MADIVA PODCAST - 401 - Home Recording Setups - Jerry Kokich, Brianne Leeson, Kirsty Woolven, Tanja Milojevic

Hello folks!

YES MADIVA IS BACK and OH MY  is this season jam packed with audio grooviness for you VOICE ACTORS OF AUDIO JOYYY!

This first episode looks at 4 people's HOME RECORDING SETUPS

1) Jerry Kokich - Iphone7 and plug in mic
2) Brianne Leeson - Duvet Fort
3)Kirsty Woolven - OVC Booth
4) Tanja Milojevic - QC Acoustics booth

List of equipment they provided is below - and do check out their shows - they're all awesome folks and I send hearty thanks to them all for coming on and sharing their wares.

THERE is NO EXCUSE not to just get cracking with those auditions folks - you can edit for free on audacity and be up and running with a phone and a $25 mic - GET TO IT - GO GEDDEM! (Tho of course there is nothing wrong with aspiring to have a booth huh>!)

HAPPY VOICE ACTING FOLKS

Sarahx

LINKS TO FOLKS AND THEIR WARES

Jerry Kokich

PHONE AND PLUG IN MIC

iPhone 7

Recorder plus pro app $1.99

Saramonic external microphone $25

Edit on WavePad.

Look out for

Severn Studios works

Jerry Kokich website 

Jerry on Insta

Poet's Passion Series

Brianne Leeson

DUVET FORT

Audio technical AT 2020

Behringer Euphoria HD Interface

Pop filter

Audacity 

2016 MAC Laptop

Look out for:
Todays lucky winner website
Todays Lucky Winner FB Group
Lucky winner show Insta
Lucky Winner on twitter

Kirsty Woolvern

PVC BOOTH

RODE NT1-A XLR  CONDENSER MIC

Scarlett Solo Interface 3rd gen

Headphones

Large Screen

Mic Stand

PVC BOOTH 

-PVC pipes 

-20k curtains - Vocal booth to go

Look out for:

Y2K - Karin Heimdahl

Cyclone - Coming 2021 - Graz Richards

Joon Yoon - Twitter @VoiceMoto - DATABASE OF REC SPACES

Find @KIRSTYWOOLVEN On FB Instagram and Twitter

Tanja Milojevic 

BOOTH

QC ACOUSTICS BOOTHS WEBSITE - QCACOUSTICS.COM $4000

EDIT BY KEYBOARD

AMAZON CHAIR

Bluebird condenser mic $300+

Mic stand $20

Stedman pop filter $40

Universal mic clip $5

Audio YA 87

Sennheiser MKH 416 - directional and rugged dynamic $700 

Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 USB Plug in $80-$120

Sony Headphones in ear

Nuk intel micro computer 32G

USB HUB

Look out for:

Wordtastic
Lightning Bolt Theatr

Chapters

• 1:52 Jerry Kokich - Phone + plugin mic
• 13:23 Brianne Leeson - Duvet Fort
• 23:10 Kirsty Woolven - PVC Booth
• 37:46 Tanja Milojevic - QC Acoustics booth
• 1:02:48 Sarah Setup - DIY Booth

Transcript

MADIVA401_HOMERECSETUPS_FINAL1

<MUSIC>

SARAH INTRO OVER MUSIC

0:06

Hellooooo! Sarah Golding here with a new shiny funkified version of MADIVA PODCAST. Yes, it is extra funky this season, and groovy too, and of course it has some je ne sais quoi for you to enjoy. Welcome to Episode 401 where we look at folks home recording setups from a simple phone and microphone, through duvet forts and PVC booths, to an all singing, all dancing booth of audio joy. Join me…DOOOO

Sarah Golding

0:37

Hello people of this crazy, beautiful, mixed up world -  voice actors, producers, listeners!

Welcome to this quirky voices extravaganza leaping out of your listening device of choice and… well, d’you know I’d be intrigued as to fathom where you are actually listening from =Oh, well, wherever you are do feel free to contact me and let me know what you think of this show on quirkyvoices@gmail.com  - I would LOVE to hear from you. And if you can suggest any future guests, or want to be on this yourself to talk about ANYTHING voice acting hit me up do! So, let's get on with it shall we!?

Yes, here, right now, right on this bat channel, FOUR amazing voice actors in a row all talking to me about what they use to create their audio awesome, how much it costs, and if they love or loathe it. So, we have Brianne Leeson, Kirsty Woolven, and Tanya Milojevic to come, but …first up, is the dulcet toned, versatile Jerry Kokich as we dive into some home setups. How do you prefer yours? Enjoy? 

(SARAH SINGING TO UKE) 

Have you heard of Jerry Kokic? He's fully grown. Yes, he records his audio drama on his phone. I’ll let you judge the… quality… as we sit, and we talk, and he talks to me. 

(SARAH)

Oh, I am VERY excited to welcome to MADIVA season four… the very wonderful and warm and emotional  - no not emotional - Jerry Kokich. Hello!

(JERRY K)

HI Sarah, How are ya? 

(SARAH)

Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Thank you I am full of the zest of human excitement. Just being here. And talking audio drama voice acting stuff is exciting, isn't it to be honest? And so now, you record your audio gold on your phone, don't you? And no real soundproofing, just the comfort of your own room, and maybe some clothes,  and soft furnishings. And… and you have got one of the ways of working that pretty much has no barrier to entry other than being able to buy a phone, which I think is wonderful. 

So first things first, Jerry, d’you want to introduce erm, what you do and how you do it. And any of the shows folks can catch you all right now?

(JERRY K)

 Well right now what I do is…my latest work I did was for Gareth Severn of Severn studios. And it was a Doctor Who fan fiction which, y’know,  it was very close to my heart… called Misshapen Planet, and I got to play a villain – and I'm such a nice person, but I seem to be cast as villains all the time. (DOES LOWER VOICE) And my voice was doing this. I was Bardoch of the Vord wanderers. So you know, I had a lot of fun doing that one, 

(SARAH)

(TYRING LOW VOICE) I don’t think I can go that – that’s the lowest I go… 

(JERRY K)

Well, you know, I actually studied with a guy who does most of the gravelly trailer voice movie trailers that you hear. So you know, I was trained to do ‘in a world of romance and desire’. So, hopefully I'll get some work doing that. 

(SARAH)

Oh, man, you'd better! (Laughs)

(JERRY)

So I've done that. And I've done a lot of fanfiction stuff. I've done a lot for Gareth Severn. I'm doing a Poet's Passion podcast for Rachel Pulliam. 

(SARAH)

Beautiful. Everyone should listen to that, by the way - there's some lovely poems on there by some really quite special people. Super so sounds like you've been very busy. 

(JERRY K)

Yes.

(SARAH)

And long may that continue. 

(JERRY)

And I've been I produce some of my own stuff I actually did last year. I did a Sherlock Holmes short story, the adventure of the blue carbuncle.

(SARAH)

Mmhmmm

(JERRY)

Yeah, I do a little bit of everything. 

(SARAH)

Now I I…just off of mic here. I did hear your English accent – do you want to give us some of your ‘indupitably, sir’. 

