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Voice Coaches Radio #476 – Home Recording Realities

Voice Coaches Radio. Everything voiceover. And welcome to this week's edition of Voice Coaches Radio. I am Josh, she is Marissa, and we are delighted to have you joining me. Marissa, how are we doing? I'm good. I'm hanging in, you know? Outstanding. Outstanding. How are we doing with those allergies? It's okay, you know?

It's... It's uh, it's a constant, everyday, um, medicated situation, but that's, that's me all year. Like, it really is. I have, I have seasonal allergies, but they are, they are every season, so. What season are you allergic to? Yes. All of them. Life. I'm allergic to life. Well, I've also told people, like, I'm allergic to mornings because obviously the medication wears off at some point, right?

So, so when I wake up, it's just kind of miserable at points. Uh, so I just. Yeah, I've never done a morning show in radio because of that. So, I mean, it's, it's still the morning ish. Yeah. Uh, so, and you sound delightful. I've been up for a while. Thanks. There you go. I cannot say that I have. Um, I want to, I want to talk about something that occurred to me.

Okay. That, uh, made me just. Just furious, just absolutely filled with righteous anger. Oh, I like other people's trauma. Go for it. Nobody but myself. Yeah, nobody but myself. So, I've mentioned before that I'm currently recording an audiobook for, uh, for my stepmom. Yeah. For her birthday, for her 70th birthday.

And, um, have you ever seen the movie The Great Escape? Uh, possibly. Oh my god, It's so good. It's, uh, Steve McQueen. Um, it's about a World War II POW escape. It's a true story. Um. And it's probably one of the greatest movies ever made, um, and you should absolutely see it because it's wonderful. And Steve McQueen is the man, he's my favorite.

Um, but anyway, um, where the, the, the, the Camp the, um, the Stalag that he was at, uh, that, that my, uh, my stepmom's dad was at was, was the one that basically they were, Stalag Luft 3 was, uh, was basically where that, um, uh, where that, that movie took place. Oh, interesting. Where that, uh, that story took place.

But anyway, um, but it's also just a great movie and I just wanted to, uh, to pass that along. If you haven't seen it, holy crap, you gotta see it. It's so good. It's long, but it's good. Um, anyway. Uh, where was I going? Oh, yeah, so, uh, she's turning 70, and, uh, so for those of you who, uh, who did not hear, she's turning 70, and, uh, for her birthday, her dad wrote a book, uh, about his time, he was a, um, a co pilot of a B 17s in World War II, got shot down, was a POW for a little over a year, and, uh, and ended up writing a book about it.

I never actually got the opportunity to meet him, unfortunately, But, um, I decided for her birthday I was going to do, I stole a copy of the book and I'm doing an audiobook version of it because I thought she'd like that. Um, maybe not, I don't know, we'll see. But anyway, uh, so I'm recording it and, um, it's going fine.

I have, uh, my studio is just a strong word for what I have in my house. Closet that used to have litter boxes in it that still kind of smells a little bit Um, but now there's also you know a microphone in there and there's some you know audio stuff i've talked about Uh on the pod my uh, my recording nook as I like to call it and that's where i'm that's where i'm doing it And it's uh, you know, it's going fine and i'm trying to do about a I don't know, chapter every couple days, depending.

So, um, you know, it's going, things are going, whatever, fine. And uh, so last week, I am, I recorded probably about a half to three quarters of a chapter, um, and later that night, I finished it up, and I was like, you know what? Going good, let's uh, let's do the next chapter. And so I did the next chapter, which was a long chapter, um, comparatively in the book, and um, So great, so I did both of those, they went fine, until I tried to save them.

Oh no! And it was like, mm, can't save them. And I was like, okay, well, what I'm going to do then is I'm going to do all the editing and mastering right now, and then bounce that file out before I lose it, right? So that way I at least have the MP3 version of it, even if I don't have the WAV file anymore.

Fine. Except that when I unplugged it from my, uh, from my Scarlet solo, um, because I, I wasn't, I, I needed to, you know, I was going to do it in my room that night. And, um, it was like, you need to change the, uh, the, the playback, um, engine. And I was like, yeah, that's fine. I can do that. And it was like, oh, you got to save it.

