How to deal with noise when recording at home

How to deal with noise when recording at home

When you start home recording, noise should be one of the biggest factors to think about.

There are two types of noise to consider, the noise that you are creating with your instrument and the noise that is created by external factors such as street noise, planes, neighbours, housemates etc…

First, let’s look at the noise created by your instrument.

Obviously, there are a lot of variables here depending on what instrument you play, how loud you play it and what type of living space you have.

In general, it’s best to use electric versions of instruments where possible: electric guitar, MIDI Keyboard, Electronic drum kit/pads etc… as these instruments make significantly less noise than their acoustic counterparts and can be used in conjunction with headphones to greatly reduce noise.

When recording these electronic instruments it is best to avoid using amplifiers or speakers.

Otherwise, they could end up being as loud as their acoustic counterparts. Instead, it is best to plug directly into an interface from the instrument or to use a MIDI cable if the instrument has MIDI capabilities, while this method of recording might not be as musically satisfying as playing real acoustic instruments it is a workable compromise that will allow you to record a decent variety of instruments at home without disturbing anyone.

If using an electric counterpart is not possible such as recording singing, then you will need to reduce the noise you make using the material.

1. On the more expensive end is the Isovox, this is a portable vocal booth that you can place a microphone inside and sing into, the dense acoustic material absorbs the reverberation of your voice and muffles the high frequencies, making it a lot quieter through walls and for neighbours.

ISOVOX

2. On the less expensive end, you can use mattresses, duvets and pillows to help absorb some of the volumes when singing, you can build a tent-like structure as pictured below

Now, let’s look at the external noise leaking into the home recording space.

You need to look at several different types of noise and where they come from.

Typically if you’re not using any microphones recording acoustic instruments then external noise is not an issue besides it being distracting, if you are using microphones then you need to first get your microphone away from the origin of the noise, this will vary from house to house but places that are typically noisy are windows and doors, as there is often gaps and holes for sound to pass through.

Similarly, like avoiding sound leaking out, thick materials such as mattresses and duvets will help to stop sound leaking in.

One final thing to consider is the time of day that you record, later in the evening will be quieter for external noise but you will be causing more of a noise disturbance to others so this is something that will have to be weighed up for your individual situation.

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