Where do you record?

Red Haired Girl · Post by **Red Haired Girl** » May 22nd, 2010, 8:12 pm

Hi everyone! I'm new so I have a question. Where and what time of the day do you record? The reason I am asking is because the only place that I think will be quiet enough to record is going to be around 10:00 pm, in my car, in my driveway.

How do you work around spouses, children, dogs and neighbors and all other manner of noise?

Do you all have dedicated space set up?

Esky · Post by **Esky** » May 22nd, 2010, 9:03 pm

I sit on the floor in my closet after the kids have gone to bed. The clothes dampen the sound very well.

Does get a little stuffy though.

JoeD · Post by **JoeD** » May 22nd, 2010, 9:13 pm

Red Haired Girl wrote:Hi everyone! I'm new so I have a question. Where and what time of the day do you record? The reason I am asking is because the only place that I think will be quiet enough to record is going to be around 10:00 pm, in my car, in my driveway.

How do you work around spouses, children, dogs and neighbors and all other manner of noise?

Do you all have dedicated space set up?

I am a frequent business traveller, and I mostly record only while staying in lonely motel rooms. It passes the time while I am away from my family, and I have no distractions. I usually edit and submit my recordings when I am back home.

ppcunningham · Post by **ppcunningham** » May 22nd, 2010, 9:15 pm

I record sitting on the couch when my roommate is asleep or GONE. My animals know to be quiet when I put on my headphones, or they get locked in the back room. My roommate is not so easily trained.....

Patti

Post by **Availle** » May 22nd, 2010, 10:05 pm

I record sitting at my desk at home, usually after 10 pm. Sometimes I get up early (3-5 am) to have it extra quiet if I feel I'm behind with my solos.

My neighborhood is relatively quiet, but I can hear every step of my upstairs neighbor (or is it her pet elephant?), so I have to wait until she's gone. I close all windows and doors to my room and turn off the fridge. (And by now I have learnt to remember turning it on again...)

JoeD · Post by **JoeD** » May 22nd, 2010, 10:18 pm

Availle wrote:... and turn off the fridge. (And by now I have learnt to remember turning it on again...)

I have considered turning off the fridge, but only manage so far to turn off the ice machine (what a racket those stupid things make!!). I always turn off the air, which sometimes makes the room quite stuffy. Since I only record while staying in motels, I am constantly being inturupted by the noises of my many neighbors

MARTIN GEESON · Post by **MARTIN GEESON** » May 22nd, 2010, 10:40 pm

I record in the bathroom. My microphone is mounted on a large stand with an acoustic hood around it. Despite this bulky contrivance, birdsong and the neighbours' children's screaming contests decorate my recordings.

Low-flying aircraft put me off dreadfully. I have no proof, but believe that they cause strange silences and big curly waves on my Audacity signal.

Fortunately my partner is very understanding about timing his ablutions so that they don't interrupt my bursts of creativity.

Martin

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » May 23rd, 2010, 2:13 am

I don't get around my husband, kids or cats.
I record in our eating-room kitchen, once the kids are asleep, lock the cats out if I can (although they can be really noisy if they want to get in so it's not always smart), tell my husband that he can watch tv in the other room, and whatever extra noise I get, I just repeat the sentence and edit them out...
My closets are too small, although that is an interesting idea!

dii · Post by **dii** » May 23rd, 2010, 2:38 am

I record in my room, but there's no special time... Living in the suburbs, somebody is ALWAYS mowing the lawn or tinkering or talking loudly [including my family...]. And then there are the dogs, who bark all the time, the birds, who chirp all the time, and as we live near to the airport, there's at least one plane in every 5 minutes. I close the window when recording, but I must open it from time to time, because my laptop gets too hot and starts buzzing... But then, I have to stop recording... Difficult

gypsygirl · Post by **gypsygirl** » May 23rd, 2010, 5:25 am

I sit at my desk. One of my former housemates had three small dogs, and I often had to pause when they'd start yapping; in summer I have to find a time when the cicadas aren't buzzing; and whenever the bus goes by outside the house, I have to repeat that sentence.

