Sound Absorbing Items in Your Recording Space

Your audio will sound clearer and more intelligible if you reduce the amount of reflections (reverb) in your recording space.

Reflections are the sound bouncing off walls, floors, etc. and create the effect known as reverb. This makes you sound like you’re far away from your microphone in a large hall or 40 feet down a hallway and makes you much less intelligible to listeners.

If the surfaces of your walls and floors etc. are reflective (hardwood floors, bare walls, etc), the sound will continue bouncing around from wall to wall etc. until gradually it loses its energy over time, usually 1-2 seconds. The more the surfaces in your space are covered with sound absorbing materials, the less reverb you’ll capture in your microphone, therefor creating a much better listening experience for your listeners.

Here are some common absorbing materials you can use in your space: Carpeting, area rugs, curtains, soft furniture, acoustic foam on the walls, etc.

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