Amateur Voice Acting Mistakes & How to Remedy Them

Mistakes are a natural part of the learning process, particularly in the early stages. Committing at least one beginner voice over blunder is practically a tradition in our field. However, what distinguishes accomplished voice actors is their capacity to acknowledge these missteps and confront them directly. Let's take a look at the most common amateur voice acting mistakes and how to remedy them. Mistake 1 - Using Inferior-quality Equipment In the early stages of your journey, it may seem appealing to choose the most budget-friendly equipment as you explore the possibility of pursuing a career in voice acting. However, opting for cheaper options often leads to disappointment, particularly in the realm of professional voice recording, where quality matters, especially with your microphone.

While investing in the priciest microphone available might not be the wisest move either, it's essential to strike a balance. To avoid costly mistakes when setting up your home studio for voice acting work, it's advisable to conduct thorough research and test out various options before making a commitment. Ultimately, the key lies in understanding your specific needs, distinguishing must-have features from nice-to-have features, and finding equipment that aligns with your budget.

Mistake 2 - Mouth Noises in Your Recordings Mouth noises, such as pops, clicks, and smacks, can often disrupt voice over recordings, especially for beginners. These sounds are generated by the interplay of the tongue, teeth, and saliva during speech. While they may go unnoticed in casual conversation, they become prominent in voice over work, emphasizing the importance of prevention.

Dehydration lies at the core of these unwanted mouth noises. Thus, maintaining proper hydration is paramount. However, it's crucial to avoid excessive water intake immediately before recording, as it can exacerbate the issue. Instead, aim to stay consistently hydrated throughout the day, consuming a minimum of eight glasses or 64 ounces of water, adjusting based on your individual needs dictated by factors such as activity level and environment.

During prolonged performances, these sticky mouth noises may resurface. In such instances, remember to take periodic small sips and prioritize hydration to mitigate clicks and pops, ensuring a smoother recording experience. While some of these sounds that sneak through can be lessened or removed by plugins within your audio recording software, the best remedy is preventing them in the first place. Mistake 3 - Relying On Editing to Fix Room Echo & Room Noise When editing and processing audio files, it's crucial to remember that moderation is key. Excessive noise reduction, while aiming to fix sound issues, can often worsen the overall audio quality compared to preserving the original recording. Overuse of noise reduction may lead to an undesirable 'hollow' and 'echoey' sound, a common error made by novice voice acting artists that is easily noticeable by clients.

To address unwanted background noises such as echoes, low humming, or other ambient room noise, it's essential to tackle the problem at its source. Start by identifying an optimal recording space in your home, away from distractions and everyday noises. Areas like closets, offices, or bedrooms can serve this purpose well. Once you've chosen your recording spot, take steps to improve its acoustics. Utilize readily available items like heavy blankets, comforters, moving blankets, or rugs to dampen reverb by draping them around your recording area.

After treating your recording space, perform a 'clap test' to evaluate your progress. Stand in the middle of the room and clap once. If you hear any echoes or unwanted sounds, it indicates that further adjustments are necessary.

By eliminating background noise at its source, you'll significantly reduce the need for extensive editing or processing. This leaves you with more time to focus on more important things to enhance and promote your voice acting endeavors. For more details to help with the topics discussed here, please see my article entitled Creating a Home Studio for Voice Recording. Mistake 4 - Making a Poor Quality Demo Your demo serves as your voice acting resume, essentially your calling card. Neglecting to showcase your best work in your demos inevitably results in missed opportunities.

An effective voice acting demo not only boasts clean and polished audio, but also immediately captivates listeners, demonstrating your vocal prowess. Collaborating with a seasoned voice acting coach like myself is invaluable in preparing for your demo recording, ensuring you cover all the essential elements. My assistance can serve as invaluable resources for voice actors at any stage, helping to unlock new skills, pinpoint areas for improvement, and rectify common amateur mistakes early on. With such guidance, budding voice actors will be equipped to produce compelling demos that stand out. And don’t rely on just one demo for everything. Clients are busy people and don’t always have time to listen through an entire demo reel to hear every vocal quality and role you are able to perform. Instead, split your demos by themes or skill sets such as online videos, eLearning, announcer, narration, cartoon, etc. This way you have access to whatever type of demo you need for a particular job opportunity, or can list them on your website, which offers potential clients the ability to listen to what they are interested in.

Mistake 5 - Having the Audio Volume Too Low or Weak The mistake that many amateur voice actors make regarding low or weak volume can affect their career by losing opportunities to other voice actors that have their demos dialed in properly.

In the voice acting audition game loudness is many times equated with better audio quality to many of the people listening to the auditions. By raising the overall loudness (without creating any distortion or clipping of course) you can better compete with seasoned voice actors.

The fact is that it's possible that your voice acting skills are talented enough to get you work, but a volume problem can completely overshadow that and make you seem unqualified. If you are not sure, it is a great idea to find an audio engineer, especially someone experienced in the voice acting industry, to give a listen to your demos and make, or suggest, any corrective action to make your demos sound as powerful as possible. Mistake 6 - Awkward or Inauthentic-sounding Reads Voice acting requires more than just innate talent. While having a naturally pleasing voice is beneficial, without precise and proper delivery, securing voice acting roles becomes challenging. The encouraging aspect is that raw talent can be refined with the guidance of a voice acting coach and daily dedicated practice.

The conversational style is frequently requested yet challenging to master in voice acting work. To become more at ease with your voice, try reading books, passages, or recipes aloud, imagining you're sharing them with others, or even read aloud to an audience if you're bold enough! With consistent practice, you'll develop a natural flow and gain insight into delivering a conversational read.

For character work, or mastering new roles and vocal styles, exposure and repetition are key. While listening to the radio in your car, attempt to mimic the inflection and pacing of voice actors in commercials, or practice imitating animated voices from Saturday morning cartoons, etc. Once you feel comfortable, add your personal touch to similar scripts, striving to develop your unique sound and approach to voice acting based on this dedication to practice and the inspiration derived from it.

Conclusion In conclusion, voice acting, like any art form, requires dedication, practice, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. By recognizing common amateur voice acting pitfalls and understanding how to address them, aspiring voice actors can elevate their performances to new heights. Remember, every stumble is an opportunity for growth, every critique is a chance for improvement, and every role is a canvas upon which to paint your unique voice. So, embrace the journey, hone your craft, and let your passion shine through in every performance. With perseverance and determination, you'll find yourself not just avoiding mistakes, but mastering the art of voice acting, one character at a time. Keep speaking, keep experimenting, and keep striving for excellence. Your voice is your instrument—tune it, refine it, and let it resonate with the world!

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