(JERRY)

Oh, well. (English accent) Thank you. Well, I did mention that I have English Heritage. My great grandfather was born in Aldershot and…

(SARAH)

Beautiful place! Hellooo Aldershot!

(JERRY)

 Hello Aldershot. Yes, Aldershot football club and all that. Yes, it seems that I do a lot of work with this accent. But I also do you know a little bit of this (COCKNEY) this ‘ere you know, like someone from the East End, and then I also (VERY DEEP RUGGED VOICE) got paid for talking like this. (NORMAL VOICE) And I got paid for talking like that by a British producer who does not know I'm an American. 

(SARAH)

Beautiful - I love that when that happens when people go ‘I'm not quite sure where you're from’… 

(JERRY)

Yes I so complemented by that, you know, because you know, we do everything over the internet and we only do you know I only did my audition in that voice, and then we did everything on email. 

(SARAH)

Amazing

(JERRY)

So yeah, so I’m keeping myself busy. 

(SARAH)

Superb, well, glad to hear it ! And your weapon of choice for sharing your audible vibrations is what? Do you want to tell people. Can you tell us? What is your setup? How do you record? And what your preferences are?

(JERRY)

Well I have, I think, the most…the simplest setup, and let me say first that I am always amazed at people who… do very elaborate work like converting a closet with soundproofing, and a 64 track board, and all more power to them. But I've always tried to simplify things in my life. So I have my iPhone seven plus, and a $25, external mic a Saramonic that I got from Amazon, and I do all my recording in my bedroom, which has fairly soft things around me and I've got the bedspread and curtains and all that stuff. So there's not a lot, not a lot of echo, but my entire recording setup consists of my phone and my mic. So I've spent a total of $25 to set that up. And I've never had any questions about audio quality 

(SARAH)

Superb. And, and what would you say are the pros and the cons of using this setup for you? 

(JERRY)

Well, the only thing that I run into because I live in a very quiet neighbourhood I live in suburban Los Angeles. And my street is not a main traffic artery. So there's not a lot of traffic, but occasionally I deal with …there's an owl somewhere in my neighbourhood, and I'm gonna find him one day, I have him ….or her. Occasionally they'll interrupt recordings. So I don't have complete and total control over outside sounds. But that really only affects me, I'd say about 10% of the time, since we don't have a whole lot of rain out here, the weather doesn't affect it that much. So, the only problem is external sound. Now, if I had a fully soundproof room, I'd still be recording on my phone, because it's so convenient. And I use the recorder plus pro app, which I think cost me a buck 99. ..

(SARAH)

Okay

(JERRY)

…and enables you to record in WAV format, or mp4 and, you know, 44.1 or higher hertz ratings. So, everything I have is very, very simple, which I liked. I actually was able to do two audio books using my setup, which was where, again, I never want to do an audio book ever again.

(SARAH)

LAUGHS

7:18

(JERRY)

Oh, it's just it's so much. I have a friend who makes wonderful money off of audio books, but there's so much work involved. 

(SARAH)

Isn’t there!? I haven't managed one. No, I haven't done one yet. And brilliant that you’ve done them using that setup. And that's fantastic. Because I know ACX has, you know, specific requirements, tech wise and everything. So you've obviously ticked all those boxes. Fantastic. And so you would recommend this kind of thing. If you have no other way of recording, just get to it and spend your $27 eR..what’s  that 20? I don't know. I'm not very good at converting 25 quid?

(JERRY)

 Yeah, actually, I have a friend in New York, TJ Glen, who's also a wonderful actor, and wonderful voiceover actor. And he was having difficulty with his home setup. And I sent him one of these microphones to use on his phone. And he said, You know, we're working on a project together and he sent me some stuff he recorded and it was perfect. It was absolutely perfect. clean sound, no background noise, no hum, no echo. And, you know, a lot of people on Facebook will come out and say, Hi, I'm just new voiceover work. what suggestions do you have for a mic and all this kind of stuff. And I always say if you've got a phone, and this $25 mic and a room that doesn't have a whole lot of hard surfaces, you can do whatever you need to do because I've done two Star Trek tribute videos, audio…well, voiceover work for a producer who is an Oscar and Emmy winner, and he does not know that I only record on my iPhone. And he's never had any complaints. 

(SARAH)

Superb isn't it… brilliant? So there you go folks - it is possible. You know, if you are on a budget and/or you have various other constraints in your world, just jump on your phone and get yourself a mic setup. And we're going to play now for you some of Jerry's work …first a raw file of just the short section that we're going to hear. And then that within the mix of the released product, so we’ll just listen to that now 

(JERRY IN DR WHO, LOW, DEEP RUMBLING DRAMA VOICE RAW PHONE FILE)

You may be supplying what we want, but you shall receive nothing until we have…who we want. You shall bring him to us now.

It was believed that you would want him captured as much as we desire it,

Obey our command, or suffer a needless death.

(JERRY IN ‘THE MISSHAPEN PLANET’ MIX)

You may be supplying what we want, but you shall receive nothing until we have…who we want. You shall bring him to us now.

It was believed that you would want him captured as much as we desire it,

Obey our command, or suffer a needless death.

(SARAH)

So there you go, folks, could you tell that there was any difference there between you know that and somebody who perhaps has had you know, top end whisper booth kind of influence in their, their audio recordings. So, Jerry, can you tell us what that was? And if there's any other things you would like to plug I would love you to tell the world where they can hear you. 

(JERRY)

That was for for Black Glove studios and Gareth Severn, Chris McKeon what wrote it called the misshapen planet, Doctor Who fan fiction. And I played the role of ParDoc, who is one of the Vord wanderers, and he's the villain. And Chris is a wonderful writer. He's a very, very detailed writer in his dialogue and his descriptions, and Gareth is wonderful in his editing. And, you know, I just sent off my my dialogue, you know, the way I usually do send off stuff is I will send off a first what I call a first pass at it. And I'll ask, you know, do you need anything different? And most of the time, I will do one or two takes just not to overload whoever the producer is. 

(SARAH)

Yeah, good plan.

(JERRY)

And … It's very funny. We did most of the recording couple months ago, and then I got an email going, ‘you missed a line’ and I'm like, ‘oops, sorry’. 

(SARAH) 

Yeah, that does happen now and again, doesn't it , and no matter how diligent you are, there's that little one. Maybe it's formatted differently or something. 

(JERRY)

I've done I think four different Doctor Who projects for DWAD.Net, which is Doctor Who audio dramas dotnet. And they're kind of like the number two behind Big Finish. And they've been doing audio dramas since 1982. I think. I did two villains for them again, I'm not such a nice guy. But I got a little email going ‘Okay, you missed one line’. And it wasn't really one line. It was just one word yelling No.

(SARAH)

Noooo

11:53

(JERRY)

 I sent them like two or three takes of ‘No’, but it was just very funny. It's I think I had something like, oh several 100 lines in that thing. And ‘no’ slipped by. 

(SARAH)

Nooo…These…these dastardly ‘no’s’. They’re evil, all of them. Well, thank you so much for sharing what you do and how you do it. If there's anything you want people to hear, now's your chance to tell them -what, what do you want them to, to jump on and listen to next? 

