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Maximize Sound Quality in Your Home Studio
53 Plays1 year ago
In this episode of "The VO Bar Podcast," Will Vincent, Victoria Prather, and Al Moulliet engage in a lively discussion about their recording environments, focusing on the challenges and solutions related to setting up personal studio spaces and booths. The conversation is filled with personal anecdotes, technical advice, and a good dose of humor.
This episode provides valuable insights into creating and optimizing personal recording spaces. The hosts' blend of technical knowledge, personal experiences, and humor makes for an engaging and informative listen, especially for those interested in the technical side of voice-over work.
Please like and subscribe, and if you've enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend - or leave a review. Join us next week where we'll be talking about VO conferences - are they worth your investment of time and money?
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Transcript
Minnesota Hot Bar Misunderstanding
00:00:00
Speaker
Wow. So it's that kind of bar, huh? Yes. Wow. It's Minnesota, but it is hot as stuff here. Yeah. It's bar, not bear. Oh, so I should put pants on. I just don't stand up. The E is silent. Thank you. Very good. A long lens. Oh my God.
Challenges of Recording Environment Heat
00:00:30
Speaker
Well, I guess that dovetails nicely into recording environments. And why are they, why are they always so damn hot? This is true. Yes. This is true. My booth is precisely 78 degrees right now. And. I believe it. I am. Mine is 73 and 45% humidity. Wow. I'm 46%. Wow. Is that backwards to you? It's backwards to me. No, you could too.
00:01:00
Speaker
He's fancy. You are fancy. So fancy. I mean, you are. I mean, it is 61 degrees here in the Southwest. Where are you? Oh, you're in Phoenix. Phoenix adjacent.
Personal Locations and New York State of Mind
00:01:18
Speaker
I'm in a New York state of mind, just FYI, and always in New York state of mind. Always. All the time. All the time. And California dreaming. So there's that. But yeah, I'm in Phoenix. Well, I mean, you're closer to the dream, I guess, than your state of mind. Yeah, that's a whole mindset thing. We're going backwards. Yeah.
00:01:45
Speaker
That was last episode. If you missed it, go back in and listen to that last podcast. It was amazing. Incredible. Don't oversell it. Okay. Tonight's podcast is
Why Are Studio Spaces Hot?
00:01:59
Speaker
about... Aren't we talking about our studio spaces? Will, don't fire at me. Studio space, booths, environments. Oh, right. Yes, I said that. Yeah. Yeah. Because why are they always so hot? You've got a whisper room. I do. You've got a whisper room. I have an LA vocal booth.
00:02:15
Speaker
I can also scream in this room and not wake up the family upstairs.
Building a Sound Blocking Whisper Room
00:02:20
Speaker
Which is why I have this, because before this, I had a blanket fort. It was just a nice little frame made out of PVC and I had really nice sound blankets from Producers Choice sound blankets from Vocables2Go.
00:02:36
Speaker
and they are awesome. It sounded so good in there, but it doesn't block any noise in or out. It just blocks reverberation. Sure. It just makes the room sound nice. Right, right. I'm already in a very quiet room that is not treated at all, which eventually I'll get to.
00:02:55
Speaker
It sounds very nice. It sounds terrible out there, otherwise. But in that little blanket fort, it sounded wonderful because it killed all the reverb entirely. But if the TV was on upstairs or the gas fireplace was on upstairs, I could hear the fan. If the furnace came on, I could hear that. Or if I was auditioning late at night and my kid was asleep, well, I can't get very loud. So I found this on eBay for three grand.
00:03:25
Speaker
And I bought it. That's $3,000 to the rest of the world. Yes. $3,000 US dollars, which brand new, I think it's like $10,000. Oh, yeah. That was a steal of a deal. And it's just the single wall. But my whole goal was just to block my sound from getting out so that I could audition at night.
Why Is a Quiet Room Important for Recordings?
