Try facing the blanket with the back of the mic at aimed at the blankets and about 1 foot away. You can also hang them close to a wall and try the same method.
When you stepped forward to put the camera down, you showed how well the baffle worked because almost no sound came back to the mic when you were talking. Great Job!
That's probably the best solution for HOME studios with limited budgets. I've used a blanket behind the singer and another one behind the mic. Sides were left open. The difference is colossal, as the room isn't as 'alive' but not completely dead either. Now I can use SIR with an impulse reverb to get the sound I want.
Just went out and got some of those hooks. BTW, they are called Command by 3M. Make sure you get the swivel hooks or else this won't work. Also, instead of buying some shipping blankets, I'm using some quilts/comforters I have around the house that aren't being used. They work just as good as shipping/moving blankets. Saved me some money there! Lastly, instead of using shower curtain hooks, I'm using LARGE file clips from Staples. They hold onto the quilts great without making holes!
@ChickMagnetMusic2011 Yes all condenser mics require the addition 48+ volts. The CO1U draw the power off of the USB port on your computer so no additional hardware is needed to power it.
Great tip especially if your project studio is in your apartment. When I first saw this it only confirmed what I was already doing with professional mover blankets in layering to cut down the mid to high frequencies. But the hooks was a good add on. Thank you for that idea. And I use bass traps to knock the the build in the corners.
@Celticsaint777 Unfortunately there is no "secret formula" on levels. As long as nothing is peaking then you're fine. Mic proximity will play a big role. If you're getting too much bass it's from where you have the mics pointed, probably NOT so much the room. Also using a "Low cut" on your mic would be a good idea. You might also be able to solve the problem with the "Bass Reducer" on Garageband.... if that's what you're using.
@bluedog916 No, I don't use those cables. In this video I'm using a USB mic, but to use an XLR cable I'd use my Presouns AudioBox USB. Much better solution than the cable with an adaptor.
Phenomenal video! I have been doing a ton of research to build myself a sound booth in my house. Came to the conclusion my acoustic nightmare of a bedroom is the best place to have it (seeing as how I share my house with seven other people, one of whom is two years old) and I was thinking of doing almost this exact thing. It is SUCH a relief to see it working so well, and so recommended by you. Was also hemming and hawing over packing blankets-- no longer! Thank you SO much for this video. :)
@rocksteaddyteddy No the foam is helpful as well, especially in a room like mine. However this all greatly depends on your style of recording and taste in music.
@ GarageBandandBeyond I use the same material for my small portable vocal booth. I bought 3 blankets from Harbor Freight Tools (on in my area, but you can go to their website), and bought 2 height adjustable rolling clothes racks from wally-world. I just drape em over the racks and boom. . .actually works well with acoustic instruments as well as the sound isn't bouncing off the walls, and it make me mobile
@ThalGengHan The reason for the baffles isn't to give your recording a sound you might not want, it is to give you the cleanest unaltered starting point for your sound that you can change later however you want. Imagine recording a video or taking a picture as is with now special effects, then later making it black & white or sepia. If you start off with black & white, you really can't put put color accurately later. So after you record, you can then add reverb or effects that match the...
You are really clever with those things, I also watched some videos from your band and i liked very much just shame that I can't come to watch it live because I'm from europe but who knows one day, thanks for posting such a good material about home studio recording.
Lewis, Thanks for your replies. I actually even get WAY too much bass when I use a very expensive Dummy Head mic setup that is supposed to sound very natural. I think my room just has bad acoustics and my guitars have strong bass response. I'm going to try the blankets hung over some moveable racks and position them behind the mics to hopefully keep the room out of the mics so I get just the sound of my guitar. I have tried all your suggestions for placement. Thanks for all you do!!
nice! I have 5 moving blankets (just a different name for the same thing) I picked up for free just for this purpose but couldn't think of a great way to be able to easily set them up and take then down. This is perfect. Thanks for another very helpful video!
@Celticsaint777 Additionally, you may want to use something that can "soak-up" the low end. extra blankets could work, but definitely use the wool blankets, as wool can dampen the bass just enough to get some clean sounds.
