Laura:

if you want the best sound, the closer you can get to your

Laura:

mic, the more it's going to pick up just your voice and nothing else.

Laura:

And when you're doing something like this, where spoken word is so

Laura:

important, you need it to be close.

Laura:

It gives you that depth and richness.

Laura:

I have three monitors, know, I have this light rig and I have these boom

Laura:

arms and this desk is just perfect.

Laura:

And it's a standup desk too.

Laura:

So I can push a button.

Laura:

It's like, and it raises up.

Laura:

So that has been very key.

Laura:

I have to have a situation where I can just sit down, boot up the computer, and

Laura:

hit record in as few steps as possible or else I'm just gonna get, my ADD is gonna

Laura:

take me off into 17 other directions.

Laura:

Welcome to the Confident Live Marketing Podcast with Ian Anderson Gray.

Laura:

Helping you level up your impact, authority, and profits through

Laura:

the power of confident live video.

Laura:

Optimize your mindset and communication.

Laura:

And increase your confidence in front of the camera.

Laura:

Get confident with the tech and gear.

Laura:

And get confident with the content and marketing.

Laura:

Together, we can go live!

Ian:

Hello and welcome to the Confident Live Marketing Podcast.

Ian:

I'm Ian Anderson Gray and in this season, we're We're going behind the

Ian:

scenes, seeing my guests studio setups to look at their tech and the gear and

Ian:

how they get started and how you can get started and level up your studio.

Ian:

Well, I'm very excited to bring in my guest today, who

Ian:

is Laura Davidson, who is.

Ian:

A singer, songwriter, mom, and podcaster.

Ian:

These are just a few of the hats Laura Clap Davidson wears on a daily basis.

Ian:

She also leads a market development team at Shure Incorporated, where

Ian:

she helps people learn about microphones and solve tech mysteries.

Ian:

And welcome to the show, Laura.

Ian:

It's funny, when I was reading your biography, Before the show,

Ian:

because I always like to make sure I, I'm not gonna say anything wrong.

Ian:

I read that as tech miseries not Tech Mysteries, so I'm sure there are a few

Laura:

is a very, that is also an accurate description.

Laura:

Yes, I solve those as well.

Laura:

Yes.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

You, you turn the miseries into, I dunno, what's the, what's the

Ian:

positive in, into happiness.

Ian:

That's, that's what you are.

Laura:

I don't know.

Laura:

Cures?

Laura:

I

Laura:

don't, yeah.

Laura:

Find the cure for your

Laura:

audio miseries, technical

Ian:

like I've, I see that, uh, some, uh, tech support agents are now

Ian:

calling themselves happiness engineers.

Laura:

Oh yes, we have that at Shure,

Laura:

actually, but we've just changed the name of the department.

Laura:

I can't remember what it is offhand, but yeah, it was, yeah.

Laura:

Customer happiness, which is what you ultimately want.

Laura:

If you are a

Laura:

disgruntled customer and you're calling into a company, the

Laura:

company wants you to be happy.

Laura:

So yeah, I'm not, I'm, I'm not mad about it.

Ian:

No, no, no, I'm not too.

Ian:

It makes total sense.

Ian:

So thank you for coming on.

Ian:

We're going to be going behind the scenes with your studio set up.

Ian:

And I love the fact that you've got all these different hats.

Ian:

You know, who says you just do one that we're all confined to do one thing.

Ian:

And yes, you work with.

Ian:

For sure.

Ian:

I think pretty much everyone will have heard of sure.

Ian:

Um, uh, who makes the most amazing microphones amongst

Ian:

lots of other things as well.

Ian:

But you do all these other things as well.

Ian:

You've got a musical background.

Ian:

You sing.

Ian:

So that makes me happy because that's my background too.

Ian:

Um, so we might, you're going to come back onto the show.

Ian:

We'll talk a little bit more about your musical background.

Ian:

journey with communication and confidence in front of the camera

Ian:

and in front of the microphone.

Ian:

But can you give listeners and viewers like a brief introduction about

Ian:

you, highlighting your background that makes, that's kind of had an

Ian:

influence on your studio set up today?

Laura:

Yeah, absolutely.

Laura:

So I started off as a singer songwriter.

Laura:

I went to Berklee College of Music and graduated, moved to Nashville,

Laura:

was doing the singer songwriter thing.

