In this video we’ll be using moving blankets to quickly and easily reduce echo and improve
your sound!
I’m Andrew Kan, and if I kan you kan too!
If you want to learn more about video making tips you can do, subscribe and ring that bell!
When it comes to moving blankets, they can work similarly to acoustic panels, in that
they can help control the sound of a room!
They DO NOT ABSORB 100% of the sound, so they DO NOT SOUNDPROOF A ROOM, but they can help
acoustically treat the room.
Moving blankets are crafted with different dense materials, such as woven cotton, polyester,
fiberglass, and mineral wool.
The makeup of the blanket helps prevent air, and more importantly sound from passing through
them.
This means sound will be partially absorbed into the blankets, and the sound will not
as easily reflect back into your microphone/ recording device.
Unlike acoustic foam panels or sound blankets, moving blankets lack an STC or Sound Transmission
Class Rating.
Moving blankets also don’t have any sort of diffusion, which can help spread out the
sound of the room, to make the room sound larger.
Diffusion gives the room a sense of size.
However, to just cancel some unwanted echo or sound reflection, these moving blankets
are PERFECT!
All the voice overs in this video will be done in a room treated with a moving blanket.
Later in the video, I’ll let you hear what it sounds like with and without a moving blanket,
so make sure to watch until the end!
If you want to buy any of the items shown in this video, affiliate links will be in
the video description down below!
Moving blankets are used in film sets, or even broadway studio recordings.
That's because they’re versatile, can be used in a multitude of different ways, and
are really cost effective.
Moving blankets come in many sizes,weights, and colors . I recommend a heavier blanket
to absorb more sounds.
Since every space is different find the size that fits YOUR Room in particular.
For color I like one side to be black and one side to be white, so it can act as fill
and negative fill.
I’ll show you three different ways to use the moving blankets!
The First Way is by getting a moving blanket with grommets and using command hooks to hook
the blanket to a wall!
Grommets are these metal rings that you can use to hook the blanket to the wall!
I recommend these five pound command hooks, if you’re like me in a rental and can not
damage your walls.
Multiple five pound command hooks should support the weight of your blanket.
but Follow the instructions on the back of the command hooks!
This allows the moving blanket to hung up and taken down depending your needs!
This isn’t something you can do as easily with acoustic foam panels.
Here is an example of the beginning of this video without the moving blanket being used.
I’m Andrew Kan, and if I kan you kan too!
[Pause Effect]
You can hear the sound bouncing off the walls in my room, and also can visually see where
the blanket isn’t reflecting light back at me, so there are more shadows on my face.
This is why having a dual sided sound blanket can be so useful!
The Second way You can use the blankets are by using spring clamps to clamp the blanket
to some light stands.
Then weigh down the stands with sandbags to support the weight of the blanket.
I can use this blanket for not only sound treatment but also a fill for my light to
bounce back on me, and help light me in the scene, WHILE making my sound, reflect less!
I'll place the moving blanket on the opposite side of my key light, and make sure it's out
of frame.
The blanket will improve both my audio AND video quality.
I actually recorded the introduction using this blanket.
I now want to show you what moving blankets can do in a room with no sound treatment.
I’m in my living room, I’m using my rode videomic on top of my camera, and you can
hear the sound echoing off the walls, floor, and ceiling.
I’ll place the camera on a tripod, and transition NOW [CLAP]; to have my moving blankets here
too!
You should hear that there is less reflection!
The third way you can use moving blankets is on hard floors that reflect sound from
below you.
This can help ensure that the sound doesn’t reflect from the floor back into your microphone.
I'll now let you hear some examples of this room before it was treated with a moving blanket
and AFTER it was treated with moving blankets.
Whether you think you kan, or you think you Kan’t you’re right.
[Without moving blankets]
Whether you think you kan, or you think you Kan’t you’re right.
[With moving blanket]
Whether you think you kan, or you think you Kan’t you’re right.
[With moving blanket and mixing]
I also wanted to say that moving Blankets and sound blankets while similar are not the
same thing.
A link to all my sources are in the video description.
I use a combination of Acoustic Foam Panels, Moving and Sound blankets to help improve
my audio on all my talking head videos!
Any combination of those 3 can really help improve the sound of your audio.
To learn how to get better audio check out that playlist, and subscribe to this channel
to overcome hurdles like echoey audio!
I’m Andrew Kan, and if I kan you kan too!