The Sound Booth Part 3 - GONE but comin' back all new and different

Its gone. Dismantled. Destroyed. 

But not forgotten and not all for nothing.

Since my last post regarding this topic last fall, some things have changed. The house was put on the market and sold and we moved to a slightly more rural location.Necessary action had to be taken to faciltate the sale of the house. And that was the dismantling of my little VO booth that cost me under $200 to build. It seems people don't get what the booth was for and the vast majority don't care to have one in the house. I was left to record back at my desk with my little box lined with foam that sat over my microphone. It was not ideal but when a client comes a callin', but I don't ever like saying no. 

BUT.......

Change is good.

My new location provides me with a space that is essentially all MINE. It is located in the basement and its a space that can be closed off and away from the rest of the house and family. An 11 X 21 room that can house lotsa furniture and be made comfortable to work in and best of all, the road traffic and neighborhood noise are next to nothing which is one less thing to worry about. All thats left is just the noise from the family, dog and random appliances. They can be switched off. The appliances, I mean. The dog is a pretty good sleeper and the family usually understands that Dad makes money from when he records, so they accomodate me well.

For the time being, what I am starting with is 4 drywalled walls, a bare concrete floor, a huge sectional couch in the corner to lounge on and the usual office furniture to round out  the space. Not exactly a blank slate for a room but a pretty darn good space to make into a nice voice recording/editing area. My challenge is getting rid of the dreaded echos that live in the room. The large sectional couch and other soft surfaces in the room have helped somewhat but still more needs to be done to deaden the space enough that I don't sound like I am recording in a corn silo or storm drain. 

Of course, all of this is to be done on the "not expensive" side. I won't use the word "cheap". I strongly dislike that word. It implies that work was half-assed with no regard for what you are trying to accomplish and junk was used to get it done. I still want some quality and value to what I am attempting to do. And I won't use "on a budget". Arrgh. Everyone is on a budget. Its how deep your wallet is. Get to the bottom, yup, that was yer budget. Mine, for the record, is pretty shallow.

So with all that said, its time to start getting it done. Now that I have a nice, new smartphone with a nice onboard camera, I'll try to share some photos and show you the progress as I go along. 

As always, I am open to any and all feedback you might have from what you read and see. And yes, I am still a voice for hire to record your project. 

Take care and hope your having a great start to Summer 2012.

R



 



 

The Sound Booth Part 2 - The Build ~ shoulda called it the VO Booth

I think I mislabeled this post from the beginning. I should have called it "The VO Booth" as that's what it's for.

I finally started - and finished - the VO booth I had long wanted. The best thing about it is that it cost me under $150 to do, is just big enough for me and some gear and does not take up huge amounts of space. Working with a roughly 4 X 3 space, it's a little cramped but still pretty comfortable. I am also building from one existing wall and all the framing is loosely attached to the wall, floor and ceiling. A handful of screws holds it in place. It's a booth not an extra bedroom.

So off to the hardware store I went to pick up some "utility" 2x4's, not the #1's that really weren't needed. I'm just framing in some space and not creating a structural wall. That saved me some money and in total:

• 20 pieces of Utility grade 2x4x8 -$40.
• 3 sheets of drywall to skin the outside and inside to create dead air spaces to slow down and outside noise leaking in - $30
• Drywall screws - $6
• One recycled 28" door - $5
• 5 packing blankets - $25 ($ bucks each)
• Mat for the floor -  $10
• Screws for framing - $5

Now I should mention that I did source the door and the packing blankets from Kijiji.ca . This did save me some $$$ as the door new was in the $50 range (not pre-hung) and the packing blankets are $25 each brand new (mine were used once, only).

In the earlier post, I mentioned that I used some floor underlay to hang in my "temp space" to dampen some of the room reverb. I did have some left and turns out it was just enough to cover 3/4's of the height of the upper half of the new booth walls. This was stapled on and the packing blankets were folded in half and hung over that.

Add in one small shelf, a small lamp, mic, mic stand and the ART Tube Preamp and I am all set to record. The difference that I hear is like night and day compared to before. The background room noise is reduced considerably.

Using a power bar, I gave the lamp and preamp its power and myself on/off switch. This way I can always tell if the booth is powered up from outside and avoid forgetting anything on by just eyeballing the power bar's lighted switch from my "editing area".

