Transcript
Anne Ganguzza
(00:01.171)
Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss podcast. I'm your host, Anne
Ganguzza, and I am so excited to bring back once again, very
special guest, audio engineer, musician, and all around amazing
tech person, Gillian Pelkonen. Hey, Gillian.
Gillian
(00:18.462)
Hi, so good to be back talking to you and the bosses.
Anne Ganguzza
(00:24.311)
Yes, I love talking to you because, wait, hang on a second here. I
know it's corny, but here. Is this thing on?
Gillian
(00:33.543)
Oh, it's on. Let me tell you, it is on.
Anne Ganguzza
(00:39.433)
How do I sound?
Gillian
(00:41.738)
Honestly, I'm not even saying this because we're on. I think that
you sound great and this podcast sounds so great and your audio
editor who is listening to this now, you don't need me to tell you,
but you're doing a good job. I really like how it sounds because I
listen to a lot of stuff and I'm very critical. I'm always like,
oh, I don't really like that. But I really like the way VioBoss
sounds.
Anne Ganguzza
(00:45.727)
Ha ha ha!
Anne Ganguzza
(00:54.953)
Aww.
Anne Ganguzza
(01:01.676)
Well, I would imagine an audio engineer listening to a podcast. I
mean, that's what you do. So I think there's so many contributing
factors to what really produces great sound. And I know that we've
talked about studios in the past and things that we can do to
create great sound. But we haven't really concentrated
on
Gillian
(01:09.523)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(01:20.43)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(01:25.707)
this guy right here because first of all we were always maintaining
that you didn't have to have a great mic to sound great. However, I
think that it would be really a good topic. Yes, there you go. I
think it would be a good time to talk about
microphones.
Gillian
(01:27.17)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(01:33.697)
Mm-hmm. Expensive. Expensive is...
Gillian
(01:41.694)
It's not really, there's, yeah. Yeah, no, I totally agree. And I
always say that great mics come at many different price points and
people think, oh, a great mic is the $1,000 mic, is the $1,500 mic,
even like the $800 mic. And that's not.
always, you know, it's not always true and there is a lot that goes
into microphones and I am learning more and more all the time.
Realistically, the price point has a lot to do with like how it's
made, where it's made, but if you break down what's inside the mic,
which I don't know if any like, I don't even know if audio
engineers care about this, but like there's the capsules and the
transformers and all of those things that are in the mic that are
what produce the sound quality that either makes it more expensive
or less expensive or sometimes
Anne Ganguzza
(02:03.241)
Mm.
Gillian
(02:29.928)
expensive mic has the same inside design as a more expensive one,
but it's just like a brand thing or that might not be 100% correct,
but it is true that people will take the shell of one type of mic
and they can make the insides and kind of scope it out to be
similar electronics to a more expensive mic. So I don't know, it's
not all about the price point, it's all about what you what you
think.
Anne Ganguzza
(02:35.079)
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(02:54.087)
So do I dare ask, have you gone inside the capsule? I mean, have
you taken, I mean, is that what you do? Do you go into microphones
sometimes to check them out, repair them, just be geekily
interested?
Gillian
(03:08.154)
Sometimes you have to fix... I haven't opened up microphones. I
mean a lot of the times like if you're looking at... well you have
a you have like a pop filter windscreen on yours because I know you
use a 416 and I use a KMS 105
Anne Ganguzza
(03:22.022)
Mm-mm.
I do.
Gillian
(03:28.83)
which is just my talking mic. I like to use it for vocals. It's one
of the only mics I own because I work at so many studios. I can
just basically use whatever mics are there. But this one I love for
singing, for talking. It's a really good live mic. But it has like
an... I wish I could like take it off without disrupting the audio,
but I can't. It has like an outer windscreen, like a metal
windscreen that a lot of mics have. And if you look, you can
actually see the capsule in there.
