Wow! Dude you know your stuff. These are some of the most valuable tips I have ever seen on youTube. I can hear the differences on my cheap earbuds. Thanks a lot, you earned my sub!!
This was exactly what I needed! I just finished taking VO classes and making my demo reels, but I didn't want to jump straight into spending lots of money to make a professional studio. Mainly since I can't afford it. XD This will really help me start things up for now, thanks a bunch! ^^
@@JordanReynolds To start should I do this with pillows and blankets if I use my iPhone just don't want to spend money on a mic as I'm just starting off.
The mic is obviously better, yes. But this video is mainly talking about the environment you're recording in. A client would most likely prefer the cheaper one in a great recording room compared to an expensive mic in a crappy sounding room.
Thank you for commenting jimy hustle. I'll probably be recording videos related to mixing/recording in the future. They won't be specifically "how to use this DAW" but more-so mixing tips that can be used in any DAW.
I'm so thankful for this!!! I've been so hesitant to send out my demos because I was afraid that even if I got a gig, there would be nowhere for me to record (thank you, covid). I feel so much more confident now knowing that there's an emergency pillow fort solution to get me by! Thanks!!!
I stand on carpet, and put either oversized hoodie, or a moving blanket over me and the mic and record that way. Thinking about getting a twin size blanket and using that.
Hi, Jordan. My name's Alexander and I'm a guitar player and I want to construct a home studio on a tight budget for vocals, acoustic guitar, maybe even my band? I'm OK with spending money on like an audio interface and a mic (I ordered a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2). But when it comes to acoustic treatment, I don't want to spend a lot of money. Is there a cheap way that is a little more permanent than stacked pillows? :D Any idea wat it costs? Great videos btw, very usefull, thanks.
In which audio sample? None of the samples have ANY EQ or processing applied. My introduction VO has EQ but I rarely boost any low/bass frequencies on my voice. Hope that helps.
Osteele Yea, real classy with the freezer bag, eh? :). Thanks for your kind words. I hope your cup of hot joe didn't burn your mouth as you watched my video. Then all my videos will be cursed!
If there's a noisy room or window or something, make sure the microphone is cardioid pattern, not Bi directional or omni, and point the back of the microphone towards the problematic noise direstioin then set up your DIY vocal booth, as cardioid pattern rejects noise from the back for the most part and in tandem with the Booth you should get better quality recordings
Hey trevers mma! USB mic's are good for when you're just starting out and/or when you're traveling and need to record. Not all of them sound fantastic but I've heard a few stand out. Those would be the Blue Yeti Pro and the Apogee MiC. Good luck!
Thank you💖i actually use a box with recycled paper compressed egg cartons On the inside of a walmart box, a towel, all covered with a king sized blanket😊
Your vocals bounce off the wall and back into your microphone if you don't cover that wall and the shelf above. With compression it will become apparent in the recording and then the nightmare begins trying to use an eq to remove or mask which never works. You're better off recording in an open room. So make sure to try to sound proof even when in the closet.
Good day Mr Reynolds , I'm commenting from Trinidad and Tobago, in the caribbean . I'm just starting out in voice over here. I have a question.....when the raw voice has been recorded and the editing out of the breaths been completed, what and how do I apply , to have the voice sound nice and crisp....like the audio in this video? Is it EQ and/or compression only, or other processing is included? How much ratio, attack etc do I apply in the compression? Can you briefly walk me through?.....thanks
This video was an emotional rollercoaster, I was relived when you said you need to chill out lol At you're self aware you go hella crack head energy! Subbed before the intro finished and glad I stuck around.
Thanks for the great video. Anyone with a low-budget home studio (like me) will benefit from this. I'm glad you recommend the SM57. It's versatile and almost indestructible. If you do any live performances, a 57 or 58 is almost a given.
Imho even an 8000 dollars mic with a crap converter a built in crap preamp and an extremely long crap cable won't do any magic either even if you had nice acoustic treatment ... just saying...