Laura:

So playing gigs all the time, writing all the time, uh, and had a

Laura:

temp job here or there and started working for a music publisher.

Laura:

And then I got asked to demonstrate a piece of gear at something called the

Laura:

NAMM Show, which is this annual show for like, It used to be 90, 000 people in

Laura:

Anaheim in January, and I was flown out to sing and use this wildly complicated

Laura:

box that turned my voice into four voices of harmony, and I fell in love.

Laura:

I was demonstrating, uh, showing people how they could take their,

Laura:

um, you know, arrangement or their demo gig and really, you know, do it.

Laura:

or cover gig and kick it up several notches by having these multiple voices

Laura:

and making it sound very natural because you can kind of go the other side there

Laura:

and have it sound really unnatural but um, so I started doing that and because

Laura:

of that it led to all this other knowledge of gear and microphones and guitars.

Laura:

I got an endorsement deal from Alvarez when I was doing that and

Laura:

it just helped my musical career blossom in a whole different way and

Laura:

support me in a whole different way.

Laura:

So that I could continue to make music, but also kind of dig

Laura:

into this love of gear and tech.

Laura:

So that's kind of how I landed here.

Laura:

That was in 2006.

Laura:

So it's, it's been a minute.

Laura:

It's been a long

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And I think that's great.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

We were talking just before we started recording about the balance between

Ian:

being a musician and, you know, being a creator and, and, you know, working for

Ian:

a business or running your own business.

Ian:

There's something I'm sure you would say the same, like you can't

Ian:

not do the music side of things.

Ian:

It's something that's kind of part of you and it's a, creative outlet.

Ian:

And you're for podcast listeners who can't see Laura's setup,

Ian:

you know, she's got a keyboard.

Ian:

In fact, there's two keyboards there as I can see two guitars.

Ian:

You've got your lovely Shawn microphone, which we're going to come on to in a bit.

Ian:

So you've surrounded yourself with all this gear that helps you,

Ian:

which is part of your creativity.

Ian:

I'm going to ask you about that because in a minute because I love to

Ian:

hear about the space that you're in and how that helps your creativity.

Ian:

But let's dive into your studio setup.

Ian:

And, you know, the first question I always ask is microphone and your audio setup,

Ian:

because like that is in my view, in many people's views is the most important.

Ian:

Even if you're on camera, if you're, if you're, if you're microphone,

Ian:

if people can't hear you very well, they're going to switch off.

Ian:

So I assume you're with me on that.

Ian:

Tell us about your microphone setup and, and.

Ian:

Audio set up and why you chose that.

Laura:

Shure MV7 Plus, which we just launched this past year and, or this

Laura:

current year, I guess I should say.

Laura:

And it's the new variant of the MV7, which we launched in 2020.

Laura:

It's a USB XLR hybrid microphone, meaning I can plug in to a mixer or I

Laura:

can plug in directly to my computer, which is what I'm doing right now.

Laura:

So I'm actually monitoring myself at the same time too.

Laura:

I have my earphones.

Laura:

My bright green earphones plugged into the back of my MV7 Plus and then I'm

Laura:

running USB C up this gorgeous, uh, co branded Gator boom arm that I'm

Laura:

obsessed with, uh, into my MacBook Pro.

Laura:

That's it.

Laura:

So mic, earphones, boom arm, computer.

Laura:

Ta da!

Laura:

That's my setup.

Laura:

I don't even have to do a B roll shot because

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

So you're not plugging it into a, like a fancy mixer or audio

Ian:

presses or anything like that.

Ian:

And it sounds great.

Ian:

I mean, the quality.

Ian:

Is really crisp and clear.

Ian:

You voice sounds resonant.

Ian:

It sounds natural, which is everything that you really want.

Ian:

And you don't have to play around with any of this kind of complicated stuff.

Ian:

Like I, I mean, I've, I've got mine into a red custard pro and that can, I mean,

Ian:

I, I, I love playing around with tech, but I'm always, I'm always reluctant

Ian:

to recommend that to people because it.

Ian:

Took me quite a while to set up what you really want.

Ian:

I think, and I'm sure you agree is good enough quality tech that just works.

Ian:

That doesn't get in the way of you creating your content.

Ian:

Um, I'd love to know a little bit more about the microphone though.

Ian:

So what, how's that compared with its predecessor?

Ian:

You, you mentioned it's USB, so you, uh, you can plug that directly into

Ian:

your computer, but it's also XLR.

