Howdy howdy guys, Ponchato here, and today I'm gonna show you how to make high quality
voiceovers for under $10.
In fact, what you're hearing now was recorded on a microphone that cost about $7.50.
If you're doing any kind of voiceover work, there's nothing worse than low-quality audio.
At best, people will immediately have a negative view of the quality of your product, channel,
or company.
And at worst, they'll just close the tab and look for something else.
That's why a proper recording setup and smart vocal editing is important.
The best part?
It's cheap and it’s pretty easy!
Now the first step, is get a mic.
Technically, you can just use the built-in mic on your smartphone or laptop, but it will
be very difficult or impossible to create high quality recordings.
Even if you’re on a shoestring budget, it’s worth the investment of a few dollars for
a wired lavalier microphone like the Neewer 3.5mm Mini Lapel Mic.
If your budget isn't as restrictive, I highly recommend getting a proper condenser microphone
like the $30 Audio-Technica ATR3350.
With the Audio-Technica mic, you'll be approaching truly "professional" audio gear and be able
to produce recordings that are basically indistinguishable from actual professional equipment.
Lower noise floors, and all that.
Now, I recommend recording with a smartphone.
They typically have higher quality audio hardware and lower electrical noise than a desktop
PC or laptop.
Once you record it, you can transfer the file to your computer and edit it in the same way.
To do that, you'll need a 4-pole to 3-pole splitter, since cellphone jacks are designed
for headsets with both audio input and audio output on one jack.
I'll make another video soon on how to best record and transfer recordings from a cellphone,
so stay tuned for that!
Step 2: Download And Install Audacity.
Audacity, which I’ll link to in the description below, is a free program for editing audio.
It can perform all the editing you'll need for high quality voiceovers: high pass filter,
normalization, and the most important feature, noise reduction.
It also has a ton of other effects that you can get into.
If you don't know what some of those terms mean, don't worry, in later steps I'll explain
what each one means and how you use it.
Step 3: Open Audacity.
You'll be greeted by an empty project window.
Make sure your microphone is plugged in, then near the top of the screen check that “microphone”
is selected as the recording device.
It may also be called something like "Front panel microphone" or "Front jack in".
You can verify that your mic is working by clicking on the bar that says "Click to Start
Monitoring" right there.
And this will show you the sound levels being picked up by your mic as you talk.
Speak into it or tap it a few times to verify it's working.
The bars will jump when it picks up sound.
Step 4: Record.
To start recording with Audacity, just press the big red record button near the top left
of the screen.
Audacity will start recording, showing you the audio waveform as it's recorded.
To stop recording, you can either press the yellow square "stop" button or tap your space
bar.
To properly edit out noise in your recording, whether background sound like a running refrigerator
or electronic noise from the circuitry in your computer, let the microphone record for
5-10 seconds before speaking.
This "silence" will give you a baseline to edit out of the audio later, which Audacity
has a tool for, so your final recording will only contain your voice – not the dishwasher
running in the background or the whirring fans in your computer.
For this video, I’ll be using a recording I already made, and let you listen to what
it sounds like, including the noise at the beginning.
“This is a sample recording of my voice.”
As you can see, it’s not bad but… it needs some work.
Step 5: Edit.
This is where you add that professional touch to your recordings.
There are three main edits that people make to recordings so that they sound crisp, clear,
and professional.
A high pass filter, normalization, and noise reduction.
First, the High Pass Filter.
This edit cuts out low frequencies (hence, high frequencies are given a "pass").
Pops and clicks are minimized, and sounds from breathing into the mic or wind noises
are reduced.
To do it, go to Effect, High Pass Filter... and then you’re given two options.
Typical settings for a voice recording have the cut off frequency set between 100 and
200Hz with a 24dB (that’s decibels) rolloff.
When recording female vocals, a lower cutoff such as 100 to 130 is good; male vocals can
require a more aggressive cutoffs between 140 up to 200Hz for particularly boomy or low
voices.
This part will simply take some experimentation for your own voice; try 150Hz first and take
a listen, then press edit->undo (or ctrl+z) and run the high pass filter up or down 10
or 20Hz and listen again.
If you can't tell which way is better, don't worry.
150Hz will work for the vast majority of voices in the vast majority of conditions.
All you do is click OK, and it applies the filter.
Second, Normalize.
Normalizing audio means increasing the volume until the highest peak is just under "max"
volume.
This prevents the dreaded "your audio is too quiet, I can't hear anything" comments you'll
get if you don't do it.
Fortunately, it's super easy.
Just go to Effect -> Normalize, and then click OK; the default settings work well.
You should see the waveform get bigger, like so.
If the volume doesn't change much, you may be limited by loud pops and clicks picked
up in the recording, such as bumping into or rubbing up against the microphone.
If that's the case, go to Effect -> Click Removal... and click OK to run it at the default
settings.
Run Normalize again, and you should be good to go.
Third and final edit, Noise Reduction.
This is where the magic happens.
Noise reduction is exactly what it sounds like, and the quick explanation of how it
works is this: the computer analyzes a section of noise (like the background noise of a room
and interference from your computer), builds a frequency profile of the noise, then subtracts
that profile from the whole recording.
What you're left with is, essentially, anything that wasn't in the noise profile.
This is why it's important to reduce noise as much as possible before you start recording;
every fan you turn off or dishwasher you don't run adds that much more clarity to the final
recording.
The good news is noise reduction is only slightly more involved than the other two effects;
it's a two-step process, rather than just one step.
To do it, first select the 5-10 seconds of silence you have at the beginning of your
recording by clicking and dragging.
Once you've selected the noise, go to Effect -> Noise Reduction... and click "Get Noise
Profile".
The noise reduction window will close, then click in the blank space below your recording
to deselect the noise.
Next, go back to Effect -> Noise Reduction, and then just click "OK".
The default settings should be fine.
The result should look something like this.
As you can see, background noise is almost completely eliminated.
This leaves nothing but crisp, clear voice.
Now, have a listen to what it sounded like before.
“This is a sample recording of my voice.”
And what it sounds like after.
“This is a sample recording of my voice.”
Pretty neat, huh?
Next, finish up the editing by selecting the now actually silent silence at the beginning
of your recording and pressing the delete key on your keyboard.
Your recording is now ready for the lime light!
Almost.
Last but not least, Step 6: Export.
This will have Audacity put the audio into a format usable by other programs, like a
video editor or media player.
Go up to file, export audio, choose a folder to save it in (I’m just saving mine on the
desktop), give your file a name (I’m just calling it sample voice recording), and pick
MP3 format.
I would set the quality to either "Insane, 320 kbps" or "Extreme, 220-260".
Click "Save" and Audacity will give you the option to add tags to your file such as artist
and track name.
You can just click "OK" if you're going to be adding this recording to a video.
And that's it!
Your recording is saved in whichever folder you picked when exporting and that clean,
beautiful audio can be added to your video, podcast, or anything else you're making.
If enough people request it, I could make a more detailed Audacity tutorial for things
like the compressor and notch filter to give an even more polished result.
So guys, if you liked this video, hit the like button.
If you want to see more of them, hit subscribe.
And if you have any questions about picking a microphone or using Audacity, or you have
suggestions for future reviews and how to’s, let me know in the comments below.
Thanks for watching, I hope I helped, and… now you don’t have any excuse for low quality
audio.
Let’s step it up a bit, YouTube.