Home Brew Audio

Home Brew Audio

Voice Over Recording

Voice Over Recording While Camping–The Zoom H2 Saves My Butt

by 3 Comments

H2 MicYou’d think it would be a pretty good bet that I could take a week off without having to record any audio.  After all, I’d had to actively submit auditions for all the voice over jobs I’d gotten at that point.  So you might imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail on the 2nd day out (why was I checking e-mail?  Brand new iPhone…but that’s a different story:)) I received an offer for a voice over job I hadn’t even auditioned for.  And they couldn’t wait a week.  It was take-it-or-leave-it.  So I decided to give it a shot.  Here is all the equipment I had with me.
1.  iPhone
3.  Netbook computer with an 11 hour battery life
We were going to be doing some singing, which is the only reason I had the recorder.
Anyway, here is how it went.  The client e-mailed some scripts and instructions.  I used my iPhone to read the scripts, holding it in one hand, and recorded all my parts while holding the Zoom H2 in my other hand.  Once I had recorded all my files, I ejected the SD card from the H2 and put it into my netbook.  I used the Internet Tethering feature of the iPhone to connect my netbook to the web, downloaded Audacity, and edited the audio files (noise gating and reduction, cutting out bad takes, etc.).  Finally I uploaded the files to the client’s website.
It was definitely a first for me.  What made it work was that the Zoom H2 can record at up to 24-bit/96kHz on its stereo mic setup.  The client specifically requested a minimum of 24 bit and a 44.1 KHz sampling rate.  I could not have done it with a really cruddy mic.

If you’d like to get an idea of how the audio turned out, listen to the audio here:
[jwplayer config=”Custom Audio Player” mediaid=”3485″]
So now I know there is no reason to ever fear losing out on a recording gig when I’m on the go.  All 3 required items fit very easily into a quite small hand bag or back pack.
Happy recording!
Ken
ps – By popular demand, here is an audio clip from the actual job – the final audio sent to the client.
[jwplayer config=”Custom Audio Player” mediaid=”11049″]

Reaper Tutorial Video

by 4 Comments

Reaper_tutorial_pic-300After several folks asked for this, I went ahead and did a video on the basic use of Reaper digital audio workstation (DAW) software.  In 10 minutes, I demonstrate how to create a voice over with background music, then a song with piano accompaniment (if a very brief song;-))), using midi and a virtual instrument.
I also include how to use Audacity along with Reaper for the tracking and editing software “1-2-punch.”
I put the first video up on YouTube, but it was pretty blurry.  so I put up the new one here:

I’ve also embedded it into this post for your viewing pleasure:
I’ll be adding more Reaper videos to the tutorial collection very soon.
Cheers,
Ken

Voice Over Recording Using Audacity and a $49.00 USB Mic

by 10 Comments

In order to demonstrate how professional sounding voice over recordings can be made (and in turn, voice over jobs be gotten) with very inexpensive home recording studios, I decided to do a quick demo.  Take a listen to the below recording.  It was recorded with a home studio that would cost you about as much as the USB mic I used, which is to say $49.00.  Uh, huh.  You heard right.  If you already have a computer, you can set up a recording studio that can produce voice recordings like this for only about $49.00.  I’ll say it one…more…time just for effect.  You can start a home recording studio for $49.00!
I recorded about a minute or so of an article I wrote to create this demonstration.

Recording Gear Used

Samson Q1U

1.  A run-of-the-mill Windows XP (Intel Core Duo, 3 GB RAM)
2.  The Samson Q1U USB Microphone
3.  Free recording software called Audacity
That was all I used.  Here is how it came out:
[jwplayer config=”Custom Audio Player-200″ mediaid=”14417″]

The Step-By-Step

1.  I plugged the USB mic into a USB port on my computer
2.  I opened Audacity
3.  I selected “Samson Q1U” as my recording device under “Edit/Preferences” in Audacity
4.  I clicked the “Record” button in Audacity and spoke into the mic.
5.  I performed the following edits on the recorded audio using Audacity FX tools:
a.  Equalization and high-pass filter to reduce p-pops and other overly bass-y bits
b.  Compression to even out the volume
c.  Silencing and Cutting audio to cut out retakes and silent bits that were a little too long
d.  Normalization to turn up overall volume to the point where the loudest bit of audio is JUST below 0 dB (the loudest that digital audio can be before distorting)
That was it.  Then I just saved it as an mp3 and uploaded it.
If you’d like to get started learning to do this, check out our articles and video tutorials.  Or you could snag The Newbies Guide To Audio Recording, our main tutorial course.

