouth and the microphone so your breath passes just to one side.<br />
<br />
Probably the best solution is to use a pop filter. A pop filter is made from a very fine mesh material stretched over a metal frame. The filter allows sound to pass through, but it blocks the tiny blasts of air produced by Ps and Ts. With a pop filter in front of the microphone you can record "on-axis" and get the best and most repeatable voice tone. If you mount the pop filter about 7" away from the microphone you can speak with your mouth right up against the filter, making it much easier to keep a constant distance between your mouth and the microphone. If the mesh is very fine and the mounting separate from the microphone you can even speak with your lips lightly brushing the filter material itself.<br />
<br />
=== Variation in loudness and tone between recording sessions ===<br />
<br />
Again, assuming that you have set the recording levels the same and are using the same microphone, the most likely cause of loudness and tone change is variation in the distance and direction of the mouth relative to the microphone.<br />
As in the section above, the most reliable solution is to use a pop filter mounted at a fixed distance from the microphone to help you to maintain distance and direction.<br />
<br />
If you do not want to use a pop filter you could consider measuring the distance between your mouth and the microphone at the start of each recording session. If I stretch out my hand the distance between the tip of my thumb and the tip of my little finger (pinkie) is about 9". I put the tip of my thumb against my lips and shuffle my chair and microphone stand until the tip of my little finger rests against the microphone. If you watch the opening scene of the film "The King's Speech" you can see the actor Adrian Scarborough playing the part of a BBC announcer making elaborate preparations before speaking on the radio. Just before he speaks he checks the distance between his mouth and the microphone in just this way (though he uses two hands and so has a much larger distance than I use).<br />
<br />
If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more you will be picking up a significant amount of sound that has been reflected around your room (Room Echo). The reflected sound will be different in different rooms and even at different places within one room, so try to record from the same place every session. Keep windows and doors in the same position for each session, as these can alter the reflected sound as well.<br />
<br />
=== Room Echo ===<br />
<br />
Unless you are lucky enough to own a recording studio, all of your voice recordings are going to contain a small amount of room echo. If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more your recordings will contain enough room echo to make it a significant part of the overall sound.<br />
<br />
This means that however good your microphone is, your recordings aren't going to be the best unless you sort out the sound of your recording space. The good news is that speech recording is much simpler than music recording; all we need to do is try to make the room reflect as little sound as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a room in your house that has a carpet, curtains and big pieces of soft furniture. Bedrooms are usually a good choice. The fabric, carpet and padding all absorb sound and make the room sound more "dead". <br />
<br />
You can get an idea what the likely difference in recorded sound will be by listening to the audio clip [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc kitchen_and_bedroom]. The same microphone is used to record the same text in a kitchen with hard floors and walls and in a bedroom with carpet and curtains. The audio clips recorded in the kitchen are first followed by the same clip recorded in the bedroom. <br />
<br />
You experiment to find which rooms are going to be good for recording by listening to the echo in the room after you clap your hands together loudly. A kitchen with a hard floors and no soft furnishings will usually have a more echoey sound than a carpeted bedroom for example. However, you can probably find somewhere in your house that will have so little echo that you can record there and produce a good audiobook sound. <br />
<br />
In most ordinary houses the rooms are too small to hear a sharp sound (like hands clapping) separate from its echo. The echo arrives so quickly from the reflecting wall that we don't hear a gap and the sound and echo merge. What we do hear is a ringing sound as the echo reflects multiple times around the room. If the room contains soft furnishings, curtains and a carpet a lot of the sound energy is absorbed in each reflection and the ringing dies away very quickly. Hard surfaces, like doors, ceilings, windows and hard uncovered walls will reflect sound with only a small loss of power. This is why opening doors and windows can sometimes improve the room echo: the sound passes through the doorway and is absorbed by the space beyond. This is also why the room echo can vary so much within a room: rooms are rarely symmetrical - in one position there may be a direct path to a reflective wall and in another there may be an open doorway or a large piece of soft furniture in the way.<br />
<br />
The best way to find a good place to record is to walk around all of the rooms in your house clapping your hands and listening to the ringing sound after the sharp clap. You will quickly find the room with the shortest ring - probably one of the bedrooms. Walk slowly around the room and find the place in the room with the shortest ring. In doing so you will probably notice the difference in sound when you are close to a wall, that internal room corners are very strong reflectors of sound, and that in some places you can get "flutter" echo (usually where there are hard walls exactly parallel to one another).<br />
<br />
If you cannot find anywhere with a really short ring try closing curtains, and opening doors and windows (if that doesn't introduce more noise!). If that doesn't work you will have to try hanging up blankets and duvets on the walls or over drying racks to try and reduce the echo. <br />
<br />
If you are still stuck you could consider building a cheap portable sound booth. There are instructions here.<br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Turn off noisy appliances.''' Washing machines, dishwashers, central heating pumps and boilers etc. can all contribute noise to your recording, even when they are several rooms away. Pause or switch them off while you record.<br />
<br />
* '''Block fan noise.''' Fan noise is a problem to anyone who records directly into a computer. Try to put a barrier between the computer and the microphone. If you record with the microphone on a tabletop put the computer under the table. Alternatively make a wall of pillows and cushions or use a sofa and put the computer behind it as far away as the microphone cable will reach. Both of these methods limit the fan noise reaching the microphone directly, and the noise must be reflected first (which reduces the loudness of the noise).<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you could always edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=User-Recommended_Equipment&diff=12942User-Recommended Equipment2012-03-02T21:51:15Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Please note that some information might be out of date. <br />
<br />
== Microphones ==<br />
<br />
A wide variety of equipment can be used to make an audio recording. Generally you need a set of headphones and a microphone. Perhaps the majority of our volunteers use USB headset microphones (usually Logitech), which combine headphones with a mounted microphone. However, some models are very uncomfortable to wear (use padding), and while their audio quality is adequate, the sound is typically a little harsh, particularly on PCs (scratchy, spikey s's, and an over-crisp, digital edge). But the quality is fine.<br />
<br />
Many long-time readers feel the desktop microphones yield a better audio quality than the headsets. For the very budget-minded, several of us recommend the balance of ease and cheapness and sound quality of the little Logitech "wand" mic (~$30) rather than a headset mic (which usually costs more).<br />
<br />
When you know you're truly hooked on recording and want the rich expressiveness of your voice to reach the listener, a humble upgrade to one of the Samson mics (~$50-90) yields a big step up in quality. These simple recommendations are based on the accumulated experience of several volunteers over two years of recording for LibriVox and listening to many recordings. Lots of other wonderful equipment will get enthusiastic endorsement from individual volunteers. <br />
<br />
A summary of microphones most widely in use at LibriVox is given on the [[Newbie Guide to Recording |Newbie Guide]] page. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
===Desktop Microphones===<br />
