Audacity Tutorial for Voice Over (Beginner)

[@JohnVikingFilms]

I have been experimenting with Audacity for my voice overs for months. I found this video today and you have helped me far more than other videos out there. Thank you so much.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad I could help!

[@MnMGpa]

This is outstanding, thanks.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're very welcome!

[@MeditationWithArthur]

Nastasia, you audio wizard and ANGEL! I've been watching similar tutorials on how to properly clean up my audio without it sounding like Frankenstein and this video finally made it all click. Thank you! I love you :)

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad I could help!

[@19TimiT91]

Oh THANK YOU Nastasia! Such a great breakdown of the Audacity interface. I will be coming back to this video many times until I know the Voiceover editing process by heart.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful! Best of luck

[@g3force1]

Great tutorial. Straight to the point and very helpful tips! Thank you!

[@kevinbean8619]

Thank you! You have presented complex information in an easy to understand format! Based on what you have presented, I'm gonna give this a go!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

i'm glad you found this helpful!

[@mitschcrafter6766]

from what ive learned from a guitar teacher. Never do normalization first. Its the finishing thing.

[@Donnie_Oculus]

facts this is bad off the bat

[@Exotic_St4rxxx]

why

[@vicentegeonix]

Why?

[@vicentegeonix]

​@@Donnie_Oculuswhy?

[@mmartin08]

Your channel is great for newbie VO artists. Thank you!!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad you think so!

[@jackedmac]

I agree! Just starting out and so glad I found out about her. 👌🏽

[@leahmason-virgin]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for this video. I literally just used every single step and rewatched it 100 times to get this track right for my first client! so grateful for your time. I need to buy you a coffee

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

So glad it was helpful to you!

[@benporter9363]

This is brilliant! Exactly what I was looking for . Clear, concise, and so helpful.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful!

[@LA-Mitch]

Fantastic tutorial! I'm just now about to film my first VO audition and this helped me tremendously! Keep up and the good work and Happy Friday!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Best of luck!

[@Mearafayak]

Thank you SOOOO much!!! this makes so much more sense than the Studio One Program!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

you are welcome!

[@VoiceOfVoiced]

This is a really helpful round-up of important basics to get proper results in voiceover editing, helped me a great deal. Thank you!

[@catgg1111]

Great video, fabulous tips and you are hilarious as well! Brava!!! Thank you for sharing with us. 🙏🏽💃🙌🏽

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

I am glad you enjoyed it!

[@kjartist28]

Thank you for your videos, Nastasia! Question, will these settings/EQ suffice for all my audios as a beginner? Or will I need to tweak the EQ for each individual project?

[@adamp7958]

Fantastic tutorial! Thanks so much!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful!

[@anthonylindsey6205]

Thank you for being normal when explaining. I hate all the ridiculous jargon when it can be explained better plainly.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@anthonylindsey6205]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 It's incredible what you do. I enjoy reading so I'm just starting this journey.

[@sarahdoesvoices793]

Thanks for this girl!! So helpful!!! 🥰

[@BenAtHome323]

Outstanding instructional video! As a novice voice over-er (artist? well, not quite yet) I've been looking for a video with exactly this information about editing sound files in Audacity. This one is perfect. Not a lot of fluff and lead-in stuff, like so many others. It's succinct and to the point, covers the basics well, and even added a few things that i didn't know I needed. Thanks, Natasia! Big like and subscribe!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful! I am happy it felt straight forward for you. All the best.

[@ArchanaSoundar]

Thank you. The video is very useful for begginers

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rebeccaperry8091]

Thank You for this video. Exactly what I needed to see. Just starting out and learning the editing with Audacity has been my biggest challenge and stress. This helped. Thank You! Becky

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful Becky! Best of luck

[@reallivecatherine]

This was super helpful for this total newbie. Thank you!

[@VashStarwind]

You have a very good Voice over/Narration voice, just thought Id throw that out there ha

[@TattieSteele-Mortimer]

You are amazing and thank you so much! ☺

[@TupmaniaTurning]

Really useful video - thank you.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CaraHillVoiceoverArtist]

This helped so much! I was trying to do too much to my audio..EQ, etc. This helped me realize that it is not needed. Thank you! 😃

[@carlomagnofernando3600]

Thank you, Nastasia!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're so welcome!

