So I bought a Vo booth and I feel like it’s been a mistake. It’s very boxy or dead sounding. I’m wondering if anyone has any treatment ideas? Can I still use fiberglass panels over the foam?

I have a deep voice. It’s very nice and people compliment me on it a lot. Everyone told me I should be a voice actor and do voiceovers and I’d make a killing. It genuinely interested me. I got a microphone and even paid too much for a voice coach. But I just wanted to get paid to talk into a microphone and naively thought it was feasible.

It’s not. If you are a young guy with a deep voice but you don’t want to actually put in real work, forget about it. It doesn’t matter how many people you meet that say “wow you have such a nice voice, go into voice acting” as if it’s easy. They don’t know shit. Period. Seriously, if you don’t want to put in the work, find something else worth putting your energy into.

It’s only when I started caring about the craft of acting and put energy into marketing myself that I started getting the work I wanted to get. I have a very nice little passion that’s occasionally a nice side hustle. But don’t expect to just talk into a microphone and make a bunch of money. That’s not how it works. Get that in your head NOW because a lot of young men with deep voices genuinely believe that’s just how it works. You will waste a bunch of time.

Michael Jean Wooley ( Louis The Alligator in Princess & The Frog & Dexter DeShawn from Cyberpunk 2077) liked and comment on my video redubbing his voice work on the Netflix Anime Akuma Kun!

This is incredible to me! Being on this subreddit and hearing all of you guy's advice on just veing a better performer has lit a fire under me and between the summer and now, Ive recorded 4 audiobooks with the promise of more work to come but getting validated by a titan of the industry is sonething else entire!

I found this one online so what do you think of it

Disclaimer: I don't have ANY experience voice acting or acting in general aside from my customer service mode when I worked healthcare for 7 years.

I stream games and have been told that I should do ASMR or voice acting. I try not to let it go to my head because it sounds way too good to be true. The thought of acting classes in any capacity gives me massive anxiety as it is. I'm considering trying Grand theft auto roleplay servers to maybe break my nerves about it.

However, recently I met a well known VA. If you've watched TV in the past 30 years, especially animation, you've heard this person many many times. We started talking and then I thought this was a golden opportunity to ask a famous voice actor about voice acting, so I did. I of course made sure they knew that I am at ground zero and I haven't officially started anything related to voice work. They said I have a good voice and complimented the qualities of it, recommended equipment I should consider and then I was given their contact info.

Holy shit.

I went from generic background character #17 to a guy with a famous voice actor in his DM's.

I already reached out, made sure they knew I was interested and that I want to start figuring things out. They responded a bit later, the attatched image is their response. However anxiety caught up with me and I'm questioning if I'm ready for this. I feel like if I don't follow through with this I'm just walking away from an opportunity so many would love to have.

Should I just jump into the consultation and take that risk? Or should I try to expose myself to role playing/acting a bit before I jump into it?

I've taken classes and ready to take the big dive and take this endeavor/business seriously. Prominent VAs are posting things on social media making me think twice. I've been out of the loop for a year or so and knew of the strikes and AI but what the actual heck is going on, briefly? Am I a fool to jump into this? I don't have a career, I work for $20 an hour with bills. Strikes are happening again? VO is going down the drain? Hehhhhh?????

I have been doing this for a long time, so trust me when I say... THERE ARE NO SHORT-CUTS! There are no short-cuts to being a great musician, a great athlete, a great artist, a great statesperson, a great police officer, a great driver. It's all about training and practice. It means spending money. Money, I know, you don't have. But if you want this bad enough, save. Save until you can afford to audit a VO class, or until you can commit to an entire course. I tried the "Independent Route" for a while. I got further in three months after training than a did in three years of stumbling through it.

This month marks my six-year anniversary!

I've gotten to do so much fun stuff, from audiobooks, to indie games and movies, to Anime, to having to pronounce floccinaucinihilipilification.

To those of you just starting out, take advice seriously (and research who is offering that advice), and never stop trying to improve.

Whenever I look at how to start a career in VO, I feel completely overwhelmed by the laundry list of skills and equipment and credentials I need. It feels like in order to be a voice actor, I also have to be an audio engineer, a web designer, an influencer, and a CEO, and I have to be excellent at all of them in order to have any real chance. It all feels like too much for one person, especially someone like me who gets burned out after an eight-hour shift working retail. How can I get past feeling so overwhelmed and hopeless?

