- Nothing makes a project sound amateurish quicker
than cheap sound, so let's look at a few quick tricks
to getting better sound for your own personal projects.
We tend not to invest as much into personal projects
as we might invest on projects for our clients.
But, you may not get as many clients
if some of your personal projects don't sound great.
So, first, try to create a quiet environment for recording.
Try to separate yourself and your recording area
from any loud areas such as kids or street noises.
You might want to cover your door or portions of your walls
with sound-baffling materials, if needed.
Here's an example of some foam acoustic baffle panels
that you can use in your room.
I ordered mine directly from Amazon,
but that can get expensive,
and you might not like the way it looks on your walls,
but you can always get creative and make different designs.
In fact, you can even hang some of them,
or even fabric from your ceiling.
That helps a lot.
In fact, even hanging soft fabric over a door
or along your walls will help the sound tremendously.
You could also get a small portable unit
called a vocal reflection baffle.
Now, this helps protect the sound of your voice
just right around the mic,
and also helps limit outside noises.
But mostly, you should invest in a good mic,
and really good microphones are not cheap.
But, you don't always have to spend a lot of money.
I personally prefer this, what I'm wearing right now,
headphones with a mic attached,
because as I move my head around when I'm acting,
the mic travels with me, and my vocal level stays the same.
You should try to use cardoid mics for your own purposes.
Now, there are different types of microphones
that pick up different kinds of signals,
like cardoid only picks up sound
directly in front of the microphone.
That helps block out other sounds.
USB mics, like this one here,
are generally a bit less expensive
and plug right into your computer
without all that extra equipment.
Now this is a lavalier mic that I often use,
but you can also get USBs
that have mics that look like this.
I use these kind of lavaliers quite a bit,
because they're really good at picking up voices,
and little else around you.
Now I've the got the one I just showed you with my USB.
I also have this one that has an eighth-inch plug on it
that plugs into my computer,
and this will also plug directly into my camera,
and I have one that'll plug directly into my phone
when I'm using that for shooting video.
Now, a larger, dynamic cardoid mic
can sit on your desk like this one right here.
Those are going to record the best voice quality.
Now make sure that you've got a mic stand like you see here
to hold your mic steady, and if possible,
put your mic into a shock mount,
because that'll reduce noise-creating vibrations.
I do not have one of those on this set up.
Should also attach a pop filter like this you see right here
in front of your mic to reduce breathing sounds
and pops and hisses from hitting the mic.
Headphones are essential when you're recording
so that you can hear your own voice,
but it won't interfere with the recording.
Turn off anything near you that could make noises.
Turn off extra computers because their fans
tend to turn on and off, and that's loud.
Turn your phone to silent, or even better, turn it off,
because we can hear the vibrating,
especially if it's vibrating on a hard surface.
You also want to try not to move your script around
during a reading, because you can hear
the shuffling and ruffling of the paper,
and you don't want that on your soundtrack.
Sometimes, you can't help but pick up background sounds.
Luckily, a lot of background noises can be quickly removed
in programs like Adobe Audition.
So now that you know all these tricks,
and you have no excuses,
everything you record is going to sound great.