Hey k2d. The reason of having the mic facing away from the absorbant is because the mic usually rejects sound from the back. If you catch anything from the front of the mic it can't get into the recording as much.
The dry vocals will give you options to put in effects in Garageband. As in what he stated, you can do more with dry vocals and have more control of what you want (paraphrasing).
That was really cool. I can tell you really know what you're doing. I'm new to this, but so far, you are my "go-to guy." I feel like I can trust what you say, and you've saved me a whole lotta bread and time. Thanks for doing what you do. Keep up the good work!
Great teaching! I started out doing exactly what you are doing 15 years ago. I wanted to share the upgrade path. If you are dedicated to your recording it's very inexpensive to do the DIY booth. Ultimately the savings on building your own booth still save you thousands which you can use to buy more gear. :)
@Celticsaint777 To me it sounds like you are not placing the mic in the proper place. Aim the mic at the 12th fret of you guitar to get more high end. I do have a video about this topic, do a search for "How To Record Guitar, Beatles Mic Placement: 3 Micing techniques w/ CO1U"
@GaragebandandBeyond Thanks for your reply. I have tried all the methods you recommend. I think I still have bass nodes even though I have a lot of bass traps because my room is only 10' x 12' with 7' ceilings. If I place the mic about 1" to 2" from the 12 fret I get less bass than if I put the mic 6" or 1' away from the 12th fret. I really like using XY at the 12 fret for stereo guitar tracks. I am using 2 Beyerdynamic MC930's in an xy really close to the 12th fret. Contined in next post
hey lewin, could you please do a vid about recording electric guitar( usb plugs that go straight into the computer or recording via amp) if you could that would be amazing. great vids cant wait to see more of them in the future. thanks
So i did it and I am blown away of how dope this sounds. It blocks out 90% of the reflections. I can make small eq adjustments and hear a huge difference. This is so amazing it's not even funnyI used safety pins to hold mine up lol. Truly amazing advice!!! You never let me down thanks my man!I'm singing this out loud hence the writing format smh. Damn this is so goooooood.
'Moving blankets' (used for furniture protection) from any local supplier should work, Dwayne. Old bed spreads, quilts, duvets - they're all close enough to add up. The secondary 'lint' blanket he refers to is a pressed fibre material, not woven. Cheaper. But a second quilted blanket would be okay, too.
niiice! I'm a beginner at this and I know that I need acoustic absorbers and I already got some but now I know some more details about it and how to make it even better :D great vid
@Celticsaint777 It really just depends on what sound your going for. On occasion, I like to whole room reverberation for rhythm, so I usually keep the blankets behind me. For solos, I put the blankets behind the mic. But it's also depends on mic placement. Lewin has some vids on different placements for micing guitars. Also depends on the mic your using. I use pencil mics for some guitars, and/or add additional LDC mics for more wider sounds.
@DynamoWorks unless there is a remote control way to do it you got to go to your computer and press record walk back back to the mic and record what you got to record and then edit out the part where you were walking to and from the mic..
The mic was not connected to the camera. It was recording into Garabeband then I used it as the audio track for the video. I use Final Cut to make my videos.
He sort of addressed that in the video. If you're using a condenser with a typical cardioid pickup pattern, it's best to have it behind you, as the mic will do a fair job of rejecting sound from the back. It's the sound that's bouncing off of the wall behind you and back into the front of your mic that you are trying to eliminate.
Hi! Would you please tell me how to isolate a room in an apartment? I want to sing or play violin without disturbing my neighbors.... 😀 How thick do you think the foam should be? . Many thanks!
Hi just to let people know, futons put up work really great aswell, I have a bunk bed so I put the bunk bed close to the wall so when I put the futons up I duck tape one to the bed and the other to the wall, it works really great and it's like a little cave in my room
@ThalGengHan ...you would use with anything else you record. If you record it with a specific delay or reverb, you can't go back and take the reverb out when you want to remix or just plain change your mind. This took awhile to sink in for me, I would wonder why all of my tracks sounded so messy when played together. Because they had 6-10 times the "room" noise and different effects that didn't work well together and I couldn't edit it out.
