Rapid Voice Over Recording With Audacity | Home Brew Audio (2024)
Here are some suggestions on how to record a voice over. Ready to land your next voice over job?
This is a fairly detailed step-by-step guide for creating a pro quality voice over using Audacity (the free audio software). The steps here will work for any mic, but you should use at least a decent USB mic like theSamson Q2U (which you can get for 59 dollarinis). That's what I will assume for the example here.
Of course if you want much higher quality, you can invest in a large diaphragm condenser mic that you plug into an audio interface unit. A Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio Bundle (mic, interface and headphones).
Audacity is a free audio recording program that works on both Mac and Windows and is incredibly powerful - especially for a free program.
2. Make sure your mic is set up in Audacity
To do that, go to Edit/Preferences/Devices (choose the Samson mic (or interface box like "Focusrite Scarlett") under "Recording" and make sure it says "mono" under "channels."
3. Click the "Record" button (big red circle) in Audacity
A new track will appear when you hit the "record" button and start recording.
Use a pop filter if you have one. If you don't, you can make one quickly by stretching an old pair of nylon stockings over a wire hanger that you have shaped into a circle. But you can buy one for about $10 on Amazon -Auray Pop Filter.
Record in as quiet a place as possible.
Keep you mouth close to the mic (3-5 inches). Most of us record in spare rooms in our house, which means lots of echo-y, reverb-y room sound. And one quick fix to reduce that that you can apply immediately is simply to record close (that 3-5 inches I suggest) to the mic. I believe that this could be the most helpful bit of advice on how to record a voice over of everything in this post.
Keep recording even in you make a mistake. I like to clap my hands or make some other quick, loud noise after a screw-up so that I'll see it on the track when I'm editing. Just make that mark and continue recording. You can cut the bad takes out during editing. I show how to do this in my post Quickly Fix Audio Recording Mistakes by Overdubbing, Part 2.
Make sure the wave forms (blue blobs) are fairly large in the track. You don't want to over do it to where they go out to the edges and beyond. But if they are too quiet - not much more than what's on the center line - then you should turn up the input level* and start again until you get fat and chunky blobs. This may be the 2nd most important piece of advice for how to record a voice over!
* If you are using an interface unit to plug your mic in, you can turn the input level knob up on that. If you have a USB mic, go into your Windows Sound control panel (or System Preferences/Sound on a Mac), click on the Recording tab, select your mic, select Properties, then select the "Level." tab. Make sure the slider is at around the 85-90 percent mark. Sometimes Windows puts this level down to like 20% for some reason.
5. Hit the "Stop" button when you're finished.
This is pretty self-explanatory. Just click the big yellowish square at the top of the scree.
6. Trim and cut.
Now find all the parts you want to cut out (bad takes, baby crying, phone ringing, etc.) by highlighting that bit of audio and simply hitting the "delete" button on your computer keyboard. Leave some space at the beginning though. You'll need that to sample background noise for noise reduction in the next step.
7. Reduce the noise.
Once you're left with the parts you want to keep, it's time to reduce the ambient background noise. Usually this will be low-level computer drive noise, electronic buzz or hum, hiss from a USB mic, etc.
Find a section (like the area before you started talking as I mentioned above) of the recording where you're NOT talking, but the mic was recording, and highlight that section. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE there are no voice or breath sounds in this selection.
On the Effect dropdown menu, choose "Noise Reduction."
In the Noise Reduction effect window, click "Get Noise Profile." The Noise Removal window will close. You've just told audacity what constitutes "noise" by sampling "just noise" from your selection.
Select the entire audio recording (double-click on the audio).
Open the Noise Reduction tool again, and click "OK." This applies noise reduction to the entire file based on that sample of "just noise."
This will filter out the ambient noise and leave your voice alone (for the most part).
My current favorite noise reduction plugin is part of the Accusonus ERA bundle of vocal repair plugins. It's called the ERA Noise Remover.
8. Remove "P-Pops"
Listen carefully to the recording in headphones. You'll likely have several "p-pops" or "plosives" as they are commonly called, caused when you say the letter P or B. Here is how to get rid of those (for more detail, see my post: How To Fix A "P-Pop" In Your Audio With A Sound Editor.)
Zoom in to very beginning of an offensive p-pop. I find that bad p-pops tend to look like the letter "N" in the audio waveform. See pic below.
Select just the "N" part and then go to Effect/Equalization in Audacity.
Create a curve on the horizontal line that starts sloping down to the left at 200 Hz. See pic below.
