If it generates vibrations, your mic will pick it up.

For me, I discovered that the ideal time to record was before dawn — There was little to no street traffic, I could turn off the air conditioning without me or my laptop dying of heat, unplug the fridge, and stop the ceiling fan. Oh, and turn off all the other computers too. Yes, it’s a lot to remember — checklists are invaluable.

Shushing the laptop fan

I would have preferred to keep the computer on the other side of a soundproof wall, with only a cable for the camera, mic, and keyboard on the recording side. I didn’t have that luxury, so I tried to keep my laptop as quiet as possible.

I set the air conditioning cooler than normal before starting recording. Then I disabled background tasks, antivirus software — really anything that could suddenly wake up mid-session and put my CPU to work. As you can imagine, this is a pain. A dedicated recording box would be preferable, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to squeeze it in my budget of $150. :)

Your voice needs tuning too

…you’re about to break out singing solo a capella.

Musicians are used to tuning their instruments before a set, but curiously our voices adopt a wide range of tones as well, depending on where we are and who we’re with. You notice it when listening to someone’s course and the key and timbre of their voice changes suddenly — likely because they edited in a phrase post-production, or they stopped and started recording mid lecture. If the change is jarring enough, it can disrupt the flow of the learning experience.

Ideally, you just record everything in one go. But for busy professionals, this isn’t always possible. Sometimes you just have to run off and put out some fires at your day job. If those are literal fires, you are awesome. When you get back to the studio, after enjoying a relaxing shower, listen to the last thing you recorded, ideally with headphones. Speak into the microphone and try to imitate your own voice. Now you’re tuned up, just like a concert violin! Or maybe a cello. Or a tuba.

Another thing you might try is harmonizing with a pitch pipe before each recording session, just like you’re about to break out singing solo a capella.

Make sure your mic is on

“I didn’t think this would be a silent movie.”

“It’s not.”

It’s pretty depressing when you’ve just recorded an entire lecture, only to realize you only recorded your screen. When you’re hot to trot, make sure that mic is too. For that matter, always do a sound check to make sure your mic’s directionality, level, and gain are set correctly. If your mic has a mute button like the Yeti does, make sure it’s not activated when you start recording.