(JERRY)

Well, I do have a website called JerryKochichvoiceactor.weebly.com

(SARAH)

I am a Weebly fan. 

(JERRY)

Yes, I love weebly. It's because I'm not the most tech savvy of human beings, and anything that I can do you know, with a website. Yeah, easily. I'm all for

(SARAH)

They make it easy, for sure. 

(JERRY)

And there's all the work that Gareth Severn does, and of course anything that Sarah Golding does is wonderful to listen to. or listen to. 

(SARAH)

Amazing! I'll pay you when I see you - that pint is fresh and yours! Super. Well. Happy voice acting into the brilliant and bright future, and.. and yeah, thank you for sharing your setup with us today. I was very cool and very awesome. Keep going!

(JERRY)

Thank you for having me.

(SARAH)

Groovy!

13:04

(SARAH SINGS WITH UKE)

So that was Jerry, who uses his phone, 

and we now go to Brianne, who also works from home…

her setup takes a moment and a little bit of thought.

Oh yes Brianna is a user of the DUVET FORT

(SARAH)

Folks, I have a treat for you. Now, we are going to speak to the one the only Brianne Leeson - all the way from the US of A -  Helloooo Briannne!

(BRIANNE)

Hiii! Heyyy!

13:28

(sarah)

How are you doing today? 

(BRIANNE)

I'm doing good. Thanks.

(SARAH)

Superduper. Well, it's brilliant that you can join me today on MADIVA. I'm very excited to talk to you about your home setup. And if folks haven't yet heard your glorious works, could you let us know… what you make in the land of audio fiction podcasts? 

(BRIANNE)

Yes, I make a very strange little serial show…that's a hybrid of comedy, drama, horror, supernatural, queer romance, and it's called Today's Lucky Winner. 

(SARAH)

Sounds amazing. And if you haven't caught it yet, folks, you should definitely jump in and all links will be on our show notes. And you write,  produce and act in and organise all of that fun. 

(BRIANNE)

Yes, yes, it is my baby. 

(SARAH)

See, this is so exciting. And as far as …what you do and how you make things. Can you talk to us about what your setup is for home, and how you record, talk about your kit, your mic, and anything else that you think is of interest to our listening audience? 

(BRIANNE)

Yeah, I've got an Audio Technica AT 2020 Condenser Mic.

(SARAH)

Niiicccccccce. 

(BRIANNE)

And I've got a Behringer Euphoria, HD interface, and just a plain ol’ little pop filter… that I use. That's about it. 

(SARAH)

Grand…and you are… one of our world's very precious duvet forters -  Is that correct? 

(BRIANNE)

Yes. So I- I am brand new to audio dramas because I had originally written this as a comic book and…

(SARAH)

Wow, great!

14:58

(BRIANNE)

…I decided while I'm going to be stuck inside for a while I can figure it out in this format. So, I started from the ground up. So a blanket fort is what I record from.

(SARAH)

Superb. How do you construct that? Is that simply over a clotheshorse or something or just over your head or how do you make it?

15:16

(BRIANNE)

It is…er…I don't have an engineering degree, but you think I do with my blanket fort I constructed around my desk, so I can still have like, my mic has plenty of room and I'm directing everyone also. So I want to have like my iPad out and have space. So it hangs over the back of my couch… and some barstools… and some strategically placed comic book boxes. And it's kind of an ordeal, but I can sit in a chair and get everything done from my blanket fort at my desk. 

(SARAH)

Sounds Supreme. And as far as sort of connectivity is concerned, what does your mic other than Behringer plug into ,and what… what is your DAW of choice?

(BRIANNE)

It just plugs straight into my - I think - 2016 Mac, like I just have a Mac laptop, and it's it's kind of bare bones. Because I got my whole setup - one of the people on my show is does music and we plan to record music and stuff. So it's… pretty bare bones just my Mac and my mic and my interface.

(SARAH)

Groovy and d’you know, roughly how much that set you back in total for all of the kit?

(BRIANNE)

Everything except the laptop that I had. My composer for my show gets a really good deal on sound stuff. So my mic and my interface were about 230 I believe for that. And my pop filter 

(SARAH)

And that’s US dollars. Yep?

(BRIANNE)

US dollars. About 230 US dollars. Yeah. And what is his top tip to get stuff at decent rates?

16:52

(BRIANNE)

Teach music and get an educators discount. 

(SARAH)

Ah, you see, that's a really good top tip, actually, ‘cause I have utilised that as a teacher myself. And I think Yeah, that's a very good top tip I have forgotten to share in the past. So yeah, goo call! And what would you say the good things about having this particular easy to pop up space?

17:12

(BRIANNE)

It's good because I didn't have a lot to invest as far as changing my space right now. I don't have a closet I can record from like some of my cast do that doesn't have road noise. 

(SARAH)

Okay,  yes.

(BRIANNE)

Like just wear my houses, none of them were really conducive to that -  like the sound was no good. So the best room in my house without road noise… is… the most echoey room. So it's helped me create space where I didn't have it. 

(SARAH)

Yes, and it's portable as well. You know, I guess you can potentially make that in any space in the house if you needed to…

17:45

(BRIANNE)

Any room in the house if I needed to… 

(SARAH)

Yeahm yeh yeh, groovy. So what are some of the more things that you don't like about it that frustrate you if anything?

(BRIANNE)

It's a hassle to set up, it kind of demolishes my house sometimes, and the more like I've been auditioning for other audio dramas, and you know I've gotten a part in one and we're going to be on a zoom call for it, and I'll be like ‘greetings from my blanket fort’ so it also it looks a little silly if you're on video too. 

(SARAH)

Oh there's no judging. I don’t think… I mean… I'm under a duvet - I mean it might as well be.. you know…a blanket fort! It just happens to have a screen supporting it, and other bits and bobs but… but yeah, brilliant… and, and would you recommend this setup to other folks and if so why? If not why not?

(BRIANNE)

I would because you already have the things in your house to do it. It's …there's no – there’s no cost to it. You can make a better recording environment. Just around anywhere in your house. 

(SARAH)

Yep. And it's regular blankets, yeah? Nothing …nothing you’ve bought specially, it's just sort of stuff from your bedroom, bedroom throws and so on?

18:47

(BRIANNE)

Yeah, I just demolish my linen closet and… get a few quilts every time - it's a couple layers thick, just because I've experimented and like two or three quilts is usually my my thickness…

19:03

(SARAH)

Groovy… and other any other surfaces when you're in there, like you cover? Like the boxes, you say like do you have internal blanketage as well over the top of you?

19:12

(BRIANNE)

I do …so my desk is bright butt up to the back of my couch, so I have some built in cushioning there. And then right behind me are usually my barstools and a couple comic boxes to make up the back support of my fort, and I usually put a blanket over those just to get some of the sound off of that.

(SARAH)

 Groovy - and I hope there's a good fine cocktail or mighty cold beer at those barstools for you when you’ve finished recording, right?

