Most Effective Setup for Coding/Typing Lectures

[MichaelPog]

What is the most effective setup to minimize the amount of noise picked up from the keyboard and mouse, while recording screencast that involves a lot of typing, such as in the case of coding?

- a headset with microphone next to your mouth?

- a microphone mounted from the top to provide the longest distance from the keyboard?

- a dynamic microphone with a low gain that just sits on the table or hangs on a mount?

-some magical keyboard/mouse that just doesn't make any noise?

- reducing the noise in post-production?

Thank you!

[TomPhillips]

I used to use the Blue Yeti but found it so much easier using a lavalier / lapel mic (I use the BOYA BY-M1 Pro, very good price and decent quality). The Blue Yeti yielded better quality audio however I've had no complaints with the BOYA BY-M1 Pro. It's always easier to try and capture your audio as high a quality as possible rather than trying to fix bad audio in post. With that said I usually record in my kitchen with no sound dampening (tiled floor, slightly echo-y), and I use audacity for cleaning the audio. I also have an M1 MacBook air, which has a fairly quiet keyboard.

[PhillipBurton]

Dear Michael,

You might want to investigate a "noise gate". It reduces the amount of noise, such as typing, when the volume is fairly quiet.

For example, have a look at the dbx 286s Preamp. On the right-hand side, you will see an "Expander/Gate". You can set the threshold (the minimum volume when the gate will NOT be engaged), and the Ratio (how much the volume will be reduced by).

I also use a Heil PR40 microphone, which is cardioid, so it focuses on one particular direction, together with a Heil PL2T microphone boom, so the microphone is not on the desk, near the mouse/keyboard, but in the air. To connect them together, I use a Scarlett Solo and a couple of cables.

I also use auphonic.com to level the sound, so that it is consistent from video to video.

Have a listen to the sound in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnTxOqlSUzY to hear the end result. You can hear the keyboard if I press enter loudly, but it's fairly quiet otherwise.

If anyone does find a magical keyboard/mouse, please let me know!

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Phillip

[MichaelPog]

Thank you so much @PhillipBurton . The audio does sound very good.

I have one question though:

What is the advantage of using a Gate on the preamp vs simply using a noise gate in post production using Garage Band or Udacity?