Ian:

So if you do want to be fancy, you've got that option too.

Ian:

Tell us a little bit more about that.

Ian:

And I've assumed, you know, there's the, there's the whole dynamic

Ian:

microphone versus condenser.

Ian:

Tell us a bit more specifically about this.

Laura:

Yes.

Laura:

So, I'm gonna show you because I'm a big visual person.

Laura:

So,

Laura:

this is the

Ian:

can explain for podcast listeners as well, just so that they

Laura:

Yes, I will explain.

Laura:

So I'm, I'm holding my MV7, which is the predecessor.

Laura:

This is a custom variant, which I had, uh, done by Colorware, which you can do

Laura:

if you want to take your MV7, not the MV7 plus yet, but we're working on it,

Laura:

uh, and have it match your brand colors.

Laura:

You can do that with this awesome website called Colorware, uh, C O L O R W A R E.

Laura:

Uh, and so anyway, The MV7 has a micro USB on the back, which was kind of one

Laura:

of the things that people asked us to change from the jump, which we did.

Laura:

So now the MV7 plus has a USB C, which is super handy.

Laura:

Uh, and it also has a different, uh, LED panel and it's a little bit

Laura:

longer in terms of the windscreens.

Laura:

So my MV7 plus Because the MV7 kind of had some issues with plosives

Laura:

we heard from people, so we made it a more robust windscreen and

Laura:

made it a little bit longer.

Laura:

And now you can customize the LED panel, whereas on the MV7 you had some tactile

Laura:

controls of volume and mix and mic level, and the mute was kind of hard to reach.

Laura:

We've now made the whole LED panel tappable, so it's a cap touch

Laura:

sensor, so if you touch it because you have to cough or Mute real

Laura:

quick, it will mute the microphone.

Laura:

Uh, and you also can now use this wonderful piece of software

Laura:

called Motive Mix, which is why the mic is sounding so great.

Laura:

I have it in auto level mode right now, meaning it's going to constantly

Laura:

adjust my gain, so that if I get loud or soft, it will accommodate my

Laura:

voice, and I don't have to have an engineer or myself riding a fader.

Laura:

digital or otherwise to make sure that my levels are consistent.

Laura:

And there's also some great, uh, compression and EQ and de

Laura:

noising in that Motive Mix app.

Laura:

Uh, so that's kind of the differences between the MV7 and MV7 Plus.

Laura:

And the other benefit to using Motive Mix is that you can plug in

Laura:

multiple USB microphones into your computer, which a lot of people have

Laura:

accomplished before using something like Loopback, but that can be, um, A

Laura:

little confusing for those who aren't audio people and it's, it costs money.

Laura:

So the Motive Mix is free and you can have up to five USB sources in Motive

Laura:

Mix that you can then bring into your podcast or live stream without

Laura:

having to create an aggregate device.

Laura:

So that's the differences.

Laura:

In a nutshell,

Ian:

wow.

Ian:

And you said, you said an LCD screen.

Ian:

So like for people who haven't come across these microphones, why would,

Ian:

why would a microphone even have that?

Ian:

Like a lot of microphones, people are used to.

Ian:

They're just a microphone.

Ian:

So what are these fancy things that you can do?

Ian:

You mentioned

Laura:

Well,

Ian:

pressing a mute switch, but there's more than that.

Laura:

So, for those are watching, you can see this LED panel is

Laura:

kind of lighting up and pulsing.

Laura:

So, it's working.

Laura:

I have it in live.

Laura:

It's called live meter mode.

Laura:

So, it's it's working like a a clip.

Laura:

So, if I see it clipping or you getting too bright, then I know

Laura:

that I need to adjust my signal, but because I'm in auto level mode,

Laura:

I don't have to worry about that.

Laura:

Uh, but it's just a fun way to have your branded colors incorporated into the mic.

Laura:

You can make it solid to match your brand color.

Laura:

You can have it pulse slowly, or you can put it into live mode like I have it here.

Laura:

And there's 16.

Laura:

9 million color variant options.

Laura:

So it's really just fun.

Laura:

It's fun, it looks cool, you can customize it, and then you have

Laura:

that big, uh, whole surface area to tap, um, and mute your mic.

Laura:

So that's why.

Ian:

Love it.

Ian:

Love it.

Ian:

And this is, uh, a dynamic microphone.