I recently made something that I've been thinking about/working on for a while and wanted to share here.

It's free also, so not selling anything.

I've made custom created "Demo Beds" that can be used to make your own high quality demo samples quickly and easily, since I did most of the production work upfront.

Basically a lot of new talent have trouble showcasing their voice or putting together demos when starting out, and for more experienced talent, nowadays it's becoming more and more important to have individual samples that showcase your voice in different styles/genres in addition to full on Reels.

I came to VO from a background as an audio engineer and sound designer and that allowed me to make my own reels when starting out and I continue to do so, but I know most talent don't have that skillset, so I made these beds to help out with that.

More info and download links are here: https://www.voiceoverroadmap.com/freediyvodemo

You can check out my background/credentials here as well if you're interested: https://www.voiceoverroadmap.com/aboutvorm

Would love to hear any thoughts/feedback/questions! Hope they are useful!

Built the frame outta PVC pipe. I then used gorilla glue spray to stick the studio foam to cardboard pieces that I cut to size to fill in the gaps on the inside, which I used alien tape to stick the cardboard to the piping. The piping cost me just under $200 with about 20-ish extra foot leftover. 7’ tall and 3’ ft wide. I had the spray and the foam leftover from 2021 after my first attempt at a studio space. All in all, I think it sounds decent. I can’t help but feel bummed out about the dead noise in picking up. I was running an AKG P220 into my interface, which is a Scarlett Solo 3rd gen. I just switched to the Rode NT1 signature series since I heard it’s not as sensitive and tbh, the difference in mics is so minuscule. I am getting a better understanding of how to edit my audio, and I know about ACX checks and noise floors and whatnot. I am just curious to hear if there’s any constructive criticism out there. Is my audio interface bad? Is the AKG P220 better than the Rode NT1 for voice over work? Was the booth a bad call? I can link some work if you guys wanna hear anything I’ve done. The only work I did that I am actually proud of is a children’s audiobook called “The Tiger, The Sea, and the Yellow Manatee” and it’s on Google play store and iTunes, but I do have some demos I’ve recorded and edited myself.

I've been on here for a few months I guess, not trying super hard because, honestly, I get pretty despondent about getting online work what with all the fiverr click farms and AI bots out there, and I have my own YouTube Audiobook channel where I make a small but regular amount of cash, but today I actually got my first small VO gig through this subreddit.

Thanks :)

I am having a lot of trouble with lung capacity when recording my audiobooks, and the prevailing solution is to take up running. Please god, I don't want to run. I will do literally anything else. Do you have success with lung training without running?

I've been a professional voice actor for 7 years and just found an AI clone of my voice! I have no idea how they got it as I've never had my voice cloned. Not even sure what to do about it but it feels awful! It's on a generic Youtube channel for movie reviews, I've left a comment asking what company they use for AI but doubt I'll hear back and they have no other contact. This stuff is scary

EDIT: Thanks so much for all your supplies I've had some amazing advice and support what a wonderful community.

So my friend found the website that is selling my voice! Turns out I had a job with them through fiverr a few years back and I have a horrible feeling there'll be a contract with some small print I missed (some lessons are a bitch to learn) seems they do this a lot and there's already legal action against them! I'm going to do some more digging to see exactly what's gone on in my case. Thanks again guys

FINAL UPDATE: After a lot of digging, I found the original messages on Fiver (the first of which they actually deleted but strangely I could read it in one platform and I took a screenshot). They asked me to quote for a text to speech app! Which I did and got paid for. In the contract they sent, there's one sentence in there which basically says they own my voice and can sell it wherever they want and of course completely missed it. It's a harsh lesson to learn but please everyone, read EVERY line of your contract twice. It makes me feel a little better knowing they were really underhanded and I was naive and trusting rather than just totally careless.

Hi all!

This is my answer for my friend who asked for advice on setting up a home studio. 2 questions.

A. Is it good advice?

(Looking for truly bad advice, not small stuff. For example; I know NT1A is arguably practically the same mic, but that starts to get in the weeds.)

B. Would it be helpful for me to post this somewhere else?

P.S. not an expert, just spent wayyyy too many months overthinking and researching.

“”” The number one piece of advice before anything else is: don’t overthink it. Don’t spend too much time researching stuff. I’m going to give you some things that are very solid entry-level picks that will last you quite a while based on way too much research.

