Questions on doing voice-over work

[FamousAdventurer77]

I'm interested in doing voice-over work for games since I've always been praised for my voice quality (a little deep but very clear, and I can do a lot of things with my voice-- my old boss on Wall St used to tell me I had the perfect phone voice) and I used to sing in a band, these days I do guest vox with another band, so it's something I'm very comfortable doing.

Pretty much, how would I get started in terms of equipment? What kind of mic/recording device should I be looking at? Any specific software?

[Dave Gilbert]

You're in New York, yes?  Send me a demo reel!

Edit: But to answer your question, I use a blue yeti mic for all my VO recording now.  It's very reasonable and I've been very happy with it.

[FamousAdventurer77]

Hey Dave! Unfortunately I don't have one from the days in which I sang. Last band I played in, I was the bassist and they didn't use my voice (ha probably because I was louder than the singer whenever I did backups! I do still have that demo. But if CIAT is playing any time soon, you can witness it in person when they play my theme song.

Blue Yeti-- will be deal-hunting for that, thanks! From what I've seen, it connects with USB so I guess cuts out the need for any other devices?

[DoorKnobHandle]

USB mics are good for beginners but I would advice for a 'real' setup which has the advantage of being much more flexible, if you want to add some good hardware effects (compressor, EQ, de-esser, reverb and so on) you can put them in, you can use a real tube pre-amplifier and so on and so forth. USB mics are cheaper but they can't really do most of that, at least not in realtime (ie. you hear what you're recording with the effects already applied and such luxuries).

I would suggest the Audio Technica AT2020 as far as USB microphones go (make sure to get the USB version, I believe it also exists as a normal XLR mic) just because lots of people use it and it never fails to impress in quality. It should be just below 100$ at the moment which as far as I can tell is cheaper then the Blue Yeti, can't say anything as to how the quality differs.

If you have a little more money to spend, I can heartily recommend a Rode NT1A and a Behringer Ultra Voice Pro combo. These items should be around 250$, it's a real set-up, it's got professional quality and it is flexible in the ways mentioned before. Make sure to get a pop filter, a good mic stand (you don't want vibrations) and maybe buy/collect diffusors for the walls (make your own little vocal booth in a corner of a room or something) and it'll be just about unbeatable for that kind of money.

As far as software goes (your DAW as it is often times called, your audio recording, editing and exporting tool basically) you won't need very much, Audacity should be fine. That's open source and you can record as many tracks as you want, the new versions can load up VST plugins (your digital effects, if you need any, like reverb, delay and so on) and it can export to MP3s and OGG files. I don't really see the need for voice actors to invest in expensive and complicated audio programs.

Hope this helps!

[FamousAdventurer77]

The suggestions are a wee bit out of my budget range ATM, but thanks so much for your input! A friend of mine who's a recording engineer can probably hook me up with some of that foamy stuff he lined the walls of his studio with, I can easily put it in my home office corner when duty calls. Mic stands are fairly cheap.

What's a pop filter though?

[Dave Gilbert]

I will say that for five years I used a $20 headset mic from Radio Shack to record all the VO for all my games.  And nobody ever really noticed.  Well, sometimes professional audio people did, but not the general public.  Eventually I leveled up to the Blue Yeti.  If you have a tiny space and can't be bothered with all the bells and whistles, a USB mic is fine.  

[FamousAdventurer77]

^^Agreed! I have a pretty nicely sized place now, but the Blue Yeti looks like a good mic to use (it's gotten mostly good reviews from what I've seen) and I'm afraid that all the other audio mixing stuff is a wee bit out of my realm. An audio pro might know the difference but the average gamer more than likely doesn't.

[Stupot]

What's a pop filter though?

It's like a seive used to remove bubbles from your Coke.

[DoorKnobHandle]

No worries, USB mics are absolutely fine for amateur and even semi-professional voice actors for sure, no doubt. They don't need any complicated setup, no great soundcards or anything. A USB mic and a simple recording software such as Audacity will do you just fine.

Do take a look at the Audio Technica AT2020 though, it's even cheaper then the Blue Yeti, it's also a USB microphone and after some quick comparisons I just did on Youtube it sounds just as good (do your own research though, so much in the world of audio recording is personal).

EDIT: Check this review out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24JQKOhBDRI (keep in mind the prices are out of date, the AT2020 can be bought for 100$ in the EU anymore, the Blue Yeti is still 50 bucks more expensive)

[FamousAdventurer77]

Stupot- thanks for the clarification!

Dkh- thanks for the tips, they were quite helpful. So Audacity is some recording software to look at, any other recommendations?
Will also compare the AT2020, pretty much my two concerns right now are budget and ease of use (ie, USB.) Well that and storage too, I live in a 1-BR apartment so nothing gigantor.

[DoorKnobHandle]

Will also compare the AT2020, pretty much my two concerns right now are budget and ease of use (ie, USB.) Well that and storage too, I live in a 1-BR apartment so nothing gigantor.

I would suggest you check out the deals you can get on the Blue Yeti and the AT2020, if there's a way you can get the Blue Yeti at about the same price as the AT2020, by all means, go for it. If it ends up costing you 50$ more I personally don't think it's worth it, to me they sound equal, the additional features of the Yeti are nice but not all that necessary and might not justify the cost. Storage shouldn't be a problem with any of these mics, they are pretty tiny and come in boxes slightly larger than shoeboxes, you can always store them in there in case they don't get their permanent space on your desk.

[Dave Gilbert]

I live in a one-room studio, and the Yeti and mic stand don't take up much space.



It's easy to disassemble it and put it away somewhere.  And I never bothered with the foamy stuff myself, although my apartment is extremely quiet so I never needed it.  Dunno what your place is like.

[FamousAdventurer77]

I have a 1.5-bedroom joint in a prewar building, I'd say that it's relatively quiet now that I'm living on a higher floor, when I had the ground floor apartment in this building it really sucked because there was seriously way too much noise at the street level and everyone coming in and out of the building. Recording without background noise would've been impossible.

Here I think I could definitely do it if anyone wants voice-overs.

[Calin Leafshade]

My thoughts:

modern USB mics are more than adequate for any independent projects. Audiophiles will always argue that a separate preamp is better but I can't think of a single situation where that is the case for a voice over artist. It's simply not needed.

As for the 'foamy stuff' (acoustic treatment) It's not as necessary for voice over work as it is for singing. If the room has enough soft furnishing or heavy curtains then thats all you'll need for quiet talking. If the recording sounds a little 'boxy' then hanging a heavy duvet *behind* the actor is more than enough to combat it. The human voice doesn't extend low enough to require heavy duty acoustic treatment.

[FamousAdventurer77]

Fortunately any singing I might be doing in the near future is either live or in my friend's studio, so I need not worry.

As for sound absorption...I guess bedspread + couch are sufficient?