Create your first Voiceover Demo Reel with Audioblocks

Audioblocks free trial: audioblocks.com...
Kenny Gioia's Sidechain Compression tutorial: • Ducking using Side-Cha...
This video was sponsored by AudioBlocks.
My control room mic is the Rode NT1a: geni.us/f7yC (Amazon)
For Home studio equipment options check out kit.co/mikedelg...
There you'll find options for home studio setups at a variety of different budgets.
For my videos:
My main camera:geni.us/bj-a6400
My small camera: geni.us/RWNNVxO (Amazon)
Links to amazon and kit.com may include affiliate codes in which I earn a small commission on products you purchase. . Thanks!

[@oliver9310]

Am I the only one that has not recorded my voice a single time and really have no reason for watching this except how charismatic this man is and how he somehow makes booths and microphones interesting? I know so much about audio-recording and booth creation now and I have NO USE FOR ANY OF IT.

[@OzventureTime]

hahaha i'm a VO but i can understand it, he's like that 1 awesome teacher at school that made learning actually interesting

[@joshuaharper4642]

This is why talk radio is so popular. :-)

[@Avangeliet]

Haha same, just hit the subscribe button even though I really have no use for this information. But the man is fantastic and fun to listen too.

[@techmundane3890]

I'm just here to check out the mic reviews to help with my podcast but I end up just watching all of them. deerstandhill.com

[@ZackScriven]

Not the only one. Lol

[@OCDTraci]

While I don't regret spending the $1200 for my first commercial demo (which the engineer I hired did a fantastic job on), I'm glad I know now that I don't need to drop another thousand for any subsequent demo! Really gonna hunker down and teach myself how to produce quality demos.

[@ritcheySMITH]

You, sir, are the wind beneath my voiceover wings. Thank you for sharing your knowledge across the seas.

[@saadahmed386]

The Ojibwe spoke about him. He was also the wind beneath Marilyn Monroe. True story.

[@johnslater8998]

I voiced hundreds of radio spots in the 70s and 80s. No software involved, lol. Cut the pauses out with razor blades and splicing tape. Good times. I liked to read over the music, ducking the music levels by riding the fader as ai read the copy. Kind of an art. Reading to music imbues your read with a rhythm and energy, and you can hit posts in the music as you read. Makes for a nice smooth effect.

[@johnslater8998]

- (NO software involved)

[@moosecherry730]

John Slater tfg

[@IanCrouse]

I was in radio from 1983-1989. The splicing was horrid. Not to mention the magnetic erase function. The best thing was the soul of vinyl and having the 11 minute version of Tuesday Afternoon by the Moody Blues when you had to use the pisser or relax with a beer and eat your pizza.

[@totallyfrozen]

I landed my first radio gig in 1988. I miss radio! Yes, spot production in the late 80’s and through the 90’s was challenging, but those were such cool times. It seemed like I was nearly flat broke most of the time, but being an on-air talent was just COOL! Lots of fun...and so many girls, so little time! 😉

[@techguy9023]

I remember a guy cutting down a song from Billy Joel to a 30 second intro. He had it down to the beat. Sounded real. The production room had a turntable, reel to reel, and a cassette deck and board. It helped that he was a musician. He was amazing. The other guy had worked AFRTS in nam. He was almost as good.

[@slipkorn420]

I have learnt more about audio editing in 25 mins than I have in 1 year. You, sir, are what humanity needs.

[@garcialgarcial7500]

You are one of the few people who actually teaches something and is very technical and specific and precise. Most other channels just discuss the big picture, which doesn't help in execution. Probably the most informative person I have found when it comes to tutorials. Your voice is great and you're charismatic, which really helps get through the technical stuff. Some of the answers to the hard questions I haven't found anywhere else you are demonstrating step-by-step. So thank you. Much appreciated

[@acejackson8994]

Mike has an AMAZING voice and he uses it extremely well. IMO, he has the best voice for radio and voiceover that I've ever heard!

[@engelhorns]

Finding the right music bed is an art in itself. Great stuff Mike, even after 25 years in radio broadcasting, recording and editing is as enjoyable today as it ever was, especially when watching a master at work, thx

[@kennymonty8206]

Thanks Booth Junkie. I started last October and didn't work until January and just began making money in April. Took me a minute. I use Reaper, like you. Followed your instructions on some older videos. And now, I'm ready for the info in this video. Nobody else is offering this sort of help to the new people. I will be putting all of this to work for me in the next few days. I really, really appreciate it. Thank you! Thank you, thank you!