I've only just started recording some small projects in there now and I have to say, it feels way more comfortable than what I had before and when you're comfortable, you are more confident. Being in the booth to record, and then sitting down to edit and hearing almost nothing but your own work on the track is awesome. I still have some tweaking to do with the setup inside as I need to go back and forth to verify levels before I record. Getting another monitor and a USB unit that allows me to do that are being looked at as an option now but I am still looking at a better mic now that I have a better recording environment.

So, thats what I did. I grabbed some ideas from people who were willing to share. I hope I can give someone else some ideas to help them with a solution to a problem.

As far as pictures go, I'll post some in one more post n this subject when some of the 'aesthetics' of the booth are finalized.

If you have any feedback on what I did, feel free to drop me a line.

Hope you're in Inbox is full and your mic is always on! Have a great Halloween weekend!

R

Want to get an "In" into VO work? Try volunteering. Part II

Around 3 weeks ago, I took an hour and a half drive up the road and went to audition for a charitable organization that provides spoken word articles for the vision impaired. Yes. I drove an hour and a half to audition for a volunteer gig. A gig that does not pay in dollars. It does, however, allow me to give back with something that I enjoy doing anyway and if it works out perfectly, I get to record from home. Which means I get practice voice over and reading scripts that are different from what I am usually used to doing. It also means that I can use my voice to make someone else's life a little easier and maybe a little more enjoyable.
For some reason when I try to learn something new, it takes a little longer for me to  'get it' if the "theory" of what's being taught does not specifically pertain to what I am trying to learn. I struggled at first trying to learn what  spreadsheet software was for until I used it to figure out a problem in an electronics course then the bulb clicked on and I was all over it. Might be the tradesman blood that never found its way to my hands.

But I also think that most people want to be challenged to improve in the things they feel they are good at doing. This is a new challenge for me and its one that I believe will have a lot of benefits, one of them being that I will understand that much more about doing voice overs. A carpenter builds because he knows someone will eventually use his creation. I find Voice Over the same, its a lot more enjoyable when you know that someone will eventually hear it and use it in their day.

Keep your chin up, your ears and your mind open. There is gold out there.

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Caring for your "tool" of the trade

Its that time of your when it seems that colds and and bugs seem to make their way around more so than other times of the year. And unlike allergies that can be treated with some medication to help alleviate symptoms almost within a day, colds and bugs tend to linger and usually more time and medicine is needed.
Dave Courvoisier has some good tips on caring for those cords that that make you money. Any tradesman worth his salt takes care of his tools, and so should we. When they are not working as they should, then they need the tradesman's attention.

12+ Ways Care to For Your Cords | Dave Courvoisier's Blog

 
Dave has covered quite a few things. What do you do? Drop me a line and share your tips for vocal cord health.


 

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Want to get an "In" into VO work? Try volunteering.

In the lines of work I did, I used to get it all the time that I "should be on radio" or doing commercials - and those are all great compliments.  Its does take more to doing voiceover than just jumping behind a mic and talking. It takes practice, patience and persistence.

• Practice - Not just reading out loud to yourself, although it doesn't hurt, but doing the read on a mic and recording it as a dry run or for the real thing
• Patience - You are highly unlikely to be the next Don Lafontaine, Ted Williams,  Bill Lyman or one of the multitude or trademark voices you hear everyday and can't put a name on it. You are you, and you will learn with each script you read. You will get better and more people will like your work.
• Persistence - Keep doing it. There is a saying I heard about doing VO's and that "work begets work". Keep chanting that mantra in your head and keep archiving what you did. One job will lead to another.

But how do you get started? Whats "the" or "a" first step?

Try volunteering.
Yeah, I know, its free.  Crazy, what? But here is the silver lining - "Work begets work".  If you can't show someone you can do it, why hire you and not the next guy? When you've done it, someone will hear and believe.

And where would you go and volunteer? Well, for starters, there is always associations that do work for the vision impaired (in Canada, we have VoicePrint or CNIB). Also, some cable companies here in Canada (like Rogers and RogersTV)  have volunteer programs that allow you to create some of the magic behind the camera and train you in various aspects, or just give you a chance to be On air.
Why would I advocate this route ? Because donating my time and skills for one of these volunteer organizations helped open doors to VO work for myself and helped give back to the community. And I am likely going to do it again, having just auditioned for another volunteer organization to donate my voice to some of their projects.  Why not help make something a little better whilst trying to make your life a little better?