Glad i watched this vid because it made me take another detailed look into my closet which i'm planning on using for voice over..at least my temp studio until i get a more permanent space and i realized that at first i had a board overhead blocking me a good foot or so from my clothes to tuck my mic in and get to easily but that i could actually remove it so i could actually get to it. Well only one thing left to do...record and hope it works
Whoop whoop he's back.. i made a reflextion thingy for 10 bucks best ten bucks i ever spent also i have once.put a sheet over me while singing and it sounded even better.. haha love this video your still funny.. good tips!!!!
This is great Jordan!!....so simple but so true. Keep up the great work! Always interesting.... I can sense the smile in your voice!... Makes me smile! but there is a load of worthwhile stuff to learn. Best wishes, Mike..in England!
I recorded lines for an upcoming project. and this video was linked in the e-mail! I never thought of utilizing a pillow/towel fort before... it made a difference in my recording! Thanks for this!
Are you related to Ryan Reynolds by any chance? You sound like him and your tonal inflections are similar... And you have the same last name. Helpful vid!
This is great! i love the idea of the pillows acting as a mic shield, the only issue with it is if your mic isn't on a table and you record vocals standing up, mounting the pillows is difficult haha. im tryna figure it out!
You're totally right about that! You'll just have to get creative to see how you can prop up pillows/blankets around the microphone when you record. You can do it!
recording in OLD cars; why it can sound good; car audio guys specialise in 'bitumising' the cars body; painting the unseen body of the car with bitumen mostly done on the floor of the car but sometimes in more expensive car set ups they can 'bitumise' the whole interior.
a studio application might be to paint exterior studio walls with bitumen... it's thick & gooey for a while but if you do this to a studios exterior walls it would have similar effect as to it's use in cars. I can attest as my uncle had a car audio company in Melbourne VIC Australia & this treatment was one of his specialities. His car, a beamer, was coated in the stuff, when you sat inside & closed the door your ears WILL definitely ring in the silence, your heart starts giving you something to dance to & your mind drifts away with ... audio silence glee.
Harbor Freight has Moving Blankets for for $3-$5 bucks !!! Btw The Motown Stuff & Muscle Shoals Studio was "Treated" w/Moving Blankets. Also you can make a yer own bass Traps Cloud traps…with stuff that you most likely have access to or could easily afford. I love the "Pillow Fortress" haha
In terms of improving your acoustics or reducing echo? No, it wouldn’t do much at all. This is because pop filter material is VERY thin and isn’t design to reduce echo. Only reduce the wind pressure of P’s.
Hi Jordan, I have watched your videos on youttube and got some great ideas on the vocal booth acoustics. I have one question for you. I am build a new studio in my garage and I have a 6 X 7 ft. vocal booth and I was wondering if it's ok to use a metal door instead of a wooden door? I will be using double dry wall with sound board in the between the walls for insulation, and also i will be putting the foam on the inside of the booth. Any suggestions or recommendations would be highly appreciated. Thanks, Hanif
Hey @Rob Burgess: That would be great to hear those 3 mic's compared. All very different mic's! I don't own an SM7b yet but it's on my list! Maybe when I get one I'll do the shootout for you :).
hey i have the AT2020 and i have a a scarlete 8i.. the thing is i have to use a lot of gain for the AT2020... is this normal.. the gain nob is nearly 75% :(
your audio is great... video; use a feckin camera STAND! cos your jittery pans have my eyes wobbling & I have to struggle watching. & for info shots like "this is a mike" use a feckin PHOTO! Imagery needs as much 'treatment' as your audio. Yeh the blankets are great, I've recorded drums fully shrouded in blankets (like an igloo shape) as close to the kit as possible without touching the cymbals, awesome sound from little acoustic mods like that.
Thank you so much for this valuable information! I just used your car-track to record a voice over! Sounds brilliant! I'm also trying this method for the singer of my band with a song we recorded! Thank you Jordan!
That's great to hear b13visuals! It's crazy how good your car can sound, acoustically, when recording voice over or vocals :). I'm glad you found this helpful!
Well, here you can check the result: vimeo.com/79789044 It's in Dutch, so you probably won't understand much of it, but you can at least hear it! :D Thanks again!