Just click your mouse on the line wherever you want to create a drag-handle (4 or 5 spaced between 30Hz and 250Hz should do the trick). Then drag the 30Hz handle all the way down.
Drag the next one to the right down but not as far, etc. Continue until your curve looks like the picture above.
Then click "OK" and listen to the result. The "p" sound should sound more natural and less like an explosion of air. You'll also notice that the "N" shape is much smaller.
This process can be very time consuming. But if you are willing to invest $6/month, you can SIGNIFICANTLY speed up the process of removing p-pops. Accusonus has a product that I now use every time I record my voice. It's called the ERA Plosive Remover. CLICK HERE to find out more or to purchase it. You just add it as a plugin effect in Audacity.
9. Even out the volume level
There will almost certainly be a few peaks in your recording that are clearly louder than the rest. You'll want to even things up so that the audio is more consistent. The process is sometimes called "compression." (See my post: What Does Compression Mean In Audio Recording? for more on this).
Here is how to use the Compressor effect in Audacity.
Select the entire audio file (double-click on the blue blob somewhere).
Select Effect/Compressor.
Set the sliders as follows: Threshold: -12 db, Noise Floor: -40 db, Ratio: 2:1, Attack Time: 0.2 secs, Decay Time: 1.secs.
Also, make sure there is a check in the box marked "Make-up Gain for 0dB after compressing."
Click "OK."
10. Now listen carefully through headphones, to all the audio
You may notice a few stray bits of unwanted noise in between the talking bits, so to fix those, just highlight them as you find them, and click the "Silence" tool button in Audacity. See pic below.
11. Export your audio file
Lastly, save the audio in whatever format you need by selecting File/Export
44.1KHz and 16-bit wav files are standard "CD quality" audio. You can also export the audio as mp3.
Hopefully that should give you an idea how to record a voice over, a professional sounding one, very quickly. For more in-depth info, check out our Audacity course, the Newbies Guide to Audio Recording Awesomeness.
Audacity is an ideal program for achieving a better professional audio recording of your voice, especially if you're a podcaster. Try Audacity for your next project, but be sure to install Krisp so you don't spend many hours going back and removing all the background noise!
Stick with the most common sampling rates of 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. If you're only focusing on music production, 44.1 kHz is a common format. However, if you're planning on integrating with video, 48 kHz is a better choice.
44100 Hz is standard for creating files that can be burned to Audio CD or for high-quality MP3 files. This is the default setting in Audacity and is best left at that setting for your recordings.
Audacity is an audio editor and not a DAW. Technically you can create beats with Audacity but it's tedious and time consuming. Audacity is the screwdriver to your nail, it's just not the right tool for the job.
The ideal level range is between -12 and -6 db. Audio too far below that range will be too quiet; audio above that range may be too loud. Ensuring audio falls in that range will create even audio levels. The goal is to create consistency in volume so that listeners don't have to adjust to hear the project.
However, 44.1 kHz is still the industry standard if you're doing anything that involves music. 48 kHz is the standard for picture (TV, film, etc…). Remember though, you can have audio tracks recorded at different sample rates in the same project.
These two numbers 44100 Hz vs 48000 Hz represent sample rates. The sample rates are measured in “Hz” which is the abbreviation of “Hertz”. Both formats Wave or AIFF and MP3 File produce great sound quality, however with a 48000 Hz rate you get slightly better audio performance.
For reference, the Grammy's Recording Academy Recommendations for Hi-Resolution Music Production document proposes a minimum sample rate of 48 kHz and a preferred sample rate of 96 kHz for hi-res audio production and delivery.
Audacity generally does not need much RAM, though a possible exception is some Nyquist plug-ins. Nyquist is a 32-bit scripting language that runs inside Audacity - because it is 32-bit it cannot access more than 2 GB RAM.
WAV 16-bit PCM is eminently suitable whenever you want to burn your exported file to an audio CD. WAV (Microsoft) signed 24-bit PCM No options for this format: 24-bit PCM gives higher quality than 16-bit PCM, but takes up more space.
Here are three basic tips to help you start recording high-quality audio: Make sure you have the right equipment, including a mic, audio splitter, and recorder. Place the microhphone carefully and speak loud and clear. Choose a quiet place to record to eliminate static noises.
... the disadvantage of Audacity with respect to editing is that all changes to the newly recorded track will change the original file, the actual waveform, and hence cannot be undone later on. You could save (export) a (. WAV) copy of the raw recording before you edit it.