[@Add_Username_Here]

3 questions: 1. Is there a way to remove sibilance? I’m having a lot of trouble with this and it’s not how I make the “s” sound, it’s just how my mic picks it up. I’ve tried de-esser VST plugins but they seem to add echo to the recording when the threshold kicks in. Are there ways to remove sibilance without effecting my EQ? Question 2. What is the proper order of effects to apply in audacity that won’t distort it at all for the cleanest recording?? The effects I use, in no particular order, is EQ (using TDR NOVA in “realtime effects”), filter curve, noise reduction, loudness normalization, compression, limiter, and normalize. Question 3. I’ve seen so many people say the industry standard for normalization is -3.0db, but whenever I normalize to that the playback is so loud I have to turn down the volume on my interface to not blow my eardrums out, even when the audio is compressed. If it’s going into the red and is really loud is that just the norm for audacity? Cause I’ve seen so many people with their playback going into the red and it sounds fine, but when I normalize my audio to that -3db I’m scared to send it to anyone cause I feel like it would blow their eardrums out. Could you explain in detail how normalizing to -3 and having the playback in the red isn’t too loud? Cause when I export an audio recording normalized to that level and listen back to it on my phone with earbuds in, it still sounds loud and takes away from the clarity. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Hi there! Between your questions it sounds like the most effective troubleshooting for you to do is with your setup. The more your setup is solid, the less you have to worry about post production. I'm not sure what equipment your using or how strong your setup is, but for your first question I would try these suggestions: Make sure your mic is decent quality, there are bad mics out there that are too sensitive and will blow out with any noise. If your mic isn't the issue then make sure your gain is peaking between -9 and -12 for recording (don't speak into the mic trying to get -3db, you master the sound to -3db on the back end.) If that's not the issue then hard 's's and 'p' mitigation is based on technique, so try not speaking directly into the microphone, speak off center a bit, maybe back up a bit, and sometimes it's necessary to learn how to back off on s and p in your own speech to make it softer. I personally never use a de-esser, I find it messes with the quality a bit too much, if my s's are that harsh then I try to fix the issue before it enters the software. For your second question: It sounds like you are doing quite a bit of mastering, if you really know your way around audio engineering then that's awesome. But be wary about doing too much. loudness normalization, compression, limiter, and normalize might be a little redundant for what you're trying to accomplish. If engineering isn't your forte and you just want to be able to focus on your craft of acting, then it might be a good idea to invest in having a preset made to ease your mind. I had Lenny B make my presets for me, and they are incredible and designed specifically for my voice and my studio. You might want to watch the interview I do with him and check out his channel, I can't recommend him enough. You will also learn very quickly whether your recording space is sufficient by having him take a quick listen to how things are sounding on a raw file straight from your studio. Finally for your 3rd question: -3db is the standard and shouldn't be blowing out your mic. I would say 2 things are possible. 1, you're hearing a blown out noise without the speakers actually blowing out, and this could be an issue during the recording phase, if you blow out or peak during recording and then normalize down to -3db you will still hear the distorted sound from the original recording. If that's not the issue then you might want to double check your playback devices. Having a solid and reliable playback is imperative and just as much as focus for me as having a solid recording setup for the exact reason you stated. The last thing you want to worry about is sending a file to a client that you're unsure about. Getting a solid recording space that you're confident in is quite an uphill battle in the beginning, but once you have it all figured out, it is such a relief to be able to focus on your artistry. Keep at it, I hope this helps!

[@anjellovassell4545]

Wonderful video. You're a great teacher. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@TheGaryNinja]

Thanks for the video! Very informative!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

My pleasure!

[@rhodatacaldo4947]

really learned a lot from you today, a million thanks Nastasia, new subscriber here!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

So glad!

[@TheScanonDub]

This was the exercise I needed> thanks🙏🙏

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're so welcome!

[@annwarner5066]

Thank you !! Just found you, new to the voiceover world, and am looking forward to your selfless sharing 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Remixthisgaming]

Good tutorial. I already do most of this stuff if I need to edit audio but I didn't consider the normalize for breaths or know about compression to prevent blowout

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Good, I'm glad I was able to share something new! It's always a learning process.

[@SEEKOSVR]

Thank you this will help me alot with one of my songs!

[@litmantuck]

I have decided to go into voiceover and I am leaning heavily on your videos to learn as a newbie. I appreciate you for taking the time and give back 🙏🏾

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You are so welcome!

[@lisanmc4536]

Hi Nastasia, do you offer one on one consulting? As in I’m a beginner & need help with every step. I HAVE been taking voice acting classes for a few months now.

[@Haydenthemaker1000]

thanks for the simple video, it really helped me!!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're welcome!

[@joset2708]

You’re awesome! Thank you for this, it’s truly truly appreciated!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Happy to help!

[@alphacat4927]

So I hit the export button to save my project thanks.

[@andrewluv7]

This is such helpful information, thank you!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're so welcome!

[@jmhorn]

This is great!! Thanks for this.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're very welcome!

[@DVDGroup]

Great tutorial!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@GloriousPanic]

I usually get a noise profile first. Then apply it to the whole track. Then I bring the gain down to -6db and Normalize the track. Is this okay as well ? A friend told me I shouldn't bother compressing the track. Is this ok as well ?