These desktop mics work well for those who aren't comfortable in a headset. They're cheaper than most headset mics. <br />
<br />
<div class="tip"> TIP: Place your desktop mic on a stack of books at your side, close to and a little above or below the level of your mouth. Speak past the mic, not directly into it, and you'll avoid popping Ps. </div><br />
<br />
* [http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/webcam_communications/microphones/devices/221&cl=us,en Logitech USB Desktop Microphone] available from Amazon for about £15 or $25.<br />
* [http://www.powermax.com/parts/show/a-mac-micflex MacMice MicFlex USB Microphone System] available from Amazon for about $40<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
====Prosumer/Professional Microphones====<br />
* [http://www.transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200508.mic_shootout.html The Transom Mic Shootout:Blindfold Test]<br />
<br />
You can get an idea of how much improvement in sound you are likely to get when upgrading from a Logitech to a budget capacitor microphone by listening to this audio clip [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc logitech_and_samson]. The same text is read in the same room with exactly the same microphone set-up. The text is read into the Logitech desktop microphone first followed by the same text read into a Samson C01U.<br />
<br />
Among budget-minded readers who have upgraded their microphones, the Samson USB mics have become popular.<br />
* [http://www.bluemic.com/yeti/ Blue Yeti] - big and solid, virtually no background noise, great sound quality. Available from Amazon for about £100 or around $110-150.<br />
* [http://www.amazon.com/SAMSON-AUDIO-Q1U-Dynamic-Microphone/dp/B000EZMYRS/ Samson Q1U Budget priced USB mic] (Amazon US link)<br />
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product//B000EZMYRS/ Samson Q1U Budget priced dynamic USB mic (Amazon UK link)] Likely to generate some hiss.<br />
* [http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2005/09/samson_c01u_the_ultimate_podca.html Samson C01U usb mic] ~$90 (links to review: "The Ultimate Podcasting Mic?")<br />
* [http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm57.asp Shure SM57]<br />
* [http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,217,pid,217,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html AKG c4500]<br />
* [http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Nova-main.html M-Audio Nova]<br />
* [http://www.audixusa.com/docs/products/OM5.shtml Audix OM-5]<br />
* [http://www.akg.com/site/products/powerslave,id,759,pid,759,nodeid,2,_language,EN.html AKG C 1000S Condenser mike] Requires an interface for XLM cable<br />
* [http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=ECMMS907 Sony ECM MS 970]<br />
* [http://www.neumann.com/?lang=en&id=current_microphones&cid=u87_description Neumann U87 Ai] If you're looking for the ultimate in a adjustable directional pattern studio condenser mic, this is it - with a price to match.<br />
<br />
<div class="note">Note: some the notes and links below are quite old, especially the first ones; much more discussion has happened in the forums and sadly hasn't yet been copied here.</div><br />
<br />
===Headset Microphones===<br />
Headsets keep the microphone very close to your mouth and allow you to move your head without changing the volume level. Built in noise cancelling is helpful with removing consistent noises (e.g. fan noises), but not the occasional noise (e.g. dog barking). Some models are comfortable, and others are surprisingly uncomfortable. Some readers find that headset mics pick up the sound of their jaw moving, creating small pops in the recording. Despite some drawbacks, many volunteers consider headsets to be the easiest to use. <br />
<br />
* [http://www.labtec.com/index.cfm/gear/details/AMR/EN,crid=8,contentid=685,crid2=9 Labtec Stereo 342]<br />
* Logitech USB 350 <i>No longer listed on Logitech site</i><br />
* Logitech USB 250 <i>No longer listed on Logitech site</i><br />
* Plantronics DSP-500 <i>Listed as inactive or discontinued</i><br />
* Altec Lansing AHS 202 <i>No longer listed on Altec Lansing site</i><br />
<br />
<div class="tip"><b>Advice for avoiding plosives</b>: If you use a headset mic, try to keep the microphone near your chin or near your nose so that your breath doesn't puff right into it. Place the tip of your finger on the microphone and puff some air out of your nose, then out of your mouth. If your finger's out of the breeze, the mic is, too, and the recording will be fine. If you use a desk mic, you may make or buy a "pop screen" to avoid plosives.</div><br />
<br />
<br />
====NOT Recommended ====<br />
* Logitech [http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/ClearChat ClearChat Pro USB] headset has a constant buzz in the background.<br />
* Microsoft Lifechat USB headset Mic makes the voice sound hollow and reduces bass tones. <br />
<br />
====Old Notes====<br />
[http://reviews.designtechnica.com/review241.html Logitech USB Playstation] Since my only mike was a cheap plastic thing which had been stepped on a number of times, I decided to get a new one when I embarked on my LibriVox addiction. Where does the cantankerous old computer geek go to get such a thing? Why WalMart, of course!<br />
<br />
There in the gaming section I found a Logitech USB Headset. Though it says specifically that it's for the PlayStation2, I figured that a USB connection was a USB connection (it does stand for UNIVERSAL Serial Bus, after all...) and for thirty bucks I brought it home and plugged it in. !WinXP picked it right up with no fuss at all.<br />
<br />
It sounds great! It appears to have a preamp of some sort inline just before the connection and 10' of cord go between it and the headset itself. The earphone is of quite surprisingly high quality, but I run the sound through my system speakers and just use the microphone part. The mike's on a little pivoting boom which is easy to keep clear of my beard - my first take had TONS of beard-rustle in it so I pivoted the thing up and it works just fine.<br />
<br />
The sound quality is quite excellent, and the boom allows hands-free operation while keeping the mic at a constant distance from my pie-hole so the sound levels are consistent throughout the recording. It's got noise-suppression circutry and even has a little foam pop-filter on the end to help control breath-noise.<br />
<br />
If anyone's looking for a high-quality boom mike for a reasonable price, don't be put off by the big PlayStation2 logo on this thing; it works great! <br />
<br />
<br />
==Alternative Recording Equipment==<br />
===Analog to Digital Converters===<br />
* [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic2/index.php Griffin iMic]<br />
* [http://www.maudio.co.uk/products/en_gb/MobilePreUSB-main.html M-Audio Mobile Pre USB]<br />
<br />
<br />
===Portable Recording Devices===<br />
Samples of [http://librivox.org/recordings-on-mp3-players-and-other-portable-devices/ recordings on MP3 players and other portable devices]<br />
* [http://www.d-mpro.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=1582&CatID=18&SubCatID=169 Marantz PMD670]<br />
* [http://olympus-imaging.jp/lineup/vtrek/v20/ Olympus Voice-Trek V20] (Japanese)<br />
* [http://www.roland.com/products/en/BR-600/index.html Boss BR-600] —or [http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/BR-600/details.html Boss BR-600] —or [http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3927 FORUM DISCUSSION]<br />
* [http://www.roland.com/products/en/R-09/index.html EDIROL R-09 WAVE/MP3]<br />
* [http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/MICRO_BR/index.html Boss Micro BR]<br />
* [http://cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/g3/ iAudio G3]<br />
* [http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodid=1916 Zoom H2] -or [http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=32800&hilit=h2+zoom FORUM DISCUSSION 1][http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=32592&hilit=h2+zoom&start=0 FORUM DISCUSSION 2][http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=28282&hilit=h2+zoom&start=0 FORUM-H2 TIPS]<br />
* [http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2053&brandID=4 Zoom H1]<br />
<br />
===MP3 Players===<br />
* [http://archos.com/products/pc_centric/gmini_402/index.html?country=global&lang=en Archos gMini 402]<br />
* [http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenvisionm/ Creative Zen Vision: M]<br />
* [http://www.creative.com/products/mp3/zenmicro/ Creative Zen Micro] I've got one of these and I love it. It's small but rugged with a removable external protective shell and it holds six gigs of data. I picked it up in August of 2005 for $200US at WalMart and it's served me well every day since. It handles WAV, WMV, and MP3 files and includes an FM tuner. You can record either from the tuner or from a built-in mic. The mic's better suited to voice than to music and records at a lower file rate. Battery life is good and the proprietary Lithium battery can be recharged either with the included charger or from a USB connection to your computer.<br />
