Improving Audio In The Studio

Two weeks ago I said flat out I'm getting less gear in 2017. I had one purchase I postponed last year to tend to this month - audio baffles for the studio to dampen audio echo. I've been compensating with software for the time being. Mostly OK, but I can do a little better.

My studio space is an open space with a lot of hard surfaces. It's a pleasant atmosphere to work in, but there's way too much audio bounce and echo. For critical recordings, I've been draping blankets and bedspreads all over the place. That gets old fast. I needed something mobile that I could move into place with little effort. I need mobile audio baffles.

Last November, I made a visit to my friend Hudson Henry's studio. He has a great space and quite an elaborate setup (there's a reason he can host ON1 Live streaming events, after all!). One of the things I noticed were a couple of moving blankets he had hanging from some ceiling mounts. That sparked an idea for me - moving blankets are hefty and will absorb sound waves. Great. But I need them to be mobile.

The blanket idea moved to the back of my mind for a bit (you see what I did there... moving blankets... moved in my mind... yeah, I'm clever that way). Fast forward a few weeks and I'm holiday shopping with my wife. We're in some store and I'm surrounded by clothing racks. Boom - another idea. A garment rack! I could use a garment rack to hang a blanket. Get a rack on wheels and I have my mobile audio baffles.

One visit to Amazon later and I'm the proud owner of garment racks and moving blankets. I made sure to get racks that collapse down a bit for easier storage when I'm not using them. And I grabbed a few clamps to keep the blankets securely in place.

It does feel a little strange now when I record videos. I'm in some odd photo-man-cave. I hope the sound improvements are worth it. At least it's an inexpensive solution.

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