19:42

(BRIANNE)

(LAUGHS) No, no I am. I am not a drinker. So there's usually just a nice …sparkling water waiting for me.

(SARAH)

Sounds gorgeous. Yes, drink more water people, drink more water! And is there anything else you'd say that if you were going to add to this setup that you'd prefer to perhaps add to it - If , If money was no object, if time was no object… and skill. What do you think you'd prefer to do- if anything -to add to what you have currently?

(BRIANNE)

 I think next in the works is to build a PVC booth with moving blankets, that I can kind of deconstruct just an upgraded blanket fort really = but one of my cast members built one and his sound has been so clean, and he just pops it up and takes it down whenever he's done. It takes him maybe… maybe 10 minutes to do. 

(SARAH)

That's superb. Yeah, I mean, essentially, our next speaker does tell us about her PVC fort of carpet fortitude. So yes, it appears that that does save a lot of time in post production editing out of extraneous sounds. And so on, yeah, no, I can fathom that. That's a good plan. Brilliant! And is there anything that you've heard lately, or that you would have worked with people, or that you're about to be in that you want to plug that people should go listen to. 

(BRIANNE)

So it's not out yet, but just keep an ear out for an audio drama actually, also, from the UK called, what happened after so I will have a small part in that. And it is a almost like a post apocalyptic found footage sort of horror genre show.

21:25

(SARAH)

OOHHH Groovy - sounds like fun. We love a bit of that. superb. And we're just going to play now some of the footage that you have sent us the audio reel, of …of work that you've recorded. And so you can just hear how gloriously clean and wonderful. That a sound from a DUVET FORT that you almost certainly can have the potential budget to afford, if you look at a range of mics and a range of interfaces - if you going the XLR route, so yes! Let’s just have a listen and see. See what your sound is like! Let’s have a. Listen….

(BRIANNE SAMPLE FROM LUCKY DAY)

Fantastic. It seems as though your uncle can take care of himself. Let's bounce before you get hurt. 

(CHARACTER)

Are you on drugs right now? 

(BRIANNE SAMPLE)

No. Do you have any?

22:06

(SARAH)

Well, Wasn't that amazing? 

(BRIANNE)

Yeah. And I think that's what's wonderful is that, you know, this is definitely testament to the fact that you don't have to have 1000s of pounds to create a good clean beauteous sound. So mahoosive Thank yous, to you for… for sharing this with us. And… I hope folks if they …they want to, reach out and have a listen to some of the things you've done then, they'll definitely be able to find you on our shownotes too. So thank you Brianne, it’s very, very cool of you to share that. 

(BRIANNE)

Thanks so much. Thank you.

22:40

(SARAH)

Byyyeeeee

(SARAH SINGING ON THE UKE)

Let's leave Brianne in her Duvet Fort groove 

And move on to Kirsty now in her PVC booth. 

It's a little bit of effort if you want to put it up, 

but it makes your voice sound groovy ‘n it’s a 

Clean…Dead… spot. 

(SARAH)

Okay, folks, I think it's time now we move to someone who's outstandingly stellar in the space right now, of course I’m NOT saying the other people I have talked to 

aren’t amazing, but, you know, I have a special place in my heart for Kirsty Woolven. Hello Kirstyyyy!

23:11

(KIRSTY)

Hello, it's lovely to chat to you. 

(SARAH)

Itsss….Great to have you on this. And we've …we've sort of crossed paths a few times. And now I've been working on groovy show together which – we we’re very excited for - whenever it comes out…

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, definitely 

(SARAH)

So…tell folks if they haven't heard, what fun things you've been involved in so far. 

(KIRSTY)

So my biggest project today is Y2k

(SARAH)

Woo -hooo!

(KIRSTY)

Which is very exciting. I just got the scripts for Olivia's episode for season two. So, I'll be getting back into the booth for that. Yes, definitely – it is so great to be back because I haven't done anything for last year at all basically for Y2K. 

(SARAH)

This is it - I know when I spoke to Karin on this podcast, basically everything was recorded in late November 2019 I think it was…wasn’t it? ….and then released across the year… so there's been maybe a few updates…But yeah..

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, I only did pickups because… I can't say Melbourne!

(SARAH)

LAUGHS

24:09

(KIRSTY)

That was basically all of the pickups …was… ‘you don't say it like Melbourne’ and I'm like really? Dang it!

24:18

(SARAH)

The English language is veWWy confusing. 

(KIRSTY)

Yes, very much indeed much so. 

(SARAH)

Well, Welcome to this! And I think, ya know, we're in CYCLONE together which GRAZ RICHARDS has created, and is a great fun amazing piece… but, mainly because of the wonderful people who are also in the cast, with us, eh?? So, I look forward to that coming out!

(KIRSTY)

Yeah,  mmm, Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to that coming out. 

(SARAH)

Thank you for coming on today. The reason why I approached you really was because you said you had sort of a homemade DIY type booth. So, talk to us please about how you record your audio awesome, what you've got for your mic, your booth setup. Do you use XLR or USB or dynamic mics? What was your - what's your kit of funnnn? 

25:00

(KIRSTY)

 So I record with a RODE NT1 hyphen a which is an XLR microphone. I think it's a large diaphragm condenser microphone I think 

(SARAH)

Nice. That one picks up a gnats fart within five hundred yards?

(KIRSTY)

Yes, indeed… indeed..

(SARAH)

Super duper (laughs)!

25:21

(KIRSTY)

And then, I because it's the next lie I have to use an interface so I got the Focusrite Scarlett solo-  the third Gen one… and it's really small and I love it. There's a recent update which means that you can actually change the colours of …like when you clip and all of that, so I entertained myself for several hours sorting that out….

(SARAH)

Pretty colours that's what we like in our DAW’s!

25:48

(KIRSTY)

Indeed….(LAUGHS) ...and then… I record with a PVC BOOTH. So basically what that means is the frame is made of PVC pipes, uhm plastic pipes, basically. And then I've got these really heavy sound dampening curtains, which… in total weigh about 20 kilos…

(SARAH)

Oofff. ‘s like me in lockdown.

26:09

(KIRSTY)

(LAUGHS) I think it's like about 44 pounds for people who don't use metric. It's still really heavy…I can’t lift it.

(SARAH)

Oh thanks for the research, that's great. Yeah, that sounds that sounds proper heavy -  so you don't want it to fall on you essentially. 

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, I did have those issues in a previous place (LAUGHS). And then, I've got headphones to monitor because I like to monitor myself. I've also got like a nice big screen that I put portrait, so then I can look at …like A4 documents really easily, because I like having things like my scripts all big, and all of that. I also record standing up so I've got a mic stand in there.

26:47

(SARAH)

Same….yep.

(KIRSTY)

That's… that's basically it, and fluffy stuff to help deaden the reverb more…

(SARAH)

Fluffy stuff! So I imagined you're going in like Lady Gaga in PVC yourself, but no, you are - You’re not in PVC as well, It is..generally…fluffy things…

(KIRSTY)

No, no, no, no, definitely not. No, I can't I can't do that in the booth.