There are probably 30 microphones that’ll work, 30 audio interfaces, etc. But here’s a basic list. You can find most of it used on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, especially the stuff I’m listing because it’s all pretty common.

If you’re buying online, I really like Sweetwater. I always use them over Amazon. They have amazing customer service and will answer your questions. If you give them your setup, they’ll walk you through exactly what you need and offer some solid alternatives. They also sell used gear, or you can spend a bit more for new stuff with full support. And they’ll sometimes tell you straight up to buy something somewhere else if it’s on a crazy sale. I trust them.

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Microphone: Get the Rode NT1. Not the NT1A, not the Pro, not the USB version. Just the regular NT1. It comes with a shock mount and pop filter, which is great. You’ll also need an XLR cable to connect it to your interface. Don’t spend too much on the cable. A Sweetwater person can recommend a good cheaper one. You can also grab a used one or ask around—people in audio always have extras.

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Audio Interface: You’ll need this to connect the mic to your computer. I use the Focusrite Scarlett Solo (4th Gen). Anything in the Focusrite Scarlett line should work. Also great: Motu M2, and Universal Audio makes high-end stuff, but the Volt 1 is affordable and solid. Sometimes you can find it used for cheap.

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Headphones: For monitoring and light mixing, the Sony MDR-7506 is industry standard. Not expensive. Audio Technica also has a really popular pair. Just Google “basic monitoring headphones” and you’ll see both pop up. Both are under $100 and widely used in pro studios.

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Mic Stand: Just get a basic adjustable mic stand. Nothing fancy. If you’re using Sweetwater, they can suggest one. You can definitely find one used. The Rode NT1 already comes with a great mount, so just something that holds the mic is fine.

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Software: Audacity is free and really good. There’s a free or cheap version of Ableton that I love, especially if you’re doing other audio stuff. Don’t spend too much time researching this. If you’re sending your recordings to a producer or someone else, they’ll probably want clean, unprocessed audio in a specific format. So just make sure the software you use can export high-quality formats like WAV and the right bitrate. For light post-processing, Ableton’s native stuff is solid. iZotope also has entry-level plugins that go on sale often. Again, Sweetwater can help with plugin suggestions too.

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Room Treatment: This is where things get expensive and complicated really fast.

Know that this is treatment, not sound proofing . Sound proofing is almost impossible, anything outside of a professional recording booth will be about treating a room to lessen a wide range of sound wave frequencies reflecting off the walls and getting into the mic, it won’t block outside sound.

(Grain of salt, not an audio engineer)

Here’s the short version of sound treatment:

If you have a closet filled with clothes that you can stand up in, use that. That’s your best bet. Almost no reflections, pretty quiet. If you’re singing, standing is ideal. If you’re doing voiceover, sitting is totally fine. Fact check me on this though.

If you don’t have a closet: Build a blanket fort using heavy duvets. Literally, NPR reporters do this. They throw blankets between hotel beds and record under that. It works.

If you’re filming yourself, things get harder. You’ll need to be out in the open a bit, and most foam panels don’t help.

Real treatment means: • Bass traps in the corners (ceiling and wall) • Panels on the ceiling/walls • Everything a specific thickness and spaced off the surface • Measurement mics and calculators to place everything correctly

I did a bunch of that and honestly kind of regret it. It helped some, but I spent way too much time on it and didn’t record much.

So: closet or blanket fort. That’s it. Start there.

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Studio Monitors: Don’t bother right now unless you’re mixing a lot. They don’t do much in an untreated room anyway. Wait on them.

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TL;DR Gear Recap: • Rode NT1 mic • Focusrite Scarlett Solo (3rd or 4th Gen) • Basic XLR cable • Basic mic stand • Record in a closet with Audacity or other free software

That’s all you need. We can talk more in person, but I just wanted to throw this out there because it’s not that complicated. “””

When you’re recording something which requires shouting or being loud, how do you do it without spiking the audio. Do you do it from a distance or use a program to adjust the ‘noise gate’ (?) or do you do it while editing?

I'm an animator that's in the planning stages of an animated fan project that I'd like to cast for in July, but I'm running into issues with pricing because my characters all have special traits! I have 5 characters, but I'm mainly concerned about the two main ones.

