Tips for Recording Outdoors
As the weather is staying warm, it can be nice to take advantage and take your work outside — including podcasting!
Especially since you can podcast anywhere, being able to enjoy the days without sitting behind a desk all day can be rewarding. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with challenges.
Today, I am going to be sharing tips to help you get the benefits and avoid the challenges of recording your podcast outdoors.
Choose the Right Location
First things first, you will need to select the right location. You don’t want to just go outside and hope for the best as you can’t really do that inside either.
You want to make sure you still have some control and quiet in your area so you are still getting good-quality audio.
So just like indoors, consider a space that doesn’t have too much background noise like wind, road traffic, or other environmental distractions.
Some additional tips that can help:
- Run sound tests once you find a space, you may be surprised what your microphone picks up and this is a great way to test that you found a good spot.
- Make sure to record at least 5 seconds of “nothing” so that in post-production if there is some background noise it will be easier to capture it and remove it with your program’s background remover.
- Consider what microphone you are going to use. Condensers tend to be very sensitive but are versatile. Whereas dynamic mics handle high volumes and can be good for things like live events (aka outdoors with less environmental control).
Time Your Recording Sessions Wisely
Next, think about the time of day you are going to be recording at. You may be surprised but some areas can be quiet at one point in the day and then have a ton of noise at a different time.
So, if you have a specific spot you found that will work great but it tends to get busy in the afternoons from people or road traffic, it may be better to record there in the mornings.
And don’t forget to consider weather conditions — you likely wouldn’t want to record during heavy winds or rain as that could be picked up in your mic.
Invest in Quality Equipment
Depending on your budget this may be something that you can only do so much with but having high-quality recording equipment like your microphone, headphones, and additional recording equipment you use can help improve your outdoor recordings.
Some options that can be great to consider:
- Use quality-recording software like Riverside, Descript, or Zencastr that records good quality and can save files locally in case your internet goes out (it can be more unpredictable outside!)
- Consider a microphone that is portable and can do a better job capturing your voice and not everything around you such as the Rhode Wireless Pro/Rhode Wireless Go or Zoom H5. But make sure to test your mics so you know you are picking up voices and not background noise.
Minimize Background Noise
I mentioned this above but it’s an important thing to consider — minimize your background noise.
If you found the right location you may already have minimized a lot of the inconvenient sounds but there are a few more tips that can help remove any unnecessary noises -
- Use a windshield to help block out those unwanted noises
- Or other portable sound treatments to help reduce echo/not pick up outside sounds like a sound blanket or microphone isolation shield.
- You could use the microphones above or a directional microphone so that it only picks up sounds from the direction/angle that it’s facing to help reduce unwanted noise such as the Rhode VideoMic GO II. But again, you’ll want to test this so you know it’s picking up your voice and not all the other noises.
Consider Backup Plans
Always consider a backup plan. Of course, recording outside can be a great option if done right but sometimes unexpected challenges can come up that make recording outside just not possible such as weather, unexpected noise disruptions, or even technical issues.
So, if you are planning on recording outside also consider if those things happen, where else can you go to record such as your car or even back inside to your normal recording space. Depending on why you are recording outside just remember to be flexible and adaptable as it’s harder to control the outdoor environment, unlike your podcast studio.
Edit and Enhance in Post-Production
Now, let’s say you’ve already recorded outside and it’s time to get to post-production. There are definitely things you can do in the editing realm that can help enhance your audio if you happen to get some distracting sounds -
- Clean up the background noise (that’s why taking at least 5 seconds of silence can be really helpful!)
- Make sure you adjust your audio levels as depending on your settings they may be louder or quieter than anticipated.
- Embrace the fact that you recorded outside, it may not be perfect but neither is podcasting! If you couldn’t get everything out just let your listeners know. For example, at the beginning of the episode description mention that you recorded outside so they may hear a few sounds. It’s okay!
Heading to the Great Outdoors!
Whether you choose to embrace getting out and recording outside or not, these tips will help you improve your audio quality no matter what kind of environment you are in that you may not have a ton of control over.
I encourage you to test around, practice, and have patience in figuring out what works for you podcasting outside of your normal space.
Let me know in the comments any additional tips that you found helpful when taking your podcasting recording on the go!
If you need additional help when it comes to cleaning up in post-production, check out our services at Golden Goose Creative, and let’s chat about how we can help you.
Aleea
