Hello y’all
I am new to using audacity as I am just starting to do voice overs as a hobby/part time work.
Can anyone point me in the right direction so I know what settings to record on, etc , so that the voice overs sound as professional as possible. Thanks!
Do you have an car and an iPhone?
Koz
Thank you Trebor.
Yeah, I don’t know what mix is talking about.
Where you record has more importance on the final result that any [Audacity] effects applied afterward.
Professional voice-overs are done in a booth which has 4" thick sound-absorbent-material on the walls.
Sitting in the back-seat of a well-upholstered car would be a better approximation to that than most domestic rooms.
Alternatively some sort of indoor tent … https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=images+sound+booth+tent+PVC
Do you have an car and an iPhone?
Right. So that takes care of your studio (and we wouldn’t mind an actual answer). Way over half of the postings on the forum have to do with problems recording on a computer. We should remember that USB microphones (Yeti, etc, etc,) can never get more than about 6 feet (2M) from the computer. That means your computer can make no (as in zero) noise. Can you tell if your computer is on just by listening? Kiss of death for live recording.
Do you use your computer for other jobs such as Zoom, Skype, Meetings, Games, or transmission sound recordings? Those can create bunches of problems for clean production recording.
I can’t find it right this second, but I shot a voice test on my iPhone SE using the Voice Memos application on a wooden board on a cardboard box in my garage. I shot it later after most of the traffic went away, but you can totally do that.
One of the production assistants where I used to work routinely turned in terrific voice clips for production. I asked him how he did it since I know he has noisy kids and pets at home. “I shot them in my Toyota.”
A local restaurant is relatively quiet and doesn’t have background music. What where I shot his interview—on my phone.
So no, I wasn’t joshing. Get a stable quiet recording environment and get that half of it working first. If you don’t, you’re going to spend weeks patching voice sound damage if you even get that far.
Koz
This is from the garage shoot. I can’t find the longer version.
The last thing you want is to sound like you recorded something in your mum’s kitchen.
There was a Youtube channel that had the visuals, graphics, backgrounds, and production values absolutely down cold, but he sounded exactly like his bathroom. I couldn’t watch it.
Koz
Thank you all, I really do appreciate the advice and tips!
I really do appreciate the advice and tips!
Audacity, as a fuzzy rule, doesn’t apply filters, effects, or corrections during recording. You have to get it right during the performance because there is no “Professional Filter” later during post production.
There’s no shortage of microphone ads that insist you can set their microphone up on the kitchen table, record audiobooks, and make a fortune. Their goal is to sell microphones.
Rooms that look like this are pretty, but they make sound people want to run and hide.
Koz