My own dog isn't a problem. She's gotten it into her head (I don't know how, because I didn't train her to do it) that whenever I start recording, she's supposed to go lie down in the bathroom (which is where she stays when I'm not home). All I have to do is say "This is a LibriVox recording" and she starts slinking off in that direction (I might even say tiptoeing).

icyjumbo · Post by **icyjumbo** » May 23rd, 2010, 6:28 am

I record standing in our larder. It's the only room in the house that is at all shielded from the traffic noise of the main road that we live on. Traffic noise is the absolute worst to eliminate, as it is low-frequency and really hard to block out.

It can be somewhat echo-y, as the larder door is glass. I've hung a blanket up just inside the door, and I tie it out of the way when I'm not recording. I've also made a porta-booth to enclose my microphone, to try to cut out any other reverberation there may be.

I turn off the fridge, freezer and heating when I record, as I get paranoid about excessive noise.

I do most of my recordings in the afternoons now, when my wife is at work. We have neither kids nor pets, so the only hazard is the neighbour's lawnmower, which can be surprisingly loud.

Samanem · Post by **Samanem** » May 24th, 2010, 5:52 am

icyjumbo wrote:I record standing in our larder. It's the only room in the house that is at all shielded from the traffic noise of the main road that we live on. Traffic noise is the absolute worst to eliminate, as it is low-frequency and really hard to block out.

It can be somewhat echo-y, as the larder door is glass. I've hung a blanket up just inside the door, and I tie it out of the way when I'm not recording. I've also made a porta-booth to enclose my microphone, to try to cut out any other reverberation there may be.

I turn off the fridge, freezer and heating when I record, as I get paranoid about excessive noise.

These posts are priceless! Perhaps this one should go in the "You know when you're addicted to LV when..." thread! Kudos to you for working so hard to get the thing done!

I have only done a couple so far, but I'm in a room in the basement, with towels stuffed under the door, and everything off, and a blanket on the big wall in front of me, and a blanket over the computer chassis. I can only record for an hour or so late at night, so the 'puter doesn't overheat.

I have to go back and repeat things frequently when there's noise from dogs or kids or someone flushes a toilet (the pipes run down right beside this room), but then edit them out later.

I've also learned how to do the noise reduction, and I copy a few seconds of the most silent spots and then paste them where needed to get the stray bark or whatever out.

Cori · Post by **Cori** » May 24th, 2010, 2:05 pm

Thanks for asking, Red Haired Girl, I knew some of the answers already, but had no idea of the overall diversity!

I record in the hall cupboard/closet. When I last moved house, it was a basic stipulation for the new place that it was reasonably quiet, and so I have a detached bungalow in a very quiet part of town. It's wonderful to have a dedicated space that's out of the way too. I used to have a quilt-covered booth always set up in the room, when I lived in a studio flat, but it must've looked pretty strange to visitors. The only disadvantage is having to keep the coats out by the back door ... it's the price paid for living with a LibriVoxer.

There's no way to shut the cats up, but they usually don't bug me for too long (though there is some miaowing outside the door, or scratching from time to time, that I have to rerecord for.) My partner is fairly good about being quiet, but I do prefer to record when I have the house to myself.

RuthieG · Post by **RuthieG** » May 24th, 2010, 2:09 pm

I record in the most untidy room of the house, in the vain hope that other people simply won't be able to get in the door. It doesn't work.

Cat training hints required for two elderly felines, who seem to consider that if they hear me talking apparently to myself, I am in need of company... invariably vociferous (one is currently sitting on the computer).

Ruth

Nicholas19 · Post by **Nicholas19** » May 24th, 2010, 2:24 pm

I just record at my computer table, usually when my wife is at work, unless she is working with me on some Dholuo recordings.

Neighbours do sometimes play boom-boom music (or open and close their door), which is annoying, and particularly loud vehicles make me pause recording on occasion, but otherwise, I usually have a reasonably quiet environment.