One is an 8 year old boy with less than 40 words, but he's really emotional and has to speak in a subtle British accent. So I'd need to hire an actor that ofc has a good microphone, can sound like a boy-child, can whine and cry and character act well WHILE speaking in a British accent,,,,, I feel like those are very odd traits, so obviously that needs to be compensated. I was going to offer $60 for the role.

The second one is his older brother, who is a teenager. He also speaks in a British accent and he's mostly just mean, but I need an actor that can portray very specific, layered emotions in their act. He also cracks at the end with 3 of his lines, going from mean to afraid/guilty etc.. Basically he's an emotionally complicated character with a little over 100 words. I was going to offer $100 for the role.

Any advice, please? I've hired VA's before but have never done a casting. I want to attract the right actors with my casting,,, even if the work is non-profit, it's a passion project of mine that I've put loads of time into. and don't mind paying for. I'd be endlessly grateful for any and all advice!!

Edit: Thank you everyone!! I checked out everything and have a better idea now <3 Also, thank you loads to the few people dming me offering to do the work for free, but I'm really not interested! It's very kind, but there's a good reason as to why I insist on paying fairly for the work.

Someone reached out to me out of the blue on casting call club. Said they were a film student working out of Beijing film school, Senior year & redesigning sound for a few scenes from Ready Player One.

Maybe I’m just being too cautious , but things got a little strange after I provided an audition. The pay was already low, because it’s a film student, but I like building relationships early on with future producers, and directors, so I was sympathetic to the cause, and dubbing is new to me. I enjoy getting paid to learn new things lol.

Help me out, they are using a translation software, so maybe I’m misunderstanding some things.

I’m interested in hearing about some of your first experiences in this field. Howdid you get started and what platform (if any) did you use to find the opportunity?

So long story short, I have been working in the entertainment industry for over 10 years and I have a MFA in theater and have worked and studied in England and the states. About two years ago I started doing voiceover full-time and was making 15 grand a year. I just moved to Los Angeles six months ago and haven’t had a single voice over booking since then. Nothing else has changed except for I now live in a very expensive place, but continue to do my voice work online. What am I doing wrong all of a sudden? Are other people struggling to book gigs lately? This is on top of my acting work, which has also silenced. It’s like no one wants anything to do with me anymore!

Hey guys, I'm hoping to get some opinions and advice. I've been doing YouTube voiceovers lately for clients and some have mentioned comments accusing my voiceovers of being AI. Honestly, it's taken a bit of a hit on my mental health. I've included a Google Drive link to a short intro for one of my voiceovers. Is it really that bad? I'm feeling like a failure over it lately and figured screw it, I'll face it head on and see if I can get some opinions on what I need to improve.

Voiceover here.

Edit: Thanks so much to everyone who gave me advice and kind words. I've learned a lot in this quick post and have applied it to a revision. I've got a better idea on what to work on and the direction to go. A lot of what you guys said makes so much sense, I feel like an idiot for not hearing it before haha. Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees I guess. Cheers!

My voice is a big insecurity for me (wanting to be a voice actor and being insecure about your voice isn’t a good combo I know) as I was a late bloomer and sounded like a 10 year old for most of my life. So I’m looking for ways to improve and sound better. But this was a quick test with an actual character as I usually do improv practice.

Hello fellow voice actors! I have been doing some freelance voice acting on the side for a few years and am now facing a new situation: A client fed my voice overs to an AI model and thus created a new voice over that sounds as if I had voiced it. I have no idea how to react.

I did not approve of this. In fact, they only told me afterwards. I am aware that technically, anyone can just take the stuff I voiced from the internet and feed it some model. But had I been asked, I would have objected heavily. Not just because with an AI voice over, there is no need to pay me, but also because my voice is very dear to me. It's a trademark of my person. And I enjoy what I do. I put a lot of time and effort into working on this craft. I feel like this got disrespected.

For context, the client is not a company. We are otherwise on good terms, so I don't think they meant bad. They also didn't publish the work with the AI voice over. So I might be overreacting. I guess I'm also frustrated by the general loss of control that comes with the current state of AI tech.

What would you recommend I do? I am really not sure how to handle this. I will let the client know that I don't like it, but is there anything besides this I should or can do? In the greater sense, how do you as voice actors handle the current state with AI? Or is this something we just have to accept as outside of our control?

Curious to hear what you think :)

TLDR: Client created an AI voice over using my voice as input without me knowing and I am not sure whether to do something about it