The Voiceover Boblog » Tools

Microphones under $200

Bob — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 02:16:42 +0000

I received a note today from Matthew McGlynn over at RecordingHacks.com about a microphone shootout they’ve just published comparing condenser micrphones that sell for under $200. Quite interesting reading, I think, especially if you’re just getting started in your voiceover studies and/or work and need something that will sound good, but won’t break your bank in the process.

WORD 2 WAV, new option

Bob — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:01:41 +0000

If you’ve been thinking about getting WORD2WAV, a fabulous program for anyone who does lots of telephony and eLearning narration work (the kind of thing where you’re producing hundreds or even thousands of small audio files with specific names for each file), there’s some good news coming out for you today.

This just came from Hervé F. Chain, the man behind WORD2WAV.
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If you like Word2WAV but don’t think you can justify a full license, consider the new Pay-Per-Click license!

$75 will allow you record up to 1,000 files. Take as long as you need to record them — There is no time limit.

And this 1,000-file limit is added to whatever is left from the 500-file Trial, so you can have up to 1,500 files available for your next project(s).

Once this limit has been reached, you can add one or several 1000-file segments for $35 each.

Get a $50 credit if you upgrade to a Professional or International license, or a $25 credit if you upgrade to a Standard license.

Any questions or comments, email support@word2wav.com
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(edited to fix typos)

A life-changing book

Bob — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:48:47 +0000

There are lots of voiceover people who worked in radio at one time for whom dealing with the basics of the “technical bits” of voiceover (how to connect the cables, how to record and edit the audio, etc.) isn’t terribly difficult or terrifying. But, for lots of people working in voiceover, without any technical background at all, it can be a real challenge to figure out these “technical bits”; which is why I warmly recommend Dan Friedman’s book Sound Advice.

I also highly recommend you read Dan’s blog post about the writing of Sound Advice. Good stuff, Dan. Your book has been a real help to me, too.

Ribbon microphone shootout

Bob — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 03:34:00 +0000

The folks at Recording Hacks have posted a fascinating shootout of ribbon microphones in a voiceover session. Excellent stuff. My thanks to Matthew McGynn for the heads up via email.

Thinking about an iPad for your studio?

Bob — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 19:56:57 +0000

Then check our my friend Kara Edwards and her excellent blog post about how she is using her new iPad for her voiceover work.

USB Audio interfaces

Bob — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 06:05:00 +0000

With thanks to my friend Dan Friedman for posting the link to this on Facebook, check out the excellent overview of portable USB audio interfaces posted by Matthew McGlynn at Recording Hacks. Good stuff.

Sound Forge Advanced Lesson 1

Bob — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:00:50 +0000

My friend Michael Minetree has released a video on noise reduction in Sound Forge in honor of all of us who are on the road at Faffcon 2 in Atlanta.

Thank you, Michael. Good stuff.

Setting up a phone patch

Bob — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 03:18:40 +0000

Corey Snow has prepared a simply fabulous two part set of blog posts about phone patches. You’ll find Part 1 and Part 2 on his blog.

Audacity basics part 3

Bob — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 07:05:00 +0000

My friend Michael Minetree has now posted part 3 of a tutorial he’s recording on how to use the free cross-platform audio editor Audacity.

Audacity basics part 2

Bob — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 14:54:35 +0000

My friend Michael Minetree has now posted part 2 of a tutorial he’s recording on how to use the free cross-platform audio editor Audacity.

Audacity basics

Bob — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:21:31 +0000

My friend Michael Minetree is a guy filled with excellent ideas and he’s willing to give away at least some of them. Here is part 1 of a tutorial he’s recording on how to use the free cross-platform audio editor Audacity.

Love it or hate it

Bob — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:48:57 +0000

Pro Tools is a very popular recording application. I’m not posting this today to try to stir any wars about which audio software is best, because what works for you is what you should use. But, if you have a copy of Pro Tools but you’re not sure it’s a good fit for your voiceover work, my friend Steve Cunningham has some thoughts for you about the various myths about Pro Tools you may hear from time to time. Well worth a few minutes of your time.

There’s an app for that

Bob — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:05:00 +0000

I know, it’s become such an overused phrase, but in this case it’s literally true that there’s an app for voiceover casting. John Florian emails to say details are at VoiceOverXtra.

A really portable voiceover kit

Bob — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:16:46 +0000

Bill Roberts Brady blogs about his portable voiceover kit, which is very compact.

A new site launched today

Bob — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:19:19 +0000

My friend Mahmoud al Taji has launched a new website today called Voiceover Buy and Sell. Like everything from Mahmoud, it’s very well done.

How a Neumann U87 is manufactured

Bob — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:22:00 +0000

Check out this interesting video to answer your questions about how this wonderful microphone is made.

Microphone Techniques with Rodney Saulsberry

Bob — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:23:44 +0000

Good stuff from Rodney Saulsberry.

SEO and voice actors

Bob — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:49:20 +0000

Jodi Krangle has written an excellent article on search engine optimization for voice actors that Mahmoud Taji has published at his Voice Emporium site.

IF you have an iPhone …

Bob — Wed, 05 May 2010 13:12:23 +0000

And you need to record audio, check out the list of apps at Actors and Crew and in particular the FiRe app by Audiofile Engineering, that’s on their list. My thanks to my friend Mary McKitrick for posting the link on the VO-BB.

Travel mic stand

Bob — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:19:00 +0000

My friend George Whittam has posted this video blog about a very cool idea for a travel microphone stand.

As George mentioned, you can find these items at Amazon.com or through Harlan Hogan’s site VoiceOverEssentials.com And George’s site is VOStudioTech.com.

And my friend Bruce Miles points out on the VO-BB that B&H Photo sells a set of bushings that will convert the video mount to a microphone compatible mount, too.