27:07

(SARAH)

It…depends what you’re recording I s’pose. (LAUGH) And as far as, sort of comfort is concerned, how much space have you got to move around in, and what kind of – have you got shelves in there? Have you got bass traps in there? Or anything else to dampen sounds? 

(KIRSTY)

I've got bass traps, and they are basically just big triangles of foam that came with some foam squares that I used to use as well. So they're just chucked in there. I've got like a sheepskin rug as well. That's fluffy that helps. I don't have any shelving in it - I only recently moved into my house. So, I haven't really been recording that much. I haven't recorded anything for …like a project yet. 

(SARAH)

Okay

(KIRSTY)

I've just been auditioning, I haven't been cast and recorded since moving in. I think Y2K and something else will be like the first two projects I actually have recorded in this booth where I live now.

(SARAH)

Exciting! And then how did you make it - so is it basically a one person job - you did it yourself and popped it all together? 

(KIRSTY)

The problem is, I'm quite short, and it's …it's a bit taller than what I can reach. So I had to enlist the help of my boyfriend to actually be useful. 

(SARAH)

These other half's are useful, aren't they?

(KIRSTY)

 They're very useful and their height’s very useful. So especially with like hooking the curtains on I can't do that by by myself. I have to like… I'm like five three in the booth. I think we made it to be about 1.9 metres tall. So just under six foot…

(SARAH)

So you can jump and rave in there and everything!

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, so in it's trying to think it's - I'm trying to remember the dimensions of the old house because that's what I built it to fit the room of the old house …that I moved from. So I think it’s around …one metre point five by 90 centimetres. 

(SARAH)

Okay, groovy cool. So you can sort of curl up in there and have a lie down as well if you need to. S’nice.

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, yeah, if I if I wanted to, I would probably have to like chuck out the the bass traps because I've got like a very heavy duty stand for the monitor. So that that takes up a bit of room. But yeah, I can do that. And I'm planning to actually get some MDF and… might record some …some tap dancing in there because I do have enough space to tap dance I think in there... 

(SARAH)

Oooh laaa!I think we need live tap dancing. We could use it with the new Martian landscape I heard today. Did you hear the sound of Mars today on the news? It's very exciting. 

(KIRSTY)

Yes!

29:32

(SARAH)

(LAUGHS) I'm excited to hear that first on an audio fiction podcast somewhen soon. 

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, I think you've just like ooh, because …when I've done like a little thing, I really like just taking a sound. And trying to see how I can change that sound, and literally just use one sound for loads of different contexts. I love just messing up sounds - it's great fun. 

(SARAH)

Saaame! I've been doing that for the latest thing I'm doing from an Emily C A Snyder script  - I had my actors make lotsof sounds for war and horses. I’m…really excited to see how it turns out! It might be a disaster, but I'm having fun!

(KIRSTY)

Fair enough, that’s all you need to do just have fun. 

(SARAH)

Exactly! So how much did this kit set you back, can you think, as to.. the cost of all of it?

(KIRSTY)

So… I did it in stages, like, I got, like the microphone and the interface before the booth. So that helped me in terms of …I kind of just naturally spread it out… But the pipes in curtains were around 270 pounds, the curtains were around 200 and then the pipe was around 70 and that's including like tax and postage, because the curtains had to be delivered in a lorry, because it's really heavy, and then the pipes because… I had to have them be in five metre lengths. So they had to basically put it in a small lorry and just deliver it to my house…

(SARAH) (SILLY US ACCENT)

Well, ya know, needs must – I mean, where are ya gonna get it from? They don't do it in your local supermarket!

31:03

(KIRSTY)

Yes indeed!

(SARAH)

Groovy, and where did you hunt for that? 

(KIRSTY)

Ohh, so, for the curtains, it was ‘Vocal Booth to go’… and for the pipes… it’s called ‘The plastic pipe shop’- it’s basically one of the very few places in the UK that does online orders…

(SARAH)

It does what it says on the tin – You want a plastic pipe, they have it!

31:21

(KIRSTY)

Indeed - So you can buy all sorts of plastic pipe for whatever project you want. From the looks of it. It's a lot cheaper than going to a physical store like Wilkes or B&Q, because it's all just online. They don't need shops or anything like that. 

(SARAH)

Sure. And right now getting out to get anything is ridiculous anyway, yeah. Yeah, Cool. And what are the other good things about it? What do you love about it as your space to play? 

(KIRSTY)

I can scream, I can yell. I also don't have to be worried about neighbours. That's more because it's in a separate building to the house. And it's in a garrage. 

(SARAH)

(KIRSTY)

Right. So So yeah, so I can basically I can scream and yell and I don't really have to worry about reverb. Even like in auditions. I don't really edit my recordings that much like I don't do that much processing. 

(SARAH)

Great - saves you so much time!

(KIRSTY)

Oh, my word. Yes. Normally, all I do is just kind of cut out any weird noises. You know, like, if there's like a …mouth click or something like that, I'll do that. And it's more just… just weird mouth noises that I'll cut out. Sometimes I might put on a, like, just the automatic like, noise reduction that you get in Audacity.

(SARAH)

Groovy. And what is something that you perhaps like to change about it. If anything?

(KIRSTY)

 Uhm…probably I mean, if I could build it again, I would probably get thicker pipe. Because what I found because the curtains are so heavy. And I've got one inch pipe. And because the curtains are so heavy, it kind of bows a bit, right? And that's for the vertical and also the horizontal that support the curtains. And if I wasn't careful, sometimes I'd also find that it would slip out. And that would be really awkward. Like it would happen during recording. And that I think it happened when I was recording. I've recorded like something for Cyclone, and it's it's fallen out what the mics been going on. So that's… that's good fun.

33:26

These trials…sent to test us! And would you recommend this sort of setup to other folks? And if so, why? If not, why not? 

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, I would definitely recommend it. Because you do have to do you do have to like plan and think about it. It's not just something that you can go out, I'll just casually do this, you know, you can't just casually you know, go OOh, I'm going to build a PVC booth today, you know, you do need to plan it out, unlike, say, you know, just throwing a blanket over your head, which I've done before…

(SARAH)

And you have to do a bit of maths as well,,,and a bit of building and sorting and..

(KIRSTY)

 Yeah, I did. Yeah. Because it's like working out how much pipe’s like the minimum amount of pipe that you need. Because I had to make sure it fit into five metre lengths. Also, it is quite expensive. So if you're just starting out, it might not be something that you want to spring for straight away. 

(SARAH)

Sure. I mean, you've got long term ambitions to produce, and do all sorts of things, haven’t you, so it will get great use as well. 

(KIRSTY)

Yeah, exactly. But it's especially if you're not sure you might want to go for something that's a bit easier to set up like blankets, or …what I used to do is… I'd have foam squares on the walls, behind my mic. And then rather than having PVC pipe with professional sound dampening curtains, I just got a coat rail, and just hung a curtain over it. Because that helps like the reverb… but what I did with my bowing issue, is I used said coat rail, I deconstructed it and I put metal inside of my supporting pipes around the top. And that's helped a lot because now the pipe is strong enough to not bow. So it's basically solved. But if I could make it again, I would make it with bigger pipe, basically. 

