ABSTRACT
As we move more deeply into the twenty-first century, it is becoming more and more common for individuals, both engineers and voice talent, to have their own spaces for recording and production. However, if we could peer back through the dark mists of time, we could see a time when the only way to record and produce voiceover was to travel to a commercially available recording studio, there to be surrounded by incredibly complex and expensive equipment and gaze at the lord of his domain-the recording engineer. Master of the mysterious buttons and knobs, basking in the gentle glow of lights from the massive recording console, and performing tasks at once miraculous and yet comforting: Massaging raw voice tracks into a perfect final product. Now fast-forward to the modern age, where anyone with a basic grasp of how a word processor operates can far surpass our Merlin of that
previous age. A long time ago, I began to notice more and more voiceover professionals asking my advice on various technical aspects of recording and editing. It slowly dawned on me that this early group of pioneers was seriously considering setting up their own studios! My initial reaction, naturally, was to withhold as much information as possible, while still remaining on speaking terms with them; after all, if their ambitions were successful, they were going to put me out of business. But, the longer I considered it, the more I came to realize that they were going ahead with their plans, with or without my help. It was a matter of either helping them or fighting them (a losing proposition, considering the number of actors seeking free advice). Well, I’m still in business and happily coexisting with the voice actors, the majority of whom now record in their homes in their personal recording spaces.
