Can anyone suggest how to record in a professional way. Do you have a certain microphone or software to make it seem more professional than just a regular voice? I am new to all this so any suggestions on how to get best quality voice over recordings is appreciated.
Hi Diane - I'm sure lots of others from the community will chime in with their recording advice, but first off I wanted to point you to this blog post. David collected several demo samples from the community and shared them there - It's definitely worth a listen if you're considering which microphone to buy!
Audacity is a great and free software program, though of course, it takes a little while to learn. But if you are in this e-learning game long term, it's something you'll want to learn. I don't want to overwhelm you but a microphone pre-amp will do wonders for you. In my opinion it's more important than the choice of microphone -- of course, you do want a mic that is decent-to-good. Basically, a pre-amp boosts the signal from your mic into the recording software. I have the tubepre preamp made by Presonus -- 150 bucks or so.
As far as delivering narration, I would say talk a bit more lively and quicker than you usually do, but keep it natural, keep it conversational. Don't try to be a professional narrator.
I have a friend that swears by his Blue Snowball Microphone, however we use the Plantronics headset mics...they do a decent job and are reasonably priced.
I have found however recording directly to powerpoint always comes out real "tinny" sounding? And trying to boost your volume level only increases the tin sound.
I am a bit spoiled, I record into Garageband and use one of their voice filters. Its a bit more of a hassle this way as I have to save all my audio files as separate mp3's and then import to powerpoint...but the outcome is will worth it!
You choose from six different voices male/female, send them the script. They charge $20 per page and have it back to you in 48 hours. Recorded in professional sound studio, sounds great, fantastic service.
Laura, I use them too... I find that the quality is ten time better than I could do, and the cost to my employer is actually less because he doesn't have to pay my higher hourly wage to record, re-record, edit etc. all of the files. If you take the time factor (and more importantly the COST of your time to the employer) then 20$/page makes SO much sense. (As I found before it could take me a whole day to do 5 or 6 pages of sound, and it would still come out unprofessional sounding)
Although... If people keep suggesting them here I might not get my 3 day turn around anymore...lol
You may consider this alternative to recording. Streaming music recorder is a popular program that record voice. If you wanna do some recordings, just prepare this program and a good quality microphone, because your voice can be recorded directly from your mic.
11 Replies
Hi Diane - I'm sure lots of others from the community will chime in with their recording advice, but first off I wanted to point you to this blog post. David collected several demo samples from the community and shared them there - It's definitely worth a listen if you're considering which microphone to buy!
Hi Diane! The demos we have are a good way to hear how most of us sound in the real world
What's your audio budget? Prices have really come down in audio. You can find awesome, pro-sounding mics for under $200.
200$ or so would be fine for budget- I watched demo - could you give me your top 3 picks in terms of quality?
Thanks so much!
Hi, Diane:
Audacity is a great and free software program, though of course, it takes a little while to learn. But if you are in this e-learning game long term, it's something you'll want to learn. I don't want to overwhelm you but a microphone pre-amp will do wonders for you. In my opinion it's more important than the choice of microphone -- of course, you do want a mic that is decent-to-good. Basically, a pre-amp boosts the signal from your mic into the recording software. I have the tubepre preamp made by Presonus -- 150 bucks or so.
As far as delivering narration, I would say talk a bit more lively and quicker than you usually do, but keep it natural, keep it conversational. Don't try to be a professional narrator.
I also forgot to mention that the Audacity forum is very, very helpful. The moderators very diligent.
I have a friend that swears by his Blue Snowball Microphone, however we use the Plantronics headset mics...they do a decent job and are reasonably priced.
I have found however recording directly to powerpoint always comes out real "tinny" sounding? And trying to boost your volume level only increases the tin sound.
I am a bit spoiled, I record into Garageband and use one of their voice filters. Its a bit more of a hassle this way as I have to save all my audio files as separate mp3's and then import to powerpoint...but the outcome is will worth it!
http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/764/2297.aspx#2297">http://community.articulate.com/forums/p/764/2297.aspx#2297 is another thread.
I use NCH Wavepad Sound Editor Pro - LOVE the "get rid of all the noise that is around you that you do not normally notice" feature.
Microphone sits in a Harlan Hogan PortaBooth, (now that the cat has decided she lives behind the sofa).
I always record outside to .wav, and import files into Articulate.
Bruce
An alternative to consider because it's sooo cost effective: www.narratorfiles.com
You choose from six different voices male/female, send them the script. They charge $20 per page and have it back to you in 48 hours. Recorded in professional sound studio, sounds great, fantastic service.
Laura, I use them too... I find that the quality is ten time better than I could do, and the cost to my employer is actually less because he doesn't have to pay my higher hourly wage to record, re-record, edit etc. all of the files. If you take the time factor (and more importantly the COST of your time to the employer) then 20$/page makes SO much sense. (As I found before it could take me a whole day to do 5 or 6 pages of sound, and it would still come out unprofessional sounding)
Although... If people keep suggesting them here I might not get my 3 day turn around anymore...lol
You may consider this alternative to recording. Streaming music recorder is a popular program that record voice. If you wanna do some recordings, just prepare this program and a good quality microphone, because your voice can be recorded directly from your mic.
Is there a way to eliminate background noise from a video?
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