* [http://cowonamerica.com/products/iaudio/g3/ iAudio G3]<br />
* [http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html Apple iPod]<br />
<br />
<br />
===Recording with a Video Camera or Camcorder===<br />
Your video camera -- unless it's a very strange model -- records sound as well as picture. Therefore, it can be used to record you reading for LibriVox. You can even leave the lens cap on while you read. After you finish the initial recording, you will then transfer <i>just</i> the audio from the camera to a computer for editing and other needed processing.<br />
<br />
You probably have connected your video camera to your TV, perhaps through the VCR, in order to play back a video recording on the bigger screen of the television. Connecting it to a computer to transfer the audio is similar, although you may need to buy or borrow a cable or connectors.<br />
<br />
The simplest way to connect is through the headphones jack if your video camera has one. For this, you will need a special, inexpensive cable. It has a 1/8" (3.5 mm) stereo mini plug on both ends. One end goes in the headphones jack on the camera. The other end goes in the line-in jack on your computer. If the audio jacks are color-coded, you're looking for the one that's light blue. If they're not color-coded, your task is somewhat harder; often the two in and out jacks have graphical labels which look like sound waves (sections of concentric circles) and have a small triangle. The triangle points toward the jack for line-in (and away from the other jack for line-out). It's better not to use the microphone jack for connecting audio devices like the camera.<br />
<br />
Once you're connected, follow the instructions below in the computer section for recording. Put the recording software you're using into recording mode and push the play button on the camera. What you will be doing is re-recording from the camera to the computer. As with all methods of recording with the computer, you should test your entire set-up to make certain you have the connections and settings correct. In particular, you will need to experiment with the volume control on the camera set to the proper level: moderately loud, but not really loud.Notice that much of the above also applies to using a tape recorder. It gets connected to the computer through its headphones jack, too; even better would be the line-out jack if it has one. <br />
<br />
===A few Notes on Alternatives===<br />
For those of you who are not comfortable sitting at computer to record, relax. There are other alternatives. If the computer just isn't your thing, rest assured, You can even go out to your favorite bar and help LibriVox record something fun.<br />
<br />
To explore some of these alternatives, look through the LibriVox Forum, especially the back pages of [http://librivox.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=23 Need Help? Got Advice?]</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12941Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T21:14:24Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml "Porta-Booth"]. You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12940Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T21:12:44Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this [http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12939Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T21:11:19Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this[http://www.archive.org/download/SoundSamplesEtc/bedroom_and_booth.mp3 audio_clip] [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12938Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T21:02:11Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this audio clip [http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12937Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T21:01:43Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this audio clip[http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12936Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T20:50:30Z<p>CliveCatterall: </p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this audio clip[http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12935Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-03-02T20:48:16Z<p>CliveCatterall: sound clip link added</p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.<br />
<br />
You can hear the difference that a porta-booth makes to the sound in this audio clip[http://www.archive.org/details/SoundSamplesEtc|bedroom_and_booth]. The recording was made in the room pictured, the same text was read into the same microphone in the same location in the room. The clips recorded without the booth are first, and the clips recorded with the booth are second.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12866Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-02-28T18:08:23Z<p>CliveCatterall: link to flickr page removed</p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12865Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-02-28T18:05:47Z<p>CliveCatterall: full view of booth added</p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[[File:booth full.jpg|600px|thumb|left|a portable booth]] <br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/clivecatterall/5807317477/]<br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=File:Booth_full.jpg&diff=12864File:Booth full.jpg2012-02-28T18:03:04Z<p>CliveCatterall: full view of clive catterals sound booth</p>
<hr />
<div>full view of clive catterals sound booth</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Make_a_Portable_Vocal_Booth&diff=12863Make a Portable Vocal Booth2012-02-28T15:36:47Z<p>CliveCatterall: page created</p>
<hr />
<div>Many Librivox readers want to improve the technical quality of their recordings. Although buying a better microphone can often make a dramatic improvement to the recorded voice tone, there is no point in buying an expensive microphone without looking at the space you record in as well. A recording studio spends a great deal more time, effort and money on the recording space than it does on microphones. But you don't have to spend a lot: a Librivox reader can often make dramatic improvements to the quality of the recording space for less than the cost of a new microphone. In fact many Librivox readers have told me that the little money they spent on acoustic foam made more difference to their sound quality than anything else, including new microphones costing five times as much. This article gathers together ideas from several Librivox readers who have experimented with cheap ways to improve speech recording at home. The article describes a low cost enclosure that limits reflected sound from entering the microphone.<br />
<br />
It is worth starting by pointing out that the special walls, ceiling, floor and doors in a recording studio do two entirely separate things: Sound Isolation and Sound Treatment. Sound Isolation stops outside noises (such as traffic, children, animals etc.) from getting through to the microphone and being recorded along with your voice. Sound isolation is difficult and often expensive to achieve, and is not covered in this article. Sound Treatment alters the nature of the sound within the studio by absorbing unwanted sound reflections before they can get back to the microphone. For audiobooks we want to get rid of as much reflected sound as we can.<br />
<br />
You can spend a lot of money and buy boxes and boxes of acoustic foam tiles, and then glue them all over the walls and ceiling in a spare room. If the foam is thick enough then you will certainly reduce the sound reflection within the room and the recordings will be improved. But because you aren't recording music you don't need a studio that big, and the smaller your studio the less it costs in materials.<br />
<br />
In fact a number of years ago voice over artist Harlan Hogan realised that you don't even have to eliminate the sound reflections within a room - you only have to stop them entering the microphone. Rather than sticking acoustic foam tiles onto the walls of a room to make a vocal booth you can stand in, you can stick acoustic foam tiles to the inside of a box just large enough to hold your microphone. With the microphone well back into the box no sound can enter from the sides, back or top, and the reader's head blocks most of the reflected sound entering the front of the microphone. Harlan Hogan generously published an online article describing how to make a "Porta Booth" [http://www.harlanhogan.com/portaboothArticle.shtml.] You can see how simple the booth can be!<br />
<br />
