Home recording studio V.4

Is this my home recording studio V.5 or V.99?

Here’s my home recording studio, the umpteenth version, for video recording. It’s taken me years of random experimenting to find this system for softening the sound of my voice.

Recording for a podcast, sound only, is much easier. Top priority is getting a professional sound for the voice, because nothing makes people switch off a podcast faster than a tinny voice. Luckily, recording with my head in a wardrobe does the trick. The other issue is—where is the script? Could be on the laptop. It just has to be visible and legible.

Recording video has exactly the same requirement, plus that durn visual element. So of course I can’t stick my head in the wardrobe because there’s no light in the closet, for one thing.

My current solution is to put my Rode NT USB mic in a fibre box padded with foam.That absorbs the sharp sounds of my voice. Then I put a second fiber box on my stand-up desk, and equalise the tops so the MacBook Pro can sit securely on top. I read the script from the screen, which is at eye level, while the Mic is at mouth level.

In other words, it’s a fiddly business before I even start recording.

That’s enough information for now, don’t you think? If you’re thinking of making a podcast, this might help.

My downfall: editing a messed-up video

Here’s a lesson that I have to learn and learn and learn again. Today, for instance.

If you are off form and mess up, it’s far quicker to record the whole thing again than to cut cut cut edit edit edit. Damn.  I forgot. Doesn’t matter how brilliant your home recording studio is, you’re wasting too much time.

Admittedly, it’s not a brilliant home recording studio but a shonky heap of detritus. But hey, If you start with a sow’s ear, your video can’t help but be a third-rate silk purse.