Great advice, been looking for something like this. ive been using a folding matress with a blanket over it for a while. its really low to the ground so i'm pretty much doing my recording while kneeling haha. You should do a before and after recording of it so we can see how effective it is =]
Could you put links to part 2, 3, etc in the description, or make the next step as a video response? The suggest list on the side is rarely very nice me =/
Great vid and helpful advice. I did have one question however, in most of the vocal booth setups I've seen, the voice was always projected towards the soundpads/foam/blankets ect. I felt like ur setup was backwards. But, from listening to your video the quality was still pretty good. Guess what I'm trying to ask is: Is there a difference in audio quality when speaking into the booth rather than away?
This video is really useful, I can't seem to find those blessed plastic tabs on home depot website though. Do you know the exact name for those? Thx n keep it up.
Apostle Raw Thank you so much! And it’s an old one, please please please check out all the new videos I have made over the years since this one came out! In fact, I am sitting here editing today’s brand new video.
This may sound like a stupid question, but I'm new to home recording and need to know would the singer be facing the booth? Did you face outward towards the wall only for the purpose of the video? Thanks a lot great video man
Not only that, I've been wondering how to build one as well. If that's a beta 27 and hypercardioid doesn't it matter letting the back of the mic uncovered?
Would a 3 panel room divider work as well with the blankets over them? I was wondering because it may be another solution for someone who lives in an apartment.
Try facing the blanket with the back of the mic at aimed at the blankets and about 1 foot away. You can also hang them close to a wall and try the same method.
It depends a lot on your room and what you want your recording to sound like. My advice to experiment and see what sounds best!
this is a wierd question maybe but cant help asking... should the booth be behind or in front of the singer?
When you stepped forward to put the camera down, you showed how well the baffle worked because almost no sound came back to the mic when you were talking. Great Job!
I don't know how I would start this thing without you dude, you're the man
I made one before I moved and it was really great... I recommend it.
That's probably the best solution for HOME studios with limited budgets. I've used a blanket behind the singer and another one behind the mic. Sides were left open. The difference is colossal, as the room isn't as 'alive' but not completely dead either. Now I can use SIR with an impulse reverb to get the sound I want.
Just went out and got some of those hooks. BTW, they are called Command by 3M. Make sure you get the swivel hooks or else this won't work.
Also, instead of buying some shipping blankets, I'm using some quilts/comforters I have around the house that aren't being used. They work just as good as shipping/moving blankets. Saved me some money there!
Lastly, instead of using shower curtain hooks, I'm using LARGE file clips from Staples. They hold onto the quilts great without making holes!
@ChickMagnetMusic2011 Yes all condenser mics require the addition 48+ volts. The CO1U draw the power off of the USB port on your computer so no additional hardware is needed to power it.
Great tip especially if your project studio is in your apartment. When I first saw this it only confirmed what I was already doing with professional mover blankets in layering to cut down the mid to high frequencies. But the hooks was a good add on. Thank you for that idea. And I use bass traps to knock the the build in the corners.
@Celticsaint777 Unfortunately there is no "secret formula" on levels. As long as nothing is peaking then you're fine. Mic proximity will play a big role. If you're getting too much bass it's from where you have the mics pointed, probably NOT so much the room. Also using a "Low cut" on your mic would be a good idea. You might also be able to solve the problem with the "Bass Reducer" on Garageband.... if that's what you're using.
I use a Presonus AudioBox USB to connect my mics to my Mac. Although in this video I'm using a Samson CO1U which is a USB mic.
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been looking for this type of video for rap and singing vocal booths and the best things to buy! I LOVE YOU MAN!
One of the best ideas to reduce echo in a small room that I've seen on YT, and one of the cheapest too. Thanks!
@bluedog916 No, I don't use those cables. In this video I'm using a USB mic, but to use an XLR cable I'd use my Presouns AudioBox USB. Much better solution than the cable with an adaptor.
Phenomenal video!