Gillian
(03:58.784)
looking at capsules is if you shine a flashlight in you can like
really see it. But no, to answer your question in a long-winded
way, I haven't taken apart a mic yet. I have been doing a lot of
looking at the inside of like outboard gear, like pre-amplifiers
and stuff like that, but microphones are on the list for me to look
at.
Anne Ganguzza
(04:18.235)
Well, so because you use so many different types of microphones, I
think, in your everyday job being an audio engineer, you're not
just working with voiceover artists. You're working with musicians.
I'd love to like, can you break it down for the bosses? Like, let's
make it easy. Like, what are the different types of microphones?
Like, would...
Gillian
(04:26.274)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(04:32.718)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(04:40.398)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(04:43.908)
a voiceover artist from what I understand that we're not gonna be
using the same mics as a musician necessarily. So let's talk about
those types of mics, differences in microphones, like from a very
bass level.
Gillian
(04:48.407)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(04:57.09)
Yes, there are basically three different types of microphones and
the types are determined a lot by how they work but a lot of what
is going on inside of them. So there's dynamic microphones which
are never really used for voice, they're used for other things. And
then there's condenser mics which are used by voice actors and used
a lot for voice and for detailed things. And then there are ribbon
mics which are not usually used for speaking voice. So basically as
a voice actor all you need to worry about are condenser
mics.
microphones, but there are other types of microphones that work for
other things that you want to be recording. I could go into more
detail about them, but I don't know how necessary it is for voice
actors. They always say dynamic mics are durable. That's like, I
mean, you use certain ones for voice, like a SM57 or SM58, which is
like a
Anne Ganguzza
(05:43.945)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(05:50.046)
you go to a house party or you go to like a live event, someone's
going to be using one of those microphones, the joke is like
they're $99 and you can throw them off a building and they'll still
work. Like they are so durable. They're, they're so, I don't know.
It's
Anne Ganguzza
(05:50.047)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(05:56.952)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(06:01.801)
Ha ha!
Gillian
(06:05.786)
I think I don't know how to break one without like submerging it in
water. And condenser mics are known for being sensitive, which is
why we want to use them with our voice because there's so many
intricacies in your voice and in your performance that need to be
picked up. And ribbon mics, they're ribbons because they have a
little metal ribbon on the inside and it's part of how it works.
And those are more sensitive mics and use those a lot either on
like, I mean, I know we use them a lot for like guitar amps or like
horn instruments because you can be really
Anne Ganguzza
(06:15.071)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(06:35.76)
loud and it like smooths out the signal from my understanding of
how I use them and what I know about them.
Anne Ganguzza
(06:41.199)
Ah, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And so a voice artist wants to use the
condenser mic. And so for our podcast, OK, so I will say in my
studio here, I've got a couple of different mics. Now before I
purchased my 416, I had a TLM 103, which I also have here in the
studio, which I like.
Gillian
(06:48.706)
condenser microphone. Yeah, TLDR, condenser mic.
Gillian
(07:03.83)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(07:08.579)
But even before that, I had a Rode NT1 mic. And of course, I went
through, I think, the gamut of price ranges. And I think when I
started, I mean, goodness, I just admitted the other day on a
podcast that when I was streaming live from my living room, my
first VO peeps meetups, I used a USB mic that was the Blue
Snowball. And from there, I went to a Rode NT. And then I went to
an AT2020 too, which I think was...
Gillian
(07:16.834)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(07:27.618)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(07:37.127)
you know, in terms of expensiveness was not that expensive, but I
thought it was a decent mic. And I think at that point, you know,
what would you say in terms of the different types of mics? Cause
like my TLM 103 was over a thousand dollars, you know, compared to
my AT2020, which is like right now, I think you can buy one for
$99. What would you say is the biggest difference between those two
mics?
Gillian
(07:40.61)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(07:51.255)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(07:57.659)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(08:06.047)
I mean, without knowing a ton about what goes into either of them,
I do kind of, like I said before, I think the price difference does
come from parts. And so...
