Okay I made a blanket fort...
Sep. 14th, 2013 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsittingstillIt looks like this:
Inside the blanket fort is my microphone. The theory is that the blanket fort reduces the amount of sound echoing back from the walls and lets me get a cleaner recording. This is a very low-tech way to do this but it is basically free (because I have a lot of blankets) so it is worth a try.
To deal with the noise from outside I got up at 3 am to do the actual recording. Almost nobody mows the lawn at 3 am, the birds aren't singing yet, very few people are driving up the hill by the house.
Early thoughts on the results: 1) I was considerably more comfortable recording in my familiar practice room than in the studio. I think I did a much better job playing as a result. I recorded 3 songs in an hour and a half. 2) I went back to bed about 5:45 am but didn't sleep very well and feel pretty dragged out today. My throat also feels scratchy. I hope I'll be able to make this fly. 3) Kip usually uses my laptop to play videogames on the weekends. He turns it over without complaining whenever I ask (and he doesn't play at 3 am, so there's no problem with recording) but I hate to cut into his fun time, so I'm going to wait until Monday to go through the tracks and see what I think of the sound quality. 4) I have verified the next 3 tracks will work to record to. (Sometimes they don't keep a constant enough beat and I can't play along to them very well. A lot of my strummed pieces are having this problem. I have taken to practicing with a metronome and will record new scratch tracks for them soon.)
Given the difference in comfort (and price!) of recording at home versus in the studio, if the blanket fort isn't good enough I'm giving serious thought to getting the rock wool and putting it up on the walls.
Inside the blanket fort is my microphone. The theory is that the blanket fort reduces the amount of sound echoing back from the walls and lets me get a cleaner recording. This is a very low-tech way to do this but it is basically free (because I have a lot of blankets) so it is worth a try.
To deal with the noise from outside I got up at 3 am to do the actual recording. Almost nobody mows the lawn at 3 am, the birds aren't singing yet, very few people are driving up the hill by the house.
Early thoughts on the results: 1) I was considerably more comfortable recording in my familiar practice room than in the studio. I think I did a much better job playing as a result. I recorded 3 songs in an hour and a half. 2) I went back to bed about 5:45 am but didn't sleep very well and feel pretty dragged out today. My throat also feels scratchy. I hope I'll be able to make this fly. 3) Kip usually uses my laptop to play videogames on the weekends. He turns it over without complaining whenever I ask (and he doesn't play at 3 am, so there's no problem with recording) but I hate to cut into his fun time, so I'm going to wait until Monday to go through the tracks and see what I think of the sound quality. 4) I have verified the next 3 tracks will work to record to. (Sometimes they don't keep a constant enough beat and I can't play along to them very well. A lot of my strummed pieces are having this problem. I have taken to practicing with a metronome and will record new scratch tracks for them soon.)
Given the difference in comfort (and price!) of recording at home versus in the studio, if the blanket fort isn't good enough I'm giving serious thought to getting the rock wool and putting it up on the walls.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-18 09:15 pm (UTC)I find the main problem with recording at 3am is the natural human inclination to be quieter at that time of day, whether speaking, singing or just moving about. It's OK for gentle and intimate songs with a small note-range, but for anything where I need to relax and *sing out* just doesn't work late at night, unless I've been building up to it for the previous few hours listening to loud and lively CDs.
(Plus, of course, in my current home any attempt to record at three am would get my neighbours clamouring for my eviction! =:o} )
no subject
Date: 2013-09-21 09:59 pm (UTC)And yes, I can only do this because I am lucky enough to have a house rather than an appartment.