VoiceOver Jobs: Where to Find Them and How to Get Them

by 17 Comments

voiceover jobs from homeVoice over jobs are posted by the dozens every day on just one site.  So there are probably hundreds or thousands available daily.  Many of those won’t be available to the public, but the ones on the site I mentioned before definitely are.  That site is Voices.Com.  It’s free to sign up for a profile, and as soon as you do you get to start putting up samples of you voice recordings.

Making The Recordings

That last part might scare some people, but don’t let it put you off at all.  If you have a computer, you won’t need to spend more than about $49 to start making professional sounding voice over recordings.  And that’s only if you don’t already have a half-way decent mic.  $59 is about the minimum price for a USB mic (such as the Samson Q2U) that can yield good quality audio.  Then if you don’t have any voice recording software yet, simply download the free tracking and mixing program called Audacity.  To figure out how to make recordings with Audacity, do an internet search for tutorials.  Or you could check out the Home Brew Audio tutorials on Audacity here: Recording Tutorials.

Audition for The Voice Over Jobs

Once you have some demo recordings you can upload them to your Voices.com profile.  But the real potential is in auditioning for open jobs.  Voices.com will send you notices when voice over jobs get posted, and all you have to do is go to the listing for the job, find out what kind of voice-over they want, quote your price and send the recording in for your audition.  Each job posting will have specific details, like what their budget range is (the minimum is $100), and what type of voice they need.  The listing will also usually (I’d say 90 percent of the time) contain an attached script that will have parts of what the client is looking for.  I highly recommend you record from that script for your audition.  This is called a “custom” audition and will be much more targeted to what the client needs, which will increase your chances of getting the job.  One thing to be careful of at this stage is protecting your recording.  If a client is looking for just one paragraph for the entire job, and they provide that paragraph as the audition, anyone who reads the entire thing will have given the client what they need already.  Less scrupulous folks can (and have) simply use the audition to fill their job without having to pay you.  Preventing this is pretty easy.  Either don’t read 100% of the script, or insert a “watermark” to make it impractical for the the audition to be used as a final product.

Getting the Jobs

Here is where knowing the reality of a situation can make the difference between success and failure.  Before doing any of this, you should know that as with any acting job, voice over jobs are highly competitive.  I would venture a guess that you will get a job about every 100 auditions.  This sounds bad but really it isn’t.  If you know it going in, you won’t be ready to throw in the towel when your 50th audition still has not yielded one job.  Do at least 100 before even starting to get discouraged.  The people who succeed in this business are the ones who are persistent and focused.
There are lots of tips on the web about how to make the best recordings for voice overs, how to increase you odds of getting voice over jobs, etc.  One such source of advice is the Home Brew Audio website.  However you decide to proceed, good luck in your new voice-over career!

If I Want To Begin A Home Recording Studio For Audio Books?

by 4 Comments

Below is the latest in Home Recording Yahoo Answers Q&As.  There is a bit of a departure in this question, as it relates primarily to starting an audio business.  Also, the answer that was posted is pretty much in line with our advice!  That, also, is a departure from the norm;).  See the Home Brew Audio reply to this question at the end of the post.
Q: I am thinking about putting together a home audio studio to record audio books. Any ideas what equipment I might need? I already have a microphone with a usb hook-up. Will I also need an interface of some kind? And what about a sound room? Can you make much money recording audio books? Thanks.
A: With a USB mic you can download audacity and start recording right away. Record in a small room or build your own isolation booth to reduce room noise in the recording.
There might be some legal issues to worry about regarding rights to the work. I have no idea who to contact about that . Maybe the publisher, if you can find out who that is.
On the budget question, I can see going either way. You’ll probably wont make much unless you land a deal to do a lot of books or something like that, which is actually pretty unlikely and rare.

Here is the Home Brew Audio answer.

We agree with starting out using the USB mic.  If the mic is close enough to your mouth, and you don’t have a lot of noise in the room, you don’t really need a sound room.  However, anything you can do to reduce room noise (the reverb and echo that comes off the walls in the room) and other noise (babies crying, dogs, lawn mowers, etc.) would be helpful.  We disagree with the “small room” aspect of the published answer.  A bedroom would probably suffice, but the bigger the room, the longer it takes sound waves to travel to walls and ceilings and back again, so close-mic-ing will work better (less echo and reverb).
There are two excellent articles on this site that will help you. First is about voice-over recording and how to get started – Voice Over Jobs: Useful Tips For Landing Them and the 5-part series How to Build a Home Recording Studio.
As far as the money to be made — voice over work is extremely competitive.  there is money to be made, but you have to be VERY persistent about auditioning for work.  BTW, do NOT just read a copyrighted book and try to sell it.  That is extremely illegal.  If you want to sell your own book projects, go to Librivox.org for a catalogue of books in the public domain.
Cheers!
Ken