Ian:

So you're having it fairly close to you.

Ian:

Presumably like, so some part where we had a talk about, I think somebody

Ian:

A few weeks ago, I had the blue Yeti microphone where you have to speak into

Ian:

the side of it, but with this microphone, you're speaking into the end of it.

Ian:

Can you tell us a little bit more about that for people who don't know the

Ian:

difference between dynamic microphones and other types of microphones?

Ian:

I figured you'd, you'd be a good person to talk to you about that.

Laura:

I do.

Laura:

Yes, I, that is my gig.

Laura:

So I hope I know the answer to this.

Laura:

Uh, yeah.

Laura:

So dynamic microphones, uh, work differently than condenser microphones

Laura:

because they require a little bit more physical energy to move a coil.

Laura:

around a magnet that then converts your acoustic energy into electrical signal.

Laura:

So that's why they're better in untreated spaces because it's not

Laura:

going to react and capture as many sounds like your HVAC, your dog that's

Laura:

laying on the floor next to you.

Laura:

Not that I have that right now.

Laura:

And, uh, you know, different sounds or reverberations around

Laura:

your room, whereas a condenser microphone is built for the studio.

Laura:

Uh, built for treated spaces, not to say you can't use a condenser mic

Laura:

on stage because this is my favorite vocal microphone that we make.

Laura:

It's called the SM86 and it is a stage condenser mic, but you just have to

Laura:

have a little bit more awareness.

Laura:

and technique to know that a condenser mic is going to pick up

Laura:

more, so you need to get close to it.

Laura:

And you just need to be aware if you're in a wildly loud or reverberant space,

Laura:

condensers are going to be that much harder to not pick up or to make not pick

Laura:

up all the things around you, if that

Ian:

Yeah, that makes sense.

Ian:

And like a friend of mine, Mike Russell, who's been on the show, he's, he spent

Ian:

a lot of money in his microphone.

Ian:

It's a condenser microphone, but he spent a lot of money on treating.

Ian:

His studio space.

Ian:

So it's like perfect audio.

Ian:

And so like, fine, that's great.

Ian:

But for most of us who don't have that luxury of, of treating our space, I think,

Ian:

you know, I assume you would agree a dynamic microphone makes a lot more sense.

Ian:

Uh, some people like struggle with the idea of having it in shot.

Ian:

Like both of us, we've got our microphones in shot.

Ian:

I love that from a branding point of view, you know, I've got a mic flag here.

Ian:

You know, you mentioned with your microphone, the shore microphone,

Ian:

you You can brand it as well with different colors, which is awesome.

Ian:

But not everyone is into the microphone and shot side of things.

Ian:

And I would say, well, And if this sounds very unkind, but you kind of

Ian:

have to get over that, but like, do you have a, what's your view on that?

Ian:

Do you, would you agree with that?

Ian:

Or do you, yeah.

Ian:

What do you think?

Laura:

Yes, I do agree with that, that if you want the best sound,

Laura:

the closer you can get to your mic, the more it's going to pick up

Laura:

just your voice and nothing else.

Laura:

And when you're doing something like this, where spoken word is so

Laura:

important, you need it to be close.

Laura:

It gives you that depth and richness.

Laura:

If I were to move this out of my shot, you know, auto level mode will accommodate.

Laura:

a little bit more, not out of my shot.

Laura:

My shot's too wide, but you know, move it away from me.

Laura:

You're hearing more of the reverberance in my

Laura:

room.

Laura:

So that's, I love this.

Laura:

I love being close to the mic and getting that richness and depth.

Laura:

And also I'm speaking off axis on the mic.

Laura:

I always tell people that.

Laura:

So you were mentioning with the blue Yeti that, you know, you have to address

Laura:

it from the side and not from the top, which a lot of people were doing.

Laura:

This one is a front address microphone, but if you do go straight on axis,

Laura:

you might have plosives, even

Laura:

though this has a digital pop or stop or two.

Laura:

I forgot to mention that.

Laura:

Um, I just, I just turn a little bit and it helps, but, um, yeah, if you're wanting

Laura:

the camera to not be in shot, you You have some options, but the real thing that

Laura:

you'd want to do if you're doing that is to use a lavalier mic, which is one that

Laura:

you would physically wear, and then you're just not as aware of it, which we do make.

Laura:

We make some really great lavaliers.

Laura:

I've got them all here.