Audacity has 267 reviews and a rating of 4.49 / 5 stars vs Pro Tools which has 47 reviews and a rating of 4.81 / 5 stars. Compare the similarities and differences between software options with real user reviews focused on features, ease of use, customer service, and value for money.
Headphones and earbuds can reach as loud as 100 dB or more, so a safe level is 50 to 60 percent of the maximum volume. This helps protect our hearing and allows us to listen to our favorite music for longer.
Is there really a difference in sound between lower sampling rates like 44.1 and 48 KHz and hi-res such as 88.2 and 96 KHz? Yes there is but it's not for the reason you might think. It's not likely to be the difference in high frequencies that you'll hear. The range of human hearing is 20 Hz to 20 KHz.
A good buffer size for recording is 128 samples, but you can also get away with raising the buffer size up to 256 samples without being able to detect much latency in the signal. You can also decrease the buffer size below 128, but then some plugins and effects may not run in real time.
This is generally accepted as being roughly 20Hz to 20kHz for human hearing. It is known from Nyquist's Theorem that in order to reproduce any given audio frequency, the sample rate has to be at least double the highest frequency you wanted to reproduce.
For most music applications, 44.1 kHz is the best sample rate to go for. 48 kHz is common when creating music or other audio for video. Higher sample rates can have advantages for professional music and audio production work, but many professionals work at 44.1 kHz.
High-resolution audio (high-definition audio or HD audio) is a term for audio files with greater than 44.1 kHz sample rate or higher than 16-bit audio bit depth. It commonly refers to 96 or 192 kHz sample rates.
A sampling with 24-bit depth can store more nuances and hence, more precise than a sampling with 16-bit depth. To be more explicit, let's see what is the maximum number of values each bit depth can store. You can see the huge difference in the number of possible values between the two bit depth.
Sample rate is the frequency at which snapshots of an analog signal are recorded. Thus the more snapshots per second, the higher the sample rate and the better the quality.
Work on your craft. There are two types of voice acting training, both of which can level up your skills: taking acting classes and hiring a voice coach. ...
If you're pursuing a career in audiobook narration, the standard rates commonly range between $200 – $300 per hour of recording. Since most audiobooks consist of about 4 – 6 hours of recording, an audiobook narrator's salary usually works out to about $1,500.
8GB is enough for 5-25 audio tracks with multiple instruments, MIDI and many plugins, VSTs and effects (EQ, compression, delay, reverb, etc) for small projects without performance issues. However, 16GB is optimal for larger projects and handling multiple applications at once.
8 GB is plenty for the majority of music production processing. 16 or 32 GB can help if you plan to work with the large sample libraries that are needed to emulate acoustic instruments realistically. But think twice before you pay steep prices to max out your computer's RAM.
Generally it will probably use around 40 to 100 MB of RAM (very little) but some processes may take more. In particular, some (optional) plug-ins may load the full track into RAM and that can be quite a lot of RAM (depending on the length of the track).
44100 Hz is standard for creating files that can be burned to Audio CD or for high-quality MP3 files. This is the default setting in Audacity and is best left at that setting for your recordings.
Audacity is great for vocals as well, it takes some time learning the ins & outs of it, but there are a lot of things you can do with Audacity and a voice.
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... the disadvantage of Audacity with respect to editing is that all changes to the newly recorded track will change the original file, the actual waveform, and hence cannot be undone later on. You could save (export) a (. WAV) copy of the raw recording before you edit it.
However, Adobe Audition is easier to set up and administer. Reviewers also preferred doing business with Adobe Audition overall. Reviewers felt that Adobe Audition meets the needs of their business better than Audacity.
In 2000, Audacity was released as a reliable audio editor, so it has been around for a long time. Since then, millions of people have used it across the globe. And it still is the most popular of all the free editing software programs available to this date.
Likelihood to Recommend. Audacity is great for pretty much anyone, it can be used for many tasks ranging from professional audio recording to recording just for fun.
While you get unlimited undos and redos, Audacity's edits are almost always destructive, so it won't replace a proper digital audio workstation like the Editors' Choice pick Avid Pro Tools. Even so, Audacity is still many people's go-to for quick-and-dirty audio work, and in testing, it's easy to see why.
Audacity is our pick for best overall audio editing software because it is a full-featured software with multi-track editing features and cross-platform support for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It's great for a variety of audio editing projects, including podcasts. Best of all, it's completely free.
Audacity has 267 reviews and a rating of 4.49 / 5 stars vs Pro Tools which has 47 reviews and a rating of 4.81 / 5 stars. Compare the similarities and differences between software options with real user reviews focused on features, ease of use, customer service, and value for money.
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