Anne Ganguzza
(08:10.419)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(08:17.503)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(08:18.162)
I would assume the capsule inside of a Tlm 103 is more expensive
than the other one, the electronics. Really upgrading, when we talk
about upgrading mics, it does come with a price, but if you think
about what the mic is, it's the capsule, everything inside, the
electronics working together, higher quality materials will produce
a higher quality signal that's recorded into your computer. So, can
you get a lower priced mic that sounds good? Yes.
Anne Ganguzza
(08:32.838)
Mm-hmm
Gillian
(08:47.956)
of we're degrading the audio quality and listening to it through a
phone speaker or out of computer speakers. So having really a
really good signal to start with is great but sometimes it's not,
basically you can get a signal that sounds good enough to sound
professional at those lower price points but I do think it all
comes down to.
Anne Ganguzza
(08:53.927)
Mm.
Anne Ganguzza
(09:04.255)
Basically you can get a signal that sounds good enough to sound
rational.
Gillian
(09:10.786)
price of materials and sometimes like prestige of brand, at least a
little bit, because there are a lot of brands that I know like Warm
Audio, Flea Audio, they make remakes of vintage mics, but also they
make like remakes of like a U87, which U87s are still sold, which
basically all of the remakes is kind of what I was talking about
earlier, similar parts to get a similar sound without the brand
price point.
Anne Ganguzza
(09:14.343)
like the Steve Huff brand. Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(09:26.727)
Remakes of like a U87, which is still sold. Which basically all of
the remakes is kind of what I was talking about
earlier.
Anne Ganguzza
(09:40.211)
So it's not necessarily, and I know we've talked about this before,
so it's not necessary for a voice artist to get good sound by
paying more for a microphone.
Gillian
(09:50.478)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it's like anything when you're starting out in a business.
Like I keep talking about my tech work because it's on my mind.
I've been doing it all week. I just bought a soldering iron and I
bought a $40 soldering iron and the guy I'm working with has a $200
one, but I don't know how much I'm going to be doing it. I'm just
dipping my toes in. I don't have a big budget for something that's
not paying me back yet. And so it's kind of like this is my intro
thing and it works. We're doing the same work. It works. One day
would I want the more expensive one? Maybe. Just to have a higher
quality.
Anne Ganguzza
(10:10.459)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(10:21.807)
Yeah.
Gillian
(10:23.013)
But you know when you're especially for people who are starting you
got to have something to work up to and something to you know get
started with because who is starting a voiceover and has a couple
thousand dollars to drop on microphones I don't know
anybody
Anne Ganguzza
(10:30.843)
Sure.
Anne Ganguzza
(10:38.735)
Yeah, that's rare. That's rare. And I do know that it took me, oh
gosh, at least 10 years to get my TLM 103, because my Rode NT1,
which was a few hundred dollars, did a great job for me for many
years, at least six years, in the voiceover industry. And I finally
decided, well, you know what? I mean, people talk about the TLM
103, and I
Gillian
(10:47.464)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(10:57.774)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(11:05.763)
I actually went for that one before I bought my 416, and then I
decided that after I got my TLM 103 and I moved to a new studio, I
would entertain the 416 because I was also thinking about my 416
for a travel mic. And so I think in terms of microphones, and you
were talking about sensitivity before, I know that, you
know,
Gillian
(11:09.806)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(11:23.445)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(11:29.367)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(11:31.803)
I have, you know, sitting outside of the studio, I have a Shure
SM7B, which I use because I'm not in my studio, but it's a lot of
podcasts, you know, use that mic, podcast hosts use that mic,
because it doesn't pick up a lot of external noise and it sounds
good kind of no matter what environment you're in. However, the
higher the mic price, the higher the sensitivity, it seems. My TLM
103 picks up like, you know, a fly.
Gillian
(11:36.526)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(11:56.162)
Mmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(12:00.463)
you know, or a breath, like super easily. And my 416 does as well,
but I have to be in a particular location, right? It picks up more
in the front of the mic versus the TLM 103, which picks up all the
way around. So I guess maybe it has to do with, you know, it's
something, it's called the cardioid pattern, is that
correct?
