Thursday, October 11, 2007

I recently did a voiceover job for a local ad agency that I had auditioned for many months ago but never heard from. The guy I'd auditioned for left the company and a new guy took over. He sent me a query to see if I was available to do two 60-second pitch scripts for them.

uh . . . HECK YEAH!

While the money wasn't all that great, this is a new client with the possibility of repeat business, and they prefer that I do the jobs from home!

So I did the job from my tiny home studio and received the following feedback:

It sounds like you have a lot of reflections happening in the space where you recorded these.

CRAP! I need a sound booth!

While I would love, love, love to be able to plunk down a couple grand and have the people at Whisperroom or GK Acoustics send me their top of the line Vocal Booth, the day when I will be able to do that has not yet arrived, so . . .

I cranked up Google and started searching for ways to improve my sound. Since I, like most actors I know, am on a very limited budget, my aim is to produce professional quality sounds, at dollar-store prices.

I start searching for DIY voice-booth designs. There are several available on the internet for free or for a small fee. In addition, if you search through the various VO message boards, you will find many talented, generous people who willingly share what they have done and what has worked for them.

One of the designs I came across during my explorations, was created by a musician named Tim O'Brien. His design is clever, portable and most important, cheap!

Now although Mr. O'Brien is not a voiceover guy, I thought that some of you guys might find his design of interest, so here it is, Tim O'Brien's DIY SoundBooth / SoundWall.

3 comments:

Jeffrey Kafer Voice overs said...

Closet, Joe. A walk-in is best, but even a non-walk in could work as long as you have enough room. Certainly good in a pinch.

Voiceover Thespian said...

Thanks Jeff, I did think of that as an option but I like to find out what else is available. While I do have a walk-in closet i can use in a pinch, my wife prefers that I don't since it's mostly her stuff in there. The only other available closet is too small to stuff my mike stand and 300+ lbs. of me into, but I will definitely keep that in mind if this agency sends me another gig.

Blogger said...

Just got my check for $500.

Many times people don't believe me when I tell them about how much money you can make by taking paid surveys online...

So I show them a video of myself getting paid over $500 for participating in paid surveys to set the record straight.