One big problem everyone runs into when making the porta-booth is getting hold of small quantities of acoustic foam. If you buy Auralex foam it comes in boxes containing twelve 2 foot by 4 foot tiles. You probably only want about four 12" tiles for your box! You might be able to get around this by sharing a box with other readers, or by contacting your local music store to see if they would be willing to split a box and sell you individual tiles. However, if you search on eBay you can usually find suppliers willing to sell individual or small numbers of acoustic tiles. Often these will not be Auralex, but from a different manufacturer. To make my booth I used 40mm thick "eggbox" foam from Advanced Acoustics in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, UK. The tiles were good, but I did need to pack the centre of the box with extra padding to make the booth work really well. (Please update the wiki to include your experience using other acoustic foam tiles).<br />
<br />
I'm not going to draw up any plans for an LV porta-booth (unless there is enough interest), because the size of the box depends on the size and shape of your microphone. You can construct a box out of pretty much anything you like. One reader made a cardboard enclosure with foam held onto the inside with spray-glue so he could fold it up and store it away between sessions. I decided to make mine out of plywood.<br />
<br />
Before you start to cut the tiles plan how they are going to fit inside the box. You can glue the tiles in, but if you are careful you can get the tiles to hold each other in place through their springiness.<br />
<br />
If you have access to a hot wire cutter at your local high school technology department, then that will give you a beautifully neat cut. Don't try to cut the foam with scissors or a craft knife as the foam pushes away from the blade and you will get a lumpy cut surface. I found that an ordinary serrated bread knife works best. Mark out your cut line on the reverse of the tile (the flat side) and put the tile onto a table so the cut line just overhangs the edge of the table. Gently saw along the marked line using as little pressure as possible. If you search on YouTube you can find instruction videos showing how to make a porta-booth.<br />
<br />
I have received reports that the spray glue sold to hold down carpets works well with some acoustic foams. I did not need to glue the foam into place in my box, so I cannot confirm this.<br />
<br />
Although not the main reason for building one, a porta-booth can help reduce fan noise if you record directly into a laptop. Because the booth limits sound entering the back of the microphone you can reduce the amount of fan noise entering the microphone by placing your laptop behind the booth. This means that the fan noise has to reflect off the walls and ceiling before it can enter the microphone, greatly reducing the level of noise.<br />
<br />
Here is my recording set-up.<br />
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/clivecatterall/5836337510/]<br />
<br />
The large box is lined with foam tiles and the microphone is placed as far back as it will go. I found that I needed a bit more absorbent material than just the tiles, so I packed in a length of polyester wadding cut from the inside of an old duvet. The microphone is a Samson C01U in a desktop shock mount. <br />
<br />
Behind the booth itself is a laptop stand so I can read the text directly from the screen. The laptop stands on another slab of acoustic foam to limit transmission of fan noise through the woodwork of the stand. When not in use the laptop stand stacks on top of the booth. <br />
<br />
Clamped to the front of the booth is a pop filter made from a length of wire coat hanger with an old stocking stretched over the top. <br />
<br />
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/clivecatterall/5807317477/]<br />
<br />
The wire is G-clamped between two wooden strips to hold it in place. The stocking material is so light that I can record with my mouth brushing the pop filter to keep my head in the right position and the microphone does not pick up and rubbing sounds.</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=12862Main Page2012-02-28T15:31:40Z<p>CliveCatterall: /* Volunteering */ added make a portable vocal booth</p>
<hr />
<div><div class="note"><b>NOTE:</b> In order to edit the pages in this Wiki, please log in. This Wiki has been locked to avoid spam. Apologies for the inconvenience. <br/><br />
To request a user account, [http://forum.librivox.org/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=11177 PM RuthieG] or [http://forum.librivox.org/ucp.php?i=pm&mode=compose&u=6462 PM Jc]. You will be given a username (same as your forum name) and a temporary password. <b>Please include your email address in your PM.</b></div><br />
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{| class="infobox" width="75%"<br />
! colspan=2 bgcolor="#dedede" | Recording <br />
|- <br />
|colspan=2|<b>Full Guide: [[Newbie Guide to Recording]] <br/> (en francais/in French: [[Guide pour les débutants]]) <br/> (em português/in Portuguese: [[Guia do recém-chegado ao Librivox]]) <br/> (en español/in Spanish: [[Guía Para Nuevos Lectores]]<br />
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| <br />
<b>Editing</b> <br/><br />
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----<br />
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|<br />
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|-<br />
|colspan=2|<br />
----<br />
|-<br />
! colspan=2 bgcolor="#dedede" | Proof-Listening<br />
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|<br />
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{| class="infobox" width="75%"<br />
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----<br />
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{| class="infobox" width="75%"<br />
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|| <br />
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== Misc & Off topic pages of interest to LibriVox volunteers ==<br />
<br />
- [[52 Books]]<br/><br />
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<br />
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<br />
== Getting started with wikis ==<br />
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Configuration_settings Configuration settings list]<br />
* [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:FAQ MediaWiki FAQ]<br />
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-announce MediaWiki release mailing list]</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=12861Improve Your Recording2012-02-28T15:05:15Z<p>CliveCatterall: Added variation in loudness and tone sections, expanded room echo, expanded background noise sections.</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Sibilants: harsh Ssss ===<br />
Some readers find that they have problems with very harsh and loud S sounds. This problem does not respond well to shields or microphone angles, but there are a couple of things you can do:<br />
* '''Move a desktop microphone further away''' The S sounds are only loud quite close to your mouth. If you record between 4" and 8" away from the mouth the S sounds should be reduced. Note that this can introduce unwanted room echo. See below.<br />
* '''[http://wiki.librivox.org/index.php/De-Essing_Files: Use a De-Esser]''' This is a special audio compression program that targets this problem. There are Plug-Ins that you can download for Audacity that do this.<br />
* '''Use an Equaliser''' An Equaliser is like a fancy tone control, and is built into Audacity already. You can only use an Equaliser if the problem is a fault in your microphone that makes it is too sensitive to the S sounds. Electret microphones often need an equaliser to help them produce a good sound.<br />
<br />
=== Variations in loudness and voice tone ===<br />
<br />
The most common reason for a recording to vary in loudness is that the reader is unconsciously swaying or moving about while reading, often because the reader is so caught up in the story that they forget to keep still. This type of reader can produce and absolutely captivating recording, but unfortunately both loudness and voice tone are very sensitive to the distance between the mouth and microphone.<br />
<br />
Setting the microphone a little bit further away from the mouth can help to reduce variation, as slight movements will make less difference.<br />
<br />
Although standing while recording is very good for breathing, it does make it very difficult to control the exact distance to the microphone. Most readers find that it is better to find a compromise seating position where swaying is controlled but the body is still upright, perhaps on the front edge of a chair so the knees can be slightly below the hips to help with breathing. However, one reader has reported that he likes to read in an armchair so he can rest the back of his head against the seat to control its position relative to the microphone.<br />
<br />
