If you have no experience of recording audio, getting started can seem incredibly overwhelming. Here’s five basic steps to get you started:
• Identify what you’ll be recording:
Know what you hope to accomplish before you start speaking into the mic. Is this a podcast of regular content for your clients, an online course segment, a recorded ebook, or an audio profile? Who is your intended audience? What’s the purpose of making the recording? All that plays into how your recording is made.
• Prepare your script:
If you’re in training or sales, it might seem natural to record on the fly, but you’ll be surprised how awkward an unscripted recording can sound, and how difficult that recording will be to edit.
There’s a couple of options here – either create an outline of what you want to say and make bullet points to work from, or expand that even further and create a script to read. If you create a script, read it out loud to check that the material flows and that your sentences aren’t too long.
If you have difficulty getting started, either record yourself talking about your topic or get a friend to interview you, and then get the recording transcribed and rewrite that to make it work better as a finished piece.
• Make sure you have the right equipment and software:
Find audio editing software you like, because there’s going to be a little bit of a learning curve, and you don’t want to commit time to learning something that maybe you’re not going to be comfortable with in the long run. Most software allows you a demo period to try it out, or for the more expensive software, you can get a demo in a music store.
A good place to look for software is versiontracker.com.
A valuable feature to consider is the ability to do multitrack recording and editing, which allows you to do a number of things…
• you can add music, effects and extra voices to your recordings;
• you can record interviews with several people at once and keep the voices separated, which means you can turn down a person’s mic when they’re not speaking to reduce the background noise
• if you record interviews via Skype, it’s usually possible to have your Skype software save the two voices on separate tracks, which makes for easier editing later
• and much more!
At the moment I’m recommending Reaper. Although this is a fairly sophisticated piece of software, it”’’s still easy to use for simple voice recordings as well as multitrack, it’s cross-platform (which means that I can use it to explain recording techniques irrespective of what computer you use) and, considering how deep the programme is, the price for a basic license is very low ($60 US). You’ll be able to use it for basic editing without worrying about the many other things it can do, and gradually start to use the other parts of the software as you get more comfortable.
As far as equipment, you’ll need a computer, a microphone (I suggest a USB mic that plugs directly into your computer for most voice recordings), and a set of computer headphones. You’ll need to strike a balance here – the more you spend on a piece of equipment, the better and longer lasting it’s going to be. But if you’re just starting, or you’re just recording for transcription, then buying the highest quality mic and headphones may be overkill. Do buy the best equipment that you can afford – the microphone in particular is the most important part of the recording chain.
Once you have your equipment set up, practice recording and then editing the audio file, so that you become comfortable with the way the software works, and you build up your basic editing skills.
• Record in a quiet place!
The last thing you want to hear on your recordings is the sound of traffic going past or people talking in the next room. Here are some obvious things you can do to create a quiet environment for recording.
• Close the curtains to block street sound.
• Stack couch pillows loosely around your PC to deaden fan noise (careful not to block airflow!).
• Shut off the phone and answering machine.
• You can combat that ‘tinny’ sound some recordings have by working in a place with upholstered furniture and carpeted floors, rather than surrounding yourself with wood and metal.
• Make the recording shine:
The great thing about recording on a computer is that you can edit out mistakes afterwards. While recording, focus on speaking naturally with as few awkward pauses as possible. You can afford to exaggerate the emotion and the intonation (the ups and downs) in your speaking, which will help keep your delivery lively. Try it out, I think you’ll be surprised that what sounds a bit over the top to you when you’re recording sounds really alive when you listen back.
If you make a mistake, go back a sentence or two and pick it up again. This will make editing easier.
And once you’ve finished, you can edit out any ums and ah’s, heavy breathing , and restarts.
• Think about the quality of your voice:
Your voice connects you to your audience in many unconsciously powerful ways. You can use it to draw people in and develop a feeling of connection and trust. The quality of your voice can have an enormous impact on the relationship you build with your clients, and that of course will impact on their willingness to listen to you and buy from you.
There are a number of voice coaching programmes out there, but here’s one that I’ve tried, that gets good results in just a couple of hours, and also teaches you a couple of fun techniques that will take your vocal skills to the next level. This system, which is designed to dramatically & powerfully improve the quality of the sound of your voice, has been used successfully by nearly 3000 people from 29 countries around the world, to improve their voices. It’s been developed by NLP trainer Jonathan Altfeld, and it’s called Your Irresistable Voice.
So that’s the basics, and I think there’s enough in there to get you going. In later posts I’ll go into more detail on these different topics, but as to what I cover, it’s over to you. What questions do you have about getting started, about recording techniques, voice training, content development and so on. Anything from the most basic questions on up.
Email me at thedoctor@doctorsound.fm, and I’ll answer your questions in a later post.
Thanks for reading, and I’m looking forward to hearing from you …
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