Great advice, rarely emphasized by professionals. Experienced sound reinforcement folks have learned that the FIRST thing you do with a microphone is point the back end (of a unidirectional) TOWARD the noise sources you don't want to pick. That's TOWARD the on-stage floor monitor speakers, the sound reinforcement speakers, the air conditioner vents, the glass doors, and the bare walls in the room. What's that? You can't succeed in getting everything ideal? Of course not. Two priorities: eliminate most of the issues and then cheat, the best you can. Optimize the back of the mic and then place the talent (you) so as to addresses the front. Moving to the middle of the room is so fundamental and yet not obvious. Thanks for the rundown.
Excellent video! I use a professional quality Harlan Hogan, "Porta-Booth," instead of a homemade one that works wonders. I'm definitely going to try out the moving blanket setup.
Awesome explanation on echo and excellent methods William! The best way of having a high quality audio is eliminating the echo by positioning the recording space properly before recording.
I was not expecting much from this video, but I highly underestimated you. This video was actually extremely helpful, even tho it's not what I needed, or thought I needed. my room and setup doesn't echo much, cost me $50. This will help make it even better. Thank you!
Thank you for these tips. I've been too hung up in aesthetics of placement with my workstation in the middle of a room that was basically a huge echo chamber
Thanks very much! I make science video tutorials and have tried a variety of methods to make the voiceovers sound better. I'll for sure be trying a few of these tips! Subscribed!
Wish I had seen this when I first started in Voice Acting!! I probably would have gotten a few of those roles I lost due to echo and noise!! Thanks so much for this anyway!!
This is a very useful video. Thank you. I'll employ some of the ideas here, with others from videos that I've seen where people show a practical step by step actual setup and recording samples.
I just got my first project through ACX. First-time narrator Before this, I was in vocal music I already own: Shure SM58 dynamic condensor XLR mic Popfilter Isolation ball Shockmount Mic stand with boom arm Isolation shield IRig Pro Duo interface Laptop PC with Audacity and ACX plugin and large monitor to read material My biggest issue is sound proofing. I have a designated recording space that I have tried to soundproof, because reverb is a huge problem. Am I good to go? I'm really nervous about this. My auditions have all met ACX standards. Should I record in Audacity, or can I just use the voice recorder app on my computer and upload the files to Audacity?
*This video is **#WRONG** in the fact that you can face sitting the wall - so long as you put up a moving blanket on the wall. Sitting facing the room is still going to create room echo. You need to blanket both in front of the mic and behind the mic.* *That DYI box is only good for singing. It is useless for **#READING** voice overs, as it makes it impossible to see the script !!! And lastly, if you still have a "noisy computer" in 2020 - then buying a new computer should be the first item on your list !!!*
Thanks for your thoughts. I suggest facing out into the room because the sensitivity of a typical cardioid mic is 20-30dB lower from the rear. to quote the audio-tehnica site "This means that by rotating the cardioid microphone 180°, so that it faces directly away from the sound source, the sound will “look” to the microphone as if it had moved TEN TIMES farther away! ". I use an ipad to read the script.