Laura:

So, um, yes.

Ian:

But, but it's not, there's something about using a dynamic microphone,

Ian:

having it up close that I think it gives that more of that intimacy.

Ian:

Like if you're listening to the podcast now, as opposed to maybe watching it

Ian:

through speakers or through your phone.

Ian:

There's something about the fact that we're using these dynamic microphones.

Ian:

It feels like you're just here with us in the same room, even though

Ian:

we're not in the same room where, you know, thousands of miles apart.

Ian:

It has that intimacy because, because we're kind of close up to the microphone.

Ian:

I think I wanted to ask you, we will get onto other stuff too, but since you've

Ian:

said, no, no so much about microphones and audio, I want to ask you all these audio

Ian:

questions and you obviously do sing it.

Ian:

You do a lot of singing.

Ian:

Um, do you use that same microphone for singing.

Ian:

How versatile is it?

Ian:

Can you use it for, you know, obviously for podcasting for video?

Ian:

Can you use it for other types of content like singing and music?

Laura:

absolutely.

Laura:

People use the MV7 Plus and MV7 a lot to do, uh, multiple recording type scenarios.

Laura:

It's really great on guitar, uh, especially electric guitar, you know,

Laura:

cabinets because it can take a lot of what's called SPL, sound pressure level.

Laura:

Um, but when I do a live stream that's music based, I

Laura:

will use my performance stage.

Laura:

Microphone the sm86 or our new nexodyne, which I don't have right in front of me.

Laura:

Oh fail Uh, but you know that's I will use that because I want to have that

Laura:

same experience because i'm when I do my live streams and it's music based I run

Laura:

it into A vocal effects processor and then I have a little bit more control.

Laura:

So can I use this to do studio vocals?

Laura:

Yes, but I am spoiled and have you know schmancier side address condenser

Laura:

mics that I use I use for that.

Laura:

That's the technical term.

Laura:

Schmancier.

Ian:

I like that.

Ian:

And how just this is just my own kind of because I've I've really

Ian:

interested in the other microphone.

Ian:

The SM remind me of it the SM

Laura:

86.

Ian:

86.

Ian:

So how does that compare to like, the one that is loved all

Ian:

around the world, the SM 58.

Ian:

How, I mean, the SM 58 is.

Ian:

I'm assuming a dynamic microphone, but you have to excuse my ignorance.

Ian:

Yeah.

Laura:

No, you're not.

Laura:

You're

Laura:

fine.

Laura:

I mean, I don't have my, I don't have my 58, my SM 58.

Laura:

I have a beta 58, but I have the SM 57 here.

Laura:

And so this is a dynamic microphone.

Laura:

It is the industry standard because it's nearly indestructible.

Laura:

Sounds great.

Laura:

Sound engineers know how to make it work on spoken.

Laura:

Uh, word, vocals, instruments.

Laura:

You could put SM57 or SM58 on a number of different things.

Laura:

And if you look at the SM86 capsule, as opposed to, I'm going to do

Laura:

this one, I'll take my Beta 58 because it looks just like an SM58.

Laura:

Here's your differences.

Laura:

And for those who are listening, the SM58, the Beta 58, they use the same, uh,

Laura:

cartridge It has a much bigger design.

Laura:

This is using that dynamic technology where there's a diaphragm, a magnet

Laura:

in here, and a coil surrounding it.

Laura:

Whereas the SM86 is so much more delicate and small.

Laura:

This is a condenser microphone again.

Laura:

And the way condensers work is that instead of having the

Laura:

magnet and the coil, they have an electrically charged backplate.

Laura:

So if you've ever come across something called phantom power.

Laura:

That's providing that electrical charge to the back plate.

Laura:

There's a teeny space in between allowing the diaphragm to move and agitate

Laura:

that and create that, that signal.

Laura:

So totally different design and it responds so differently.

Laura:

And, and it's just, it's a beautiful mic.

Laura:

I love it.

Ian:

well, it does, it does look very nice too.

Ian:

So that's really interesting.

Ian:

I'm wanting to incorporate a lot more music into what I do.

Ian:

Um, you know, not sure unless I bring back my silly songs, but you

Ian:

never know if, if you enjoyed the silly songs in the past, let me know.

Ian:

But yeah, I've, I've been thinking a lot more about making this space that

Ian:

I'm in, not just for podcasting and video creation, but also bringing my

Ian:

music into what I do too, which is.