(SARAH)

And is there anything else you'd want to say? I mean, you did suggest to me earlier there was a place where someone is collating publicity pictures of different setups – do you want to share that… because I sure people would love to share theirs too?

(KIRSTY)

 Yes. So there's a voice actor by the name of - I'm very sorry to him if I pronounced mispronounce his name -  but it's a Joon Yoon, I believe his Twitter handle is @voice moto. And basically, what he's doing is, he's collating a database of everyone's recording spaces. So it's not necessarily for people who just have booths. It's all sorts of recording spaces. And it's just to take a photo so then other people can get inspiration from each other to see you know, what they are able to do with the space that they have. 

(SARAH)

Great, superb. Yeah, jump on that folks, and share yours if you want to, and I'll put a link on the show notes as well, so you can find it. And superb, thank you …thank you very much, Kirsty for sharing your… your setup with us, and is there anything you yearn for people to go and listen to that? You're proud of that you enjoyed being in?

36:17

(KIRSTY)

Well, go listen to to Y2k. If you haven't listened to it before you've got 53 episodes to get through..

(SARAH)

Hours… days of your life you can spend listening – wonderful. Yep, and it's so fun. It is emotional – I - when I say fun, is not ALL laughs….

36:36

(KIRSTY)

No, no, really not in some places.

(SARAH)

 It's beautifully written by Karin Heimdahl, who I absolutely adore …and and yeah and you're wonderful in it, I really have enjoyed all of you of you - the core cast are just fabulous folk! Super! Well, thank you so much. And yeah, where can folks find you? 

(KIRSTY)

On most places at KirstyWoolven which is K I RS T Y W O O L V E N. That's on Twitter, Instagram, I do have a Facebook page but I don't really use Facebook. 

(SARAH)

No worries – well that's grand, and O hope you go hunt Kirsty down, and enjoy all of the amazing works that she's been involved in, and yes, thank you so much for coming on  MADIVA -  I hope you have an amazingly happy creative year. 

(KIRSTY)

Thank you You too!

(SARAH)

We try right? We try! Thank you BYYYEEEE!

37:21

(KIRSTY)

BYYYYE!

37:25

(SARAH SINGS ON HER UKE – SORRY – SHE HAS BEEN STUCK IN FOR AGES)

Weeeelllll 

Kirsty’s booth is a cool piece of kit 

But now we're chatting to Tanya Milojevic

She’s got an all singing all dancing groovy well made booth

And I think I want to get one when I grow 

up 

tooooo.

37:42

(SARAH)

Oh people of the world you are so lucky because right now at a mic across the world talking to me, is the amazing Tanya Molijevic -  Hello Tanya!

(TANJA)

Hi Sarah! Thank you for having me again on the show. I'm so excited!

(SARAH)

Oh my, how can I not?! You are one of my favourite voice actors in the whole world! Ever…

(TANJA)

Thank you.

38:03

(SARAH)

Now I've got you on today because we're doing home setups -as you know- and you have one of beautiful number of …of all singing all dancing booths to work from. And this is the thing we all aspire to have , right voice actors? I've got my trusty duvet -  probably needs a wash this week – all the shouting that's happened under it. So yeah. Can you talk to us please about your your optimum awesome home setup. What kind of mic have you got, what interface? What's the booth? Fill us in on on all your kit of grooviness? 

(TANJA)

Sure. So I also started with like a DIY set up initially, because… who has the budget and especially when you're getting started, you just don't know if you're going to stick with it or not? So I started with sort of just foam on these backing wooden backings, put that up around my desk, and then put a blanket over the top. So that was my setup for 8…7-8 years. When I got started. It worked really well. The problem was that it did not block out any background noise. So I kept getting cars, planes, trains, all the things 

(SARAH)

..lawnmowers….dogs…

(TANJA)

Oh, all the things. So the people yelling and tooting their horns. And… so, I was like, I need to solve this problem. I want something portable because I know eventually I'm going to move, and, I need… I need to find something maybe it's not going to be easy to move. But also, I needed to be simple to assemble that anyone can help me with, and I'm not going to need a carpenter to take things out and modify and whatever. So I went online, I found whisperroom first. That was really expensive, like $10,000 and even beyond that, and I was like there's no way…

(SARAH)

Yeah – four and a half grand for British monies at least – crazy money…. (for starters)

40:00

(TANJA)

Yeah, yeah. I mean, who has that kind of money lying around? And why wouldn't they invest it if they did, right? So …I kind of looked for similar products to the whisper room. Because I liked the idea ….that it comes in pieces on a pallet. You just need to watch the video on youtube or their dvd I suppose…and …put it together. You just kind of fit it. It fits in nice. You just add some screws. Very very simple. Anyone can do it. With limited experience with tools.  So that was an intriguing thought, and I came across a website called QC ACOUSTICS. I was on some facebook groups related to voice over – I think it was - Universal voiceover or something like that -no, Voice over universe. Basically, saw someone mention that it was a similar product but a lot more affordable to the Whisper room. So I went on QC ACOUSTICS DOT COM, And started looking around at their products – they’re a local company – not local to me, but they’re a small company – I forget where they’re based out of exactly, but in the US. And they produce them on an as needed basis. They have different sizes. You can customise the booth with different types of doors. For example, some people get a door with a window in it that you can open. It also lets in light. But I was very boring – I got the standard 4 by 4 setup – 4 feet by 4feet. Seven and a half feet tall. It blocks out 67 decibels of noise, so it does very well on the mid frequency, high and then some very very low frequencies still get through, for example like a rumble, from maybe a fridge if it was really loud or close by, some would come through.

42:05

But basically, it’s got plywood on both sides, on the inside is rock wall insulation...acoustic – it’s acoustically dense, and just keeps out a lot of…uh…frequencies, and then, there’s a floor that assembles on the bottom, as well, so it separates you inside your booth from the actual – the floor of wherever your setup is, and, it’s pretty heavy – each wall is around 100 pounds, and it does get delivered on a pallett, and then you, when you get it, you assemble it, ‘s very easy – just a couple of screws – you… wedge the walls into each other, and they sit snuggly, and then you adhere the foam to the walls and the door, and the door is…fibreglass…I believe – it’s thick…and when everything closes, it provides a nice seal – there’s like rubber on the bottom of the door so that frequencies don’t get in. 

42:46

I’ve also added bass traps, and…it has a little fan…that you can you can turn on to ventilate it – honestly not very good!

(SARAH)

Okayyyy

(TANJA)

I don’t recommend it – opening the door is better!

(SARAH) 

Is it very loud then…or it just doesn’t work efficiently?

(TANJA)

It is…kind of like…hissy, so it goes into your recordings.

(SARAH)

Grand, and could you just explain what a bass trap is, if folks don’t know, or haven’t seen them?

(TANJA)

Oh sure…yeah, so like they’re these triangular shaped foam pieces – they look like wedges. When you put two of them together they make a square; when you separate them they’re triangles with little triangular shaped protrusions from them, and the goal is just to, break apart any lower end bass frequencies that might come through – either from your voice bouncing around, or if there’s a plane outside, it could reduce some of those reflections – the lower frequencies that might otherwise get into your recording and you would have to apply a filter to get rid of some of the bass frequency. So it just helps with that.