Gillian
(12:01.098)
Yeah.
Gillian
(12:11.104)
Yeah.
Gillian
(12:22.522)
I know, yeah, yes, we're talking about polar patterns. It's so
interesting, I hear you talking and I'm like, I know exactly why
you think these things. Because it is interesting, the SM7B is a
dynamic microphone actually, but it has a cardioid polar pattern
and we use those all the time. I personally don't like the way my
voice sounds on it for singing purposes, but a ton of people love
it. It's a great studio microphone just in the music recording
environment. If you wanna be in the control room,
Anne Ganguzza
(12:24.819)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(12:36.638)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(12:50.291)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(12:52.336)
singing with stuff playing back on the speakers. It's a great mic
because it's dynamic and because of the pickup pattern, because it
doesn't feedback the way if you use the TLM 103 with speakers, just
the pickup pattern, it would feedback. Anyway, am I losing
everybody? I'm sorry. I'm just nerding out. Basically, what we're
talking about is TLM 103. It's actually a large...
Anne Ganguzza
(12:54.778)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(13:02.419)
Right.
Gillian
(13:17.154)
I'm pretty sure it's a medium or large diaphragm condenser mic. And
so the polar pattern is more wide and the capsule is bigger, so
it's more precise and it picks up more sound. The issue that I
personally have with the 416 that we can talk about is not everyone
has good mic technique with it. And because the pickup pattern of
that mic is so precise, I don't know...
Anne Ganguzza
(13:21.138)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(13:40.999)
Mmm.
Gillian
(13:46.262)
I don't know exactly what the pickup pattern is of it, but it's
definitely cardioid if not like super cardioid, which means the
pickup pattern area is even smaller. I find people love that mic
because they say, oh, I hear a lot of things that like, once I have
this mic, then I'll sound great. And people get a 416, they spend a
lot of money on it, and then they're outside the range of where the
mic picks up. And then it's like, I can't...
Anne Ganguzza
(13:52.703)
Mm-hmm. It's smaller. Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(14:11.282)
hear you, you know? So I don't know, technique is a big part of
sounding good on a mic too. It's not just about the gear, it's
knowing where the mic's picking up and just positioning yourself in
that area so that it gets you the best sound.
Anne Ganguzza
(14:13.444)
Yeah, yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(14:26.803)
That makes so much sense. And I know that one of the reasons why I
love the 416 for travel is because you end up in environments where
it's less than ideal. And so, I mean, you're not like in my studio
here, I've got all my acoustic panels, it's built, it's double
walled. And so I have a really good environment in which I'm
recording. But when I go travel and I'm in a hotel, I don't have
this studio. And so...
Gillian
(14:28.834)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(14:39.587)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(14:49.846)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(14:56.075)
I need something that is not gonna pick up the hum of the air
conditioner or the fan that's in the room. And the 416 I found to
make a huge difference. And yeah, you're so right about
understanding like your mic and how to use it and mic technique
because I have to be in a particular place in order to make my
voice sound good with the 416, close to the proximity.
Gillian
(15:02.058)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(15:23.379)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(15:25.347)
versus my TLM 103 where it's not as critical because, but yeah, I
couldn't take my TLM 103 to a hotel easily and make it sound as
good as I do here in this studio.
Gillian
(15:30.725)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(15:35.038)
It picks up everything.
Gillian
(15:39.614)
Yeah, and something interesting about polar patterns when I first
learned about them, and you can look it up. There's diagrams that
show you basically the shape.
of what they look like. I was always thinking, oh, like the pickup
pattern, I need to be thinking about what it's picking up. But
another big thing about it is thinking about the rejection. Like if
it's picking up in a certain way, it's actually rejecting audio
from other spaces, which makes everything you're talking about
completely true. It's going to reject a lot of the stuff that you
don't want in your recordings, which could be a really helpful
choice when picking a mic. Like what's your environment like? If
you have a noisy studio or if you have a less than ideal situation,
then maybe a
Anne Ganguzza
(15:57.927)
Mmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(16:11.743)
Sure.
