Hi
@Robert Batten and all. I’m an audio book producer/director by profession but I’ve also been podcasting the story which I now have up for funding here (I’ve put the YouTube playlist of the 1st 9 chapters into the video section of my book) so I can speak a little from the point of view of a nervous author reading her own work in a non-pro-studio, too!
Software:
Audacity is all and more than need for a reading - if you want to take a look at Reaper it’s great, too, (as is QBase or ProTools) but Audacity is the simplest of all and truly all you need - we’re talking single track recording after all :)
Hardware: I would strongly suggest that you invest in a separate microphone and not use a mic built in to a video camera (whether it’s built in to your laptop or tablet or a usb camera) - for a couple of reasons:
First: those mics will pick up all sorts of extraneous sound that will distract from your reading
Second: you’ll need to use the advice
@Luke Fellner gave re: speaking loudly and projecting from the diaphragm - wonderful advice for a distant microphone and a stage actor but better not to need when reading something as intimate as a book chapter. Remember, what you’re doing is reading to a person, you want to encourage them to close their eyes and visualise the story, so you want to be able to adjust your dynamics according to the emotion of the passage or dialogue, you don’t want to have to shout all the time... but I’ll get to performance next.
You don’t have to spend much to get a vast improvement in sound from an in-camera mic - and you shouldn’t spend much if this isn’t something you’ll do regularly here are the options I’d suggest:
A small Lavalier microphone (the kind that get clipped to a shirt on TV) Rode does one and VidPro do one, too - they’re about $30 on US sites and they’re made to sit under the chin and pick up voice from there (they also adjust for the extra bass that comes from the position near the chest).
Note: I have the VidPro one and it has a 20 FOOT cord so when I’m in the mood for using my dictation software I can actually get a good pace around the room going!
If you’re going to be doing more than just the odd recording and would like to, for example, join in a podcast regularly or some such there are some great low cost options in dynamic, end-address microphones which don’t require too much sound knowledge - the one I like to recommend is the Rode Podcaster, which is USB (so requires no audio interface) but doesn’t sound like it.
If you’re up for a bit more expense in the form of an audio interface and so can use a mic with an analogue cable, the combo of the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface with a Shure SM-58 is a popular one. I personally use that baby Scarlett with a Rode Procaster.
(Note: There are condenser USB mics that are popular (like the Yeti series) but condenser mics should really only be used in either a beautifully sound proofed room and/or if you are a musician who will be playing so loud that you can have your gain waaaay down. If you’re just a spoken voice reading into a Yeti (or chatting on a podcast) your audience will hear the neighbour three streets away call their dog in to dinner! )
Once you have your mic set-up set your microphone level (volume) so that you don’t have to shout into it just to get it into the green. You want to be able to vary your dynamics with the emotion so better to stop and re-record a section because you got too loud when your characters are fighting than to miss the chance to pull in your readers with the emotion of a quiet moment between characters because you’r declaiming like Olivier just to get it on the mic!
Enough of that geekiness- to performance!
Here are my top pieces of advice:
1) Don’t worry if you don’t have the skill to do accents or character voices. If you do (and they’re really good) great but remember you are not auditioning for a part as an actor or even as an audio book narrator, you are the author of the piece presenting the text that you are hoping they will like enough to buy and read for themselves. They won’t have you reading to them with a Welsh accent to tell them which character is speaking when they read your text - if a plain reading of the text is confusing, then edit your dialogue tags to make it clear (reading out loud is a GREAT editing tool.) Expressing the emotion in your words is more important than an accent or change in tone
2) Read slowly and clearly but don’t patronize! @Luke Fellner is absolutely correct that you will probably need to read more slowly than you think is rational but not quite as slowly as a rude tourist in a non-English speaking country! Do a few practice passages and listen back, have someone else listen and get their thoughts - everything takes practice.
3) Do Enunciate, but not so much that it’s unnatural or changes your accent. Aim for being a clearer you. When it comes to the hard consonants, though – you might have to soften them a little, especially Ts, Ds and Ss because some people are simply more sibilant than others (it’s the shape of the teeth!) so, again, have a little practice and try different mic placements if you’re finding that your ears get blown out by those sounds when you play them back.
Similarly plosives (Ps, Bs) can be an issue with puffing on the microphone causing a ‘pop’ to be recorded. This can be helped with a pop-shield and mic placement but some level of technique (which I haven’t mastered yet) is often still required (though lavalier mics are a great way to avoid much of this!)
4) If you have a sore throat or a cold of some sort don’t record till it’s gone! Every tiny sniffle and liquidy blurt will be picked up and turn your listeners off! Also, I don’t know about others but my throat will actually begin to hurt in sympathy when I can hear it in a narrator!
5) Try to relax, trust your story and get into the action and the characters. If you’re enjoying it, your readers most likely will, too. Remember, it’s an author podcast that doesn’t need to be perfect, it’s not an audiobook for sale
That’s my wall of text – feel free to hit me up in a DM if you’d like any advice :)
You can hear my attempts at reading the first 9 chapters of The War of Wind & Moon in the video section of its page. (Also on Soundcloud and as a podcast on iTunes if you’re so inclined just search for Wind and Moon or Darcy Conroy.)