(SARAH)

Superb

(TANJA)

And…scatters the sound waves a little bit more…

(SARAH)

Great. As far as sort of, the rest of soft furnishings are concerned, do you work at a desk, or have you got some kind of holder for either an i-pad or for your reader, or…y’know, what kind of chair have you got – is that all otherwise normal, or was that provided too?

(TANJA)

So, I just got an Amazon basics chair. It’s got a mesh back so that, y’know, when you’re sitting there for a long time you don’t really feel like you’re dying of heat exhaustion because the back ofyour chair is thick.

(SARAH)

(LAUGH) Yes

(TANJA)

So it’s got a mesh back – its very small cos, again, I don’t have a lot of space inside the studio, and it’s on wheels. And then I have like two pieces of wood – almost like a shelf that are polished – they’re sitting – they have these little wooden holders on each side that are attached to the walls that we added ourselves after the booth came in – it didn’t come with it. And then over that, I have placed just like a soft, fleece blanket, and then I have a mouse pad sitting underneath my microphone stand, which is an onstage desk top stand – a lot of court rooms use it, cos it’s got a heavy base and your microphone won’t tip it over. I don’t have my mic on an arm, it’s just sitting on the stand, and attached, there’s a pop filter in front of it. And then I have USB light, inside so that it casts some light, as I don’t have actual lights attached inside the booth yet – I plan to. And then for my keyboard – I don’t use like an i-pad or a reader for that purpose – I have like,  a completely silicone keyboard – it’s really neat – it’s actually pretty inexpensive - they use it in… y’know restaurants and hospitals because you can completely submerge the keyboard and wash it – water and dust and stuff doesn’t get into it. The reason I use it is because it is silent – when I press the keys you can’t hear it transmitting through the microphone. That’s because I use the screen reader when I’m reading my scripts almost like a teleprompter with my headset, and use the keyboard to read through the script and navigate it so that I’m able to…to read my lines as directed, and…what have you. And it’s silent. I used to use an actual keyboard and it provided a lot of issues with sound during the recordings.

46:10

(SARAH)

Mmmm. Just tapping of the keys and things…or the mousepad, yeah, yeah. And what mics are you using currently, and have you upgraded or changed that over the years, and why is…this one your mic of choice?

(TANJA)

Yeah, I started with a Bluebird microphone – I still have it, and I use it for some projects, depending on what the producer prefers. But the main one I use now is a Sennheiser MKH 416…that’s used a lot of times on sets for movies or series….as a dialogue mic cos it’s ….directional. It has a very small pickup pattern, and…it’s rugged. It’s like a shotgun mic, and picks up only what’s directly in front of it so you can’t really move around too much, but the sound is crisp, and…if there is any kind of background noise, a lot of the time, the microphone won’t pick it up if it’s off-mic. So that does provide another layer of help I guess, as well with it. It’s good for dialogue, narration – very versatile mic – it’s great on the female voice I’ve noticed, and, whereas the Bluebird mic – it’s very sensitive to any kind of - if you touch it by accident, if a car goes by and…

(SARAH)

Is it a condenser mic, the Bluebird?

(TANJA)

It Is, yeah, and it’s got a cardioid pickup pattern – So, a bigger pick up pattern.

(SARAH)

And what do you plug that into? Does that go straight into a laptop, or via n  interface? What kind of a setup have you got from the mic?

(TANJA)

I have a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 preamp…

(SARAH)

Same

(TANJA)

I love it! It’s Great! It plugs in via USB, and the drivers are extremely easy to install – it’s just an exe executable file that you run on your Windows or Mac machine, and, once it’s installed you just plug in the preamp out of the box, it works… like a charm right away. I have one that has an inputs for 2 microphones – that’s why it’s called the Scarlett 2i2. You can also get the solo, if you just want to use one microphone, but this way I have multiple microphones plugged in via XLR into the interface.. I have a warm audio YA 87 which I use sometimes for audio drama, and…the Bluebird, and then the Sennheiser – I have all of them in my studio at one given time and then I switch between them. I can have two of them plugged in and just switch…which focus um using. Like which microphone. 

(SARAH)

I also got a brilliant tip off somebody a few months ago, where, If you get a splitter for your XLR mic, and you can then plug one microphone into both of your …interface pieces, then if you’re recording one at a very different gain, you can have a safety if you like – if you do go over, and you have one slightly down, then it saves you like…screaming when you find that perhaps you distorted or went too hot on something. So as a…as a safety, I thought that was a really great idea – just to throw that at people.

(TANJA)

That IS! Does that record into two different tracks, I assume!?

(SARAH)

Yeah, yeah, you can set up for - I do that in Reaper… more often – so, yeah, it’s a potential life saver anyway if you’re doing – y’know, from one moment you’re whispering and then you’re screaming – you’re so in the moment that perhaps you get  carried away with yourself - you have a little – a little back up, which I think is always good!

(TANJA)

Absolutely. That’s..that’s a great idea. 

(SARAH)

Do you have any other gadgets or fun things that you’ve bought…? Like I For example I’ve got a little ipad holder that also fits my phone for reading things which attaches to my mic stand….I also got a FET HEAD to boost my gain a little …for my space… rather than having to turn up on the Scarlett and perhaps getting a little more hiss.  So yeah, have you got any fun gadgets that you use on top pf those things?

(TANJA)

Yeah, in terms of other gadgets, I, I did get a headphone that just goes into one ear and it goes inside your ear canal. And then you plug it …you know, I can plug it in via the quarter inch adapter into my Scarlett, and use that to kind of listen to the speech output, while putting the actual headset over my both of my ears… that way, any kind of bleed through from… my screen reading software, or even if I'm listening to something in the background, trying to tie my performance to it. It …it works well, in cutting all of that out. And it doesn't transfer through onto the recording. So ,it's just kind of like a fun solution. 

(SARAH)

Yeah, I love that. And you know what make they are?

(TANJA)

 I believe they're Sony. Oh, and then the other gadget I just got upgraded for my recording setup. I used to have a Lenovo desktop but that's starting to get out of date. It won't let me update any more. So as a new machine, I got a Nuk, which is like a little Intel computer. It's about the size of my hand. It's very, very tiny microcomputer, but it's extremely fast. And… that's going to be my new desktop setup. I have a powered USB hub that I was going to attach to it, and then attach all my peripherals …my, like, the Scarlett, the keyboard, all of the… all of that kind of stuff that I use. It doesn't have… because the hub is from cable matters. It's braided, the connections are all braided. They're really nice. And there's no latency. So when I'm editing on my keyboard, anything audio file related… it's instant response -  I'm not dealing with a millisecond delay or anything like that. 

(SARAH)

Superb

(TANJA)

So yeah, the computer is really fast. So when I'm uploading via Dropbox or whatever, it's crazy fast. The RAM is like, I think I have 32 gigs of RAM in there. 

(SARAH)

Superb - So some play room then Yeah. 

(TANJA)

Yes, it's worth it.

