Voice Acting: Tools for an amateur

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Westeford
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Voice Acting: Tools for an amateur

#1 Post by Westeford »

I'm a complete amateur at voice acting. I practice a little bit and I know the basics. I have no formal training, but I am passionate.
Anyway, I'm interested in giving it a try as a hobby. I'm looking into buying the necessary equipment for voice acting. (Right now the best I have is a rock band mic with a sock as a pop filter and a coat hanger as a stand. So I could use an upgrade.)
I was wondering if you guys have any equipment recommendations for an amateur voice actor like me. I'm not too concerned about cost. I prefer to stay below $100, but I'm realistic. Thank you.

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ComputerArt.Club
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Re: Voice Acting: Tools for an amateur

#2 Post by ComputerArt.Club »

For my first big animation project back in college I had been been using the film clubs equipment but it wasnt available all tye time, so I went to buy my own gear. A shop convinced me to buy an expensive mixer and condenser mic, but I had plans to use it for music stuff I never ended uo needing so many inputs and I had issues with interference as they needed power from the wall. I had a lot of expensive gear, cradles and pop filters, stands etc, but I have moved country so often due to work that they are scattered around the world now. I now always prefer portable recorders that dont need to be plugged in to avoid noise from computer fans and electrical interference and they are easier to bring with me if I move or want to record somewhere else. I tend to use either one of my dictaphones or even just a smart phone these days. The recording environment ends up being more important. I always wanted a zoom recorder, but they can be expensive.

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Re: Voice Acting: Tools for an amateur

#3 Post by ComputerArt.Club »

Never trued one but always wanted one: https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field- ... y-recorder

Personally I love portable devices that dont need computers. Less noise and you can use them anywhere, also for foley. Also, you can attach condenser mics to it.

A quiet room with lots of soft surfaces is often more important and harder to come by than a good mic though.

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Re: Voice Acting: Tools for an amateur

#4 Post by ComputerArt.Club »

Also, I often use this with my dictaphone: https://darren-nemeth.squarespace.com/omni-mono

Giant squid hand made lavalier microphones, not as cheap as they used to be but it is a purchase that I made many years ago and never regretted. 40 usd now.

The other popular microphone that I remember many people buy is the blue yeti: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Yeti-USB-Mi ... B002VA464S
99 usd right now
It is a usb mic, so youll need to be plugged into your pc, but I believe the quality is quite good and you won't need a mixer or preamp and I dont think you need to worry about electrical interference for USB microphones.

By the way, you can also use many dictaphones as usb mics, including the Zoom range.

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