Helped along by Covid-19 isolation and an aging brain, I can’t remember exactly when we last invested in our podcasting pod. But months past we created a sound isolation booth comprised of Rockwool boards, wrapped in black sheets to keep the fibres out of our lungs. We use our storage room for this purpose but the rules of bootstrapping suggested we first start small, and so the first implementation was simply a covering around a cheap IKEA desk. This worked remarkably well and helped to create as dead an environment as possible, without going to the other extreme which would be investing in a whisper room. Not capturing the sound of the room is important to us, and if you listened to any podcasts of late, those that due to Covid are now recording remote, suffer from the sounds of kitchen tiles. With the exception of Ira Glass who I believe records in his clothes closet.

We still live in an apartment building (thanks COVID) and so it’s difficult to be completely noiseless. We are at the mercy of our upstairs neighbours and various electrical feedback loops, but thanks to or current set-up our biggest problem has been eliminating annoying mouth noises that most commonly occur due to various hydration issues.

We could have stayed with this set-up for the foreseeable future but for the fact that the ideal mic placement on the desk made recording uncomfortable. Proper vocal technique requires the free flow of air from the bottom of your abdomen through your vocal chords and out your mouth. I was always hunched over and Sheryl found our set-up limiting.

This weekend we decided to sound proof the whole room and despite a lack of planning it looks like it might work out.