The Art of Voice Acting: the art and business of performing for voice over (52 page)

The author of this chapter has done his best to identify many of the legal issues facing the voiceover artist in today’s environment. It is not intended, however, to cover every possible situation under all circumstances. Laws may vary from State to State, and many business, tax, and legal issues are unique to the individual and require specialized attention. The author urges the reader to seek out specific advice from legal and tax professionals concerning their specific situation prior to undertaking ANY action.

Since the mid 1990s the business of voiceover has gone through a series of major changes, both in terms of how the business works and in the technology used for recording voice tracks.

Home based recording studios have been around since the first days of sound recording. Early recording equipment was bulky, complicated to operate, and most of all expensive. It used to be that the home studio was relegated to only the serious audiophile or professional musician.

Advances in computer and sound recording technology have changed all that. Today, the home studio is commonplace. With a decent computer, recording software, and some relatively inexpensive equipment, anyone can now have the capability to do what used to require a multimillion dollar facility. And it will fit in a corner of a room at home!

Major advertisers and producers of national commercials and network programs continue to record in traditional recording studios, as do producers of other high-end sound recordings. However, with a properly designed home studio, it is possible to record with a quality comparable to many professional studios. For this reason, many producers, especially those with a low production budget, are moving toward having voiceover talent record voice tracks at home studios. By requiring VO talent to record on their own equipment, producers often expect a faster turnaround while maintaining the same quality they would get from a professional studio, but for the cost of talent fee only. Many times, these expectations are unrealistic, but the fact remains that this is what many producers are demanding, and it seems unlikely that this will change any time soon.

Unfortunately, most voiceover artists are performers and not recording engineers. For many, the technology of a home studio can be intimidating and overwhelming. Still, in today’s world of voiceover it is important to at least know studio basics and have functional recording and editing skills.

This chapter will, hopefully, ease your concerns about setting up and operating your own home recording studio.

At one time, virtually all voiceover work was recorded either at a traditional recording studio, at a radio or television station, or a professional production facility. If you are working in voiceover today, it is expected that you not only have the ability to record in your own personal studio, but that you also have the ability to deliver the same quality that would be delivered by a multimillion dollar recording facility. This expectation by talent buyers creates a serious challenge for the neophyte voice actor.

The monetary aspects of building a home studio are not the issue. The equipment is relatively inexpensive, and the recording software can even be found as a free download. No… the challenge goes well beyond the equipment itself, lying in the complexities of creating a studio-quality environment and with the performer’s ability to deliver a recording with proper signal levels and clean edits. It’s easy to record audio on your computer! Recording audio that sounds like it came out of a major Los Angeles or New York studio is a different matter entirely. It’s not difficult to do this, but it will generally require some serious thought, some research, and, depending on how far you want to go, potentially a lot more money than the cost of your studio equipment.

As a professional voice actor, there are several essential aspects of your home studio that you need to fully understand in order to deliver voice tracks that meet professional standards:

• Basic operation, connection, and functionality of your equipment.
  
• Operation of your recording software, including an understanding of how to make clean recordings, maintain proper recording levels and handle basic editing processes.
  
• A basic understanding of room acoustics, how it affects your voiceover recordings, and how to correct acoustic problems.
  
• An understanding of the principals and applications of various microphone techniques used to produce different results.
  
• A basic understanding of outboard (external) audio equipment and devices that may be needed for communication with clients or for delivery of voice tracks.
  
• A functional understanding of computer file structures, software operation, and various delivery options.
  

If all of this sounds intimidating, or like it’s too much to deal with, you might want to rethink your entry into the world of voiceover. Of all the pressures placed on today’s voiceover talent, these expectations are completely reasonable and practical. The majority of professional voice actors working from their home studios have developed these skills and deliver high-quality, professional recordings on a daily basis. If you are going to compete with them, you will need to achieve the same results.

With today’s computer systems, it’s a relatively simple matter to put together the equipment for high-quality voice recording. Regardless of the equipment you use, you will have a choice between a system that is completely digital or one that is a combination of analog and digital equipment. As with most things, there’s more than one way to configure your home studio recording system, and none is better than another. It comes down to personal preference and ease of use.

