Recording a voice over often requires you to be in a professional studio where the sound engineer is able to directly record your voice. However, due to a multitude of factors, this may not be possible. Perhaps the sound engineer might be in a different country or maybe (especially these days) you are quarantined. This often calls for a remote meeting to be held on platforms such as Zoom. There are multiple meeting software out there, however, for this guide, we will be using Zoom. It’s often difficult for people to hold a recording session online due to various reasons. One of the reasons being that you are not using the sound engineers professional setup. This could cause a limitation in the audio quality if your equipment is not on the same tier as your sound engineer. Another limitation that’s directly connected to the aforementioned is that your microphone isnt directly connected to the sound engineers system which may cause some quality issues as well. This brings us to the first step before we get to starting the Zoom meeting.
Setting Up Your Equipment
The first step would be to set up whatever is needed. This is often better discussed with the sound engineer to begin with. Perhaps you need some specific devices that are required for the session. It could also be little things like adding a pop filter to your mic or it could be something important like buying a suitable mic to begin with. Make sure your camera works correctly as well. You may also need to bring your instruments depending on the type of session you’re going with. A normal voice over session would usually only require a microphone though. Make sure all your input and output devices are working as intended and there isn’t any network issues that could hinder your sound quality. This means that you may need a direct Ethernet connection or move your setup to a suitable location with a stable internet connection to avoid any possible latency or spikes.
Setting Up Your Zoom Account
After you have your hardware setup and your microphone ready, you should be comfortable with your selected setup. This is where a Zoom account should be created if you didnt create one already. You can skip this part if your account has already been created.
The first thing you should do is head over to the Zoom website and then head over to the Sign up button at the top right of your screen.
Enter your date of birth and then click on continue.
Next thing you should do is enter your email address, preferably the one you use to contact the sound engineer. After you are done with that click on sign up.
Make sure to check your email right after for a confirmation link. There should be a sign up button inside the email for you to click on.
You will then get a question asking if you’re signing up on behalf of a school. Considering how this is a voice over session, you should click on the No circle.
Your account should be created, however, you will need to enter your name and password in order to complete everything.
If you would like to invite anyone else, Zoom will provide you with the opportunity to do so by inserting their email addresses.
You can now choose to either install the application or use your browser instead.
Join Your Sound Engineer on Zoom
Once your account has been made, you will have to decide with your sound engineer on who will be hosting the meeting. It’s often a good idea for whoever is closest to the server to host. For example if the server is hosted in the US, the person who is closer to the US should host. This will reduce any latency issues. The next thing you should do is get the session ID from the host of the meeting and insert it. Then choose if you would like to join with a video or without. It is highly recommended to join with a camera on in order to be more efficient and have better solutions. For example you may be too close to the mic so your sound engineer would recommend moving back a bit.
Communication
Everyone should now be in the Zoom meeting and you are able to see all the participants of the session. You should now ask the sound engineer if everything is ready and how they are planning to record your voice. After discussing this, make sure that everything is clear and the process is explained to you. Different sound engineers might use different processes which is completely fine as long as they are clear to you as the client. Once everything is discussed, you should be able to start the session as you would in a normal session. This includes having your script out or memorized and making sure the sound engineer is receiving your inputs.
Conclusion
Remote meetings can often be difficult when done for the first time. Communication is key when it comes to doing a remote voice over session. However, with enough attention to a complete discussion, you should be able to have a successful session with the highest efficiency. For more articles such as this, visit Mello Studio’s website.