I have been doing a ton of research to build myself a sound booth in my house. Came to the conclusion my acoustic nightmare of a bedroom is the best place to have it (seeing as how I share my house with seven other people, one of whom is two years old) and I was thinking of doing almost this exact thing. It is SUCH a relief to see it working so well, and so recommended by you. Was also hemming and hawing over packing blankets-- no longer!
Thank you SO much for this video. :)
I'm glad you like it! Check out "The Producers Choice Acoustic Blanket" for a heavier duty blanket to use for this.
@ConterasJ musiciansfriend, amazon are 2 places you can get them. But they are very easy to find online.
@rocksteaddyteddy No the foam is helpful as well, especially in a room like mine. However this all greatly depends on your style of recording and taste in music.
Excellent tip on baffling the mike.
The sound is completely dry with no reverberation. That's 30 bux well spent.
Thank you.
woow thanks again man this is really helpful.. very easy to make vocal booth.. really a great tips :)
Great tip. I like your ingenuity. It would make a great neutral background for video as well.
@iluviex44 No, and when this video was made that was the mic I used to record audio with.
@ GarageBandandBeyond
I use the same material for my small portable vocal booth. I bought 3 blankets from Harbor Freight Tools (on in my area, but you can go to their website), and bought 2 height adjustable rolling clothes racks from wally-world. I just drape em over the racks and boom. . .actually works well with acoustic instruments as well as the sound isn't bouncing off the walls, and it make me mobile
@ThalGengHan The reason for the baffles isn't to give your recording a sound you might not want, it is to give you the cleanest unaltered starting point for your sound that you can change later however you want. Imagine recording a video or taking a picture as is with now special effects, then later making it black & white or sepia. If you start off with black & white, you really can't put put color accurately later. So after you record, you can then add reverb or effects that match the...
I record all the audio into Garageband and then combine the recorded audio with the video from my camera together in Final Cut Express.
@deuce2424 It's a typical Tripod/boom stand. Very normal mic stand that every good music store would have.
Great video!! Thank you so much! My recordings are always muddy and it's time i do something about it. Thanks again. Very helpful and inexpensive!
Is there an alternative for that?
@ConterasJ It's a tripod/boom stand.
You are really clever with those things, I also watched some videos from your band and i liked very much just shame that I can't come to watch it live because I'm from europe but who knows one day, thanks for posting such a good material about home studio recording.
Lewis, Thanks for your replies. I actually even get WAY too much bass when I use a very expensive Dummy Head mic setup that is supposed to sound very natural. I think my room just has bad acoustics and my guitars have strong bass response. I'm going to try the blankets hung over some moveable racks and position them behind the mics to hopefully keep the room out of the mics so I get just the sound of my guitar. I have tried all your suggestions for placement. Thanks for all you do!!
What does the other side of the room look like? Have anymore diffusion behind the camera?
Adib Khondker Thanks man!
nice! I have 5 moving blankets (just a different name for the same thing) I picked up for free just for this purpose but couldn't think of a great way to be able to easily set them up and take then down. This is perfect. Thanks for another very helpful video!
AWESOME idea! Thanks for the video! MUCH easier (and cheaper) than the bi-fold door idea I was going to go with!
@Celticsaint777
Additionally, you may want to use something that can "soak-up" the low end. extra blankets could work, but definitely use the wool blankets, as wool can dampen the bass just enough to get some clean sounds.
Great videos. Sharing them to friends. It'd be great to see the difference the damping makes by taking the baffle down for a part of the video.
I'm not sure I understand the question. Can you "have them" yes, you can. Can you connect them and record at the same time... not with Garageband.
Hey k2d. The reason of having the mic facing away from the absorbant is because the mic usually rejects sound from the back. If you catch anything from the front of the mic it can't get into the recording as much.
The dry vocals will give you options to put in effects in Garageband. As in what he stated, you can do more with dry vocals and have more control of what you want (paraphrasing).
I just looked. They are made by a company called Command. So do a google search for Command stick on hooks.
@tozza2525 It sounds to me like you have to lower the input level.
