There are many voice talents that will say there is ultimately no competition in the voiceover industry. At the end of the day, the client either likes this voice or that voice. Even so, there are certainly areas where we compete with each other. The main arena of competition for vocal athletes like us is the audition. Talents that think, “It’s just an audition. I can just record it real quick and send it off.” are missing something very important. The audition may just be your only chance to make the impression that will get you booked. Dan Friedman, on page 47 of his excellent book “Sound Advice: Voiceover From An Audio Engineer’s Perspective”, says it like this: |  |
“Do not take the attitude of, ‘This isn’t a big deal…It’s just an audition.’ Every audition should be ideally treated as though it is a paying job. In fact, a great sounding audition can often turn into a paying job without you ever having to re-record the script.”
By the way, you should really own that book. It is 100% worth your time to read and implement what Dan says!
I’m not suggesting people aren’t giving their best performances for their auditions. What I want to address is talent missing a competitive edge by sending away sub-par audio for consideration. Without a lot of effort, you can start sending out better sounding auditions right away. Today even!
Why is this important? Because our clients aren’t just studios and creative directors. Increasingly, we are working with indie producers that want a quality voiceover that they can just drop on the timeline and know that it is killer. As Dan says, a good sounding audition might just turn into a paying job without re-recording!
Hopefully I’ve got your mind wondering, “So what can I do to improve the sound of my auditions?” Thankfully, it’s not hard to do. Diligence is the key. Here’s what I do.
Record in a quiet and treated space. You don’t have to have a Whisperroom (although they are nice) to get a quiet, dead room to record in. I’m not going to talk about studio design here, but make sure your room is as dead as it can be.
Edit with care. If the breaths need to be taken out, take the time to remove them. Use room tone where necessary. On a related note, make sure you keep your editing chops sharp. It’s one of those skills we need to be really good at.
Consider processing. Now I know there are those that will disagree with me about this, but I typically add 1.5:1 compression to my auditions and then normalize to -3 db. It levels out the audio and makes the volume more consistent. At the least, consider normalizing to -3 db. If you need help setting this up, ask your voiceover colleagues. (Heck, you can even hire folks to help you with this. It’s money well spent.)
All of this presupposes you are recording in your home studio with your “everyday” setup and in a quiet space. What about recording auditions on the road? Can’t you just plug in that cool new iPad microphone and start recording?
Hardly. You still need a quiet space to record. Let your ears guide you on this. You can setup a nice little “booth” using all the pillows from the bed and sofa in your hotel room. Your relative’s walk-in closet (with the clothes still in it) will work great too. (I’ve recorded in both of these environments.) You’ll want to be extra diligent editing to make sure it sounds the best it can before sending it off.
The truth is, it’s not just an audition. It may very well be the only chance you get to make an impression on a potential client. If you have a great performance but your audio stinks, you may find your audition was passed over for someone who had a better sounding clip that they could use right away.
We are professionals, always honing our craft. A great audition performance deserves the best audio you can deliver. Happy auditioning!
By the way, you should really own that book. It is 100% worth your time to read and implement what Dan says!
I’m not suggesting people aren’t giving their best performances for their auditions. What I want to address is talent missing a competitive edge by sending away sub-par audio for consideration. Without a lot of effort, you can start sending out better sounding auditions right away. Today even!
Why is this important? Because our clients aren’t just studios and creative directors. Increasingly, we are working with indie producers that want a quality voiceover that they can just drop on the timeline and know that it is killer. As Dan says, a good sounding audition might just turn into a paying job without re-recording!
Hopefully I’ve got your mind wondering, “So what can I do to improve the sound of my auditions?” Thankfully, it’s not hard to do. Diligence is the key. Here’s what I do.
Record in a quiet and treated space. You don’t have to have a Whisperroom (although they are nice) to get a quiet, dead room to record in. I’m not going to talk about studio design here, but make sure your room is as dead as it can be.
Edit with care. If the breaths need to be taken out, take the time to remove them. Use room tone where necessary. On a related note, make sure you keep your editing chops sharp. It’s one of those skills we need to be really good at.
Consider processing. Now I know there are those that will disagree with me about this, but I typically add 1.5:1 compression to my auditions and then normalize to -3 db. It levels out the audio and makes the volume more consistent. At the least, consider normalizing to -3 db. If you need help setting this up, ask your voiceover colleagues. (Heck, you can even hire folks to help you with this. It’s money well spent.)
All of this presupposes you are recording in your home studio with your “everyday” setup and in a quiet space. What about recording auditions on the road? Can’t you just plug in that cool new iPad microphone and start recording?
Hardly. You still need a quiet space to record. Let your ears guide you on this. You can setup a nice little “booth” using all the pillows from the bed and sofa in your hotel room. Your relative’s walk-in closet (with the clothes still in it) will work great too. (I’ve recorded in both of these environments.) You’ll want to be extra diligent editing to make sure it sounds the best it can before sending it off.
The truth is, it’s not just an audition. It may very well be the only chance you get to make an impression on a potential client. If you have a great performance but your audio stinks, you may find your audition was passed over for someone who had a better sounding clip that they could use right away.
We are professionals, always honing our craft. A great audition performance deserves the best audio you can deliver. Happy auditioning!
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