Jordan Reynolds Thanks again! I shot this as an advertisement for the cooking part of the studios I work at. The commercial is on TV at the moment, only on a very local station. But hey, gotta start somewhere! :D
This great video really proves what I've been saying for a while now. Mic snobs are anachronisms. In today's world, (In a world … ), money is much better spent on acoustic treatment and software. Skip the Neumann mics. Don't waste money on Logic or ProTools. Get a RODE NT1a and use REAPER. Spend the money you would have spent on mics and an inferior DAW, and buy iZotope RX, Nectar, and/or Ozone instead. You can get that super quiet RODE to sound like just about any mic with the right plugins and settings. And here's the thing: We are listening to crazy nuances as VO artists that 99.999% of our audience is NEVER going to notice when they are listening to your work in mp3 format through their crappy earbuds. Spending lots of money on mics is just a way to score geek points now. Seriously. But if you know how to use RX to clean up the subtle mouth sounds and clicks that most VO artists leave in their work, you'll hear a difference that separates the home studio sound from the world class recording productions. And, no, I don't work for iZotope, but I was the lucky inheritor of the full RX, Nectar, and Ozone suites and the full Waves bundle from a friend of mine who works for Pixar and used them for ONE PROJECT!! Imagine a studio just giving you like $15K worth of software you're only going to use for one project! I'm sure happy about it!
Thank you Jordan for introducing the IDEA of ghetto acoustic treatment! Although it was just a crappy casual singing, I tried your "Hotel Bedroom" setting and the raw recording really improved (despite using a SDC mic). Downside is I need to sit down to sing ... I had shared your idea with my cover video and credited you. Hopefully I can get to see more "ghetto style" video from you! A little question: Why wouldn't a SDC mic work for male vocal(I heard it works for some female vocal)? And other than Shure SM57, any cheaper choice you would recommend to a male vocalist??? Thank you!!!
That's weird that youtube suggested me this video, or should I say scarring because it obviously spying on me, as I am currently in the process of recordings. Anyway thank you very very much for this video, it was very helpful and entertaining of course. I immediately put blankets around my closet and microphone inside and I will go testing it now, just decided to make a pause for writing this comment. So thank you again! :)
Are the comparison samples post processed for noise removal and stuff, or are those raw recordings? Also, doesn't the pillow setup sound boxy - i mean like, bass jumps out, while the higher ends are more or less dead.
Hey, Thanks for your videos. I'm listening to these 2 samples on my $440 earphones Shure SE525 I can notice the difference. However, to my ears it doesn't sound that bad in your kitchen (kitchen sounds like outside - although pretty damn good), studio (sounds deeper and more professional). I'd like to say though that if you were recording at home for fun you would get a pretty decent demo without the audio from your kitchen the only problem is noise isolating from people at home and sounds from outside like cars driving by etc. All I'm trying to say is.. I can notice the difference but I was expecting it to sound a lot worse hearing background noises and kitchen sounds.
@Young Kwon I try to make them not too boring with some humor. Plus, I'd get bored if I didn't let some humor out - I can't help it! Thanks for commenting.
It's all a matter a taste, so I can respect that. Most engineers, like myself, don't want any reflections, slap back, comb filtering, phasing, or reverb in their original vocal/voice over recordings. If they need any later in the mix, they add it with plugins. If I ever sent a voice over recording done in my kitchen to one of my clients, it would be extremely unprofessional and unusable for them. They'd ask me to record it again in a more "dead" environment.
@Daniel Cort Did you try listening on good quality headphones or speakers? It's going to be difficult to hear the differences on low end laptop or iPad speakers, for example.
Hey i actually am using an at2020 xlr and a presonus audiobox and i need to ask if you had any issues with volume like Im having and how you handled it. (I record in audacity) I know about normalizing to -3db however whenever I normalize the whole file like im supposed to, the volume is barely boosted up.
Sounds like you're probably already recording at a loud enough level. So, if the level is already close to -3db, then normalizing it to -3db, you won't see the wav form get much larger. Nothing wrong with that!
Man, even in my bedroom or living room, my echoing/reflection is so strong even with the mic extremely close or speaking in a general volume tone. Your non-acoustic samples sound so amazing compared to mine even with basic treatment attempts.