There are many excellent books on the subject of building a home studio, many of which are available through
www.voiceacting.com
and other online resources. If you need a clear and concise explanation of the component parts of a home studio and how everything works together, my
VoiceActing.com Guide to Professional Home Recording ebook
will answer most of your questions. This downloadable ebook is fully cross-linked internally, and loaded with Internet links to websites with more information about every aspect of a home studio. If you’re looking for a book that covers the basics of home studio recording and the production process, Jeffrey P. Fisher and Harlan Hogan’s
The Voice Actor’s Guide to Home Recording
is an excellent choice. Focal Press, the publisher of this book, has several excellent books on the subject of home recording, including:
Project Studios
by Philip Newell and
Practical Recording Techniques
by Bruce Bartlett. The Focal books (
www.focalpress.com
) are intended more for the home music recordist, but they still contain some valuable information that can be applied to voiceover work.

The entire purpose of your home studio is to record and edit audio on your computer. The first thing you need to do is figure out how to get the sound of your voice onto your computer’s hard drive. At first glance this may seem a simple task: you purchase a gamer’s headset mic, plug it into your computer’s sound card, open the recording software that came with the computer, and start recording. Although that’s the basic process, the reality is that it’s not quite that simple.

For starters, a computer headset mic is not acceptable for professional voiceover work. These microphones are designed for online gaming and not for recording, and if you use one for voiceover work, you’ll be plagued with pops and other noise issues. As for software, the basic audio recorder that comes with Windows is pretty much useless. Mac computers will often come with good audio software, but for a PC, you’ll need to look somewhere else.

As I mentioned, there are two general technologies for recording your audio into a computer: analog and digital. The primary difference between the two is that an analog system uses a microphone or an analog mixer that is connected to the computer’s sound card, and converts the audio to a digital signal inside the computer. A digital system converts the audio signal to digital information outside the computer either directly at the
microphone or by using a
USB
or
FireWire
digital interface. The digital interface may be a standalone device, a digital mixer, or even a digital USB microphone. USB (universal serial bus) and FireWire both refer to high-speed digital connections between a computer and an outboard device.

Of the two, the least expensive, is to connect an analog mixer to the line input of your computer’s sound card. Although most computer sound cards are adequate for the job, the fact that the digital conversion process is happening inside the computer, an electrically very noisy place, may result in some unwanted noise in your recordings. If you are using an analog path to your computer, it would be well worth the investment of a few hundred dollars to upgrade your sound card to a high-end digital converter.

If you choose to do the digital conversion outside the computer, you will be completely bypassing your sound card by using the computer’s USB port. This can have its advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side is the portability aspect of the USB interface devices, which makes them ideal if you are recording on your laptop, and the relatively low cost of the USB converter. On the downside, if you have numerous devices sharing the USB (like external hard drives, a web cam, etc.), your computer may have difficulty processing the large amount of audio data being transferred, which can result in mysterious glitches or even a system crash.

The equipment and software you purchase for your home studio will depend largely on the kind of work you will be doing. If you’re only recording voice tracks or practicing your performing skills, you don’t need an elaborate digital mixer with all the bells and whistles.

The following are basic components for a home studio, each with some comments as to their role in the studio. These components are discussed in more detail a bit later in this chapter, and in the Products/Equipment section at
www.voiceacting.com
:

• Microphone—
  You need a microphone that will make your voice sound great. Different mics sound different on different people. It can take some research to find exactly the right mic for you. To get started, don’t buy the most expensive mic you can find. There are many excellent mics available for under $100. The mic will connect to a USB interface, a digital mixer, an analog mixer, or directly to the sound card (not recommended). There are even USB mics that connect directly to your computer. A condenser mic is usually recommended over a dynamic mic, due to its superior performance. Condenser microphones require a power source, either by battery or
  phantom power
  provided by a mixer or USB interface device.
  
• Microphone cable—
  Professional microphones use a 3-pin XLR type cable that connects the mic to a mixer or USB device. The phantom power for condenser microphones travels through the same wires in the cable that carry the audio signal.
  
• USB interface—
  The cable from your mic or mixer connects to this device, which converts the analog audio to digital audio. It connects
  to your computer via a USB cable plugged into a USB port on the computer. A USB device will usually have a recording volume and a volume control for headset monitoring. A good USB interface also provides phantom power for condenser mics. A USB device will replace your computer’s sound card as the audio source.
  
• Analog audio mixer—
  An analog mixer may connect to either the computer’s sound card or to the line level inputs on a USB interface. The mixer is used to control the volume for up to several mics or other sources. If connecting directly to the sound card, you’ll need some special adaptors, which may be difficult to locate.
  
