An NYC voiceover student of mine that I coached via Skype and phone for several years now has about a half dozen National Network accounts. This is the stuff voiceover dreams are made of! He has the luxury of walking into a voiceover audition and thinking, “If I don’t get it, all the bills are still paid for the rest of the year…..and then some.” He appreciates his position and usually doesn’t take it for granted. Most loyal “account” voices are slaves to their location. At any minute they can get the call to come in and record a spot. But this guy, he likes to travel. He wants to eat his cake, and do his voiceover too. And he does.
On a recent trip he found himself relaxing in a hotel, far far away from any recording studios, and he got “the call.”
“We need you to record a spot TODAY.”
Here’s what he did – it’s pretty simple and archaic, and yet also pretty amazing:
He took a bunch of sheets, bedspreads, towels, and then…the couches and mattresses, and put them together to create a sort of mini-fort. Inside that fort was simply his laptop computer and nothing else. Using free software to download his recording, he performed the spot in his fort and sent it off to the client. The spot aired alongside all the other spots that are done in a high-quality recording studio, and you’d never know the difference. Unless you’re an engineer perhaps.
Moral of the story: you might think twice about investing in that super high-tech home studio, unless it’s a worthwhile return on your investment. Focus on honing your skill. That $2,500 mic just cannot make you sound more interesting or authentic, no matter how hard it tries.