Sound Advice: Voiceover from an Audio Engineer's Perspective

I've written this book to give you a sound engineer's perspective on your career as a voiceover talent.

In this book I've tried to provide you with basic information about audio and equipment that is taught in recording schools. Hopefully, this information will provide a foundation for you to get to know your equipment better and understand how it works. Understanding your audio equipment is critical to helping you sound your best as well as helping you effectively communicate with those trying to help you when problems occur. I've also tried to address proper studio etiquette and many of the bad practices I've seen, heard and experienced from voiceover talents over the years. My intention is not to scold or criticize, but simply to provide those of you who are new to the business with information you may not know, and also to shed light on some mistakes that many of you, who have been in the business for awhile, may not know you are making.

This book is not about how to read scripts or how to be a successful voiceover artist. This book complements the many books that have been written about those topics. You may find it helpful to sit in front of your equipment as you read through some of the sections. Follow the procedures I describe and learn what the microphone, knobs, faders and other various elements in your studio can do. Most importantly, open your ears and really listen. Listen to how you sound and learn what you can do to bring out the best in your voice.

I am passionate about what I do and I know most of you are too. This is a great business.

Thank you for reading my book, I hope you find it helpful and enjoyable.

I have been an audio engineer since 1994. I started in live sound, working in clubs with bands and musicians. Simultaneously, I got engineering jobs in radio and in a recording studio. After a few years I discovered the world of voiceover and realized it complemented some of my other strengths, having been a journalism major (essential to copy editing) as well as a bartender and hospitality major (essential to providing great customer service). I've been working as a voiceover talent since 2005 with a continuously growing list of clients and several respectable radio and television campaigns to my credit.

My goal in writing this book is to help you become a better voiceover talent, by learning how to be one of the engineer's favorite talents -the talent who: has a great sound, great technique, requires minimal editing, and has a great attitude. Even though engineers will be critical to your career, another goal is to help you engineer yourself as your responsibilities expand. As the voiceover industry rapidly changes, more and more voiceover talent are being expected to do their own production work, including their own recording, editing and some mixing. This is especially true for auditions. Those who can skillfully perform these engineering functions will be more valuable to those needing their productions quickly and more cost effectively. Being able to provide these services also allows you to generate additional income by using your studio for more than just your voice.

Lastly, I hope to inspire you to think more about how you actually sound, not just how well you deliver the words. Communicating is a voiceover talent's primary job and your delivery of the words is important. But by using your ears even more than your mouth, you will find that the delivery becomes easier, the message comes through better, communicating becomes more effective and your number of clients and paychecks will continue to grow.