[@newsygirlcb]

Absolutely love this guy! So genuine and informational. Wish I could train with him. I get such a slimy feeling from the voice over coaches Ive spoken to, so far.

[@totallyfrozen]

Absolutely! No doubt. Especially, when you calculate their fees and realize they want to charge you $600/hour!

[@Gray-Today]

A comb would change his life.

[@Valandor_Celestial_Warlock]

Seems to me that the process of creating a demo track is about 3% voice acting and 97% sound engineering. Thanks for the info. Will look forward to learning all about sound software now.

[@totallyfrozen]

Oberon Pan FYI, Mike has mentioned that he uses and prefers Reaper and he has a series of tutorial videos on setting up and tweaking Reaper for voiceover work.

[@TokyoXtreme]

Most things in life boil down to how you package and present yourself.

[@mediamannaman]

@@TokyoXtreme - How true! Some of us took way too long to understand what you so simply said.

[@vhaleryanadamant1975]

No man, it's 50-50. If your voice "sucks" aka you have no training and you don't know how to VO, then you can do all the audio editing in the world it's still gonna suck

[@jackedkerouac4414]

@@vhaleryanadamant1975 Absolutely. I heard one vo's demo and his delivery and cadence were so bad it wouldn't have mattered if Danny Elfman did the music and Billy Porter engineered

[@RealEstateInvestingUnmasked]

I have been using Audacity for a while now to adjust my sound settings; however, I've always felt like my volume was too low. I now understand why. I love the combo of normalize, compress, and limiter. I paused when you showed your settings, went to Audacity, and created a chain to mimic your settings. When I ran it on some raw audio I had from one of my older videos, it was amazing how it turned out with such little touching up from me. The only thing I had to do other than your 3 suggested effects was noise reduction...because my room wasn't treated-one of the things you preach all the time. Thank you for your help!

[@VOByRobbins]

What a great sounding demo Mike, all that and no $$$ spent, just your time and knowledge--- wow! Audio Blocks here I come!!!

[@jebatman756]

You're basically my favorite person on YT! Thank you for everything!

[@stewartroxburgh8844]

Really useful. Thanks for doing this. Even the references to what software you use is very helpful. Most of us fumble our way through this process, falling into work when we can. A tour of your booth and equipment would be great too. Many thanks I will try out Audio Blocks too.

[@Odiex27]

You never cease to amaze me with how effective your videos are at instruction. I took my first VO workshop in 2010 and I'm still not "pro" yet. A lot of what you've covered in this and other videos are EXACTLY what I needed to take it to the next level. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will throw as much business your way as I can.

[@DeepBlueWaves]

You're a lean-mean-voice-acting machine... truly inspirational to see how you've physically transformed throughout your vids while developing your craft. Rock solid!

[@m0L3ify]

A compressor also turns the loud parts up, so if you have noise in your recording, it's going to make that more obvious. If you just want to manage audio peaks, you can use a limiter. If you want to make the entire recording more present and professional sounding, use soft to medium compression, but only if your audio is clean. Otherwise it's going to get messy.

[@iceboxyt]

I’ve been meandering through numerous voiceover tutorial videos but I did not expect to run across Mike DelGaudio. I’ve listened to so much of The NoSleep Podcast, so hearing your voice was such a rush of flashbacks. Thanks for the tutorial and the many sleepless nights, both of the past and to come with future seasons

[@seansiegler]

Thanks for all this! Such great info... I can't justify paying someone to do my VO demo right now, so this is really helpful!

[@VOByRobbins]

Made my head spin watching your editing!!! Great Video Mike, you're so natural doing this --- More please !! between watching you and Earl Hall, I've finished my first Audio book with ACX, so Thank you -- -I'm using the Zoom H5 and Sennheiser 416 too!! but I use Adobe Audition for my editing and waves plugins for compression and noise reduction. You're a great inspiration!!! Thank you!

[@KedaWoodDye]

I don't even do voice over work, just considering doing VO on KZbin video (which is how I found you) and just keep watching more and more of your vids - I just find it fascinating! Thanks for so much great info!

[@ThatGuyWithAVoice]

Thanks for giving me the confidence to finally make a true demo reel!

