Room echo is one of the most annoying sound effects when trying to record a professional voiceover in your home. My producer kept complaining about the audio quality every time I sent him my recordings so I decided to implement a simple, budget-friendly solution that instantly eliminates room echo.
To prevent room echo and reverb from occurring in your audio files, record voiceovers in your closet. Recording in a smaller space that is filled with sound-absorbing material (such as your clothes, blankets and other items) will drastically reduce echo and reverb ultimately producing much higher quality audio results.
My producer was elated that I finally fixed this audio issue. Read his email response after I sent him voiceover audio files that were recorded in my home closet studio:
Now let me show you how much of a difference recording in your closet makes. I will provide pictures of my recording environments and sample audio clips of the voice over quality using each recording setup.
Recording Audio: Large Room vs Closet (with samples)
Recording audio at home can be very challenging since most rooms are not designed for optimal sound quality. Sound effortlessly bounces around the walls and floor resulting in annoying reverb. That is why you need to be mindful of where you record in your home.
Avoid Recording In A Large Room
Below is a picture of my initial recording setup in my living room. It is a very large, open space, which is not ideal for recording audio.
Now, listen to a test audio clip of me recording in my living room. If you listen closely, you will notice that sound generously bounces around the four walls and floor creating an echo. I recommend listening with headphones.
There is still noticeable echo even though I have installed some acoustic foam on the walls and filled the room with a couch, table, and artificial plants. Unfortunately, completely eliminating reverb from this room would require a larger investment in more soundproofing material. I have multiple recommendations on how to soundproof a room if you are interested in DIY projects but if you don’t have the time then simply avoid recording audio in large, open areas.
Recording In Smaller Spaces for Better Sound Quality
Now let’s compare the sound quality to my closet recording studio. It is filled with clothes, shoes, towels, and blankets.
These particular items are heavy enough for absorbing sound. I recommend using a smaller room filled with sound-absorbing material like my closet recording studio setup below.
Recording in your closet will instantly reduce echo and reverb making your audio sound more professional. Listen to my test sample clip below. It produces a crisper, higher quality sound compared to recording in my living room. I recommend listening with headphones.
After listening to the audio file you can clearly tell that the room echo has vanished. It is truly amazing how a simple, little change in your recording environment can produce higher-quality results. This will make your audio sound less like an amateur recording without burning a hole in your wallet.
Recording in A Full Closet vs Half-Full Closet (with samples)
Does your closet need to be completely full to reduce echo? From personal experience, simply moving your recording setup to a smaller, compact room will instantly minimize the amount of reverb.
However, A full closet is ideal for maximum sound absorption. Therefore, making sure your closet is packed with clothes, pillows, blankets, and linens will offer far better audio results.
To demonstrate this point, I have recorded test audio samples in a full closet and half-full closet…
Half-Full Closet Recording
In the photo of my recording setup below, you will notice that I have removed some of my clothing items.
Now listen to this test recording of my voice in my half-full closet:
If you listen closely (preferably with headphones) you can detect some reverb. It is very minimal but echoes still linger briefly during the recording. This also proves that recording in a smaller space drastically reduces reverb.
Full Closet Recording
Again, here is a picture of my closet filled with clothes for comparison. Notice how it practically encloses my microphone, which is a perfect environment for capturing excessive sound.
Now listen to this test recording of my voice in my full closet recording setup:
Notice how quickly the extra clothing deadens the echo? The clothes prevent sound from bouncing around in the closet and kill any chances of reverb.
Alternative Method: Heavy Coat or Blanket
What if you don’t have a closet or small space to record your voiceovers? In the likelihood that you are facing this issue then you can try recording with a heavy coat or blanket over your head and microphone.
Recording with a coat or blanket over your head and microphone definitely makes a difference. To help you compare, listen to the same audio clip I recorded in my living room from earlier first. I have embedded it below so you don’t have to scroll back up to the top of this post to listen to it:
Now listen to the audio below that I recorded while holding a heavy winter coat over my head and the microphone:
As you can tell, the audio quality has improved greatly. There is still a slight reverb and echo so it is not perfect. If you do not have the ability to record in a closet and need decent quality sound in a pinch, then I would recommend this method.
However, there are a few unforeseen disadvantages:
- It is tiring to constantly hold the coat or blanket over your head and microphone while recording. My arms and neck became stiff trying to hold the coat in place. This action alone made it difficult to concentrate on recording.
- The coat or blanket can get in the way when trying to read your voiceover script on your laptop. You will run into an issue whether you are voicing your script from a hardcopy, phone, or laptop. If you are reading from a physical hardcopy then you will need a flashlight to read your script under the coat since it will be dark. If you are voicing a script while reading it from your computer then you will have to adjust the coat and hold it up high enough so it does not cover the screen or monitor. Voicing your script from your phone might be the most ideal but could still prove to be challenging.
- It can get hot recording voiceovers under a heavy coat or blanket. I was only recording for a few minutes under my heavy winter coat and found myself uncomfortably warm in a short amount of time.
Pro tip: If you are going to implement this method for recording then I would recommend using a large blank that drapes all the way to the ground. This will prevent sound from bouncing off the floor and escaping underneath the blanket.
How Do You Record Your Voice at Home?
After reading this, some of you may be wondering what type of setup I use to record my voiceovers. It consists of a USB microphone connected to my laptop, which records into a music software program I have installed on my hard drive. Here is a list of exactly what I use:
- MacBook Pro: This laptop is excellent for any type of media recording.
- Yeti Microphone: I did a lot of research on which USB microphone is best for recording within a reasonable budget and decided this USB Yeti Mic was best.
- Adobe Audition: I have had this software installed on my for years and can attest to the professional level of quality it produces. Adobe products are very reputable and easy to use.