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• Like finding money in last seasons jacket...... (rickarseneault.wordpress.com)
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You Must Resist the Urge to Quit

Whenever you try somethng that is not easy or something thatss never easy to define when you will accomplish your goal, you will always be tempted to give up. Its human nature. At some point you will question what you are doing. Its OK to question what you are doing. Its not OK to give up when things get a little hard or you're afraid of failing.  I like articles like the one below. Lets you know that its OK to have a doubt, and always better to struggle on if its what you want or like to do.

You Must Resist the Urge to Quit - by Dumb Little Man

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"Try not to sound so "Announcery'"

"Can you make not sound more natural and less 'announcery'?" was the line I got in a studio from a director once. I was taken aback a little as I thought I was sounding natural. Did I walk around the world talking like I was behind a mic 24/7 or was it some subconscious thing I was doing when I got behind a mic. Nevertheless, it worked out in the end and all went well. 

So, when I saw Rod Saulsberry's article on this very topic, I knew I had to give it a plug.

How To Take 'Announcery' Read Out Of Promo Copy 

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The Sound Booth Part 1 - Conception

Recording at home is never easy at first when you want to start. Especially if the space you own was never intended to have recording done in it. Because I am doing VoiceOvers now as a supplemental income thing, I don't intend on remortgaging the house anytime soon to get the latest in recording and soundproofing technology. I won't say I'm building it "on a budget" because everything is on a budget. I will say that I want to build it as inexpensively as possible and get the best value I can.

The space I use is in the quietest part of the house I could find: the basement.  It is partially finished and is essentially the man cave. It is also ideal for late night recording projects as the bedrooms are 2 floors up ( I work nights at my full time job).

The problem I face right now is that I am not happy with my current soundproofing set up.  After doing numerous sessions in a commercial studio with a professionally set up vocal booth, you tend to see and hear the difference in your work at home.  With some changes I made in the room in the last year, my situation has improved and it was surprisingly not that expensive. (I did use my audio editing software to clean up the audio but you can only do so much.)

By "not that expensive",  I mean this:

• Studding - I built some temporary walls around my desk space for recording using utility grade 2x4's (about $1 a piece for 8 foots) and skinned the outside with some cheap paneling.  At the bottom of one wall, I left a hole to run cabling to my recording PC which was placed outside the desk space.
  *Wood ran me just under $40
• "Soundproofing" - not really 100% but dampening or lessening echos really. I picked up some carpet underlay and stapled it to the studs inside my desk space (blue side out, looks kind coo,l actually). Also is a great bulletin board, just straighten out a paperclip and you can hang a script page.
  *This was about half the cost of the wood, so around $20 or so.

Now this did work at appeasing me for a while and I could work with it as it stood. But the more I recorded, the more I wanted to improve it.
So, after seeing several ads for "portable booths" , I decided to try a variation of that myself . I essentially built a box, lined with foam squares with an egg carton-type surface  and put my mic stand, mic, and pop filter inside.
*Scrap wood around the house $0 and foam cost me $10

The difference in background noise improved greatly by essentially closing off 3 of 4 sides around my mic (270 degrees, perhaps you could say). There still remains the background noise, mostly room echo, that comes from behind me and into the mic. (I have tried using a bipanel door with foam glued on but its not as effective as I would like it to  be.)

So, the plan is this:

1. To make a 36" x 36" recording booth attached on the other side of the current desk space. There will be a step up into the booth to isolate the inside floor from the laminate floor that it will set on as laminate telegraphs sharp noises from outside the booth. (Its true, I have heard it elsewhere)
2. Insulate the void in the booth properly and line the inside with the correct Auralex foam.

That's the plan. When will it happen? Shooting for Nov/Dec 2011 for the structure. I will probably have to wait for Jan/Feb 2012 to get the Auralex as Santa comes just the month before.

As soon as I get this desk cleaned up, I hope to take some pics for some Before/After shots as well as, maybe, some progress shots.

If you have any feedback about my plan or have some info/tips to share, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I'm always open to new ideas.

Have a great day and hope your inbox is full of opportunity!

R

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REVIEW | ART Tube MP Original

This is a piece of equipment that I use in my chain that actually replaced my 4 Channel board with +48V phantom power. Its simple easy and makes thingg sound great. Best of all, it usually sells for under $50. Have a look at the review. If you are looking at a cheap setup to start recording, this is a nice piece that will save you money to put back in your pocket. 

Here is a review below:

CompVideo Gadget Reviews

Accents: How good are you at them?

I recently rediscovered Life magazine and found their photo archives online.
I thought this one was interesting as its a challenge that anybody doing VO will probably run into a some point, be it for work or a demo:

Worst Accents in Film 

Know any accent perfomances that didn't make the list? Comment below:

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Lloyd Robertson signs off.