[@savethefails]

ooooh, now you've done it. You've gone against the "mainstream". Telling somebody to produce their own demo is just asking to be excommunicated from voiceover by the rank professionals that are busy telling all the newbies what they need to do to get started so that said "pros" can benefit from it. In all seriousness, great video. I've produced several "entry level" demos for people using Audioblocks and it's a great resource.

[@DeepBlueWaves]

Fake it till you make it! Apparently actors were the first ppl on the moon :p

[@danbolivar3564]

I keep in in mind that a couple of those "pro" demo producers have also told people to go buy the Kaotica Eyeball... so... meh..

[@FarisMonshi]

Sereno Mirado i'm curious to know what you don't like about the Kaotica Eyeball. Mind sharing? Mine's been working pretty well for me.

[@danbolivar3564]

That's the point... You never will get truly efficient acoustics by practically wrapping your mic in foam. Condenser mics need that room to 'breathe', when you limit that you're basically cutting into the frequency response, much like cutting a groove from end to end, through your waveform. It will, to the trained ear, sound enclosed and introduce harmonic artifacts. Besides, Mike here has already proven that even a shower can be made acoustically sound by using very few sound panels, so long as you locate them in the right spot. Mind you, I'm talking about not using it for voiceover, it may be just fine for singing, that in spite of the similarities, is an entirely different type of recording.

[@Locutor1492]

You mentioned a link to "Kenny Joices" compression video. I don't see it. Please send it to: [e-mail]

[@69mashedpatatoes]

I swear I always hear ads that sound like you, that or it is actually you

[@JoshuaG85]

This is cool. I am 33. In a coma in 03. When I woke up, I was blind for a bit. I would sit there and wonder what I wanted to do. I realized voice actor. haha This was very good. Lots of information. I have Logic Pro to set my audio up. The site is a great thing to know about. Thank you for the information.

[@Eric-Thomure]

I also made all of my demos using music samples from various sites. Only I did it all in Garageband so there were less toys to play with!

[@jstlouis16]

As someone trying to get into the voiceover space, this was REALLY helpful. Thank you! Within a day I was able to record and produce my own audio demo using music, scripts and software. Thank you for sharing your talent and guidance!

[@kris_yt2860]

Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge, sir. Much appreciated!

[@QuintinMcfadden]

i think this video helped me in seeing how easy it is to produce your own work as long as you know what you are doing.

[@FrederickDunn]

Flawless in every possible way and this is exactly how I know that I will not be working as a voice talent ;) YOU, however, belong in the industry... hands down!

[@davelanciani-dimaensionx]

Glad to see you use Reaper, and a shout out to Kenny Gioia and his great tutorials.

[@randomrosie2599]

You absolutely rock. Loved that vid you did where you built a voice over booth in your shower stall!!! HILARIOUS and BRILLIANT. Thank you! Keep em coming!

[@smoothwill]

To know this your in the field already .

[@SeanLaMontagne]

Why did the Gods bless you with having a last name with "Audio" in it.

[@bale2935]

23:03 i wanna here the full story about that boy .. oh man it looks like it's a sad one or i believe your voice tune makes it sound sad, you're so professional Mike, i like your voice and the music that you choose . it's a great video , i wish you make videos every day .

[@CaptainWeirdBeard69]

These videos you make are really informative and appreciated.

[@yumyumeatemuppp]

Your voice is golden. Thanks. So much.

[@LightningSpiritVA]

Thank you so much I am thinking making one a demo sense got a decent set up and have alot of foam in my room, so with these tips could help me out

[@ge45gecalled39]

really nice to see and hear you do your thing, your really talented and know your stuff, fun to see an expert at work, thanks

[@Lhostel]

First and foremost I would like to thank you for your time, efforts and energy for this video. My question is, where can I get scripts to create slates for my demo?

[@CatKingCole82]

A slate is the: 'my name is yada yada, and I'm auditioning for yada yada' part. The scripts are different than a slate.

[@jaredcapper7388]

Another great video Mike! Been looking to create a demo! Thanks!

[@akrussek]

You are a wonderful man. You just solved all my problems :-) Thank you Plus, so excited by the information, I can't but think you are an adorable man. *off to make a demo*

[@diego2112gaming]

So... Let me make sure I've got the basics down--practice good audio editing and speak clearly. That's how you build a demo reel? SWEET!

[@somethingsouthafrican6934]

Thanks again Booth Junkie!

