^{Creating and improving audio}

This topic provides tips for improving the quality of your audio.

Ambient noise. Sound reflects off hard surfaces, such as walls and windows. Computers, air conditioning, and street traffic can create additional ambient noise. Use the following tips to reduce the amount of ambient noise in your audio:

• Soften hard surfaces by hanging curtains or tapestries on the walls. Large rugs make excellent sound dampeners.
• Turn off computers, fans, and other machines in the room. If you can, also turn off the heating or air conditioning system.
• Use an interior room that is isolated from street noise. If the room has a persistent low rumble, you can reduce it to some extent by using equalization on an audio mixer. You can also use the roll-off switch, if your microphone has one.

Microphone usage. If you use a microphone, the following tips may be helpful:

• Point the microphone facing out, away from the person’s clothing. Make sure clothing does not cover the front of the microphone and it isn't too close to the speaker’s mouth. High-velocity air from a person exhaling can cause loud pops in microphones that do not have pop filters built into them. Small lavaliere microphones are designed to be clipped to a tie and have little or no protection against pops and wind.
• Eliminate microphone noise. Microphone noise is an artificial sound that is introduced when an object touches the microphone. When placing a microphone, make sure that it will not be bumped. Remind speakers who will be holding a microphone not to tap pencils and rings against it or play with the cable. Leave the front of the microphone exposed. Holding the head of a microphone introduces noise and can cause feedback if the microphone is used in a public address system.

Related topics

• Preparing to create your video