Gillian
(16:16.88)
condenser TLM 103 is going to pick up too much unwanted noise. So
there's a lot of things that go into making the decision and just
things to think about to help you find the best mic for your voice
and your situation, I think.
Anne Ganguzza
(16:21.467)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(16:31.935)
What would be your recommendations for people starting out? I mean,
is there a particular mic that you think would be great, or is
there a particular, I guess, methodology in terms of picking out a
good mic for your voice? Like, what would you recommend? I mean,
there's so many people that post on the forums, and they're like,
what should I buy? Like, how do you attack that in terms of
selecting a mic for your voice?
Gillian
(16:51.63)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(16:57.326)
Um, well, I think my situation is different than most because I
work at a bunch of recording studios so I, um...
When I was picking my favorite mics for my voice, I did what is
called a shootout, where you just line up a whole bunch of mics and
you record yourself on all of them and then you see which one
sounds the best to you. I know you have a bunch of recommendations
on your site and on my site I do as well, but I guess without
getting into specific, like you should get this mic, you should get
that mic. There are a few places I actually, this past weekend I
went into New York City, if anyone
Anne Ganguzza
(17:12.295)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(17:22.975)
Mm-hmm. I do.
Gillian
(17:36.016)
area, B&H, photo, video, whatever, that technology store has a
room and you can go in and there's a technician that sits with you
and you can try out all of the microphones. So really like my
advice would be to have a chance. I know at music stores too you
also have that. If you go to like Sam Ash or Guitar Center, you can
totally go and try a few microphones before you buy them and all
the ones that we're talking about, the 416, the TLM
103,
Anne Ganguzza
(17:39.076)
Oh yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(17:47.843)
Oh, that's wonderful.
Anne Ganguzza
(17:53.986)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(18:03.414)
the SM7B, those are all there, because those are very popular
microphones. So if you have a chance to try them, great. If you
have a friend that has one that you could try it. But also, if you
can't do a shootout in person, there's a lot of resources on
YouTube of people.
Anne Ganguzza
(18:05.907)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(18:12.616)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(18:18.626)
testing out different microphones. Sweetwater is one of my favorite
resources. They give you so much information and they do recorded
mic shootouts so you can hear what they sound like on a voice or on
the same voice and maybe just determine what you think sounds good
for yourself. And then also be aware of your price range. Sorry,
I'm just giving like a bullet point list of advice and maybe look
into a company like Warm Audio that has a remake of the
U87
Anne Ganguzza
(18:22.431)
Mm-hmm. Water is one of my favorite resources. Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(18:42.64)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(18:48.64)
for most people's voices but is cheaper than a real U87 to get a
similar sound without paying the full price. That'd be my advice to
do a combo of all those things.
Anne Ganguzza
(18:53.053)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(18:59.116)
And also I know that certain companies like Sweetwater, you can buy
and they have a great return policy. So it's kind of like try
before you buy or, you know, and I think it's just wise for anyone
who's trying out a mic. I mean, don't, I wouldn't go on blanket
advice from anyone really. I think you still have to, you have to
get that mic and it has to be in your environment. I
remember
Gillian
(19:04.246)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(19:15.92)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(19:23.847)
Gosh, a long time ago I went into a studio and I loved the way I
sounded on this particular mic and I went and I bought it
immediately. And when I put it in my studio, it did not sound the
same. And of course that makes a lot of sense because the studio I
was in versus the studio that I had at home were completely
different. I mean, number one, the studio I was in was a huge
studio, had different acoustics than what I had in my room and I
just didn't like it as much and I ended up returning
it.
Gillian
(19:47.182)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(19:52.871)
And so I feel like, yes, I have lots of recommendations of like,
here, I think this would sound good. But I think you should always
try first and put it in your environment and see if you like it.
And then always have that option to return it.