Ian:

Obviously what you're doing and I'm gonna definitely check out your life.

Ian:

Do you still do live streams with your me with your music making?

Laura:

Those are few and far between these

Laura:

days.

Laura:

It was happening a lot in COVID.

Laura:

I, I would do happy hours and just, you know, for my own sanity, uh, just do some

Laura:

stuff, but there's, you can see stuff.

Laura:

Um, one of the best ones I did was with the Women's International Music

Laura:

Network, and it was called the She Rocks Spotlight, and I got to do a really

Laura:

cool performance in this same room.

Laura:

So you can hear what it sounds like and it sounds like, um, you know, a live

Laura:

recording, but in a, in a home studio.

Laura:

So that was really fun.

Ian:

Awesome.

Ian:

Well, we've spoken a lot about microphones, but we need to quickly go

Ian:

through the other parts of your studio.

Ian:

So if you're watching, you'll be noticing obviously Laura's camera.

Ian:

Tell us about your camera.

Ian:

Do you have just one camera?

Ian:

Do you have multiple cameras?

Ian:

Tell us about what you, why you chose what you've got.

Laura:

Uh, so I have a Sony ZV E10 as my main camera, and I really don't

Laura:

have a ton of need to do, uh, other angles for the type of content that

Laura:

I'm creating, but I do have the OBSBOT, I always get that wrong, over here,

Laura:

the tiny.

Laura:

I love this little guy.

Laura:

And so that's on another boom arm over here, so I can do product

Laura:

shots, or I can have, you know, just another thing to switch to.

Laura:

And I use my Elgato Stream Deck for that.

Laura:

I haven't bit the bullet and upgraded that one, so I'm still

Laura:

using the OG with the, you know, USB, whatever it is, A connector.

Laura:

Um, but it works fine, and I love it.

Laura:

Uh, and so that's my, my camera setup, and my lighting is just a basic, uh, box light

Laura:

that I bought from Amazon a long time ago, probably seven or eight years ago.

Laura:

And I got a kit of four of them that came with the stands,

Laura:

the lights, and it's huge.

Laura:

And I need to change that as well, but it works.

Laura:

So

Laura:

until it doesn't,

Ian:

That's the thing.

Ian:

There's always, there's always this like never ending kind of list of

Ian:

things that we're going to get.

Ian:

You've also got, you've got like a, is it like neon lights or you got this kind of

Ian:

lit up text, but so tell us about that.

Ian:

Cause I'm really interested in that in the background.

Laura:

Yeah.

Laura:

So that, uh, we bought for a trade show called she podcasts live, and

Laura:

then the show did not end up happening, which was super sad because it's a

Laura:

great, uh, Great organization and I love that group of ladies, but um,

Laura:

I got to keep the sign, uh, because it just became part of my brand.

Laura:

So it says Sound Extraordinary, which is a Shore tagline and um, yeah, and

Laura:

then I have actually up a little bit.

Laura:

So those beautiful pieces of artwork on the top, my daughter's made.

Laura:

And they are acoustic panels

Ian:

Oh, cool.

Laura:

which when at Ecamm Creator Camp, I was teaching people that you can just

Laura:

go to Michaels, buy a basic canvas, paint it how you want, design it how you want,

Laura:

and put some foam batting behind it, and it'll help dampen the sounds in your room.

Laura:

So, my daughters made those and they're awesome, so they're up top.

Ian:

Awesome.

Ian:

Well, we're going to come back to like your, your studio.

Ian:

Um, and what the personalization of it in a minute, but I forgot to

Ian:

ask you about your, your boom arm.

Ian:

You mentioned that a little bit, but you also got another boom arm for your.

Ian:

camera.

Ian:

Um, and I want to ask you about like shock mounts.

Ian:

Do you need, just doesn't look like half a shot.

Ian:

My, do you need a shock mount or do you not?

Ian:

Uh, tell us a little bit about what you've got set up there.

Ian:

Cause I do love the look of your.

Ian:

Of of the boom.

Ian:

Mom.

Ian:

It looks cool.

Laura:

Thank you.

Laura:

Yes, this, I, I'm tapping on the desk and you really can't hear it.

Laura:

It has very good isolation because it has this great, uh, base on the bottom

Laura:

that kind of alleviates and buffers the tapping on the, the keyboard.

Laura:

So I have that.