00:03:45
Speaker
and not drive everything crazy. You don't want to disturb people in the middle of the night. Because the room is already quiet, so I didn't need to block out noise. I didn't need to block out like the leaf blower outside. Lucky. It wasn't an issue. Well, I'm in a basement. Well, and you also have how many acres? Two and a half. There you go. But my neighbors directly to my, what is that, the east,
00:04:08
Speaker
unless you're in the middle of the two and a half acres. I am in the middle, more or less. But the neighbors, I mean, it's like off by maybe 50 feet. The neighbors to my east are loud. And the kids have moved away, so they're not as bad as they were, but there were several years where they were just like,
00:04:29
Speaker
you know, working on dirt bikes and go-karts and trucks and whatever. And so they'd be out there revving the engine and ripping around their lawn. Or, you know, asking the stereo. Good times.
00:04:42
Speaker
all the things that really affect your show. So there is a neighbor somewhere on the street that occasionally will drive by. It's obviously a teenager with the subwoofers going full blast. And I can still hear that in the booth. And you want to yell, what is it? The 70s? No, I can't get too bent out of shape because that was me once. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
00:05:08
Speaker
So yeah, so I bought this on eBay from a seller in Missouri. And- Missouri. Missouri. Missouri. Missouri. Is that the way you say it? Yeah, I did grow an S on my dad said it. And he was like just outside of St. Louis, which is 10 hours drive from here. And on New Year's Day, actually, I think maybe it was the second that I picked it up. Because I left early in the morning.
00:05:37
Speaker
like 2 or 3 a.m. and drove straight through. Oh my goodness. To get there at whatever the time window he said he was going to be available was. I drove down there. I picked it up. I turned around and I drove back. Oh my goodness. Twenty hours round trip. I stopped for like an hour nap at one point on the way back, but that was it. Wow.
Disappointment with New Booth Sound Quality
00:05:54
Speaker
And then I didn't set it up until like October. What? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Dang. All right.
00:06:04
Speaker
Gotta steal. You're a better man than me. And then I was promptly super disappointed with the sound as soon as I set it up. That's what they say. They're going until you forget them. The sound in my little blanket fort was so clean. It was so good. Really? Yeah. Yeah, it was wonderful. That's crazy. And then I came in here and was like, sounds like crap.
00:06:32
Speaker
I started, I tried foam. So when I first got in, I was like, uh, no, no, this isn't gonna work. It was just so, so bad. So I put up foam. I ordered like $500 of foam and covered every square inch. I was like, well, no, that didn't help. A little bit, but not enough. So then I ordered rock wool.
00:06:58
Speaker
because I looked at the specs and the performance at certain frequencies of rock wool is actually a little bit better than fiberglass. Are you saying rock wool? Like W-O-O-L? Yes. W-O-O-L. It's actually a mineral that is spun like wool. And then they press it into bats, just like fiberglass insulation. Interesting, okay. But it's made out of rock. I never heard of it before. All right. Yeah. Really?
00:07:27
Speaker
I don't think it's fireproof, but it's very highly fire retardant. Don't try to test
Using Rock Wool for Sound Insulation
00:07:32
Speaker
it. Yes. Resistant. Resistant. There you go. Yeah. Because it's rock, but it's also marketed specifically as sound deadening insulation. I've never heard of it, but now I'm intrigued. Really? I'm intrigued. It's called safe and sound because it's fireproof and soundproof, basically.
00:07:53
Speaker
Those panels behind me you see are four inch thick rock wall panels. OK. So I went with the semi rigid stuff, which I think they put on the outside of houses. OK. Interestingly. OK. But that way I was able to just pressure fit it up into the ceiling. So I've got the ceiling covered. I've got this wall covered and I've got the back wall covered. Florida ceiling everywhere. This wall is not. That's where the door is.