[@AA-ul9qh]

Booth Junkie is the best! Awesome vid.s & priceless info. THANK YOU!

[@senna_]

THE NEW BACKGROUND LOOK SO COOL!!!!

[@BoothJunkie]

+Snow that's the part of my studio you never see!

[@senna_]

Please make more videos there! & was it hard to move the whisper room there ?

[@richardsisk1770]

Great example well explained. Thank you 😊

[@ClickImagination]

I am enjoying these videos. Very informative and well delivered. Keep them coming.

[@TurboHot]

Great guide ever. So easy and understandable! Good job!

[@redhotmouse]

Thank you ! .. Extremely useful information and excellent presentation .. Am I alone in feeling the audio ducking that the music does under the voice seems 'blippy' (if that makes any sense??) almost too sensitive, creating volume changes that become noticeable in the final file?

[@MrAnthonyKennedy1]

A pleasure to watch, listen and learn! Thank you.

[@cjalves932]

Thanks a bunch all the way from Brazil...🤝🇧🇷

[@stuartwrigglesworth9339]

Very helpful thanks for that. I must be mad but just staring in voice over .After being on the road for 27 years. Must be mad . Tack care.

[@bossladyivyoz9224]

You make it look so easy

[@imnotgonnasay3612]

Oh my gosh, I like you and your videos so much! Thank you for helping me choose a Lewitt recently (used your code/affiliate thingy). It's arriving on Monday...EEEEEEEEEE! It sounded like Pac-Man when you were in speed mode.

[@ahmedbatis2483]

You are really my hero! I really like your tips, what brings me here to your channel is a question in my head weather I can use Zoom in anyway for my recording suessions.. Here I am, a big fan! Thank you so much

[@marizzofagela2256]

Great video Mr. Delgaudio, thanks a lot!

[@craiglee7993]

Drum's okay i see Mike as a drummer a Bass maybe? I knew his coolness was real.Great Video thank's so much.

[@stephenhellinger8394]

Nice presentation and good sounding voiceovers

[@nickflesher7608]

For anyone wondering where audioblocks went it is now called storyblocks!

[@TheDevilings]

Your voice sounds great but it’s shuper shibbolint , try a quality de-Esser or a different mic setting, the cheap de-Essers don’t work right at all SPL is the best I’ve tried btw, thanks for tips!

[@C_T333]

Thank you for uploading this!! This is fantastic.

[@shawnetlinger2676]

wow, you sound great!!!

[@carollucialopez9952]

Hi Mike - your videos are awesome, thank you!

[@DJNitreBlue]

Excellent video. Quite a lot of information for those looking to start out. Any chance on doing one that covers how to eliminate lip and gum smacking? I've tried so many things but it always comes back and it stands out like gunshots on narrative recording. Maddening! Any chance on some info on that subject?

[@EdgarHammer847]

@DJ NitreBlue Did you ever find a solution?

[@JoryStultz1234]

Drinking water and staying hydrated will help get rid of sticky mouth sounds. Always bring water into the studio!!!!

[@bigdoghat3827]

I work in audiobooks - some tips I've picked up from various people in the business along the way and from working as an editor. Don't drink coffee either before working or during. It really dries up the mouth and creates lots of clicks. Eating bites of green apple every now and then is hands-down the best way to control mouth clicks. Apple juice works also but not as well as a fresh green apple. Water helps with clicks but not as good as eating bites of apple. But you should drink water also to keep vocal cords hydrated. And read this, scroll down to question 3 "What do you need in the studio to function" www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20070101/404-scott-brick-narrator-of-the-year.html I've edited Scott Brick three or four times and he is always pretty much click-free so I reckon his tips for mouth noise are top notch and work

[@JoryStultz1234]

@@bigdoghat3827 Great info thank you!!

[@PatriciaAndreaFL]

Thank you for your amazing videos!!! Would you be willing to re-make this or update it with your new knowledge and how you would now make this different than 7 years ago?

[@w2aiq]

also epidemicsound.com is like the same thing but free!

[@craiglee7993]

If any of these setting's Mike is using in the Master Edit are confusing go to his Video on Reaper presets.

[@smoothwill]

Knowing this you must have been in this field

[@vintageMIDI]

Thank you.

[@annafreeman1923]

Any information might help me to have a job. in audio work.