Gillian
(19:59.426)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(20:09.842)
Yeah, I think that's a great point. And Sweetwater too, they have
representatives that you can talk to and get on with them and be
like, this is my situation. This is my pre-empt that I have. This
is what I'm using my mic for. This is what my... and they can give
you recommendations as well. And I don't... I've never returned
with them, but I do know they have a good return policy. And also,
I mean, we've said this in previous episodes, like
people...
Anne Ganguzza
(20:19.827)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(20:32.066)
glamorize the microphone, but really, first off, no one ever asks
you what microphone you're using. And as an audio engineer, I don't
care what microphone you're using, as long as you sound good. If
you sound good, I don't care, I'm happy. And there's so many other
things within the chain that we've talked about, the computer, the
preamp, all of those things that contribute to how high or low
quality your final sound is.
Anne Ganguzza
(20:34.879)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(20:39.647)
Hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(20:55.139)
Mm-hmm. I do know that there are some studios or some clients that
do request a particular mic, but I have a feeling it's if you're
trying. Yeah.
Gillian
(21:04.215)
Really?
Anne Ganguzza
(21:08.687)
I think what they're trying to do is they're either matching or
trying to match like a sound from the mic from before, but it's
very rare. It's not, I don't think it's typical. As a matter of
fact, in most of the work that I do, nobody ever said to me, you
need to have this type of microphone. It's in very rare instances
where they say, and maybe in promo or something like that, you need
to have a 416 or... But I also feel like...
Gillian
(21:13.029)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(21:18.143)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(21:26.743)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(21:34.239)
Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(21:37.743)
I could be just saying that. I know I've read that, that it's very
infrequent, but it does happen. But for the most part, I've never
been requested to have a particular type of mic. As a matter of
fact, nobody's ever asked. And so I've just only heard if my mic,
or if I didn't sound good, and that had a lot of different factors
to it. Wasn't just the microphone that was at play
there.
Gillian
(21:51.212)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(22:00.366)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I agree. Facts.
Anne Ganguzza
(22:06.455)
So any other good tips that you have in terms of, I guess,
purchasing a mic or for a person just starting out? I mean, in
terms of price point, do you think, like, I mean, if a microphone
costs $79, do you, you know, is that something that you think is a
good price point to start with or is it, you know, what are your
thoughts?
Gillian
(22:30.618)
Yeah, I guess that's a good question. I never think about it like
that, but I think um
Obviously if you can avoid a USB microphone, I would just because I
think we might have talked about this previously or I just talk
about All the time basically with a USB microphone. You're paying
the price which is usually lower than most for all of the you know
a to D conversion Your microphone your preamp all of that in one
and then the power source is Coming fully just from like that USB a
so everything within that mic is usually lower quality
Anne Ganguzza
(22:43.067)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:04.275)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(23:07.888)
afford to have a preamp and mic even if they're not very expensive.
And in my head, not very expensive is like $200. I would say like
$200 microphone, $150 microphone, even some that are like $100 and
then preamps same sit at like $100, $115, $200. Then that's what I
consider inexpensive. And then anything in like the $250 range is
like mid.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:17.467)
Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:22.925)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:28.818)
Yeah.
Gillian
(23:37.948)
like 300, 400, 500, I would say that's like higher than all of the
like super pro super expensive stuff is usually closer to a
thousand dollars. So that's what in my brain what the range
is.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:40.871)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:45.81)
Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(23:50.791)
Well, I know that when I'm recommending to a student, and I have a
studio gear page, and I know you do too, and it really depends on
their budget, number one. I think if they aren't sure that this is
a career for them or
Gillian
(23:59.81)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(24:08.499)
They may not get into it more than a few hours a week, or they're
just not sure about it. I say don't invest a ton of money right
away. I mean, you can get some really reasonable equipment. And I'm
not talking USB. I would never recommend a USB as a mic for you to
use for creating audio for your client. It's good for webinars.
It's good for maybe some quick.
Gillian
(24:17.966)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(24:24.366)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(24:31.979)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(24:36.174)
here.
