Basic Microphone Technique

Optimizing your equipment's sound starts at the beginning of the chain. 

Well actually, the beginning of the chain is you. The next part is your microphone. How you use the microphone will largely effect the quality of your recording. The quality of your microphone does make a difference - but you may be surprised at just how good a cheaper mic can sound when used correctly.

(The first few steps are included because if they aren't in place then good mic technique won't help you too much.)

1. PREPARE YOUR PRESENTATION (You are the first link in the chain!)

This means being sure of what you want to say (or trusting your improve chops), memorizing, or reading from a script.

There is nothing wrong with reading from a script. This will ensure you say exactly what you intend on. If using a paper script be aware of noises it may make when handling. The best solution is to set it up on some sort of stand (like a music stand) in front of you so that your head won't be turned away from the microphone. 

Remember that what you are saying will be posted on the internet, probably for the public to have access too! 

***Be careful of expecting perfection in your speaking. Podcasting, like public speaking, takes practice. Placing unrealistic expectations on yourself to perform beyond what you are able to do will likely result in many wasted takes, wasted time, and frustration. Podcasting should be fun!!

2. TIME AND SPACE - find the quiet!

Do your neighbour's dogs bark every day around 3pm?  Is there a lot of traffic noise outside your window during the day? Do the people living upstairs argue every morning? Is your room right next to the furnace room? Are there noisy appliances (vacuum cleaners are evil) that could turn on at any moment in your house? Did you inform others around you that you will be doing a recording session and cannot have any distractions? DID YOU SET YOUR RINGER (Land Line and Cell) TO SILENT (not vibrate, that still makes noise)?

I think you get the idea. 

Other things to consider:

Does your room have a really annoying "boingy" echoey sound to it (also known as "slap echo")? Is your room just very echoey? Find another room, or hang a blanket on the wall.

Unwanted noise, even stuff that isn't too loud will creep it's way into your recording. This will especially be an issue if you decide to add any dynamics processing (compression) or other audio effects to your recording. 

Now, lets be realistic, we're not going to get the same quality in our classrooms, or at home podcasting corners as we would in a recording studio. Let's not get too picky! Besides, it's probably the ringing in your ear's you're hearing anyway! Getting rid of the BIG noise sources is definitely key. Getting rid of the medium to small ones depends on the limits to your situation. You can still have fun podcasting in a room that has the odd little noise. (Stay still in your chair too by the way!!)

Need a good place to podcast?  Go to your local University library, find a floor that no one is on and go  in between a row of books (hopefully you have a laptop!). This area is sonically awesome because: 1. It's a library, so it can't be THAT noisy. 2. The uneven surfaces created by the books creates some wicked sound diffusion (that's sound guy nerd language for dead acoustics with no echoing). 

The next best thing would be a quiet room that is fully furnished, with couches, carpet, drapes, book cases, and some modern 3D art (every room should have this for sound diffusion purposes!!).

4. MICROPHONE PLACEMENT - A range of 4 to 8 inches away usually works. Details to follow.

Finding a stand or elevating your table will aid in getting the mic into the right position, and keep it there.  Move the mic! Never sacrifice your comfortable body position, as the body needs to be relaxed so it doesn't interfere with your sound.

PLOSIVES:

Speak the following phrase with intent while holding your hand directly in front of your mouth: "People buy big pets to feel protected".   

Those little breezes of air you felt on your hand will be picked up as noisy blasts of sound on the diaphragm of your microphone. The consonants that produce these unwanted weather patterns are called "plosives".  Any time we pronounce P, B, D, F, T, S, etc. the air is flowing out in one direction to make consonant sounds, as opposed to being converted into vowel sound (air in alternating directions) at our vocal cords during vowel pronouncing. 

To avoid the explosive sound of plosives on your microphone you can repeatedly pronounce the letters P, B, and F while moving your hand away and slightly below your mouth until it feels no wind. This is the place you can put the microphone. It can still aim up at your mouth, but it just has to be out of the way of the gale-force winds that your mouth is emitting while pronouncing plosives. 

PROXIMITY EFFECT:

Another advantage of moving the mic away from the plosive line of fire is that it cuts down on proximity effect. This happens when the microphone is really close to the source and the lower frequencies tend to sound amplified. Typically, people like the sound of "low end" or bass. To most people it makes a sound system sound more "high-quality". When it comes to the human voice, too much low end makes the voice sound muddy. This is especially true in male voices. We hear more efficiently in the higher mid range of our hearing. Amazingly, the voice (when we relax our body and don't try too hard physically to speak) is efficient at producing high to mid frequencies. These are the frequencies most present in a baby's cry - not a sound that any mother could miss! Long story short: more bass won't make your speech clearer, so lets not add extra right at the front of the chain by placing our mic too close and enhancing proximity effect.
*most laptop computer speakers that people will be listening on are also good at producing mid-high frequencies,  and not so much lower frequencies anyway.

SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO:
Once you get your mic safely away from plosives and proximity effect it's important to remember not to put it too much further. The further your mic is, the louder you have to turn it up. That will also turn up unwanted background noise as well as electronic noise from the microphone circuit. Speaking clearly at a distance that is close enough to the microphone will help you get a better signal to noise ratio (your voice to the furnace noise ratio).
*Once again, this becomes especially important if you choose to add compression and other effects to your audio track. 

5. STAY STILL!!

Reason Number 1:
When you move your head in relation to the microphone you are changing the direction and the distance of your voice (from the perspective of your mic).  It will sound like your voice is coming in and out and the tone will change as your move about. These sonic consequences could be just enough to ruin the awesome podcast performance you just pulled off.

Reason Number 2:
If you're moving, you're probably making noise! Beware of squeaky chairs, rattling jewelry, and nearby food wrappers.  If you can avoid these situations it'll be just one less thing that could go wrong.

6. THESE TECHNIQUES ALL TAKE PRACTICE:

You can do it..... you can do it if you practice....... you can do it if you practice correctly.  Attempting long podcasts while trying to keep all of these tips in mind at first would be overwhelming for anyone. Practice small parts and then listen back. Even better, try to have your mic playing through your computer headphones so that you can hear the results of your mic technique in real-time (the sound inside your head might make it sound slightly different from when you record it and play it back).
Once these techniques become automatic, you can make a great sounding podcast, even with less expensive gear.