About The Business: The Basic Studio Space

It’s for commercial voiceovers, it’s for narration, it’s for voice imaging projects, it’s for recording other voice talent. It’s for anything spoken word. It’s a spoken word space for spoken word specialists. It’s your own home studio. Also known as a project studio, this space is all your own and usually it’s found where you live. In your bedroom…your spare room…your basement or taking over half your living space.  You are setting up the studio as you see fit. It can be a mix of analog and digital. Maybe some analog mic preamps. It’s audio recording and editing software. It’s a creative environment for the sound of the human voice.

Your voiceover or project studio should be an organic experience. Not all brisling with hardware (although that’s nice too) but attractive and inviting as well. Baffles acting as wall coverings…quality monitors positioned not too far from your headspace. Give it a groove. In other words, your creative spoken-word space has to be comfortable and functional at the same time.

For many years my voiceover studio was a 300 sq.ft. space acting as studio and control room. There was no separate voice booth. Equipment these days runs quietly enough to make this work. Also your own voice projects will probably be the majority of your work. It’s when other voice talent or clients wish to work in the same space that things can get unwheeledly. It’s one thing for you, the owner, to work around outside sound interruptions but quite something else to ask others to do the same. The situation becomes unpredictable and therefore unworkable. Finding the time and resources to put a voice booth together is an excellent investment. If you are recording and delivering voicetrack you need complete quiet whenever needed. The booth gets it done. Get some kind of double door set up with the walls, ceiling and floor insulated. A talk back system and a monitor in the booth which mirrors the control room monitor. When a voice over is being done you are able to monitor levels and see sound waves.
Above all make your space a placed where talent and clients can be comfortable. An added couch or couple of chairs will work. You need access to sound effects and music libraries. There are good resources for these on line…most offering the ability to audition the sound before purchasing.

One last thing. Don’t be afraid of changing the studio space around once in a while. It’s good for the head…a change can offer a new creative outlook. This spoken word space is yours for the making. You’re going to like it…then you’re going to love it. Then you’re going to change it and love it all over again. Hear the love baby!

Thanks for listening.
SH