[@DJSNT]

The only gripe I have is that it seems the Attack and Decay of the Compressor seems to be a bit sharp which does distract a bit from the voice over itself. I understand this is just an example, but something that if I were a Voice Over artist, I would address to had some fluidity between the transitions. I've always wanted to take a crack at Voice Over, but a l lot like the old saying of "I have the face for Radio", I personally have the Voice for a Silent Movie. lol

[@vikingguitar]

Very much this. The sidechain is a little severe.

[@MackenzieOliver]

This is very helpful, thank you so much!

[@knightoflostlight6550]

Good work, boss

[@Killwillc]

I was just wondering, where can you find mockup scripts to read for these demo reels? Can you just use existing ones I'm guessing?

[@hopejay8809]

Will Champlin, great question! You can write your own or even modify an existing on that makes sense with your sound.

[@Jakobguldager70]

Would you normalize items before you start editing and adding gate, eq, comp etc.? I find that if I normalize later, the stuff I added in terms of gate and comp will just have to be redone

[@asianguy6174]

Normalizing doesn’t make your track nice and loud, it prevents the volume from exceeding a certain level. You might still have volume that is too low.

[@goldivox]

The opening "spot" - Mitsubishi ELECTRIC is missing its first C - I'd clean that up - otherwise nice work - btw, you do have a pleasant timbre to your voice, a rare commodity these days.

[@harborcree]

Don LaBlanc no it's not. try listening to it when youre not drunk

[@CommonCommenter]

This video made me want Reaper so bad.!

[@inglesconalan5360]

Very interesting and informative, thanks for posting

[@LuchoH838]

TheMontageKing voice ...amazing

[@danbolivar3564]

And the can of worms has now been opened! Great video Mike!

[@BoothJunkie]

Yeah, everyone will miss 0:22 -- Pro demos are important! but until you have that spare grand you gotta make your own!

[@danbolivar3564]

In spite of your wise disclaimer... The general consensus is "never"... we aren't worthy of doing our own demos... LOL You haven't heard? It's like brain surgery... irreversible! The humanity! Cheers Mike!

[@GamerX1210]

Just the video i needed.

[@Podcastforthewin]

Is it like audio ducking for radio broadcasting?

[@RobertVernonAustralia]

great stuff mike

[@stephenroe4312]

My VO coach and many others always say to train and wait before producing a professional demo, and to let the pros do it. However, I'm 4 months into training and am comfortable with editing. Why not just go for it just have one? Like you said, we need a demo to earn enough money to have a real demo.

[@scoremoore4280]

thank you're amazing everyone is telling me about the money it cost not how to do it for free.

[@dieselyeti]

Great explainer Mike. Where would I go for a compete tutorial on how to use Audioblocks?

[@vvickyvoiceover8604]

super.... as always.... thanks...

[@seanyboyoc]

Great video again Mike. So, I saw another video advising to use the side-chain compression, but the auditions' I do (haven't landed a job yet, but been shortlisted several times, so I am thinking it's more technical and not my voice Lol)are vocal track only. So do I not need to use side-chain if it's music-free? Thanks again.

[@jesusisaliveannie3594]

Nice!

[@tanyas.3812]

Your awesome!!! I was wondering how to do this.........

[@ronaldobotelho2284]

Muito bom mesmo!

[@KingBorium]

Hey Booth Junky! I record my videos with a Shure SM7B and a Focusrite Scarlet Solo. And my voice doesn't sound crispy like yours. How can I make my voice sound more like yours?

[@craiglee7993]

Great video i bought you more coffee bro get jacked on me.People go buy Mike coffee he gives us so much for free and most VA not near Mike's talent charge for this. Thanks again Mike.

[@wooptydew]

Thank you soooo much for this! I produced 2 commercials today (on audacity) using the "auto-duck" plug-in, which is essentially the same thing as the side chain you used, but the audio I got from the daw wasn't the same I got on the .mp3 playback. Is it just me? Or how do you fix that?

[@Ptpop]

Excellent video. Thanks for posting. I am new to voiceover work and was wondering how to decrease the volume of the music without having to tediously edit it.

[@martinkulik9466]

can u do this in garageband

[@tedhuggins764]

If I’m making my own demo reel for commercials, where would I find some commercial copies to read from and use for my demo reel?

[@alexharalson865]

Voices.com has a whole section of available demo scripts.

[@willmcconnellsimpson1411]

Alex Haralson THANK YOU! 🙏