With all the audio work I’m planning on doing this summer and fall, I needed to upgrade my production studio. I’ve been recording for the last couple of years in a corner of a back bedroom in the basement. The sound quality isn’t terrible, but it’s prone to disruption from the cats, the mic is a long way from my face, and I have to be careful not to move about too much for fear that I’ll knock down one of the sound dampeners. On July 1, I began to rebuild that area and created something better to record in, and re-purposed the space to support my work better.
You can see the photos on my flickr feed. I made a set of the photos to document the work.
It’s difficult to take pictures inside the finished booth because it’s just so small. Inside it’s only 3′ wide and about 5′ deep. I have a small stand inside with room for a large flatscreen monitor and my netbook. The mic and boom stands beside it and holds the mic right near my forehead (pointed down) and lets me stand much closer to it in this configuration than before.
All in all, I’m pleased with the way this came out. The sound is much better and the only things I might have done differently is spend the extra $50 and put solid backs on the shelf units (so I have a better surface to mount the foam on – and more stable shelves) and added a top foam sheet to cap the ceiling sound.
The total cost for the rehab was something under $200. The booth itself was relatively cheap and I needed some new bookcases anyway.
For those interested in the technical details, I use a Rode NT-1A condenser mic getting power from a Prosonus Tubepre pre-amp. The output from the amp goes into my Zoom H4 recorder. I bit the bullet and upgraded the firmware in the recorder today which allows the H4 to recognize SD HD cards. I can now record for most of a day before I run out of storage space. Of course, my voice gives out after about three hours so I have to pace myself … read a little, edit a little, write a little, sleep a little.
With a new production coming out soon — Michael J. Sullivan’s Crown Conspiracy — you’ll get a chance to hear how it sounds soon. Release date on Michael’s book is Monday, July 12th.
What an awesome idea to use bookshelves as walls. Talk about multitasking. I was wondering if you typed your novels on your netbook, and if you do if you used a usb keyboard or the built in one. Also, are you still using open office as your word processor?
PS – I was just looking at the photos you posted on flickr and I noticed the Lain poster. I loved that show.
I did Ravenwood completely on the Netbook. I will probably do portions of Owner’s Share there too. And, yes, on the built in keyboard. The advantage of that box is that it’s small enough i can put it in my pocket and big enough to type on for a couple of hours (or more).
And yes. Still using OpenOffice :)
Ha! I thought I was the only person crazy enough to write a novel on a netbook. Now when people point out my madness I have someone famous to point to as my inspiration :p
You record surrounded by books, genious! I can’t wait to hear more from you Nathan, reading that you have a lot of recording coming up was like opening a present. Thanks for all your great work, can’t wait to hear AND now read it! :)