• Digital audio mixer—
  As with an analog mixer, a digital mixer is used to control the volume for up to several mics or other sources. Many audio mixers today convert the incoming audio to a digital signal as soon as it enters the mixer. Others will functionally operate as an analog mixer and have multiple analog audio output connectors. However, unlike analog mixers, digital mixers have a built-in USB port that allows the mixer to be connected directly to your computer. If you are using a digital mixer with built-in USB, you do not need an external USB interface.
  
• Recording software—
  Virtually all recording software will provide for recording and editing of recorded audio. However, all audio software is not the same. Some are more user friendly than others, and price is not a good indicator of ease of use. Software prices vary from free to several hundred dollars. Regardless of the software you choose, you should make sure it will easily save or convert your recordings to MP3 compressed files. When investigating recording software, make sure you have a basic understanding of how you will record and edit before purchasing. Some equipment dealers will recommend ProTools because, they say, it is the standard of the recording industry. That is true. However, ProTools is only the standard for traditional music recording studios—not for voiceover recording. It is very expensive, very difficult to learn, requires proprietary outboard equipment (for a high-end system), and is considerable overkill for recording a single voice track. For anyone just getting started, I recommend Audacity. It’s free, very simple to use, and does everything (and more) that a voice actor needs. Audacity is a free download from
  www.audacity.sourceforge.net
  . To create MP3 files, you’ll also need to download the L.A.M.E. encoder plug-in. Audacity is available for both PC and Mac.
  
• Microphone stand—
  A floor stand with a boom, or a desk stand. Either way, you’ll need something to hold your microphone. The most common mic floor stand is a tripod base adjustable stand with a boom attachment. There are also smaller tripod base stands that are short enough to be used as a desk stand.
  
• Copy stand
  (music stand)—You’ll need this to hold your copy so your hands are free for performance and operating the equipment. If you work standing, a collapsible music stand will do the job, but it is usually designed for a performer who is seated and may not have the height adjustment you need. The Manhasset M48 is a much better option: more stable, no knobs to turn, and plenty of height for most uses. I don’t recommend any music stands that have knobs to adjust their height or the angle of the paper holder.
  
• Headphones
  —Conventional stereo headphones or ear buds will work for most voiceover recording. You’ll wear your headphones while recording and for other monitoring, if you don’t have a set of speakers. You’ll want a headset that is comfortable and that reproduces your voice accurately. Some headphones emphasize low frequencies, which will result in a coloration of your voice.
  
• Speakers
  —Although headphones will serve the purpose for monitoring, and even for editing, they can become uncomfortable if worn for extended periods of time. To start your home studio, a pair of good computer speakers connected to your sound card will do nicely. As you bring in voiceover work, you might want to consider upgrading your speakers to some studio monitors. If you are using a USB device for recording, you may need to adjust your software settings so your computer knows you want to use your sound card speakers for playback monitoring. Basic computer speakers are fairly inexpensive. Studio monitors can run into the hundreds or thousands of dollars for a pair of speakers.
  
• Stopwatch—
  You’ll need a way to time yourself. Stopwatches that beep aren’t recommended. They’re awkward and they make noise. A better choice is an analog 60-second sweep stopwatch. Prices range from about $50 to several hundred dollars. An Internet search for “analog stopwatch” will bring up numerous sources. Look for one that has a separate reset button. Most of the inexpensive watches require the watch to be stopped first before resetting, but some will allow the watch to be reset while running. Of course, some smart phones, like the iPod
  ^®
  have a digital stopwatch, or you can also use the built-in timing capability of your recording software.
  
• Acoustic treatment—
  Most home studio areas will need some form of acoustic treatment to reduce echoes and unwanted noise. There are many excellent books on this topic, so it will only be discussed briefly here and in the next section. When designing your home studio, you should be aware that you may need to make some changes to your recording environment for the best recording quality—and that some of those acoustic changes can be expensive.
  

That’s the basic requirements for any home studio. With the exception of a mixer, everything is a necessity. You’ll find most, if not all, of it at professional music stores. Computer stores simply don’t deal with this type of equipment, and they don’t understand home studios. In fact, most music equipment dealers don’t understand the needs of a voice actor and will recommend equipment only in terms of what they know about music recording. Although their advice may hold some value, you may end up spending considerably more than necessary.