And I was like, all right, cause it has to close out and to reopen up. So that's fine. I can do that. But it couldn't save, and so it just shut itself off, and then I was able to open it back up to the most recent saved event, which was earlier in the day, when I had about three quarters of a chapter done.

And I became FURIOUS. Oh, that is like the worst FEELING EVER. Just absolutely FURIOUS. Um. And, uh, um, yeah, so, ha, this is, this chapter, by the way, this is the chapter where he actually gets captured and, um, and goes to the camp. And I'm pretty sure it's haunted, because that happened and made me just absolutely irate.

Uh, so, hey, here's a fun fact, save. all the time. Constantly save. Save your projects. Always, always save them. Save them forever. Never stop saving them. Um, apparently I didn't do that. Um, so there's that. So then, uh, this was Wednesday. This is, oh, sorry, a week ago Wednesday. So it's about a week and a half ago.

I am, uh, I'm like, you know what? Okay. I've, I've cooled down. I'm feeling better. Let's get to that chapter. So I start doing that chapter. This was in the morning, uh, cause I was working late that night. And so I got about maybe a quarter of the way through the chapter and my neighbor decides to start mowing his lawn for the first time in six months.

And I'm like, why are you doing this now? And you know, the windows in my house are like from the seventies, so they They barely keep the cold weather out, let alone keep the noise out. And I was like, well, maybe it didn't pick it up. No, no, it did. It definitely did. You could absolutely hear it when you went past my, um, like our side yards are pretty close together and, uh, you could absolutely hear it.

And I was like, you have. Gotta be kidding me. So I was like, well, guess I'm not doing this. So that was gone. Um, so that was my second try of this chapter. Take number three came later on after he finished mowing his lawn. I was like, I think I still have time to get, uh, to get this taken care of. So I'm doing that and I, and I'm going through it and things are good.

No one's mowing. I'm saving. Everything's fine and dandy. And I get a text message from my wife who, by the way, is upstairs. So that's never a good sign. And she's like, come out as soon as you can. And I'm like, Oh. So, I find a place to stop, I save it, and then I pop out, and that's when I found out that, uh, that my son's preschool had had a, a COVID, um, test positive, and the person had been in his room at some point, and we were gonna have to go pick him up, and he was gonna have to quarantine, and potentially we were gonna have to also, we didn't know, we were waiting for the health department, so, uh, that was take three on this chapter, and at that point I was like, well, This ain't happenin now, because now I mean, are you done with that chapter yet?

I feel like to get through it so we can get past the haunted part. Yeah, I did. I, I, I powered through eventually, but it took me like three tries. Um, so, yeah, so, you know, whenever, and look, I had the greatest intentions. Like, I was gonna, I was gonna take care of this. Well... Then it got deleted. Well, then, you know what?

I'm gonna take care of this, I'm gonna do this right now. Well, Neighbor mowed the lawn. And it was funny, the neighbor mowing the lawn, and, you know, the thing with my son's school, the me not, the deleting of it, that was just super obnoxious, and, uh, there's no real moral to that story. Right? I mean, save it, sure, but there's no real podcast more where I'm like, you know, take this, take, take my suffering and use it for yourself.

That's just me venting. But the other things, you need to keep these things in mind if you are going to be recording from home. Things happen. When you're in a studio, or if you have a, if I'm doing a job in a studio, then for that hour or whatever, I'm working in the studio. There's no interruptions, right?

It's just, it's that no one's mowing the lawn, and if they are, no one's gonna hear it, right? There's, there's no windows, let alone any, any neighbors to mow the lawn, right? There, there's no, you know, someone popping in being like, hey, uh, you know, we need to, you need to, no, you're working for that hour. It's, it's focused.

It's awesome. When you work from home, life happens. It does. So, can I tell you something real quick before, before you continue? No, no, no, by all means. Even when you think that you have made it so no interruption can happen, phones on, do not disturb, whatever, like, my mom is that commercial. Have you seen, you've seen the commercial where it's like the guy's fighting crime or whatever and all of a sudden his cell phone starts, like, Hi honey, I just had a yoga class.