00:08:22
Speaker
So in front of the door, and then the wall back here behind the screen is all foam. And I've got bass traps and stuff. Sounds pretty good. And now, how do you feel? I mean, it's not. It's still not as good as the blanket fort was. What? I don't believe that. I do not believe that. Seriously. That's crazy. No. Yes. Well, here's why. Because this is a small, enclosed space. I'm literally inside a box.
00:08:48
Speaker
so it sounds like I'm inside a box, because I am. I can EQ that out, and I do. In fact, I've got some EQ built into my interface that dials it down a little bit, a little notch right where it needs to be to cut that little bit out. That's another podcast. It's a trade-off, right? Because I'm now able to, in the middle of the night, scream as loud as I possibly can.
00:09:16
Speaker
and you can't hear me outside this room. That's impressive. In the room outside the booth you could hear me, but outside the room you can't. Same. I was like, wait, if someone is standing in the room, because I have an LA vocal booth, you can definitely hear outside the room. Oh yeah, for sure somebody could stand outside the door and just have a conversation at a normal volume with me, which is bizarre.
00:09:37
Speaker
Okay, I just need it. Are you name dropping Victoria? I mean he said Whisper Room. I mean technically Al said Whisper Room. I did. Actually I said Whisper Room. Yes, you whispered it. But Victoria's on the poster. I am on the poster. She's the poster child of the LA. You didn't see it? I'm on their poster.
00:10:00
Speaker
Yeah, because I can say, honestly, this was something really, I think I've had this now for, wait, has it been almost a year to the date? Yeah, because I bought this for my birthday last year. Thank you. Happy birthday. So it's been a year and a few days. A few days, yeah. So it was pretty, really made a big difference because I was working out of my closet with lots of, I actually used, so,
00:10:28
Speaker
This is the door, right? Behold the door. But these are those...
00:10:36
Speaker
Blackout curtains. Yes, that. That. This is actually really thick. Those work amazing. They really do. And then I've got foam and these panels with cheetah. Cheetah, like, I like animal prints if nobody knows that. But it made a huge, huge difference in the quality of audio. But it was an investment. I didn't get, I got mine for a little bit like double of what Will paid, but.
00:11:06
Speaker
considering I didn't make that investment right away.
00:11:09
Speaker
I think that made me feel better about when I did get it. And then I did make that money back in terms of how much I spent on it. And then the ROI has been worth it all over this year. But actually, no, I got it two years ago, right? What year is this? I don't even know. Going back in time, folks, 2023 was a year where everybody's business went. Right? Yeah. So actually, I've had this now two years, I think.
00:11:39
Speaker
Yeah, so sorry, I don't, I don't do math. You're welcome. But I just... I was gonna say, because you had it the first time that we connected online. Right. Which was before your birthday. Correct. So it's, I've had it for two years. It was not a long time before your birthday, but... Yeah. The pre-podcast days. Yes.
00:11:57
Speaker
So two years ago. In the before time. In the before time. But it does make a big difference, but of course having that right microphone, which is another podcast, but the whole environment, you know, it plays into it because I didn't always used to have this curtain up behind me.
00:12:18
Speaker
But I worked with a couple of different audio engineers that said, you might want to put something back there because it's a hard surface. It's the glass and the door. So that's why I added this back here. And sometimes I'm able to do on-camera auditions right here. I don't have to worry about the sound. And I can change the backdrop to a different color or whatever. So that works. Sure. It doesn't have to be a panel or foam behind you. Just something to stop the reflection. Indeed.
00:12:45
Speaker
Sure. Yep, mine. When we moved into the house, we moved here back to Minnesota about four years ago. Lucky enough to find the house, had an A-frame garage, or A-frame attic over the garage with attic access through one of the bedrooms. I'm in the bedroom. This is where I do the editing, two screens, computers, monitors. The access I had,
00:13:10
Speaker
a contractor come in, my brother from New Orleans. He came up and built me an eight by seven studio A-frame. So it's got the uneven walls. It's a single 5'8",
00:13:30
Speaker
sheetrock on outer, then it's got the four inches of rock wool and then double offset sheetrock on the inside. And the only thing I need to do now is I want to double up the floor and do rock wool floor because I'm above the garage. Oh, sure. But yes, I did the 703 panels on the inside, so it's one and a half inch thick. And eventually you're going to get to see that. But yeah, I really, really like it the way it sounds in there.