A second, less common reason for tone and loudness variation is comes from recording with the microphone places slightly off to one side in an attempt to reduce popping sounds from problem consonants, such as Ps and Ts. Voice tone is very sensitive to the way the mouth is pointing relative to the microphone as well as the distance. The most natural tone is produced with the mouth pointing directly at the microphone. As you position the microphone off to one side, above or below the mouth (known as "off-axis" positioning) you pick up fewer high frequency sounds and the voice sounds less bright, eventually sounding dull and muddy. These high frequency sounds are very important to the understanding of speech, so it is important to control the off-axis positioning as well as you can. It is easier to control the angle of the mouth relative to the microphone if you place the microphone above or below the mouth rather than to one side. This way you record facing towards the microphone but keep your head level. This is much easier than trying to maintain some imaginary angle between your mouth and the microphone so your breath passes just to one side.<br />
<br />
Probably the best solution is to use a pop filter. A pop filter is made from a very fine mesh material stretched over a metal frame. The filter allows sound to pass through, but it blocks the tiny blasts of air produced by Ps and Ts. With a pop filter in front of the microphone you can record "on-axis" and get the best and most repeatable voice tone. If you mount the pop filter about 7" away from the microphone you can speak with your mouth right up against the filter, making it much easier to keep a constant distance between your mouth and the microphone. If the mesh is very fine and the mounting separate from the microphone you can even speak with your lips lightly brushing the filter material itself.<br />
<br />
=== Variation in loudness and tone between recording sessions ===<br />
<br />
Again, assuming that you have set the recording levels the same and are using the same microphone, the most likely cause of loudness and tone change is variation in the distance and direction of the mouth relative to the microphone.<br />
As in the section above, the most reliable solution is to use a pop filter mounted at a fixed distance from the microphone to help you to maintain distance and direction.<br />
<br />
If you do not want to use a pop filter you could consider measuring the distance between your mouth and the microphone at the start of each recording session. If I stretch out my hand the distance between the tip of my thumb and the tip of my little finger (pinkie) is about 9". I put the tip of my thumb against my lips and shuffle my chair and microphone stand until the tip of my little finger rests against the microphone. If you watch the opening scene of the film "The King's Speech" you can see the actor Adrian Scarborough playing the part of a BBC announcer making elaborate preparations before speaking on the radio. Just before he speaks he checks the distance between his mouth and the microphone in just this way (though he uses two hands and so has a much larger distance than I use).<br />
<br />
If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more you will be picking up a significant amount of sound that has been reflected around your room (Room Echo). The reflected sound will be different in different rooms and even at different places within one room, so try to record from the same place every session. Keep windows and doors in the same position for each session, as these can alter the reflected sound as well.<br />
<br />
=== Room Echo ===<br />
<br />
Unless you are lucky enough to own a recording studio, all of your voice recordings are going to contain a small amount of room echo. If you are using a mouth to microphone distance of 6" or more your recordings will contain enough room echo to make it a significant part of the overall sound.<br />
<br />
This means that however good your microphone is, your recordings aren't going to be the best unless you sort out the sound of your recording space. The good news is that speech recording is much simpler than music recording; all we need to do is try to make the room reflect as little sound as possible. The simplest way to do this is to choose a room in your house that has a carpet, curtains and big pieces of soft furniture. Bedrooms are usually a good choice. The fabric, carpet and padding all absorb sound and make the room sound more "dead". <br />
<br />
You can quickly get an idea which rooms are going to be good for recording by listening to the echo in the room after you clap your hands together loudly. A kitchen with a hard floors and no soft furnishings will usually have a more echoey sound than a carpeted bedroom for example. However, you can probably find somewhere in your house that will have so little echo that you can record there and produce a good audiobook sound. <br />
<br />
In most ordinary houses the rooms are too small to hear a sharp sound (like hands clapping) separate from its echo. The echo arrives so quickly from the reflecting wall that we don't hear a gap and the sound and echo merge. What we do hear is a ringing sound as the echo reflects multiple times around the room. If the room contains soft furnishings, curtains and a carpet a lot of the sound energy is absorbed in each reflection and the ringing dies away very quickly. Hard surfaces, like doors, ceilings, windows and hard uncovered walls will reflect sound with only a small loss of power. This is why opening doors and windows can sometimes improve the room echo: the sound passes through the doorway and is absorbed by the space beyond. This is also why the room echo can vary so much within a room: rooms are rarely symmetrical - in one position there may be a direct path to a reflective wall and in another there may be an open doorway or a large piece of soft furniture in the way.<br />
<br />
The best way to find a good place to record is to walk around all of the rooms in your house clapping your hands and listening to the ringing sound after the sharp clap. You will quickly find the room with the shortest ring - probably one of the bedrooms. Walk slowly around the room and find the place in the room with the shortest ring. In doing so you will probably notice the difference in sound when you are close to a wall, that internal room corners are very strong reflectors of sound, and that in some places you can get "flutter" echo (usually where there are hard walls exactly parallel to one another).<br />
<br />
If you cannot find anywhere with a really short ring try closing curtains, and opening doors and windows (if that doesn't introduce more noise!). If that doesn't work you will have to try hanging up blankets and duvets on the walls or over drying racks to try and reduce the echo. <br />
<br />
If you are still stuck you could consider building a cheap portable sound booth. There are instructions here.<br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Turn off noisy appliances.''' Washing machines, dishwashers, central heating pumps and boilers etc. can all contribute noise to your recording, even when they are several rooms away. Pause or switch them off while you record.<br />
<br />
* '''Block fan noise.''' Fan noise is a problem to anyone who records directly into a computer. Try to put a barrier between the computer and the microphone. If you record with the microphone on a tabletop put the computer under the table. Alternatively make a wall of pillows and cushions or use a sofa and put the computer behind it as far away as the microphone cable will reach. Both of these methods limit the fan noise reaching the microphone directly, and the noise must be reflected first (which reduces the loudness of the noise).<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you could always edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Accents_Table&diff=3617Accents Table2010-06-06T13:18:33Z<p>CliveCatterall: /* UK */</p>
<hr />
<div>This table sorts readers by LOCATION. Please note that location does not always represent the reader's actual accent. <br />
<br />
<div class="note">Note: Readers add their names to this list on a voluntary basis, and it is by no means a complete list of all the accents in the LibriVox catalog</div><br />
<br />
== UK ==<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!width="20%"|Reader ||width=20%|Location ||width="25%"| Accent ||Other Info ||Sample<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2487 Quinkish] (Rachel Lintern) <br />
| England > Bristol <br />
|Soft West Country accent <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1870 Stuart] (Stuart Bell) <br />
| England > Cambridge <br />
|Neutral English accent<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4005 Jhiu]<br />
| England > Durham<br />
| South Yorkshire overlaid with RP <br />
| precise, light voice but with some range; can read Latin and related languages<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2607 RuthieG] (Ruth Golding) <br />
| England > Kent <br />
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation RP/BBC English] (no regional accent) <br />
|Mature voice, clear diction, character voices <br />
|[http://www.archive.org/download/short_poetry_076_0903_librivox/winter_southey_rg_64kb.mp3 Sample]<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=94 earthcalling] (David Barnes) <br />