Yeah, that's my mom. My mom calls at the worst times all the time. And she will know, like, sometimes I give her that head up, like, you know, heads up where it's like, hi, I'm gonna be recording, like, you know, my phone's on, do not disturb, Can I tell you how many times she's broken through the Do Not Disturb?

Like, purposely? I'm like, are you And probably for the most mundane thing ever. Like, not like an emergency, not like something Hey, are you gonna be joining us for dinner? I live 60 seconds down the road. Like, you couldn't just, like, text that and I could get back to you in maybe 40 minutes? No. No. Need to know now.

I need to know right this second. Come on, Mom! Uh, yeah. No, that's, that's, uh, yeah. So, I mean, and again, you know Keep that in mind. Recording from home is great. Recording from home is, is, uh, it is so convenient. I have, I, I do, I recorded chapters in my pajamas late at night. It's awesome. It's fantastic. I do it in the morning.

I do it whenever I get a chance. But, when you're recording from home, just know that the benefits, and there are many, It's not all benefits. It's not all benefits. I have two cats and as much as I try they open the door They can open the door if they want to They usually don't but if it's around feeding time.

Oh if they're scratching at the door or you know meowing outside the door and I Hated the microphone the picks it up Like it legit will pick up my cast being like, I'm like, I'm going to kick you. I don't, by the way, I don't do that. They're awesome. But things happen, right? Things happen. It's not a controlled environment as much as we might want it to be.

And as much as you know, we do the best we can with it. It's not a controlled environment like an actual studio is, and it's never going to be. So bear that. I mean, unless you live by yourself. Right, and have your own actual, like, legit, like, built booth. But if you're doing what most people do, and kind of putting together a place where you can record, recording Nook of your own, it's never a controlled environment, as much as we might want it to be.

And because of that, we need to, you know, build that time in for eventualities. Because they will come there, even if you don't think they will. Even if you think like, nope, I got an hour, boom, gonna record this, knock it out of the park. Maybe, maybe not. Um, maybe not. So, you know, just bear that in mind. Yeah, moral of the story, plan accordingly, but also plan for additional time.

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And save. And for the love of God, please save. Save your projects all the time. I like, literally now, I was, it's stupid, but every time I turn the page, I save it. Every time now. Like, I'm like, oh, turn the page, save. Um, which is annoying and takes time. Yeah, but you've been there, done that.

That's that, that's that, uh, that's that PTSD now that's worn off on you a little bit. By the way, it is a, it's a hard copy of a book, right? There's no digital copy of the book. Holding that book up to read is like the, like, and look, I, I'm a coach at a CrossFit gym. I'm not in the greatest shape in the world, but I'm in decent shape.

My shoulder just starts screaming at me, and I'm doing the weird, like, putting my hand under my arm, trying to prop it up. I'm trying to, like, I'm switching hand to hand because my arm's getting tired and starting to shake. After a few months, we're going to walk into the studio and you're going to have one arm that's just gigantic compared to the other.

Oh my god, just like the shoulder just gonna like bulge out, like what happened to you? Don't worry about it. I did audiobooks. Audiobooks, audiobook, uh, program right now. Yeah, it's, it's been, it's crazy. It's a great workout. It reminds me of, and I don't know if you've ever done this, when I used to, to, to work in sports, I would do, we would do scrums with, uh, interviews.

And I would have a microphone and be in the, usually in the back of the scrum and just hold my arm out, just holding out a microphone. Now I'm using probably an SM58, which weighs what? Pound and a half? Two pounds? Maybe? Um, and by like two or three minutes in, I mean, I'm dying. I'm literally attempting not to rest my arm on the shoulder of the person in front of me to not be rude.

But I've done it. And people have done it to me. They're like, sorry. And I'm like, but I get it, man. I get it. Like, don't worry about it. It is. Yeah. So, uh, so that's a wake up call. Apparently my shoulders are not very well defined because I can't hold up a book and read it. But, you know, it's funny with, with like.