00:14:00
Speaker
Well, it's really nice. It looks like you've got a really large open space, but you don't, it doesn't sound vacant. Like when I'm listening to your voice now. Oh, that's good. Thank you. You're welcome. But it really, it doesn't, you know, usually when I see some folks that have you guys ever been on like a workshop or doing some sort of
00:14:21
Speaker
call and we're all supposed to be professional voice actors and then you hear someone who sounds like this why and you're like what is wrong with your sound and somebody's in their kitchen with granite countertops right or in their bathroom and you can hear like the toilet running what is happening yes you're a professional yeah what's going on um yeah but i think it depends on what
00:14:46
Speaker
Well, so there's the interesting thing, though. The larger spaces are actually easier to treat. What? That's what I've heard. Yeah, because all you really are doing is knocking down the reflections.
Challenges of Small vs. Large Recording Spaces
00:14:59
Speaker
Whereas in a smaller space, you're knocking down reflections, but you also have to worry about the... The boxiness, right? The boxiness and what is it? Compound waves or I forget what it's called, but the sound builds up in the corners and stuff. Sure. And especially if you have a lower voice like I do.
00:15:15
Speaker
What? Yeah. I, when I set up that one, um, and I'm not, I'm throwing a name out there. Everybody knows George the tech. He, uh, I did videos and I watched his videos and they did the reflective with the mirror test. Yep. And I mean, spot on. Yep. That's on. Do you know that one Victoria?
00:15:39
Speaker
the mirror thing? No, no, no. So the way I'm trying not to look at Al sometimes because it looks like he's just sitting there naked in his big studio. Who's to say that with his beautiful mane of curly locks? Yes. So so no, what was what was the movie reference or pop culture reference that I missed here? It's not. No, it's a technical reference. So.
00:16:06
Speaker
Um, so the mirror trick, um, if you're, if you're trying to treat a recording space or really a mixing space is where it's usually used. You run a mirror along the wall until you see the reflection of, well, you have somebody else do it while you're sitting in your spot, run a mirror along the wall until you see the reflection of the speaker. Yeah.
00:16:31
Speaker
Well, the mic too, but for speakers, usually it's for mixing. So where you see the speaker, right? So you're looking, you're sitting where you're going to sit and you turn and you look and somebody runs the mirror along the wall and wherever they see, wherever you see the reflection of your speaker, you put a little mark there and that's where a panel needs to go. And the same thing on the ceiling and the same thing on the back wall and everywhere, right? So you find all the reflection points that
00:16:57
Speaker
from where you're sitting when you're mixing at that mixing desk, a reflection would bounce off and come back and hit you and you put sound absorption there. So that the spot that you're sitting when you're mixing at that mixing desk sounds perfect. And the same eliminating having to foam up the whole building. Right. And the same would work for a mic instead of looking at the speakers, you look at the mic.
00:17:23
Speaker
Yep. Okay. So it's, so it's actually, there would be a mirror now. What would we, what will we actually see about? Let's not put the mirror under the dash. Here we go. Here we go. So many things. That's it. Next time I'm wearing clothes. You've made me mad. I am completely red. This is hilarious. Okay. Thank you.
00:17:49
Speaker
So yeah, larger spaces are easier to treat and don't inherently sound boxy. That's incredible. All right.
00:17:56
Speaker
Also, note to self for anyone putting this, prepare to spend a little money. Don't try to cheap out. It can be done inexpensively with moving blankets, things like that.
