There is so much power behind a great voice-over it can make any audio-video content an instant hit. For one, no one likes to read onscreen text! On top of that, using voice-over in any production enables the team to raise their total efficiency, including cost efficiency.
If youre a new or aspiring voice-over artist, you sure have a lot to learn, and one of those things is the importance of recording your own voice. This is indeed a crucial part of your potential success as a professional voice-over artist. Listening to yourself allows you to evaluate your own performance and eventually improve on your weak points.
As you go on, you will probably want to have your own recording studio at home. If you cant do it alone, you can always approach someone who can provide a little help. As a beginner though, you can rely on your ever handy laptop or desktop, together with certain software that allows you to record your voice and then listen to it after.
After recording your practice sessions, you can proceed to editing and improving the quality of the final sound. You dont have to be a whiz at this. Whats most important is that you listen to your voice and get better with your performance. You can take care of the technical aspect later.
Clearly, youre going to need a microphone for this project. As a newbie, you should get what is called a condenser microphone, which is popularly used in studios because of its impressive transient response (reproducing your voice speed), not to mention its large frequency range.
They also usually have a louder output and are way more sensitive to loud sounds compared other types.
As soon as youre ready, look for a quiet and comfortable area in your home, do a test recording and see if your sound levels are right. Remember to keep the recording meter from reaching the red as this will introduce noise and possibly distortion even. For best results, attach your headphones directly to your computer or audio interface (any sound from your speakers will be absorbed by your mic).
Once everything checks out, you can begin recording, and make sure you maintain the original position of your mic.
When youre done, save your work and play your recordings. You can use different programs for playing back your files.
As businesses need more and more audio-visual content, its becoming increasingly obvious that the demand for voice-over talents is soaring. Just recently, online job websites came out with a list of the 20 fastest growing skills today, and voice-over came in at number 4.