Summer Series #2: Setting up a Studio

You know what I did back in May? Sat down during a quiet moment at a book fair and mapped out my entire summer’s worth of blog posts.

Guess what I have had to adjust, on a weekly basis?

Yep. That plan. xD

I will say that I’ve managed to confirm the one thing I knew for sure about making audiobooks, which is: it’s tough!

So, we’ll chalk that up as a success, right? ;)

In all seriousness, my audiobook journey this month has faced two (fairly common) setbacks: I spent one week waiting for some extra equipment (a pop screen!) and this week battling what my husband likes to call “AC fever.” Pretty much the moment I got my little studio all set up, the sore throat began!

Mysterious ailment aside (and don’t worry, I’m literally drinking Emergen-C as I write, and we have plans to address the overly-excitable AC unit!), I actually do feel really good about my progress. I don’t have audio to share with you this week, but that just means next week you’ll get half the story all at once—knock on wood. In the meantime, I figured I’d share what I’ve done so far:

Isn’t it cozy? xD

This is maybe the third or fourth iteration I’ve put together. I won’t say I’ve got it perfect, but it does work quite well—well enough that I got excited and thought to myself, maybe I better find a permanent home for all the things that were in this closet, and keep the studio throughout the year!

So, going piece by piece, from the bottom up, we have:

Towels. So many towels. Some of the books I’ve read (stay tuned—I’ll list and review them next week, unless I have to shift the plan again!) suggest anything from heavy blankets to batting to official sound-proofing foam, but towels are what I had on hand when the urge to re-do the “studio” came over me this week. ;) We have lovely wood floors, as you can see, but they make for an echoey recording, so I have an assortment of towels down to dampen the noise (and to make it comfier to stand in there).

A dictionary stand. For those of you without an antiques-loving husband to steal furniture from, this could be a music stand, a simple desk, or (the option I was previously using) a small table atop a chair. I was a certified band nerd in school and my experience with music stands was that they were always rickety, ready to make strange squeaking noises, and—much like the old razor scooters—prone to taking out shins, so I personally don’t recommend one, but they do say it in the official audiobook books. ;) I also don’t recommend the table-atop-chair configuration; mine fell down on me a few too many times, until I decided it was worth it to sneak into my husband’s office and make a furniture swap.

Humor aside, this piece seems like the most possibly-confounding one for an at-home studio. It’s very dependent on your space and whether you want to record standing or sitting (I know standing is less comfy, but it was the only practical option for my space, and I do find it easier to speak “professionally” when standing). The great difficulty here, and the big reason I set up inside a tiny closet instead of at my very lovely desk, is to avoid the fan noise from the laptop. That low-level background noise is a no-go (you can sometimes hear it at the beginning of my podcast episodes and it frustrates me, but not enough that I’ll be podcasting from in the closet—at least for now!).

Next up: the actual book. Or should I say, the script? ;) I’m using a hand-me-down e-reader, which has the added bonus of a very darkness-friendly muted-light screen. I originally wanted to read from the actual book, like I was at a one-person book reading event (which technically I am!), but then I realized that turning pages makes noise. xD So far, scrolling on this device hasn’t made enough sound for the microphone to pick up.

The microphone. I am very lucky, because I also have a hand-me-down microphone—and had already fiddled around with it for the podcast. This, I think, is the most expensive part of the set up (aside from, you know, buying property that includes a closet!). Mine has a “sock” (the black foamy bit) that helps reduce unwanted sound and the brand new pop screen, or pop filter, which is a few layers of mesh that help block unnecessary “p” noises. That accessory was quite easy to find online and to “install” (literally just clamping it on, haha) and could in the future be upgraded.

Oh, and then there’s the cable going to my laptop, which was just long enough to string over the door and the bookshelf to my desk nearby. I was very pleased! ;)

And above that: more towels. They’re covering the shelf that was inside the closet, and pinned over the door frame. My husband chuckled when he saw them but they really do work to block the echo—I promise! And we didn’t need that many towels anyway.

One of my audiobook-books suggested setting up a patio umbrella in the middle of your office and hanging blankets over it to create an enclosed space . . . an idea I found so charming, I was tempted to go out scouring the streets for unwanted patio umbrellas. (I think it appeals to the fort-making kid in me.) But I couldn’t think where I would store the umbrella when I wasn’t actively recording, and let’s be honest, I had a perfectly good closet, so now I’m just leaving that idea here in case one of you wants it. :)

Testing!

It’s constant. I suppose once I’ve gotten all the little details sort out, I’ll get into a groove with recording, but . . . the learning curve is . . . Well, it’s not steep, exactly; but it is painstakingly grueling. And a little bit mischievous. I remember being so annoyed with hiking around Salt Lake City when I first moved there, because I’d look up and see a hilltop and think, that’s where I’m going! but then I’d get to that hilltop and realize, there’s another one behind it. And then another. And another. That’s very much what this experience is like.

So I have a bunch of test recordings on my laptop now, all iterations of Worthy in Love’s prologue with the unfortunate addition of a neighbor’s weedwhacker, a thump from William, an echo (need more towels!), a very faint voice because the laptop switched to input from the wrong microphone, etc. You get the picture. ;)

And for as much as I’m happy to relate my experience and share any tips, I think that part of the process is unavoidable. Unless you go to a professional studio, you’re just going to need to figure out all the funny little noises in your space by trial and error!

The good thing is, each chapter is supposed to be recorded as its own file, which means there will be lots of opportunities to stop and do quality checks.

I will say, having just detailed all the nitty-gritty setbacks, once I get going reading a chapter I have a lot of fun with it. So, I’m still hopeful that things will kick into high gear—once I get back to 100%. :) Next week we should have a chunk of the book to evaluate, plus I’ll go over the resources I’ve been using. And in the meantime, let me know if there are any questions you’d like addressed in future posts!