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