Voice-Over: Mic and Recording Equipment Basics

A Beginner’s Guide to Writing, Recording, and Editing Narration, Part Four

Click here if you missed Part One … or here if you missed Part Two … and what the heck, here’s Part Three.

If you’re recording a voiceover talent (or if you’re lending your own voice to a project and recording yourself), you’re obviously going to need to have some equipment to get started. If you’ve already got your recording setup set up, then awesome (please eagerly await my next article on recording software tips and tricks)! But if you’re just getting started with recording (or looking to upgrade from your laptop’s internal microphone), then you’ve clicked the right link!*

Microphone Choice

While a professional audio recording guru might make use of a pre-amp, mixer, and expensive microphone in a fully decked-out, soundproof recording booth, I know you probably don’t have the budget for that. So let me start by saying a simple USB microphone can produce solid results. And with the rise of home podcasting, obtaining a good USB mic at a reasonable price is easier than ever.
The most popular USB mic is the Yeti (by Blue). It’s nice because it doesn’t require purchasing a separate pre-amp (to boost the mic volume), it supports direct USB connections (to plug directly into your computer, instead of requiring a separate USB adapter/interface), and you can switch the recording directionality to suit your needs (as microphones can be set to record in certain directions, such as directly in front of the mic, all around the mic, etc.). The Yeti mic usually retails for around $130, which is fairly reasonable. If you look around, you might find package deals for your chosen mic that include USB cables, boom arms, shock mounts, and pop filters.

There are obviously a wide variety of USB microphones out there, so if you’re not a fan of the Yeti, do some research online and read the reviews. But keep in mind that you will need (or should consider) the following:

• USB condenser mic
• USB cable (the cable you connect your mic to your computer with)
• Desk stand or Boom arm mic stand (to hold your mic of course!)
• Pop filter (attaches to the mic stand or covers mic directly)
• Shock mount (attaches to the mic stand) (optional)
• Isolation shield (attaches to the mic stand or is free-standing) (optional)

Let’s take a closer look at these other elements:

Stands, Shock Mounts, Pop Filters, and Isolation Shields

The boom arm is advantageous, as it allows you to easily position and reposition the mic in just the right spot for whomever is recording. Some boom arms will sit on a stationary stand, while some might clamp to the edge of your desk.

A shock mount helps absorb vibrations in the environment and prevents the sound of them from showing up in the recording. It’s definitely nice to have, but not always necessary.

A pop filter is more essential. It’s a piece of fabric or foam placed in front of or directly on the mic to help prevent your spoken plosives from showing up on a recording. Plosive sounds (like “p” and “t”) shoot a stream of air from your mouth, and when this stream hits the mic, it creates a “pop” sound in the recording. Put your hand in front of your mouth and say “puh” and “tuh” and you’ll feel that blast of air on your hand. You can imagine how that can distort audio when it directly hits the microphone. The pop filter will break up that stream of air so it doesn’t interfere with the recording, while letting all the regular sounds through.

Foam pop filters that are placed directly on the mic might slightly reduce certain high frequencies in your recording when used, but the reduction in quality is very minimal. You’ll probably find this kind of filter very convenient.

Gooseneck pop filters are the kind you’ll see most recording studios use. The filter component is usually just a six-inch circular frame with fabric stretched across it. I’ve even seen people create makeshift pop filters using a wire coat hanger and pantyhose! And the result was pretty effective!

One last thing to consider is soundproofing/insulation. An office or recording space with minimal furniture and bare, non-carpeted floors can create a lot of excess sound and echo. Generally you’ll want to record in a “dead space.” Carpets and blankets help absorb excess sound and keep your voice from echoing off every surface. You’ll often see recording studios with foam-padded walls to help absorb this sound.

Consider a small foam isolation shield. These can be attached to mic stands or kept free-standing just behind a microphone. You’ll find them in various sizes, but you can probably expect to spend $40 on the low end.

And those are the main pieces of equipment you’ll need. Of course you’re going to need an audio recording program to take advantage of your new mic. We’ll discuss recording software in the next installment of the blog!

Sounding off,
Steve

TLDR (too long, didn’t read): You can get pretty good quality audio from a simple mid-price USB mic (like the Yeti). Also consider investing in a basic mic stand, pop filter, and isolation shield to make your recording process simpler and your audio sound better.

*I’m not ruling out the fact that you might have actually been trying to click on DoorDash to order some food, but you accidentally clicked into this blog. The important thing to remember though is that you read the article and learned something. Right? Oh, you’re still hungry… Well, I encourage you to place that food order now if you haven’t already.