Home studios are important for voiceover artists. We are lucky to have them. In fact, 20 years ago a home studio was not the done thing. These days it is affordable and achievable but most importantly, it opens up the whole world for you. It creates opportunities and in turn is essential in the current climate. However, to make a home studio it requires time, research and effort. We will share in this module the basics that you need and how we set it up. You do not need to be a tech professional or a sound engineer to have a home studio. It is extremely important to have a professional sounding home studio both for yourself and for the industry. What you need is a microphone (preferably a diaphragm condenser microphone), a microphone stand, an interface (should you not want a USB microphone), a computer, closed-ear professional headphones and an XLR or a USB wire to connect the equipment to the computer. From that you will need software to record on. The most important element of a home studio is your environment – that is critical! There are two considerations to bear in mind; sound proofing and sound treatment. Sound proofing is about stopping external sound being picked up by your microphone like trains and cars for example. There are simple ways to treat the space with things like double and triple glazed windows. Extra walls and thick insulation will help too. Sound treatment is about dealing with sound waves and how they behave inside of the environment you are recording in. For example, with hard surfaces like walls and desks, sound will bounce off of them and will travel back into the microphone which creates an echo sound. To prevent this you will need sound proof tiles or blankets.
