I recently bought some new equipment for my voiceover and audio editing, and I've been trying to get a perfect setup for my voice over. In the room I normally record in, it almost sounds too open and echoey, and I wasn't about to get a $100 silent isolation shield for my mic, so I found an open corner in the room, then hung up a thick blanket on the wall (if I didn't use a blanket, it would sound really echoey because the sound would be bouncing off the walls). It worked amazingly! Whenever I was in that corner, it was a lot quieter and enclosed, which is exactly what I need. I had just bought a microphone stand, and so I put it up next to the corner, then attached the microphone (I use the Rode NT1-a condenser microphone), and then set up the music stand. After that, I hooked up the microphone to my computer through my audio interface (which I hung/attached to the wall so I could control the sound and gain). Then recorded. You could definitely tell the difference.

This is my setup:

I recorded some more kid commercial scripts to practice on, here's 2 of them:

Danimals Yogurt

Danimals is the fruity-tasting snack all kids will agree on. It’s a good source of calcium, protein, vitamin D, and it tastes great too! Danimals. Better every day!

3M Innovation

What would it be like to be... a bee? Or be inside a beating heart? These are just two of the possibilities you’ll experience in What’s the Secret?, the new interactive CD-ROM from 3M Learning Software. What’s the Secret? turns your computer into a fun, experimental laboratory that lets you explore the interconnected worlds of science and nature. Available in Windows and Macintosh versions, from 3M INNOVATION.

My personal notes: I should enunciate "Danimals" better, at one point I was too loud and it didn't sound good, and hopefully you can hear that I'm saying "or be inside a beating heart" (it's easy to get mixed up with all the "be(e)"s!).

Lately, I've been having connection issues with my microphone; the Blue Yeti, and thankfully we bought a warranty for it (it costs $130, so I wouldn't want to lose that money!), so we shipped it back. They said they would replace it with the same type of mic. The mic's color I got was "Blackout", and there were a few other color choices, so I slipped a note in the box with mic asking if the replaced mic could be the color "Platinum". We just shipped it 2 days ago, and hopefully, I'll get a working platinum color mic. I just have to say, I LOVE the Yeti! It has great sound quality for how much it costs, and I got it in March last year. But what I would like to try next is the Rode NT1A, another condenser mic that's a bit higher class then the Yeti, and it's an extra $100 (it costs $230), and from the reviews I've seen, it's a really good mic! I could probably get it cheaper used though for under $150, but that could be risky.

I've been so busy with podcast editing that I didn't make time for VO practicing. It's been probably 2 months since the last time I practiced, so I did some today. I looked up some practice scripts from a website called Edge Studio (you can see the scripts for kids by clicking here), where I found a few scripts to record. I also found some music from another website called BenSound.com, which has free music as long as you use it for personal use. Here are three of the recordings:

The Caped Crusader meets the Big Cheese. Evil, cheeseless noodles. BEWARE! It's new DC Super Heroes Macaroni &Cheese in 8 of your favorite Super Hero shapes, smothered in THE CHEESIEST cheesy KRAFT cheese sauce. Wow!

You know, every day is a new experience for me. There are so many things to do, and so much to learn about. The only way I know to get all of it done, and do it right, is to start the day off with a glass of milk. Milk puts me right where I need to be, and then I’m ready to make the most of the day. MILK ... it’s the energizer I can’t do without.

Welcome to a place of learning and imagination, a place of wonder... exploration... and fun. Isn't that what childhood is all about? Playskool, a proud supporter of PBS kids.