| England > London ||BBC English (no regional accent) <br />
|Reading style: slow and deliberate <br />
|[http://ia351434.us.archive.org/0/items/holy_sonnets_drb_librivox/holysonnet_14_donne_64kb.mp3 Sample]<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=167 Peter Why] (Peter Yearsley) <br />
| England > London <br />
|South-east England, with some London colouring <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=7371 CliveCatterall] <br />
|England > Hereford<br />
|South-East England. More specifically Guildford. More specifically still about 2/3 of the way up the High Street in the pub behind the Holy Trinity Church<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2297 russiandoll] (Philippa) <br />
| England > London <br />
|RP, basically <br />
|occasional Essex colouring; some character voices/accents <br />
|[http://www.archive.org/download/thaw_0903_librivox/thaw_thomas_rd_64kb.mp3 Sample]<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2828 Mango] (Joe Pilsbury)<br />
|England > West Midlands<br />
|<br />
| Can do a BBC Non-accent, Welsh, Gen Am, Scottish and Polish accents as well. <br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=92 Cori] (Cori Samuel) <br />
| Southern England <br />
|Home Counties <br />
|Warm, clear and friendly voice <br />
| [http://piratelibrary.com/librivox/wrinkles_landor_cs.mp3 Sample] <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1065 Justin Brett] <br />
| South East England <br />
|Conservative RP <br />
|(can also do Latin, lousy at accents...) <br />
|[http://www.archive.org/download/hymns_of_the_christian_church_0805_librivox/hymns_07_eliot.mp3 Sample] <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2724 Mike001] (Michael Dalling) <br />
| South East England ||South-East English accent (RP)<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=296 CarlManchester] <br />
| Northern England <br />
| British, slightly northern English, slightly Welsh<br />
| Occasionally reads in French<br />
| [http://ia331429.us.archive.org/2/items/lords_0901_librivox/lords_1945_russell_64kb.mp3 Sample] <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2262 paradise.camouflage] (Andy) <br />
| Scotland (Argyll & Bute)<br />
|Scottish with slight Irish influences - ''rural'': no whine/wine merger, no glottalisation<br />
|alters accent & vocal range for each character's dialogue - can do baritone to alto, & regional accents of Britain, North America and Europe. <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2623 Secrets] (Sally Ann Cook) <br />
| South Wales <br />
| Welsh tonality & resonance (Richard Burton's Dialect)<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1618 Nicholas19] (Nicholas James Bridgewater) <br />
| England > London <br />
| Mid-Atlantic English accent, General American/Upstate New York<br />
| <br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Canada ==<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!width="20%"| Reader ||width="20%"|Location ||Accent ||Other Info ||Sample <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1472 smijen] (Sarah Jennings) <br />
| BC > Vancouver area <br />
|Ontarian <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3923 seanmhogan] <br />
| Newfoundland &amp; Labrador > St. John's <br />
| Fairly neutral Canadian (not much 'eh' :-)) <br />
| Surprisingly bad NL accent! <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=205 Starlite] (Esther) <br />
| Ontario > North of Toronto <br />
|Canadian éh <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3157 Tricia G] <br />
| Ontario > Toronto area <br />
|Minnesotan turning to Ontarian <br />
|<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=78 hugh] (Hugh McGuire) <br />
| Qc > Montreal <br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1474 Jc] (Jc Guan)<br />
| Qc > Montreal<br />
| EN: Canadian <br/> FR: Québécois <br />
| Also reads in Spanish, Mandarin, and German (French accent).<br />
| <br />
|}<br />
<br />
== US ==<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!width=20%| Reader ||Location ||width=30%|Accent ||width=35%|Other Info ||Sample <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2294 Steampunk] (Jim Christopher) <br />
| AZ <br />
| [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_american Gen Am] <br />
| Generally non-accented. Quite dull, actually. Probably shouldn't be allowed within 50 yards of a live mic. Not recommended listening for those operating farm equipment or other heavy machinery. <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1462 bublsort] (E. Tavano) <br />
| CA > LA <br />
| mild Northeast US <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=19 Kayray] (Kara Shallenberg) <br />
| CA > SD <br />
| <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4042 DeRamos] (Ryan DeRamos) <br />
| CA <br />
| Late 20th Century, suburban Southern Californian (if such a designation exists)<br />
| Recording voice varies by character and content (results may vary).<br />
<br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3657 BellonaTimes] <br />
| FL <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3645 MaryAnnSpiegel]<br />
| IL <br />
| [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_american Gen Am] <br />
| From Western IL, the regional home of Gen Am. Limited to my native accent. Passable German pronunciations. <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2592 echobase77] (Anna Roberts) <br />
| IN<br />
| Clear Midwest accent ("no accent"?) <br />
| I speak some Spanish and can generally figure out Latin and Greek pronunciations. <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1166 DebraLynn] <br />
| MI > LP <br />
|(no accent) <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=32 thistlechick] (Betsie Bush) <br />
| MI > UP <br />
|Northern Midwest US <br />
|Occasional "Whistling S" =) <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3412 PersiaRose] (Clara Snyder)<br />
| Midwest <br />
| Midwest accent (no accent) <br />
| Can stumble through German pronunciation. <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4396 Tulip27] (Michael Wolf)<br />
| MN<br />
| English: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation British RP], north Midlands, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American GenAm]<br><br />
German: Northwestern (Northrhine-Westphalia)<br><br />
Dutch: Hollandic (Rotterdam)<br />
| Accent varies based on genre, text, setting, etc. Though now located in the US, I'm more confident with British varieties. I also speak German and Dutch and my French pronunciation is good enough to contribute short pieces in French<br />
|[http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/lz/coffeebreak003_modificationofourclimate_wallace_mw.mp3 US] [http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/le/worldsbestliterature1_50_various.mp3 UK]<br><br />
[http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/hok/andersen_02_derschweinehirt.mp3 GE]<br><br />
[http://upload.librivox.org/share/uploads/ez/fables_08_07_lafontaine.mp3 FR]<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3711 k-rin] (Karen Keeney)<br />
| MS <br />
| Slight Southern, no drawl <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2136 Great Plains] <br />
| New Hampshire <br />
| [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American GenAm] <br />
| Mild Oregon and Louisiana inflections. <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1066 chocoholic] (Laurie Anne Walden) <br />
| North Carolina <br />
| [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_American_English Southern American] (Carolinas) <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3032 Rick Rodstrom]<br />
| NY > NYC <br />
| NY accent <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=453 SmokestackJones] (Glen Hallstrom) <br />
| Oklahhoma City <br />
|None <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3866 SilverG] (Greg Bowman) <br />
| TN <br />
| US Neutral <br />
| <br />
| [http://www.archive.org/download/great_panjandrum_0906_librivox/thegreatpanjandrumhimself_foote_gnb_64kb.mp3 Sample] <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2895 Jenny] (Jenny Lundak) <br />
| TX <br />
| Gen Am <br />
| Grew up in Midwest (IL/OH), lived in CA, currently in TX. Like to play on variations of southern drawls. <br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3368 JimTheActor] (Jim Allman) <br />
| TX <br />
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_american Gen Am] <br />
|No [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_wh#Wine-whine_merger wine-whine merger] <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4570 Bill Mosley]<br />
| TX > Central TX<br />
|<br />
|raised in a suburb of Houston, studied Spanish and Greek, can translate southern drawl.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3994 AmateurOzmologist] (Miriam Esther Goldman)<br />
|TX > Houston <br />
|<br />