@JacobAcousticz ha! Thanks! Yes I have a degree in both music and film.
That was really cool. I can tell you really know what you're doing. I'm new to this, but so far, you are my "go-to guy." I feel like I can trust what you say, and you've saved me a whole lotta bread and time. Thanks for doing what you do. Keep up the good work!
NICE!! Take a picture and post it on the Garageband and beyond Facebook page!
You could also buy those cheap acoustic foams that you attach to the mic stand from Amazon, to further stop the sound waves bouncing off of the mic
Great teaching! I started out doing exactly what you are doing 15 years ago. I wanted to share the upgrade path. If you are dedicated to your recording it's very inexpensive to do the DIY booth. Ultimately the savings on building your own booth still save you thousands which you can use to buy more gear. :)
i made a sound booth with pvc pipes came out pretty good
harbor frieght tools sells uhaul type thick blankets 5 bucks
Fantastic studio hack idea, thank a million! Super cheap, and easy. AND it works incredibly well!
@Celticsaint777 To me it sounds like you are not placing the mic in the proper place. Aim the mic at the 12th fret of you guitar to get more high end. I do have a video about this topic,
do a search for "How To Record Guitar, Beatles Mic Placement: 3 Micing techniques w/ CO1U"
@GaragebandandBeyond Thanks for your reply. I have tried all the methods you recommend. I think I still have bass nodes even though I have a lot of bass traps because my room is only 10' x 12' with 7' ceilings. If I place the mic about 1" to 2" from the 12 fret I get less bass than if I put the mic 6" or 1' away from the 12th fret. I really like using XY at the 12 fret for stereo guitar tracks.
I am using 2 Beyerdynamic MC930's in an xy really close to the 12th fret. Contined in next post
hey lewin, could you please do a vid about recording electric guitar( usb plugs that go straight into the computer or recording via amp) if you could that would be amazing. great vids cant wait to see more of them in the future.
thanks
Of course you can do it! A lot of people don't use anything.
So i did it and I am blown away of how dope this sounds. It blocks out 90% of the reflections. I can make small eq adjustments and hear a huge difference. This is so amazing it's not even funnyI used safety pins to hold mine up lol. Truly amazing advice!!! You never let me down thanks my man!I'm singing this out loud hence the writing format smh. Damn this is so goooooood.
+SupernovaSun77 that's awesome!! So glad it worked well for you!!
Great tip man!! Lowes it is ... I'll be setting this up this coming weekend. Thanks!!
Yeah for Big Blue Blanket!!
Your pretty ingenious and clever I must say! Good job!!
'Moving blankets' (used for furniture protection) from any local supplier should work, Dwayne. Old bed spreads, quilts, duvets - they're all close enough to add up. The secondary 'lint' blanket he refers to is a pressed fibre material, not woven. Cheaper. But a second quilted blanket would be okay, too.
Almost all of these vids still have tonnes of echo- Yours was a pleasant surprise, Thanks for this :)
niiice! I'm a beginner at this and I know that I need acoustic absorbers and I already got some but now I know some more details about it and how to make it even better :D great vid
@Celticsaint777
It really just depends on what sound your going for. On occasion, I like to whole room reverberation for rhythm, so I usually keep the blankets behind me. For solos, I put the blankets behind the mic. But it's also depends on mic placement. Lewin has some vids on different placements for micing guitars. Also depends on the mic your using. I use pencil mics for some guitars, and/or add additional LDC mics for more wider sounds.
Check your input in Garageband. If it says "Input1/2" that's your problem. Switch it to "Input 1"
@DynamoWorks unless there is a remote control way to do it you got to go to your computer and press record walk back back to the mic and record what you got to record and then edit out the part where you were walking to and from the mic..
@dkim757 What do you mean by "white noise"?
Thanks I will try that. Just a little frustrated from this being an ongoing project that never seems to end or get right.
what mic are you using? i have the blue yeti is that mic better?
@IsaacJ0901 If it was in front of the microphone where would you be? Trust me, this is the way it should be.