[@emmacottingham]

This helped so much! Will you ever do a follow up for a more advanced lesson?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

At some point in the future I would like to expand on it. In the meantime I will upload other relevant tutorials in regards to sound engineering etc.

[@kris_yt2860]

Thank you for this! Super helpful!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're so welcome!

[@lilcodyist]

Thanks so much Natasia, this video helps a lot. I learnt so much following along with you in the lessons. 👍🏾

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're so welcome!

[@Tori-xu2sk]

Thank you! This helped me so much!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it helped!

[@Kevinbobevin1]

That's the first time I saw someone suggest normalizing breaths instead of removing them. Thank you for that. (Yea)

[@streetworthymedia]

Thanks for getting me going! What mic are you on and interface?

[@chantelleRVO]

Very useful for a beginner like myself! Quick q though: when first recording and playing back, my noise floor seems low. However, after normalising, compression and noise reduction, on playback it's higher? My room isn't treated, but I'm not sure why the final five seconds of my recording are more noisy after playing around with the effects. Any ideas?

[@robintokyo2]

Thanks, Natasia, this is super helpful. Question: what subscription services do you use for background music?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Artlist.io they are by far my favorite

[@robintokyo2]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 thanks so much!

[@habman101]

Nastasia... thanks so much for this.. I have just started using Audacity(after years on Garageband) and this has been very helpful. Question: how do you save a file as a 24/48 mono wav?

[@8T8Keez]

Excellent!

[@beardedvoice]

In what order do you eq, normalize and compress?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

I now use a preset from my audio engineer so it does all the work for me. You can get the best information on this from Lenny B, check out his KZbin channel, because he has fantastic info on questions just like this! Best of luck.

[@beardedvoice]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 it’s funny you say that. I’ve been following him for a while, and because of you, I did get an awesome preset from him. I told him to give you kudos LOL

[@Cotictimmy]

Great Video Nastasia! Love your style. I'm brand new to Audacity - I downloaded version 3.6.2 and started learning about a week ago. Some of the menus & options are changed, but despite that, your video is pretty easy to follow - (even for a total numbskull like me. ) Note - a term like "numbskull" would definitely fall foul of the 'Mental Parity Movement's Champions' in Lionel Shriver's latest novel - 'Mania'. 🤣🤣🤣

[@VO_JayRedding]

Do clients generally want files in Wav? Or mp3?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Both! I most often send WAV files, but smaller clients who just want to plop it onto a video, or who may be limited with the platforms they use ask for MP3. I would send WAV files unless they request otherwise.

[@VO_JayRedding]

@@nastasiamarquez6472, great info. Thank you!

[@lisanedrouin392]

So glad I found your video! Great tutorial and tips, I got a lot out of it. Quick question: when using Audacity software and an interface, such as scarlett focusrite, do you set the sample rate say 44.1 (or 48) and bit rate say 24 on both software and the device or only on the software? or only the device. Thanks a bunch :-)

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

I actually have a Quick Tip video that lists what settings I use. This should help out(:

[@jmorrison146]

What version of Audacity? The latest is 3.2.

[@daniqtpy647]

How do u adjust for a singing demo after recording thanks

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Hello! For this I would refer you to my sound engineer. He has his own channel. His name is Lenny B. He would likely have a more specific answer for you than I could!

[@roninmonkey]

So would you recommend to "Save as Project" as well as "Export as WAV" or save only if you're expecting/planning to add to it?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You'll feel out after a while what works best for you. Short projects I just export only. Long projects that I want to ensure don't get corrupted while exporting, or that I'm still working on, or if there are tracks layered on top of each other that I still want to be able to adjust I will save the project.

[@abuhafshah91]

wow. thanks for tutorial. It's really helpful for me as a Newbie VO Talent :)

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're very welcome!

[@loripetrie397]

How can I loop a music track? I am doing an affirmations audiobook for someone and they would like a specific track to loop underneath the affirmations. The track he gave me is not long enough to last through the whole thing.

[@JoolsVoiceOver]

Thought this was for beginners only 1.27 in and already confused. Anyone know of a step by step guide for actual beginners please? I don't know where to begin with it.

[@BeingRealGeorge]

You are smart

[@wallheard4429]

so audacuty is the best sound editor to use?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

No, it's a good free one though. I use Adobe audition now which is a monthly subscription. There's also more expensive programs that are geared for more complex sound design needs.

[@wallheard4429]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 should I take an audio engineering class? don't really know anything about decibels and such rough enough being talent

[@kylegilliam3564]

Hey Natasia! I am completely new to VO. Something that I can't seem to reliably find is whether or not background music/sound effects are provided by the client or is that something that is your responsibility too? Do you usually send the client a few different files, some with and some without music or other background sounds? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Hi there, from my experience, the client typically already has their own music. Smaller companies I have recorded for have asked for a music track here and there, but that is something I openly offer. Generally though, they already have music for their commercial or video.

