I started out using an “expensive” thirty dollar mic from Best Buy. I sat at my desk in our work room and read in to it as clearly as I could. The result was… well, if you’ve listened to the first four episodes, then you’ve heard for yourself.

I knew this wasn’t going to cut it, so I used a bonus from work to buy an H2 digital recorder. The possibilities suddenly opened up and, when I could spare some time from tending our new baby, I would record little snippets in various locations, trying to find one that will work well for me. The requirements were pretty steep I admit: I needed somewhere that was quiet, filled with lots of soft things, was comfortable, had power outlets, and was accessible at any time. Well, steep requirements netted me zero results.

This week I tried something which we had seen while watching Dirty Jobs. Apparently, the host records his narration in their hotel room wherever they happen to be. There’s no recording studio or fancy setup, just Mike, a computer, a mic, and a blanket. He puts the blanket over his head and records. It looked like a great idea, so I gave it a shot. And?

It worked great. The quality was astonishing. But there were drawbacks:

It was incredibly hot until the blanket, even with the AC turned on.
I couldn’t move, or the blanket would make noise.
If I took a break or opened the blanket for air, the shape of the blanket changed and this affected the recording.
It was clumsy, especially with a flimsy laptop monitor.

But, oh the quality! It was nice. So I’m going to pursue this method a little bit more, maybe with the addition of a few chairs to make myself a Recording Tent of Amazement. Even though it may be a little less amazing than I want.