Laura:

And, and, yeah, nothing else.

Laura:

This is kind of isolating it as well.

Laura:

Uh, and it comes with an extender for the SM seven DB so that you can put

Laura:

it on here and 'cause the SM seven db, which I also have right here, uh, has

Laura:

this guy that gets a little too close to it when you, when you plug it in, so.

Laura:

This is a great boom arm.

Laura:

I can't say enough good things about,

Ian:

What's the, what's the name of the boom?

Ian:

Mom?

Ian:

Just remind me the name.

Laura:

Oh goodness.

Laura:

It's, you would ask me that it's

Laura:

the Gator broadcast.

Laura:

Um,

Ian:

It's in the show notes.

Ian:

It's in the

Laura:

it is.

Laura:

I did link it.

Laura:

I

Laura:

linked it.

Laura:

I did.

Laura:

I linked it with a bundle on shore.

Laura:

com cause you can get the mic, the boom arm and some

Laura:

headphones, which are SRH 440 A's.

Laura:

These are great headphones.

Laura:

I see Anne's wearing some headphones right now.

Laura:

I'm an earphone kind of gal when I'm recording cause my hair, you

Laura:

know, but, um, These I use all the time when I record my podcast.

Laura:

So there's a sweet bundle in there.

Laura:

Save some money.

Ian:

that's, that sounds good.

Ian:

Yeah.

Ian:

And I would wear earphones.

Ian:

I just, I'm lazy.

Ian:

The, I just put these on

Laura:

Just throw them on there.

Laura:

I love it.

Ian:

short by gator, deluxe articulating desktop, microphone, boom, stand,

Laura:

I totally botched that one, Ian.

Laura:

Don't tell my boss.

Laura:

Okay.

Laura:

Our secret's safe with us, right?

Laura:

Mm

Laura:

hmm.

Ian:

it's all, it's all good.

Ian:

Computer.

Ian:

What computer or devices do you use?

Ian:

And have you got anything as special set up all that?

Ian:

Or is it pretty simple?

Laura:

It's pretty simple.

Laura:

You know, it's funny when I was going into the show notes, I was like,

Laura:

my computer, it's a work computer.

Laura:

I have over here a studio, um, computer, which is an iMac, which I never use

Laura:

for, I only use that for music creation.

Laura:

I, I purposefully bought it and I try to keep it off the internet and keep it safe.

Laura:

keep it, you know, clean as possible.

Laura:

Um, this one is a 2019 MacBook Pro.

Laura:

And I was like, wow, that's not a new one, but it's working.

Laura:

Sometimes she sounds like she's on fire, but you know, I do I

Laura:

do make her work pretty hard.

Laura:

So that's, what I'm using and that's it.

Laura:

That's

Laura:

why I love this.

Laura:

As creators, our lives are so easy right now.

Laura:

Like

Laura:

you could just go and I always use Ecamm Live.

Laura:

It's my, my choice for live streaming, um, because it's just so easy too.

Laura:

And the community is so great.

Laura:

So that's my setup.

Laura:

Uh,

Ian:

the, Opening up for the first time that it's it's great.

Ian:

Love it.

Ian:

Okay, we are running out of time But I did want to quickly before

Ian:

we get to the quick family round.

Ian:

I did want to ask you about Your space because of the personalization, I

Ian:

think matters a lot to how have you made your studio space uniquely yours

Ian:

to foster creativity and productivity.

Ian:

So you can do your best work where you are.

Laura:

the desk that I'm using right now, I wish I could show

Laura:

you, but it's such a mess.

Laura:

I would die.

Laura:

It has been such a game changer for me.

Laura:

It's from Amazon.

Laura:

It's in the show notes.

Laura:

I think, I hope I gave a link there.

Laura:

It's just the perfect workspace because I have, there's like

Laura:

this little shelf in front of me.

Laura:

I have all my mics here.

Laura:

So as you see me pulling them out like a magic show, they're all right there.

Laura:

And then I have my headphones hanging up on the wall right here.

Laura:

I have three monitors, you know, I have this light rig and I have these boom

Laura:

arms and this desk is just perfect.

Laura:

And it's a standup desk too.

Laura:

So I can push a button.

Laura:

It's like, and it raises up.

Laura:

So that has been very key.

Laura:

I fought it for several years.

Laura:

I just got this in December and I'm.

Laura:

So, so happy with it.