[@coldcrush1]

Can audacity work on a touch screen laptop without using the keyboard?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

My guess would be no, but my first though would be to ask if your laptop has the processing power to run the software. You can Google it pretty easily.

[@coldcrush1]

I'm sure the cpu for the software has the power. Dell XPS i7 3.42 Ghz, 16 gb ram

[@alinik4737]

absolutely awesome!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad you think so!

[@adslpiulentoditalia2545]

Did i correctly understand you.. if you save a project It will save separetly in case i'm gonna save in WAV or MP3 It will save all together?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

I think you understand correctly. But I'll rephrase just in case. If you save as a project then it will preserve all tracks and elements of the project, so you can come back and continue to edit. When you export, it will compress the file into a single audio file, so if you have multiple layers to the recording (example. Music and voice) then you will not be able to comeback and modify each layer. Make sense?

[@adslpiulentoditalia2545]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 yes for sure. I understand your point. Thank you very much

[@priscillamendoza5343]

I want to know w more from you. Im jyst zero beginning. Youre very practical. Your experience teaches a lot. Youre aincere and humble. Please send me more updates. Your voice over samples

[@lokky5925]

is it okay to use this procedure on freelancing platforms like fiverr etc. ... And there is one more question: instead of normalising and compress is it okay to use hard limiter and then normalising for auditions. love your content btw😄

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Good question! I would say follow the basic guidelines for voiceover and then listen to the recording through good quality speakers to see if you would approve of the recording if you were your own client. The basic guidelines: peaks at -3db Noisefloor around -60db When listening back you don't want to hear any room noise or white noise, you don't want to have any spatial awareness of where this was recorded, and you want a nice clear unobstructed tone to the voice. In short, there is no single way to master a file. If your hart limiter gets you to the levels you want then that's awesome and no one will be the wiser.

[@LifePill]

This is so helpful for someone like me who's doing VOs too. Thanks for sharing. Greetings from LifePill!

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Thanks for watching!

[@shannondudley8992]

what music licensing to you subscribe to?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

I currently use Artlist.io

[@eybitheme]

is there such thing as using the noise reduction too much? I noticed that my voice over sounded muffled not sure what caused that..

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

I will be releasing a video soon to answer questions like this!

[@eybitheme]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 Thank you! Very helpful content btw. Maybe you can also include the delay while recording in Audacity.. I don't know how to fix it :( Thank you!

[@lilithelieshere]

How do you eliminate mouth noise?

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

There are various types of noises that you can diminish in different ways. For "plosives" for example you can use screens or mic positioning to help eliminate them.

[@Parwezh]

Am I going paranoid here or are you really sounding like cortana? Your voice is so close to cortana haha. Great video btw. Learned much from this.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Haha, I haven't gotten that before!

[@Parwezh]

@@nastasiamarquez6472 haha I went to search for the voice actress of cortana and her name was Natascha something 😂. Even the first name is a lil bit close to each other haha 😂

[@goldenlotus9629]

It's hard for me to see what .. you are doing... the font is so small & it's all moving so quickly

[@princeicio]

I remember when I was in college I always loved recording my voice and hearing myself talk. Why the hell did I not think of voice over??!!😭

[@McMilesE]

I'm so flipping scared. I am taking a class soon for VO w/ Audacity. But I don't know diddly squat about computers. Absolutely nothing and I'm 28. Files and all this jargon scares tf out of me. Seriously how am I supposed to know how to do all of this

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Hopefully this video helped you with the basics. We all suffer more in imagination than we do in reality, once you get started you'll see how simple it is, it's just a matter of learning. Good luck!

[@SEEKOSVR]

i dont know how to do a voiceover on my beat

[@marshhen]

Take out Background Noise before you compress and normalize.

[@jordanhenshaw]

Step 1: Buy a really nice mic Step 2: Set up a home studio where no one will be playing music, talking on the phone, walking around, watching movies, cooking, shouting, opening/closing doors, turning fans on, flushing toilets, punching things, hooting and hollering, etc. Step 3: Add a bunch of sound absorption panels to basically every single wall of the studio. Step 4: Have a really good speaking voice. Step 5: Record raw audio that already sounds professional without doing a damn thing to it. Everyone else: You're completely f'ed.

[@clemkadiddlehopper7705]

Someone . . . ate the baby lol

[@kmacradio]

ta is not a word.

[@favi677]

How do I cut a section out? It doesn't go away 🥲

[@yasminekeys4625]

Wow ! This helped me so much as a beginner. Thank you so much.

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

You're very welcome!

[@atomicmays]

thank you so much for the video! it's helped me a lot

[@nastasiamarquez6472]

Glad it helped!