|Sort of pan-american WWII era accent. Speaks Hebrew passably well, but in a painfully American accent.<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=103 gypsygirl] (Karen Savage) <br />
| TX > Waco<br />
|[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation British RP] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American GenAm]; in Spanish, Mexican <br />
| <br />
|[http://ia310133.us.archive.org/2/items/shortpoetry_036/to_the_western_wind_herrick_krs.mp3 UK] [http://ia300215.us.archive.org/1/items/flag_goes_by_librivox/flag_goes_by_bennett_krs.mp3 US] [http://ia331433.us.archive.org/3/items/spanishpoetry_001_librivox/soneto36_garcilasodelavega.mp3 Spanish] <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2201 Esky] (Stephen Escalera) <br />
| VA <br />
| <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Australia & NZ ==<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!width="20%"| Reader ||width="20%"|Location ||Accent ||Other Info ||Sample <br />
|-<br />
| [http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1782 mockfrog] (Matthew Ward) <br />
|Australia > NSW > Newcastle <br />
|Cultured or more working class Australian accents <br />
|can do various English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Russian, Spanish, German, French & Various American & Canadian <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=4305 Aspergine]<br />
|<br />
|Australian<br />
|Can range from Sydney eastern-suburbs-tertiary-educated to colourful larrikin inflected. <br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
== Other Countries ==<br />
=== Europe ===<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!width=10%| Country || Reader ||width=10%| Location ||width="30%"|Accent ||width="20%"|Other Info ||Sample <br />
|-<br />
|Austria <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3885 aravis] (Elli) <br />
| <br />
| in English: definitely German / In German: no regional accent <br />
| <br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Belgium <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2506 Julila] (Julie VW) <br />
| Ghent <br />
|Dutch (Standaard Nederlands met Vlaamse tongval); British English (RP with slight Flemish accent) <br />
| also reads in French, and a bit of German <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|Denmark <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3698 neckertb] <br />
|Copenhagen <br />
|in English: a mixture of French, German and Danish; in French: no regional accent; in German: I believe a mixture between Danish and french; in Danish: German or French depending on whom I ask <br />
|very good at taking an extreme French accent in English <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|France <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1127 Lady Maria] <br />
|Paris <br />
|French accent <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|Germany <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=589 Janie No. 5] (Stephanie König)<br />
|Bodensee <br />
|Swabian (slightly?) <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|Italy <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=644 daniele] <br />
| <br />
|Italian Accent <br />
| <br />
|[http://www.archive.org/download/short_scifi_008_0810_librivox/circus_nourse_dan_64kb.mp3 Sample]<br />
|-<br />
|Italy<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1595 Riccardo] (Riccardo Fasol)<br />
|<br />
|Italian: No accent <br/> English: Italian accent<br />
|<br />
|<br />
|-<br />
| Italy > Rome<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1989 sirjoh] (Sergio)<br />
| <br />
| In Italian: very faint Tuscan accent <br/> In English: slight Italian accent; RP as model <br/> In French: very slight, undefinable accent; <br/>In German: Italian accent. <br />
| precise diction and light tenor voice <br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|The Netherlands <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=496 anna] (Ans Wink) <br />
|Maastricht <br />
|Heers/Maastrichts <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|The Netherlands <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=1724 lezer] (Anna Simon) <br />
|Gelderland <br />
|in English: Dutch; in Nederlands: ABN, met soms een hint Brabants <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|The Netherlands <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3619 bart] (Bart de Leeuw) <br />
|Utrecht<br />
|in English: Dutch; in Nederlands: ABN, met een beetje een zachte g. Mijn r ligt achter in mijn mond en kan ik niet laten rollen <br />
| <br />
|<br />
|-<br />
|Sweden<br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2234 rowland] (Lars Rolander)<br />
|Linkoping<br />
|in English: Fairly neutral, like to play with voices though: <br/> in German: Maybe a bit influenced by Hessen, but fairly neutral: <br/> in Swedish: No particular accent, but can do several dialects<br />
|}<br />
<br />
=== Asia ===<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!Country ||Reader ||Location ||Accent ||Other Info ||Sample <br />
|-<br />
|India <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3588 neerajanagarajan] (Neeru Iyer) <br />
|Chennai, South India <br />
|South-Indian Brahmin accent, I think (if such a thing exists) <br />
| Can do a little bit of German tolerably <br />
| <br />
|-<br />
|Taiwan <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=3887 Semantic Nuance] <br />
|<br />
| <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|}<br />
<br />
=== South America ===<br />
{| border=1 style="border-collapse:collapse;border-color:#aaaaaa" cellpadding="3"<br />
!Country ||Reader ||Location ||Accent ||Other Info ||Sample <br />
|-<br />
|Brazil <br />
|[http://librivox.org/newcatalog/people_public.php?peopleid=2961 Leni] <br />
| <br />
|In Portuguese: "carioca" (Rio de Janeiro) <br />
| <br />
| <br />
|}</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=3603Improve Your Recording2010-06-05T21:12:12Z<p>CliveCatterall: /* Style */</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Sibilants: harsh Ssss ===<br />
Some readers find that they have problems with very harsh and loud S sounds. This problem does not respond well to shields or microphone angles, but there are a couple of things you can do:<br />
* '''Move a desktop microphone further away''' The S sounds are only loud quite close to your mouth. If you record between 4" and 8" away from the mouth the S sounds should be reduced. Note that this can introduce unwanted room echo. See below.<br />
* '''Use a De-Esser''' This is a special audio compression program that targets this problem. There are Plug-Ins that you can download for Audacity that do this.<br />
* '''Use an Equaliser''' An Equaliser is like a fancy tone control, and is built into Audacity already. You can only use an Equaliser if the problem is a fault in your microphone that makes it is too sensitive to the S sounds. Electret microphones often need an equaliser to help them produce a good sound.<br />
<br />
===Room Echo===<br />
All voice recordings are going to contain a small amount of room echo, and most people agree that recordings are best when this is kept to a minimum. Choose the room you record in carefully. The more soft furnishings, carpets, and curtains the room contains the better. The size of the room also has an effect, as very small rooms can sound "boxy". <br />
<br />
One good way of checking the strength of the echo is to stand in your room and clap your hands together once as hard as you can. Listen to the ringing sound after the clap. Move around the room and do it again. Compare different rooms. You will find that the ringing sound is different in different rooms and in different places within a room. Choose somewhere to record that has the shortest ring after your clap.<br />
<br />
If you cannot find anywhere with a really short ring try closing curtains, and opening doors and windows (if that doesn't introduce more noise!). If that doesn't work you will have to try hanging up blankets and duvets on the walls or over drying racks to try and reduce the echo. <br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' |Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you could always edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=3601Improve Your Recording2010-06-05T20:59:32Z<p>CliveCatterall: sibilant fixes and room echo fixes</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Sibilants: harsh Ssss ===<br />
Some readers find that they have problems with very harsh and loud S sounds. This problem does not respond well to shields or microphone angles, but there are a couple of things you can do:<br />
* '''Move a desktop microphone further away''' The S sounds are only loud quite close to your mouth. If you record between 4" and 8" away from the mouth the S sounds should be reduced. Note that this can introduce unwanted room echo. See below.<br />
* '''Use a De-Esser''' This is a special audio compression program that targets this problem. There are Plug-Ins that you can download for Audacity that do this.<br />
