A studio inside a 2 bed flat?!

Voice over work is, largely, moving towards a destination where the majority of recording is done at the actor's home. Or at least this is what I'm told by people who know what they're on about. I do not know what I'm on about, and struggle to have enough patience to do extensive research before diving headfirst into something. So when it came to setting up a home recording 'studio', I could have made myself better prepared; I could have researched more than I did; and I could have discovered sooner that the bathroom was not an ideal recording location for sound. But we are where we are and I was just too keen to get started auditioning to wait. And no, this is not the right attitude and yes, I do agree that I might have saved myself some anguish later down the road. Just let me have this one though, OK? Thanks.

How big is your flat?

Long story short, too small and too crammed full of stuff to make a good recording studio. And before you say, all you need is a largish cupboard that you can sit in(!) - both such cupboards are full to bursting with things. Do we need all said things? Could these spaces be better organised? Yes and you bet it could, but some battles are not worth fighting...if you catch my drift. Luckily, both mine and Naomi's parents have more space than us in their houses and even have spare rooms due to their spawn growing their legs and moving out some time ago. With their kind permission, it was time to set up a studio in the old bedroom of my in-law's firstborn child. Namely, Naomi's room.

A whole room to yourself!

Close but no banana. Seizing upon the recent purge of her room's inhabiting objects, Naomi has also (the gall of it!) decided to utilise it as an office come craft room. She of course ran into the same problem as I did of there not being enough space to dedicate to a hobby that requires bulky electrical items in our two-bed flat. So, very kindly, I've said we can share it. Magnanimous of me, I know. In fact, her various chunky sewing books have made excellent weights and propping-devices. I'm looking forward to finding a use for the sewing machine and die-cutter next. Now that the space was available, it was time to build a recording studio.

I don't know how to build a recording studio.

This is one of those times where reading ahead would have been a good idea. Luckily, I had some knowledge of acoustics (my father sold acoustic panelling for a living, don't you know) and some generously loaned equipment from Naomi, so I could at least pretend to her family and anyone who asked that I knew exactly what I was doing. Now's the techie bit, so if you fall asleep easily, see you in a bit.

I'm recording into a Behringer C1 condensor microphone surrounded by a foam lined foot-tall screen on a stand. I'm using a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface plugged into our laptop and Audacity to edit. There's a rug on the floor underneath me and the stand and a mattress directly behind me to help with those pesky reverbs. And its going OK so far! Teething problems (voice signal being to quiet and playback only occurring through one speaker) have been dealt with and things feel like they're going along swimmingly now!

Finally ready to go.

It feels good to record. Luckily, I don't feel very self-conscious recording myself and listening back. Acting on the stage has helped hugely with that, and although I keep needing to take long, often shaky breaths (edited out of course) between sentences, I've been proud of the demos I've created myself. Hopefully they'll get better, and I'll get better at noticing what sounds good, and when my studio sounds like a reptile menagerie (because of the hissing - geddit?). I've sent off about 10(?) auditions so far and have heard nothing back yet. It's very difficult not to constantly check my emails for notifications about any of them. And when I say its very difficult, I mean that's what I've been doing every 6 minutes for the last few days. Here's to hoping it's not because of a desperate need for validation. I think I'm just excited/anxious and I don't know how fast things get turned around in this world (information from those well-informed welcome).

Hopefully I can keep myself from becoming a nervous wreck and something comes my way at some point. I'm realistic about it being a crowded field, but also optimistic (you've got to stay optimistic right?). Sit tight. Listen out. I'll let you know when (ha! If...) I get something...

First published on 28th July 2019

Disclaimer: I WISH my studio looked like this!