Hello, I haven’t posted in a bit, but after searching on the forum, I haven’t found much on this. I recently recieved a CAD Audio U37 USB condenser microphone, but I know along with using it comes some basic treating and/or soundproofing to really make a decent use with it.
The problem is, I don’t have the money for that. Nor do I have a budget on what I could possibly purchase to make this thing usable. Out of the box, I turn it on to record simply my voice saying some stuff, it seems like it captures the room and area around me more than my actual voice. Unless I yell, but then the audio quality just sounds awful.
Seeing as I cannot (at the moment) buy any proper proofing and treating material, what is recommended I should do? As a side project, I want to be able to just sing things and get an okay result. I do realize that if I don’t put any money towards correctly getting set up, that the quality will still come up short. But I’m lost.
Please do mention “proper” ways to set up a little space where I can simply sing and whatnot to. Disregarding what I said above about not being able to sink money into a space.
These are great reads. Part of why I posted in here specifically is to gather opinion with just another guy who can share something useful to him. When I look up stuff about this topic, most of the articles say that egg cartons are awful with any kind of treatment and proofing and what have you. However, this one article suggests that 4 egg cartons tucked together as one can eliminate high end.
Of course in that article, the guy is talking about working in a garage with multiple elements - guitars, drums, etc. I have just a very small closet which I think will be promising to my expectations, considering how I will not have to put together a mess of insulation and nails to a garage door.
Your responses touched right upon what I was needing. A friend who made a DIY booth in his bedroom is a perfect example for me because that’s really all I have.
One other thing I keep coming across in interviews in magazines like Tape Op is that while it’s pretty important to dial in your space as much as possible on the build side, it’s also just as or more important to just get to know the space during and after construction. Like, you learn to “play” the space with the mic as it were.
Another approach might be to try and find actual use cases for that mic or one with similar specs and see what kind of rooms, angles, and spaces they’re applied to.
I used to just put up a mic in the hallway, and go for it. The results were good with a good singer and a good mic.
Actually, come to think of it, I recorded Everton Blender and Richie Spice right outside the door of my bedroom.
I recorded Lutan Fyah and Ras Shiloh in the back office of the record store I was working at.
These are all reggae singers, most of you probably don’t know who I’m talking about and we were just cutting specials, it wasn’t like this was going to be released. Just sound system cuts.
it might help to adjust your recording levels too. You might need to record a bit lower, and speak louder. Sounds like your mic is recording too hot right now and picking up too much ambient noise, then when you speak loud it clips the recording.