This article is a complete guide for recording a voice-over. If you have some questions and don’t know How to record a voiceover, please follow the instructions in this article. We will tell you the whole A-Z procedure, the necessary equipment, and the best programs or software in this article.
People who have recorded podcasts or video tutorials will find this article very interesting because it will help them make their sound as high as possible. For your ease and convenience, we are dividing this article into three parts:
- The choice of equipment for recording a voice over
- Programs or software for recording
- Some useful advice
1. Choosing equipment for voice recording
Equipment is indispensable for any voice recording. If you are interested in recording a voice over, you should acquire a piece of high-quality equipment. The best recording equipment will make you able to record the sound of decent quality. There is two leading equipment for recording voice. The first one is a good quality microphone, and the second one is a high-quality sound card.
We will not consider expensive sound cards and microphones because expensive equipment is not necessarily crucial for an ordinary blogger or a person who is starting his own YouTube channel to earn money. We are recommending that you should buy equipment according to your budget range. But there are some properties of the equipment which are surely considered while purchasing it.
For example, when you are buying a sound card for recording a voice over, you should always pay attention to the quality of ADC (Analog to Digital Converter). The standard quality of ADC is 24-bit and 96 kHz. The other features you should look for are microphone connectors like XLR or Jack, High power supply (48V), and a preamplifier.
A sound card with a connection to pc through USB is the best and easiest sound card to use. So, you should always choose a sound card with a USB connection. For your ease, we are telling you some famous and high-quality brands of audio interfaces such as PreSonus AudioBox USB 96, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Behringer U-Phoria UMC404HD, and Roland Octa-Capture.
When you have selected a good sound card for you, the next step is to choose a good quality microphone. Usually, a condenser microphone is suitable for recording a voice over, and if it has an XLR connector, it will be the icing on the cake.
Usually, 48V phantom power is needed for the normal working of these kinds of headphones. You surely have a question in your mind that condenser microphones will consume much power, but don’t worry; it will also produce a high-quality sound. The dynamic microphone requires less power and produces low-quality sound. We are recommending the following microphone brands,
- Rode NT1A
- AKG C414 XLS
- Marshall Electronics MXL 770
It is a huge benefit of a condenser microphone that is connected to the pc through a USB connection. It has a built-in preamplifier, which improves sound quality. If you have chosen one of the above model microphones, you certainly do not need to buy a sound card because the microphone will do all your recording work.
Many ready-made set of equipment of voice recordings is also available in the markets nowadays. For example, the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 studio includes a sound card with a microphone and headphones.
2. Voice Recording Software or Program
Many voice recording software is available in the market nowadays. Some of them are free, and some of them are paid and only accessible after purchasing. Some well-known voice recording software is Audacity, Traverso, and Free sound recorder. The OS system has its voice recorder nowadays, but sound quality will very poor when you record voice by using the built-in voice recorder. Audio Workstation is another option for recording voice. Many Audio workstations are easily available such as FL Studio and Ableton Live etc. We recommend FL studio for a good quality voice recording.
3. Speaker Voice Recording Tips
If you want to record a high-quality voice for your video tutorials and podcasts, here are some essential and useful tips, which you should follow like rules.
- Acquire only high-quality equipment and a high-quality program or software. You are surely able to do that by reading the above portion of the article carefully.
- Always take care of unwanted and unnecessary voice such as voices of doors or pc parts like fan and cooler. The position of the microphone is essential for removing this problem. It would be best if you always positioned your microphone in such a way that it cannot pick any unwanted voices.
- We are highly recommending the use of a mic holder. The mic holder will enable you to give any direction to the mic. You can use any mic holder, such as a spider.
- When you are pronouncing consonants, there are very high chances of airflow in the microphone. You should use a pop filter to protect the mic against this unwanted airflow.
- Always choose the best direction for the microphone. Record voice at different angles and set the mic at that angle where it produces a high-quality sound.
- Adjustment the distance of the microphone properly.
When you apply these tips while voice recording, we promise you that you will obtain high-quality sound results, you will get a refreshing and professional voice without any arrangements and expensive equipment. Always remember that a sound recording will produce better results during processing.