Microphone Techniques and Best Practices

Mic technique is how you use your microphone when recording. It includes mic level, distance, voice volume, and mic angle. Good mic technique is crucial as it impacts your recording quality more than the equipment. It helps avoid issues like harsh sibilance, plosives, clipping, and echo.

Mic Level: This is the signal strength going into your microphone, also known as “gain” or “input level.” It’s different from the volume control on a mixer or DAW. Too little gain can introduce hiss, while too much can cause distortion.

Proximity: Your distance from the microphone affects the sound. Closer proximity picks up more bass, resulting in a fuller sound, while being farther away increases reverb and creates a distant sound. Start about four finger-widths away from the mic, but adjust based on your mic’s sensitivity. Too close can sound unnatural, while too far reduces the low end and increases reverb.

Mics usually need to be close to you. Start about four finger-widths away, but adjust based on your mic’s sensitivity. Being too close can sound unnatural, while being too far increases echo and reduces bass. Experiment and trust your ear

Voice Level Keep your voice steady for a balanced recording. Avoid extremes and adjust your mic level and distance to match your speaking style. Move away from the mic when speaking loudly to avoid clipping and plosives, and move closer when speaking softly to ensure clarity.

Acoustics: Sound bouncing off hard surfaces creates echo or reverb. Every room adds some reverb, which can either help or hurt your recording.

General Recommendations

  • Warming Up
  • Clear nose and throat
  • Drink water before recording
  • Talk with guest for 1-3 minutes before recording
  • Boost internet connection as much as possible. (Speed Test)
  • Do not record in a completely empty room. This allows the sound to echo. Curtains, books, carpets or other things can absorb sound. If possible, you can get them acoustic platforms and place to the right positions.
  • Pay attention to the platform where the microphone is located. This causes other sounds to enter the recording directly. (Like touching the table hardly or moving your body, paper, keyboard, glass sounds etc..)
  • Be consistent with the position of your mouth relative to the mic when you’re recording. If you drift away from the mic or even look away briefly, that will reflect directly in the sound quality of your episode. The key is to stay consistent throughout the whole recording.
  • Your audio levels will show up as a little scale in the application you’re using to edit. Usually this is a scale or series of bars that go from green to yellow to red, depending on how loud you are. There’s one basic rule of thumb here: You don’t want to record in the red because once you go red, you can’t go back. You’re much better off recording in the green and the yellows, because it’s easy to go back and bump up the levels in the editing step. The best practice here is to try and get as close to red as possible without actually going into that range. That’ll give you get a great volume level without distorting the sound

Recording Application Details

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  • Close phone and PC notifications.
  • Make a test recording before you start to dive into your episode.
  • Check host and guest audio levels.
  • Compare the test audio with the older one.