A familiar voice that many Canadians have come to know and trust will sign off at the end of the broadcast day at CTV on September 1st, 2011. Lloyd Robertson will say farewell and end a 35 year career with CTV. Below is a letter written by Lloyd and posted on CTV.CA

http://www.ctv.ca/lloyd/ 

Its a great letter and there are some great videos about Lloyd at the bottom. 

Just Keep Doing It! Part 2

I ran across this today on Terry Daniel's Facebook group, Voice-Over Camp, and thought it had some good points about dealing with the naysayers (even the one sometimes in your own head). Terry does provide coaching and demo production services. I have not used Terry's services nor am I affiliated with him other than being a part of his FB group. His video does, however, get right to it: Work hard and stay at it. 
For me, the pursuit of the work is the just as much fun as depositing the check. Here is terry's video:

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Storytelling is also part of being a VoiceOver Artist/Talent

One of the great things about being a VO talent/artist (whichever way you want to describe yourself) is that you always have to learn. Whether its about technology, utilizing resources, marketing or even about yourself and exploring and understanding your strengths in front of and behind the mic. Here is an article submitted to Voices.com by a very good artist who is willing to share what he knows.

Xavier Paul - Recording Artists are Storytellers

 

 

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Keeping in the Know

I'm a big believer in keeping on top of the latest that's going on, be it current events or the Voice Over biz.  Sometimes you pop a search term into Google and - Voila - up comes something the really sticks with you.  The link below has some great info if you are an active or budding VO.  And provides a little perspective from the VO's point of view if you are looking to hire one.

VoiceoverCanada.ca

 

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JUST KEEP DOING IT!

Its natural to wonder about or question what you are doing when things aren't happening fast enough or happening at all. I can't sit hear and type that I am a raving success in VOs and know all the ins and outs of the biz. I can tell you about what I have experienced and some of the successes I feel I have had.  I can also tell you that I wanted, from time to time, just to say "Oh well, I tried". Then an email comes in, a call from a previous customer or a Facebook IM from an old friend that wants someone to help him with some DJ drops. And then it all gets fun again. Its all about being Johnny on the Spot. If your not on the spot, another Johnny/Janey will be and they will be raking in the fun (and the $$).
Lets be honest.  Most of us who do this won't be millionaires overnight or ever. And these days, it seems the millionaires are the ones that are getting the cherry jobs doing VO.
But for me, just yesterday, when that old friend said that the simple one liner I did for him was "awesome" and how excited he was to use it in one of his mixes sparked that little ember a little brighter. Just enough to get this website buzzing a little more with posts from me and putting my foot that much further out there.
I saw a video today where Steve Jobs was giving the Commencement speech at Stanford back in '05.  Its a video thats full of wisdom. I especially liked his comments on Connecting the Dots.  It reminds me of something else I heard about VO work - "Work begets work".


Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech from Iconisus on Vimeo.


Take what you want from that.  Some pretty wise words from a pretty wise guy.
Hope your day is good and your inbox is full.
R

Jack Layton's Final Message

A great Canadian passed today after his second battle with cancer. Even though he had his own battle to contend with, he still fought for what he thought was how Canada should be. For this, he shall be missed, treasured and referenced when we ask ourselves what it means to be Canadian.  Thank You, Jack.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/mobile/iphone/Jack+Layton+final+message/5289265/story.html.

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Out of the Blue

 

So there I was, sitting in from of my PC, tunes blaring as usual as I scanned the news, Twitter feed and various other internet distractions before I started my work day. Suddenly, the phone rings. I check the caller ID and its nothng I recognize. My first thought is that its a telemarketer. Down goes the music and I answer the phone. For the first time EVER, I receive a call from someone looking for a VoiceOver job to be done. Within the week, I was in to the client's studio recording for a YouTube video voiceover.

What made this even more suprising at first is that he didn't get my name from what I thought was a better known of higher visibility VO website. He found me from doing a net search for a VO talent from my area. He THEN found my name and made the effort to contact me. 

So here is what I have gleened from this experience:

• Yes, name recognition is important. But if your like me in a smaller market, maybe its best to put more emphasis on where you are located and give it the same weight as your name as your "brand"
• Put it into practice now!
• See the first bullet. Repeat if necessary

I'm just about to do those very things mentioned above. I'll let you know as soon anything pans out from it.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Rick

 

 

 

 

 

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