Anne Ganguzza
(24:37.603)
Auditions, even then I say, oh, try not to because you want to put
your best foot forward. So, I mean, but there's some really
inexpensive mics that I think sound great as long as you've got a
good environment. And audio interfaces, like I would recommend, the
AT2020 mic I think is a great mic. The Rode NT1 mic is great. It's
not more than a few hundred dollars. And audio interface, we've
talked about this before. I love the Steinberg.
Gillian
(24:44.93)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(24:56.412)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(25:04.392)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(25:05.351)
and I think the Steinberg is a great interface and it's $169. So
you're not talking about a large investment and it's something that
you can probably resell easily if you decide you don't wanna get
into the voiceover. Yeah, absolutely.
Gillian
(25:09.667)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(25:15.718)
And reuse. I mean, everybody is online now. Zoom meetings, it's
just.
so much better to have some sort of microphone. And I have, there's
one USB mic that I've heard that is actually like, I've been like,
oh, what mic is that? Thinking it was, you know, an interface and
it was just like a gaming mic, but that was like a $200 USB
microphone. So even like, when I was talking about USB microphones,
I'm talking about like the $50 ones, the $20 ones that you see on
Amazon that it's like, oh, just get this and you'll have a
microphone. That's not
Anne Ganguzza
(25:23.321)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(25:33.299)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(25:36.883)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Anne Ganguzza
(25:45.631)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(25:49.905)
Yeah.
Gillian
(25:51.724)
enough quality for professional voiceover, I don't
think.
Anne Ganguzza
(25:56.111)
Agreed, agreed. And I think, you know, going along with, if
somebody doesn't have a huge budget and they're just getting into
the voiceover industry, I think you have to pay equal attention to
your microphone as well as the space that you are recording in
because you want that sound, right, that potential audition or that
sound to be decent.
Gillian
(26:13.486)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(26:21.291)
Mm-hmm.
Anne Ganguzza
(26:21.979)
You know, and to really, again, first impressions are everything.
And so I think it's a combination of, you know, a decent mic with a
place that's not gonna be, you know, having a ton of echo or, you
know, I mean, that's probably the first thing that we do as casting
directors is when we get an audition is throw away somebody that
has poor quality audio. And the mic is a part of it, you know, the
mic is a part of it, so.
Gillian
(26:27.722)
Mm-hmm.
Gillian
(26:45.571)
I agree, 100%.
Anne Ganguzza
(26:51.131)
Absolutely. Well, we could probably talk all day about microphones,
but I think this is a great primer on microphones for those bosses
that are just starting out. I mean, absolutely. I think, you know,
Gillian, I'm sure if you had any other recommendations, can people
go to your Studio Gear page? I know VIA Boss has Studio Gear as
well. Mm hmm. For for recommendations.
Gillian
(26:58.315)
Yeah.
Gillian
(27:14.558)
Yeah, yeah, it's gear recommendations. So you can check it out. And
I will say outside of.
gear issues and mic issues. My next biggest gripe, which we can do
an episode on with voiceover audio that I am like, I wish this was
different, is over or incorrect processing. So that's really that
starts to be almost worse. So we will leave it there. But just so
you know what's in the near future for you guys, I know we're going
to have much, much more to talk about.
Anne Ganguzza
(27:36.424)
Ah yes, agreed.
Anne Ganguzza
(27:47.145)
Well, thank you so much. Yes. Thank you so much, Gillian, for those
words of wisdom. Absolutely. Bosses, take a moment and imagine a
world full of passionate, empowered, diverse individuals giving
collectively and intentionally to create the world they want to
see. You can make a difference. Visit 100VoicesWhoCare.org to learn
more.
Gillian
(27:49.467)
Oh, thank you for having me.
Anne Ganguzza
(28:10.111)
And I'm going to give a great big shout out to our sponsor, IPDTL.
You too can network and connect like bosses. Find out more at
IPDTL.com. You guys have an amazing week and we will see you next
week. Thank you. Bye.