You know, I have a Kindle, and, uh, and like, reading in bed is the easiest thing in the world now. It used to be the most obnoxious thing, like, trying to lay down and read because, like, the book would fall on my face. Like, and I thought I'd gotten through these problems. And by the way, most audiobooks you do are going to be digital, just so you know.

Uh, and the main benefit of that, aside the fact that, you know, your arm won't fall off, is that you won't have to worry about page turning, which is annoying and loud. Uh, really loud as it happens. I, it's impossible to turn a page without just making a ton of noise. Well that microphone's real sensitive.

We know that. Picks up everything. It is, and apparently I am not, uh, I'm not smooth in any way, shape, or form, which is not news to anybody, at least, uh, least of all me. Um, so, so yeah, so, um, So that's my story for the day. I just, I just needed to get that off. You feel better. I do actually a little bit when this book is done.

I'm going to celebrate this time. Like this time can always be used as some, some good therapy. I feel like, you know, bounce it off us. It's getting to lunchtime. Her birthday is the end of May. Like I gotta. I gotta get on the git. Alright, well, hustle. Yeah, I know, right? Hustle and save. I was, yeah, I was, I was gonna say, I was trying to, to, to, you know, pick up the pace.

And then, once that happened, I literally didn't record for another week. I was so angry. I, like, couldn't get myself to do it. I'd, like, sit down in there and be like, nope, mm mm, mm mm. Just having, like, oh, I'm so mad. But. Yeah, deep breaths. Shake it off. I like to tell people to physically shake it off and move forward.

Thanks, Taylor. Yeah. I'll, you know. D Swift? Yeah. I won't sing any, because I don't want any copyright problems. That's fair. You know, it's Marissa's version. You know? That's probably smart. Um, well, awesome. Well, so that is, uh, so that's all I got for today, so, uh, thank you for, for listening. I'm glad you feel better.

I do. I do. So thank you for, for taking that in. And, uh, um, yeah. So if you have something that you're frustrated with, well, I mean you, Marissa, but also Arliss. No, I'm good. That, uh, that you're frustrated with in general, be it voiceover related, preferably, but not exclusively, let us know. Let us know. We're happy to discuss it and, uh, and opine about it as we are off to do.

Uh, any ridiculous situations happen to you where you like, oh, I don't know, forgot to save things. Uh. Let me know, because I'd love, uh, I'd love to know that, because misery loves company. So, you know, make me feel better about myself, and frankly, that's why we're doing this. To make me feel better about myself.

Um, so, uh, but, oh, obviously, any questions, comments, concerns you have, any topics you want us to discuss, let us know. Josh at voicecoaches. com, it's the easiest way to get in touch with us. Josh at voicecoaches. com to get in touch with myself, or Marissa, or Sam, or anyone else. You can also visit voicecoaches.

com to find out any and all voiceover information that you could possibly want to know, and probably some you had no interest in knowing. But you're gonna know anyways. So, fun facts. Uh, so, uh, voicecoaches. com is the place to go for that. But again, Josh at voicecoaches. com. Best way to get in touch WITH the pod.

And, uh, and let us know what you want us to discuss. Because it's not just our podcast, Marissa. It's theirs as well. It's, it's theirs too. Yeah, that's right. I know that. That's right. Yeah. Anyway, Marissa, thanks so much for joining us here this week. Sorry I didn't let you talk all that much because, uh, you know, it, it's okay.

You're a vent. You know, I'm glad again, I'm glad that you feel better. Good. Thank you. That's what's the most important. I appreciate that. Yeah, I do. Mm-hmm. and thank you all for listening. If you're still listening, and if you're not, I get it. I get it, like it's fine. Uh, but remember to save and, uh, remember to tune in next week.

We'll be right back with you. Same bad time, same bat channel. Marissa, thanks so much for those of you listening in, thanks so much as well. And until next time, still long, everyone. Visit voice coaches.com for more voiceover news and information.

While recording at home with a home-recording booth has some major advantages (hello convenience) it also has its drawback. Josh and Marissa talk about real world problems that can occur when recording from home.