The mic was not connected to the camera. It was recording into Garabeband then I used it as the audio track for the video. I use Final Cut to make my videos.
What do you think about combining that baffle with an SE Reflector?
great video man I'm definitely going to reference this when I start recording
I just have to say once again this is a great might be the best idea I have seen. Thank you so much.
@GaragebandandBeyond
same question.
the "hissing" sound
very creative and cheap way...LOVE IT...
1 question...how do u record the audio? direct plug to your PC?
He sort of addressed that in the video. If you're using a condenser with a typical cardioid pickup pattern, it's best to have it behind you, as the mic will do a fair job of rejecting sound from the back. It's the sound that's bouncing off of the wall behind you and back into the front of your mic that you are trying to eliminate.
Hi! Would you please tell me how to isolate a room in an apartment? I want to sing or play violin without disturbing my neighbors.... 😀
How thick do you think the foam should be? . Many thanks!
Great so simple and yet so functional. Thank you very much for all this free and valuable tips for recording!
Hey dude! Yup this is my channel, thanks for the kind words!
Hi just to let people know, futons put up work really great aswell, I have a bunk bed so I put the bunk bed close to the wall so when I put the futons up I duck tape one to the bed and the other to the wall, it works really great and it's like a little cave in my room
@milesgaines In this video it's a Samson CO1U
@ThalGengHan ...you would use with anything else you record. If you record it with a specific delay or reverb, you can't go back and take the reverb out when you want to remix or just plain change your mind. This took awhile to sink in for me, I would wonder why all of my tracks sounded so messy when played together. Because they had 6-10 times the "room" noise and different effects that didn't work well together and I couldn't edit it out.
Great advice, been looking for something like this.
ive been using a folding matress with a blanket over it for a while. its really low to the ground so i'm pretty much doing my recording while kneeling haha.
You should do a before and after recording of it so we can see how effective it is =]
Great video! Thanks for the information. Will definitely help a lot for my recordings.
Could you put links to part 2, 3, etc in the description, or make the next step as a video response? The suggest list on the side is rarely very nice me =/
Thank u very much for your answer. So, I will try it, but I think I will use a polyurethane sheet instead of a blanket.... what do you think?
GENIUS! Thank you so much for this tip. I was having a problem working this solution out on a small budget and YOU solved it for me. SUPREME!
Presumably its beneficial having both front and back.
Great vid and helpful advice. I did have one question however, in most of the vocal booth setups I've seen, the voice was always projected towards the soundpads/foam/blankets ect. I felt like ur setup was backwards. But, from listening to your video the quality was still pretty good. Guess what I'm trying to ask is: Is there a difference in audio quality when speaking into the booth rather than away?
@detdet313313 Try it both ways and see what sound better. Face the blanket or have it at your back.
This is an amazing idea lol I have the blankets just need the hooks wow sounds great too
great ideas keep sharing love to hear more thanks
You're very innovative man. Good friggin job!
I was thinking of buying a microphone portable soundproof booth. Yes? No?
Good stuff. I have a reflection filter but I think that used in tandem with this things would ge a lot better. If only I could sing 😟
This video is really useful, I can't seem to find those blessed plastic tabs on home depot website though. Do you know the exact name for those?
Thx n keep it up.
One of the best videos i've ever watched
Apostle Raw Thank you so much! And it’s an old one, please please please check out all the new videos I have made over the years since this one came out! In fact, I am sitting here editing today’s brand new video.
This may sound like a stupid question, but I'm new to home recording and need to know would the singer be facing the booth? Did you face outward towards the wall only for the purpose of the video? Thanks a lot great video man
Not only that, I've been wondering how to build one as well. If that's a beta 27 and hypercardioid doesn't it matter letting the back of the mic uncovered?
@Coldsinz1 no, not necessarily
Great idea. Good video, Well done. I will trying this method. Cheers.
you think getting another blanket and closing it in will help with guitar recordings? or do you think it would sound too muffled?
Would a 3 panel room divider work as well with the blankets over them? I was wondering because it may be another solution for someone who lives in an apartment.