* '''Use an Equaliser''' An Equaliser is like a fancy tone control, and is built into Audacity already. You can only use an Equaliser if the problem is a fault in your microphone that makes it is too sensitive to the S sounds. Electret microphones often need an equaliser to help them produce a good sound.<br />
<br />
===Room Echo===<br />
All voice recordings are going to contain a small amount of room echo, and most people agree that recordings are best when this is kept to a minimum. Choose the room you record in carefully. The more soft furnishings, carpets, and curtains the room contains the better. The size of the room also has an effect, as very small rooms can sound "boxy". <br />
<br />
One good way of checking the strength of the echo is to stand in your room and clap your hands together once as hard as you can. Listen to the ringing sound after the clap. Move around the room and do it again. Compare different rooms. You will find that the ringing sound is different in different rooms and in different places within a room. Choose somewhere to record that has the shortest ring after your clap.<br />
<br />
If you cannot find anywhere with a really short ring try closing curtains, and opening doors and windows (if that doesn't introduce more noise!). If that doesn't work you will have to try hanging up blankets and duvets on the walls or over drying racks to try and reduce the echo. <br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' |Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you can edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=3600Improve Your Recording2010-06-05T20:19:46Z<p>CliveCatterall: /* Style */</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
<br />
* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
<br />
* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
<br />
* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' |Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
<br />
== Style ==<br />
<br />
The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
<br />
If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you - you can edit them out later) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
<br />
=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
<br />
To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
<br />
If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
<br />
=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
<br />
Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
<br />
There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterallhttps://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=Improve_Your_Recording&diff=3599Improve Your Recording2010-06-05T20:17:54Z<p>CliveCatterall: Tip on rehearsing text, tip on breathing</p>
<hr />
<div>Below you will find some advice about how to improve your recording. The page is separated into two sections: Technical, which deals with recording set-ups, common problems, and editing solutions; and Style, which discusses reading techniques to help you improve your reading style. Please feel free to add any hints & suggestions to this page.<br />
<br />
== Technical ==<br />
This section covers specific problems and solutions for technical issues in your recording.<br />
<br />
=== Plosives: popping P's ===<br />
A common problem with audio recordings is the "exploding p," called a plosive, sounds which create a pop in the microphone. Usually plosives are created by the letter "p," but "t," and "s" and other letters can be problematic as well. Here are some solutions:<br />
* '''Use a foam shield''' (which you can buy at electronics stores)<br />
* '''Make your own shield out of a hanger & a nylon stocking (!)'''<br />
* '''Read into the microphone at an angle, or "past" the mic, instead of into it.''' (i.e. instead of positioning your mouth so that when you breath out the air rushes straight at the microphone, position you mouth so that you are at an angle from the microphone and your breath blows across the top or to the side of the mic, and NOT directly at it.).<br />
* '''If you're using a headset mic, put the mike down below your chin, or above your nose.'''<br />
<br />
=== Background Noise ===<br />
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* '''Get the right equipment.''' The best choice for a mic is something that plugs into your USB port. This means that the audio goes straight through to your computer. The alternative is to have a mic that plugs into the microphone input, which relies on your sound card. If you have a medium or poor quality soundcard, you probably won't get the best audio quality with a non-USB microphone.<br />
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* '''Set the volume first.''' Make sure that the final recording isn't so quiet that you need to increase the volume ''after'' you've recorded. Increasing the volume after you recorded will make any background fuzz you have much more noticeable. Try this on your own set up. Turn the input volume down for your microphone (either in your software, or through the computer's settings) and record something short. Then change the volume back to the normal volume and record the same thing. Adjust the first recording so that it is at the same volume as the second recording. Hear the difference in background noise?<br />
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* '''Some consistent background noise can be effectively removed.''' |Audacity software versions 1.2.6 and lower do not do a very good job of noise removel. They tend to sound tinny. Version 1.3 and higher provide more satisfactory results. While there are programs and techniques which ''can'' make "noisy" recordings sound better, it is always much better to work at ways to cut down on noise '''before''' you read. If you need '''after''' recording help, visit the Advice forums for ideas, or create a post there for noise removal. There is also a [[Noise Cleaning]] page which explains the use of various software programs.<br />
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== Style ==<br />
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The key to developing a good reading style is to become comfortable with your reading. Let your body relax as you're reading, and don't get frustrated over mistakes. If you are tense you're more likely to read too quickly, or forget to enunciate words. Don't worry about reading too slowly, because listeners will prefer a slightly slower reader. This allows them to digest what they are hearing and enjoy it more. You will usually make fewer mistakes if you are reading more slowly too.<br />
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If you find that you are making a lot of mistakes (and if this bothers you) try reading the text aloud just before you record. Rehearsing the text like this allows you to relax and not worry so much about any stumbles you do make. It is important that you do read aloud when rehearsing - it forces you to read every word and only then will you discover the unfamiliar combinations of words that can cause stumbles.<br />
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=== Voice ===<br />
Some use nasal sprays, mint-drops, brushing their teeth and chamomile tea, to clear the throat, to be able to breath well and also to get rid of "mouth-noise", these little clicking noises the tongue may produce. A wide and clear nasal passage and throat gives your voice more timbre.<br />
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To speak without gasping for breath every few words you need to be able to breathe freely. Wind instrument players and actors stand or sit with a straight back to allow as much air into their lungs as possible. You may also find sitting right at the front of your chair helps breathing.<br />
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If you want to record the most brilliant, deep, resonating voice you can do, (unless you are reading a shady, muffled speaking character *wink*) try looking slightly upwards while you are reading. Just like singers do it in the recording studio. Just like radio moderators have their mic slightly above them. Of course it's not easy to hold your script very long there but if you like the effect, hopefully you will find a way to keep it there.<br />
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=== Voice Characterizations ===<br />
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Using different voices in dialog is certainly not necessary in your recordings. It may even be better to avoid them in certain circumstances. However, some people will want to create different voices for different characters in a story. The following is a thread in which several volunteers have discussed ways to develop and improve upon this skill.<br />
[http://forum/viewtopic.php?t=1508 Voice Characterizations] and for more, see the [[Voice Character Performance]] page.<br />
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There is also the excellent [[Storyteller's Recording Guide]].</div>CliveCatterall