Laura:

But my biggest thing is that I have to have a situation where I can just sit

Laura:

down, boot up the computer, and hit record in as few steps as possible or

Laura:

else I'm just gonna get, my ADD is gonna take me off into 17 other directions.

Laura:

So that's, that's my key piece of gear is my desk, I think.

Laura:

Yes.

Ian:

I've been so with you on that one.

Ian:

You just get rid of all the all the barriers in the way.

Ian:

So you can just create it.

Ian:

And it's a cool desk.

Ian:

This is the, I don't know how you pronounce it.

Ian:

The air gear electric standing desk with double drawers.

Ian:

I won't go through the whole title, but it looks really awesome.

Ian:

And I, I love mine's a standing desk too.

Ian:

It gives you that flexibility to be able to either stand up or sit down.

Ian:

I'm currently sitting down, but sometimes I like to stand up.

Ian:

You've got all of all of that together.

Ian:

Wow.

Ian:

We've, we could, we could go on so much more talking about all this, but

Ian:

we are Time for the quickfire round.

Ian:

So you have a minute.

Ian:

You've got to go with your gut reaction with these.

Ian:

So let's cue the music and let's see how this is going to work.

Ian:

Okay.

Ian:

So number one, ring lights, good or bad?

Laura:

Bad.

Ian:

Okay.

Ian:

Stream deck, essential or optional?

Laura:

Essential.

Ian:

Love it.

Ian:

Okay.

Ian:

Next question.

Ian:

Microphone in or out of shot?

Laura:

And we covered this.

Laura:

In.

Laura:

It's gotta be in.

Ian:

Webcam or fancy camera?

Laura:

Fancy camera.

Laura:

100%.

Ian:

gotta be standing desk or sitting desk.

Ian:

We've already talked about this.

Laura:

Yep.

Laura:

Standing.

Ian:

Standing.

Ian:

Okay, one big monitor or dual monitors.

Laura:

Well, I got three, so I'm, I'm

Laura:

gonna go

Ian:

wow.

Ian:

Okay, three.

Ian:

Background music.

Ian:

Is it a mood setter or a distraction?

Laura:

Distraction.

Ian:

Yeah, I'm with you on that one.

Ian:

Coffee or tea while recording?

Laura:

Coffee.

Laura:

All day.

Laura:

Every day.

Ian:

Uh, sitting or standing?

Laura:

Uh, podcasting, sitting, singing, standing.

Ian:

Oh, cool.

Ian:

Acoustic panels, aesthetic choice, or acoustic essential?

Laura:

Acoustic essential!

Laura:

No.

Laura:

Not.

Laura:

I don't know.

Laura:

It's both.

Laura:

It's both.

Ian:

As I said, there's no right or wrong with these, but uh, you

Ian:

gotta go with your gut reaction.

Ian:

Um, I was gonna ask you so many other things, like, you know, what would

Ian:

be your dream setup and all this kind of stuff, but we are out of time.

Ian:

Trying to keep these short and sweet.

Ian:

Thank you so much, Laura.

Ian:

It's been great to have you on the show.

Ian:

You will be back with another episode, but tell us how listeners,

Ian:

viewers can connect with you.

Ian:

They want, if they have any questions, where do you tend to hang out?

Laura:

Uh, I hang out on Instagram a lot, so at Laura Clap Music, C-L-A-P-P.

Laura:

That's my artist name.

Laura:

Uh, laura clap.com or Song 43.

Laura:

Uh, that's my podcast so you can find me there.

Ian:

Awesome.

Ian:

Thank you so much, Laura.

Ian:

It's been great to have you on the show.

Ian:

We are out of time.

Ian:

Uh, thank you so much for plugging us into your ears and watching us on YouTube.

Ian:

If that's where you're watching us, do check out the website at IAG.

Ian:

me forward slash podcast, where you can see previous.

Ian:

episodes, listen to them, watch them, read the blog posts, but until next

Ian:

time, I encourage you to level up your impact, authority, and profits

Ian:

to the power of confident live video.

Ian:

See you soon.

Ian:

Toodaloo!

Ian:

Thanks for listening to the Confident Live Marketing Podcast with Ian Anderson Gray.

Ian:

Make sure you subscribe at iag.me/podcast so you can continue to level up

Ian:

your impact, authority and profits through the power of live video.

Ian:

And until next time, Toodle