What do I need to do voiceovers at home?

I have a background in radio, albeit many years ago. A time when there where CDs, NAB Carts and yes, even vinyl. A time before automation where most broadcasts on radio where live with the odd pre-recorded hour on a reel of tape. After a few years away on other projects I’m now back doing the odd bit of radio and, as a result picking up voice work too.

In the past I would have to go into the studio to do a radio show or record a voice-over, these days things are much easier as you can do both from home. Easier from a time perspective maybe, as it cuts out travelling – but now the expense is with you as a performer to provide the equipment in your own home studio. So, what exactly do you need?

If you’re first starting out and trying to gain some basic work and experience the answer is surprisingly ‘not much’. A quiet room with a good quality microphone and digital recorder is pretty much it. Obviously a computer to edit your audio afterwards and some free audio editing software.

What, no mixer? Indeed, no mixer! Unless you are doing anything ‘live’ or perhaps recording ‘voicetrack’ remotely for radio then you don’t need a mixer. As good as the mixer may be, it gives the opportunity to introduce ‘noise’ to your audio. Consider also that the sound card on most computers are pretty basic (they are really optimised for outputting sound rather than recording quality). A good quality digital recorder is much better.

If you find you have the opportunity to do something live or voicetrack for radio then you will need a mixer – I use a simple 10 channel USB mixer just for this purpose, everything else is straight to the recorder then transferred to the PC for editing.

So, what do I need?

Soundproofing – some people can spend thousands here. Let’s make things simple – a quiet room with some basic sound insulation will give you a very acceptable solution. By insulation I mean an acoustic shield that will reduce unwelcome noise and give you a better ‘sound’. In the early days I even made an acoustic shield using a large cardboard box lined internally with acoustic foam and placed my microphone inside! It sounded just as good as the shield I use today, but now the box has retired I have heaps more room on my desk! The box is still great for when I need to record away from home – perhaps in a hotel, or even in the car! (yes, I get strange looks!)

A few musings…

Why your employees shouldn’t record your company messages

What are IVR, Phone Prompts and Message on Hold?

What do I need to do voiceovers at home?