About a year ago my wife and I decided it was time to downsize. Our boys were grown and had finally left the nest and both of us were tired of the hassles and responsibilities that go with home ownership. We finally decided that an apartment was our best solution. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to come home on Friday afternoon and see that my lawn has already been mowed. And when the plumbing leaks I don’t have to crawl under the sink to repair it or pay somebody $50 to give me an estimate on how much it would cost to fix it.

As we went through the process of apartment hunting it was always amusing to watch the responses of apartment managers when my wife told them that her husband needed a big closet so he could do his work. In fact even after we had made a deposit on an apartment I was still unsure as to how I would tackle building a studio in an apartment environment.

On the first night in our new home I was awakened to a very troubling reality. Either the neighbors above us were health nuts who worked out in heavy work boots or they were chopping wood for their fire place in their living room. Nothing in my thought processes had prepared me for dealing with sound issues from above.

The point of this story is that there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to assembling an in-home voiceover studio. Every situation is unique with numerous challenges.

Since most of us are not acoustical scientists we need a reasonably simple solution to our sound quality issues. What follows then is a simple approach to help you put together a voiceover/home recording studio that meets the technical and competitive requirements of the voice talent industry.

Adjust to Your Environment

If you have an endless supply of cash you can purchase a very nice pre-fab sound booth or purchase costly materials to build your own. I didn’t have that luxury and probably most of us in this business aren’t among the affluent. Consequently, we’re going to have to make some concessions to our sound environment.

Work-around the noise

Here in the apartment I learned that the disturbance from above came at night and on weekends. At our previous residence there were 4-wheelers, motorcycles, pickup trucks, leaf blowers, lawnmowers, a squeaky floor above and kids playing in the neighborhood. Then there’s the issue of air conditioner and heating/furnace noise. You may have to turn the units off while you are recording and then back on while editing. Also you’ll need to remain flexible and realize that something or somebody will inevitably find a way to create noise in times you don’t expect. Mother Nature has a way of sending rain, thunder, and lightning at inopportune moments. Relax, chill, be flexible, and learn not to procrastinate. Strive to work ahead recognizing that there will be times when you just cannot record.

Locate your sweet spot

Your sweet spot is that place where the right sound and the right comfort level come together. I’m certain you’ve seen how a dog lays down. He circles until he gets into that “just right” comfortable spot. You’ll need that “just-right” spot for your recording studio. I thought my sweet spot was going to be in a closet. As it turned out, I was wrong. Sure enough I was able to get the sound stability that I wanted but I hadn’t counted on 100+ temps during the summer and sub-freezing temps in winter. All it took was one audio book for me to realize that the closet wasn’t going to work. Sound is not the only issue in building a studio. Comfort is essential to good performance. Unfortunately, every location in your home will have unique sound and comfort issues that you will have to solve. If you’re recording/work environment isn’t right then the quality of your voice talent production will be diminished.

Control your environment

Don’t let the sound environment control you. You must take charge! Once you have worked out the location issue then you must solve the sound issues. There are three critical steps that will make it possible for you to control your sound environment.

(1) Assess electronic noise- It has been my experience that electronic noise is easier to eliminate than room noise. Through trial and error you can usually get to the source of the problem. It can be as simple as a cord touching a metal surface. Other causes can be bad connections, incompatible devices, substandard equipment, or improper wiring.

(2) Assess room noise and echo- Set you microphone at a normal record level and hit the record button. Record several minutes of room noise. On playback turn up the volume and listen for room noise. Listen for low-level buzz or hum. Whatever noise you discover must be eliminated. Once again turn on your microphone and read some copy at different voice levels and intensity. Playback the recording and listen for room echo. If there is echo then that also must be eliminated.

(3) Correct your sound issues- Assessment is easy. Correction is considerably more complex. The Electronic noise issues can be solved by good equipment, the right software, and proper wiring. However, room noise issues are more complex. I often come across articles on this subject touting the wonders of recording inside your car. Yeah, good acoustics, but I’m just not up to setting up shop on an isolated country road. And quite frankly, the sound of a sheriff’s siren is just a little too unnerving for my taste. The quickest and least expensive solution is to go with a simple device developed by Harlan Hogan called the Porta-Booth. Actually, you can build it yourself. My wife is pretty handy with arts and crafts, assembling it in less than an hour after a quick trip to a music store (pyramid acoustical foam) and Target (folding box). The Porta-Booth is not a complete fix. I’ve still had some echo issues which I ultimately controlled by attaching pyramid foam to a simple room divider screen which sits behind me while recording. The setup is not aesthetically pleasing but it is very functional. There are plenty of resources on the web that should give you workable solutions to fixing sound quality issues. Most importantly keep at it until you have a clean sound. You may have premium sound equipment but if you don’t get the room acoustics right then your voiceover production will always be substandard.

In this article I have not addressed sound equipment. That will be addressed in another writing. Rather the focus has been on the often neglected issue of sound environment. I have given you a simple approach to tackling the complex science of acoustics as it relates to the voice talent business and in particular to home voiceover studios. Your good voice deserves to be showcased in the best way possible. A clean sound environment is crucial in achieving that objective.