Voice-overs are simple, right? Place the mic, speak the words, you're done. Well, I have two phrases for you; "time is money" and "you get what you pay for". You can do it, or you can do it right, and if you need it to be a regular part of your business, or want it to drive part of your income, then you should learn the latter.

To host a successful voice-over session, you need to remember that it should be treated like any other production, meaning you must pay attention to preparation, operation, and follow up. Your client, and the talent are there for business, so things need to run smooth technically. But, don't forget the luxuries. A little attention to detail and conveniences will go a long way. A quality product will satisfy, but a good experience is what will bring your client back time and again. Let's look at some things we can do to run a successful voice over session.

Suite Stuff

First off, have the right equipment. You need a decent microphone. You need a quiet, sound absorbing room to record in. Obviously you'll require some method for routing (a mixer) and recording sound, and if you don't have them already, a decent set of speakers. A system for communicating with your talent is also helpful. They work best when they can hear their own voice through the circuit as they read, so you'll probably want headphones for them. If you're really serious about hosting voice over sessions, try to have a way to play video into the recording booth as well. A client may want to show video to a narrator so they can better understand the mood of the scene for which they are reading. All these things must work without hum or glitch.

Engineering Speak

There are three key positions in a recording session: the engineer, the producer and the talent. At any given time, you may find yourself fulfilling one or more of these roles. As the engineer, you need to anticipate what's coming and plan for every possible issue. Find out from your client what they need in advance. Set up early, test your equipment before anyone arrives, and be ready to go at least 30 minutes before scheduled start time. You should also have standard amenities ready to go.

Now before we go any further, you need to know that there is a wide variety of voice talent out there. You'll have to adjust to everything from, "this guy I know who has a good voice" to the full-time professional who does it as their sole income. The former will need guidance from you, will undoubtedly be a little nervous, and take longer to get a good read. True professionals on the other hand are some of the most laid back people around, but they can also be rather picky. They know what works in achieving their best reading voice, and most will have set patterns they will want to follow. Planning for these needs will go far towards bringing you recommendations for future use. That said the standard amenities will be a little non-standard.

Have a variety of drinks available. Bottles of water (both cold and room temperature), hot water or tea, and perhaps apple or orange juice are common. It's all about conditioning the vocal cords. Most won't drink coffee or soda before reading, but it's not a bad idea to have some on hand for the client. Snacks, if you decide to have them should be relatively neutral. Bagels, or a small assortment of fruit is all you need. Avoid things like crackers and lemonade.

The VO booth should have a music stand or equivalent to hold the script. Place an assortment of pencils pens and highlighters in the booth as well. Paper clips (both wire and clamp types) can also be useful. One other piece of equipment you should consider is a pop filter. This is simply a mesh screen that sits between the microphone and the speaker to help prevent any hard-pronounced P's from sounding like someone blowing into the mic. Some talent will want to stand, but have a stool or stiff chair available for them as well.

Once you start, you should limit your interaction with the talent. However, always let the producer and talent know when you're recording and when you stop. Audio takes up a trivial amount of drive space, so it's best to keep recording at all times. It's a good idea to always record to two channels. Set one at your nominal recording level, and the other two to 4dB less. That way if the primary channel has peaked and become distorted, you have a backup that should be clear. Record (and export) in an uncompressed or lossless format, and at 44.1 or 48kHz, whatever your footage is in.

Have your talent do a test read for setting levels. Most of the time you'll barely touch the controls once set, but try not to change them too drastically when you do. Monitor levels, cue tapes, and take notes for your client. Note the starting time of each take. Mark the good takes, and try to say what was bad about the others. Keep your notes to one or two key words, as things will probably be moving faster than you can write at this point. Be sure to spot check your recordings before declaring you're done.

When the session is over, the fun doesn't stop. As soon as possible (preferably before the talent leaves), make a backup copy on another hard drive. Eventually, you should make some type of hard copy as well. If you can record to tape and hard drive at the same time, you're golden. Next, copy your script notes and hand them to the client. Keep your copies for as long as possible. You'll get bonus points galore for saving the day when the client calls you and says they've lost something.

It's also a good idea to have some sort of Internet location where the client can grab a copy of the files remotely if they need to. Whenever possible, have the files up before the client gets back to the office. Nothing speaks more to a smooth operation than leaving your V/O session only to arrive back in your edit room to find your editor already working on the clips.