Effectiveness of Closet Studios in Urban Settings
00:18:07
Speaker
And your closet. I lived in Manhattan, like Upper West Side, and it was very busy. It was right off Columbus Avenue where NYPD had a precinct nearby as well as the FDNY. They were just at the next block. You should have moved on up to the East Side.
00:18:25
Speaker
I moved from the east side. You got it. I was moving on up. But I actually came from the east side, went over to the west side as a whole thing. But anywho, the whole idea. To a much nicer apartment. Indeed. Yeah. But still going back to the east side eventually. Not that I'm counting any times, but 2029. Anyway, the
00:18:47
Speaker
idea that you can use a closet and effectively, especially in places where you can't do the whole booth thing. And they're right, especially in a lot of urban settings. Or if you're a renter or if you're you're right. Oh yeah. If you're a renter and you're not handy with repair work when you leave, you just can't put the whole like for this booth that I have now, I don't think
00:19:15
Speaker
I'm not sure. I would have to check with the building if it's okay because of the weight of it. So if you're not living in a ground floor apartment, is it okay to have something of this weight? Just put it in there and we'll find out later. Don't put it next to the water bed. I was going to say the same thing. Don't put it in the same room as the water bed.
00:19:42
Speaker
Perfect. So yeah, there's that. But closets do work great. And I've actually worked on promos and everything else from my closet in New York. Sure. It's possible. Closets are great places. But if you have to do any work to it, don't try to cheap out. Correct. Definitely not. You can make more of a mess with the way your room sounds.
00:20:11
Speaker
And can we just quickly say in many ways you get what you pay for when it comes to a lot of these things? Yes, there are cheaper ways to do it. That's true. Thank you. I would go even a step further and say next to coaching and learning how to act, the most important part of your vocal chain
00:20:35
Speaker
is your environment.
Is Recording Environment More Important than Equipment?
00:20:37
Speaker
It's more important than your microphone. It's more important than your interface. It's more important than any software plugins that you think you might want. Your environment is the most important thing. Period. Oh, yeah. Don't think you're going to fix it with plugins. It's the environment. I mean, I used to say it was talent, tech and marketing. Right. And not necessarily in that order.
00:21:05
Speaker
Because tech in a way is a little bit of all of it together, right? It's your environment, it's your mic, it's your interface, it's all the things. But really that environment part, honestly, it's made a huge difference for me personally, once I jumped. But I don't think everybody needs to do that right away.
00:21:25
Speaker
Oh, heck no. Well, that's where people fall apart. I mean, that's where the over-investing in your business and that's what it is. It happens. And that's why Will possibly could have gotten his great deal because someone overstepped and all of a sudden it wasn't what they thought. That may have not been the situation, but I'm sure this, if you look, you're going to find whisper rooms or LA vocal booths on sale.
00:21:54
Speaker
because someone just jumped out there and spent five grand, six grand on a booth. 10, 20, 10 microphones and everything else. And then they decided, oh, this isn't for me. This is too hard. Or they didn't realize that you actually have to get training. Yeah. That's so another podcast. Oh my gosh, the training part. Yeah. I mean, we can highlight it right now.
Advice for Beginners: Training and Environment
00:22:22
Speaker
The order of things. The order of operations. Yes. If you're new, first, get training. Second, get a good environment. And that can be as simple as a PVC frame with some moving blankets, because it really does sound really good. I know some people who are doing tons of work with just that. And they work. They're booking all the time? All the time. Literally every day. Multiple jobs a day.
00:22:50
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Training, environment, more training. Training never stops kids. Marketing. Your first microphone, preferably with an interface, but if you're on a tight budget, there's actually a few USB mics that are decent.
00:23:11
Speaker
and a DAW and, you know, whatever. There's free ones, there's paid ones, there's subscription ones. Lots of choices. Ultimately, whatever works best for you is the best tool, period. I don't care what anybody else says, they all do the same thing. Correct. Next. That's another podcast, the DAW, but they say whichever one you feel more comfortable using is the one to use. Let's see, training. Yes, training again. A better mic.
