The Basics
Establishing good recording habits is the first step to creating a quality show.
Environment
The first thing you want to review is your recording environment. Your recording environment is the space you chose to record in. This space plays a huge part in how the recording sounds. Different rooms shapes and the items therein can give the audio a different sound. Smaller rooms with carpet and other soft finishes (like blankets or draperies) can help absorb rogue noise and offers a clean strong sound. Here are a few examples of things you’ll want to avoid: large rooms, empty rooms, lots of windows, lots of glass, large conference tables or dining room tables, tall ceilings, hardwood floors. Each of these items allow for the sound to bounce around the room and the sound reverberates more.
Whenever possible you should record in a private and quiet space. Next you’ll want to ensure your back is against a wall so that you’re not talking into a giant echo amplified. While not the most glamours, many professionals including NPR suggest creating a perfect home-recording studio out of your closet. The hanging clothes act as the perfect sound dampener and the end result is a rich and clean audio file. Will you feel ridiculous? Yes. But know that all the cool serious kids are doing it.
Even if you don’t have a closet to hunker down in, try creating the next best option. Try using a small bathroom, put a large blanket over your head (obviously not ideal if you do a video recording), or use the room that has a rug or carpet. Even small adjustments add up to make a big impact in the quality.
Listen to yourself
Like any professional musician or singer, it is critical that you have a way to hear yourself during the recording. This means one thing. You need to be wearing headphones. And ones that are wired into your computer or recorder are best since there’s no chance for bluetooth delays or interface.
Wearing headphones is the number one way to ensure you are recording quality sound. It’s easy for mouths to make a weird gurgle or smack sound. Your jewelry may hit the table or jingle. Sounds that blend into your environment go unnoticed day to day. But play back the tape and you may notice the hum of traffic or your dog snoring in the background (ruining your audio). These may not sound like a big deal but to your audience and advertisers these little distractions are amplified and can contribute to listener fatigue and judgement. This small adjustment distinguishes the podcast hobbyists from the professionals.
By wearing headphones you hear everything the recording is picking up. Wearing them helps you perfect your microphone technique and in turn you learn how to use your voice best. You can catch rouge snorts, stomach rumbling or the annoying sound of bumping the microphone in the moment. This allows any editors (if requested) to remove the interruption leaving you with a perfectly clean audio file. When hosts take the time to headphone up, they are allowing their voices to be the star and show and it tells the audience that quality matters.
Vocal Warmup
Like an athlete warming up for competition you need to warm up your voice before recording. It stretches your vocal chords, clears your throat and helps relax your voice. A quick search for “Vocal Warmups” on YouTube will produce myriad options to get you ready in under 3 minutes.
If you’re feeling raspy a cup of warm tea can also help directly before you record. Be sure to avoid smoking or screaming as they can both strain your voice and lead to sounding hoarse. Another factor that can impact your voice is consuming excessive amounts of dairy. It can cause increased mucus production which in turn can cause a cough or runny nose.
Back it up
Before you hit record make sure you have a recording back up. If not, be prepared to re-record your episode if anything goes awry. While uncommon, recording failures do happen. While this is most inconvenient when you have been interviewing a guest, it’s a hassle to recreate content due to technical issues. If using Squadcast/Zoom etc. make sure you’re also recording on QuickTime/Voice Memos or something similar. Having a plan B saves huge potential headaches.