00:23:41
Speaker
But wait, training, almost a twaining, that's good. More twaining, more twaining, and more twaining at infinite and forever training. Because you will never know everything, things always change, and... One day there won't be the millennium, ew. Yeah, ew. Ew. Wouldn't it be funny if like the big thing next year, or I guess this year,
00:24:09
Speaker
is the big announcer read, the big radio voice that everybody works so hard to get rid of. It would be funny. I've seen a few. I've seen a few too. Breakdowns lately. They are asking for that. I've seen a few too, but I feel like the kind of.
00:24:27
Speaker
Big energy. Yeah, I feel like they're kind of poking fun at the sound a little bit, though. Sure. They still need it. You know, maybe that's just the way that they reintroduce it. Like, yeah, let's introduce this as sort of a funny thing. And then suddenly, that's what you're hearing everywhere. It's the thing. And next thing you know, in a world. What? It's gold. It's gold. Get it now while you can. That's right. Everything will be the TikTok voice.
00:24:57
Speaker
No. No. No. So, no, it's not going to that, Will. No, don't put that in the universe. I can't be around that level of chipper 24-7 or all want to stab someone. But why not? I have to have a little disappointment to equalize my day. You know what, though? We should talk about AI later and another podcast.
00:25:25
Speaker
Another podcast. Technically, that's text to speech, not AI, but they're kind of related. Yeah. She had a recorded at some point. The dirty step cousin. The dirty step cousin. Redheaded stepchild.
00:25:42
Speaker
We're really offending redheads in this episode, aren't we? I mean, we have, right? Totally. You're welcome. Sorry, redheads. It's all good. We love everybody. I don't know if we're as much as anybody. Sling blade. That was my best, that was my worst sling blade. I reckon I ain't got no reason to kill nobody. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That I remember. Mm-hmm. I do like them french fried potatoes. Here, let me drag this chair across the floor for you.
00:26:12
Speaker
Please don't stand up, Al. Please do not stand up. Oh, Lord. And the hat's coming off. Okay, it's just the hat, folks. Just the hat. Okay. Now I'm better. Okay. Let's go! Don't invest until you're ready. That is so good, Victoria. You're welcome. That's what he said.
00:26:38
Speaker
Yeah. I'm just going to piggyback on Victoria and... That's what he said. See what I did there? Learn everything you can. Watch a lot of videos. There's things, there's secrets out there that may change. You may have a room that sounds great. Don't screw it up.
00:27:06
Speaker
On that note, videos, there's plenty of videos on how to make sound panels. It's really not hard, even if you are not mechanically inclined. It's very little more than just screwing in a couple screws. Yeah, I know. That's what he said. I'm going to disagree, though, in terms of the don't invest until you're ready thing because the environment is so important. If you're trying to pursue any kind of work,
00:27:36
Speaker
you need to get that right. If you're just coaching, then whatever. If you haven't started pursuing work yet. Yeah, but if you're investing thousands of dollars at the onset, I'm like, no. I'm not suggesting that. I'm not suggesting you invest thousands. I would absolutely tell anybody who has a remotely quiet space already to go with a blanket fort of some sort.
Cost-Effective Studio Solutions
00:28:03
Speaker
build it out of 2x4s, build it out of PVC pipe, drape it over some
00:28:10
Speaker
You're not disagreeing with me then, you're agreeing with me saying don't. Okay, well I'm saying it's different. You just wanted to disagree, but that's fine. See, I have this reputation of being negative. I'm not negative, I just care. Who is this guy? I don't know. He said he cares. I do. I care so much that people think I'm negative. He said he's not being negative. See? I think I'm negative. I'm not negative. I actually care.
00:28:40
Speaker
So it offends me when people do things stupid. There. And there he is back. Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll be back.