(SARAH)

Brilliant! And can I ask sort of like, so what did the booth set you back? And what kind of price bracket would you say someone is looking at for all of those things put together? To emulate your kit?

(TANJA)

Yeah, it kind of gets pricey. The booth itself was $4,000. So in terms of pounds, what I would say, what, maybe at least 3000 pounds, if not more. And I did all this over time, because there's no way you can afford….

(SARAH)

 Yeah, Wasn’t all at once. You just add the new gently. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

(TANJA)

I can say a lot of these purchases are on Amazon except the booth obviously. But like the the microphone, you can buy it on Amazon, the Bluebird, I bought it for 300 initially, and then the stand is like $15, the pop filters five. Eventually, I got a Stedman pop filter for like $40. But I, I don't like it as much, even though it's supposed to be better. It doesn't seem to me like it is… than just a traditional …pop filter. And I mean, the one that's the standard two pieces of ..of thin material over like a plastic round frame, with the gooseneck adjustable arm where you can, you can kinda fix it …as you need. So those are the basic… the universal microphone clip on Amazon again, it's like $5 - it's very cheap, and affordable. And then the Scarlett is about I'd say anywhere between $80 to $120. Depending on what what setup you're getting. 

(SARAH)

Yeah, they do do some deals, don't they sometimes? And I think I've recommended to one of the folks on my course as well, look at websites like Sweetwater - they often do sales and Thomann as well. Yes, they also do some really good.

(TANJA)

Well, the nice thing about Sweetwater is a lot of times they do payment plans, yeah, where you can, you can just pay partially a month with very little interest. I actually don't think they I don't think there is interest, I think it's just they break it up into like four or five payments. And then, for the Sennheiser that I mentioned, that's pricier. It normally runs you over $700. But what I did was there's a Facebook group called VO gear exchanged, V O, the letters and then gear exchange. And if you search and ask to join, they'll let you in. It's a public group. There. They're good about that. And what it is, is a marketplace for voiceover artists to… sell their gently used equipment, maybe they bought something, they changed careers, and now they have materials that they're not using, but need to get off their hands. So a lot of it is not ….so it's not used very long. There's nothing wrong with it. And that's… that's where I found the microphone, the Sennheiser for $500… a lot cheaper than paying the full price.

(SARAH)

Yes, see, that helps, doesn't it? That's great advice. Thank you for sharing that. And I mean, what are the pros of your kit, what are the good things that you love about it so?

(TANJA)

I really like that when there are things going on outside, it cuts out a lot of noise. There's also absolutely no reverb …in my recordings, it's dry and crisp. Yeah. And the producers can then go ahead and do whatever it is they need to do on their end …to make my recording matchup with their… the other actors in that scene or in that story. And the recordings are versatile. You can use them for whatever it is you want. You don't even have to …noise gate them all that much, or do any crazy processing to them like you would if you were in an echoey environment, or maybe just like a room… that doesn't have much furniture, maybe wooden floors, and the sound just reflects

Everywhere.

(SARAH)

Yes, it saves you time in post production editing or getting it ready for your editor who… who wants it pristine? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, what would you say things that you'd not quite happy with? Or things like the cons of the setup, have you got anything you'd want to ...tochange?

(TANJA)

I would say that …the setup sometimes it's… it's very when you're moving, it's very difficult to move the booth because it's heavy, so you need like… a truck, or someone …someone even that has a minivan where the seats folded down, it might be able to fit. Also, any kind of environment you're moving into. You've got to make sure that the ceilings are tall enough to accommodate it. And if you have to go upstairs, it's ..it's just a NIGHTMARE to get it up up the stairs, anywhere. It's heav to, so you've got to also consider that, like in my last place I lived it was on the third floor, walk up attic, and it worked just fine but the house has to be able to take 700 extra pounds of that you're

just gonna be sitting leaving there. 

(SARAH)

So it sounds like my house after lockdown, I'm at 700 extra pounds. ()And so would you recommend this to other folks? And if so while or if not, why not.

(TANJA)

I would just say the only other thing that I don't recommend about this booth is there's no way to really ventilate it as you're recording, that's the biggest problem I have with it. Now, you have to also leave the door open, because the foam off-gases continuously. So if you let's say, you close the door, you open it and… smell, maybe there was cooking or something going on. The food smell…. is just… terrible. You have to keep it open and ventilated all the time, you have to also pause every 20/30 minutes when you're recording. And remember to open the door, and breathe. Well that can be hard if you're being directed …on a session, because you don't want to interrupt. Yeah, but eventually you run out of oxygen!

(SARAH)

That’s not good!

(TANJA)

No. It’s… like a box. It's not good to breathe in… all the time. But, you can get an air filter and help with that. My goal eventually, is to get a better setup where …I don't need foam at all. The goal is just to get rid of the foam, and use different material, like heavier blankets or …acoustic tiling or something like that. 

(SARAH)

Okay, groovy.

(TANJA)

That would be much, much better. The foam smells. There's just nothing you can really Do about that.

(SARAH)

It’s ..it’s not something you really think about, is it? It’s quite…Interesting!

(TANJA)

And that's why I wouldn't recommend it.

(SARAH)

Okay, but …but at the same time, you know, for sound quality…are you going to put up with the food smells ..to to get the best, most pristine, amazing recordings? And to be honest, if it makes you sound anything like Tanja, then you know, you’re on to a winner, right? 

(TANJA)

So I will say I put it in my basement, and now I don't have that problem anymore with the food smell. I also put air freshener in it. 

(SARAH)

Oh cool. 

(TANJA)

And that helps a lot. 

(SARAH)

Yeah. groovy. Nice little burning candles. No, maybe not…candles…

(TANJA)

A…lavender sachet. I've put cedar sachets in here to just take any any moisture out of the air. And that helps.

(SARAH)

You can set it up as like, you know, a massage room as well. Maybe.

A therapy room. I'd like one of those just to sit in some quiet for a bit. 

(TANJA)

Yeah, no, hey, actually that's a good thing you bring up too sometimes if I need… a moment to… think to myself or just some quiet time where I can relax. I do go into the booth. It's very relaxed. 

(SARAH)

Well, that’s what I'm envisaging …it's a nice dead sort of sound space to be in just …actually ground yourself. Super.

(TANJA)

Yeah, to give you just an idea of how long it took, like right now the phone doesn't smell anymore, because I keep the store open all the time. But, to even get the newness of the foam smell out. Yeah, it took TWO YEARS years, believe it or not.

Yeah. 

(SARAH)

Woooooaw. That's that's a proper entrenched industrial, something there then, isn't it - sounds amazing. Well, brilliant. I mean, it sounds superb. And I can only aspire to have one when I grow up and make some lovely pennies from this voice acting fun. So so thank you for sharing all of that. It's very cool. And we were just going to hear a little section of the complete mixed and….and released podcast, so just have a listen to that.

(TANJA SECTION OF JOHNNY DOLLLAR SHOWCASING THE BOOTH SOUND)

(MAN)

Where is he?

(TANJA IN ROLE)

I don't know. And you can't make me believe you. Why would he kill anybody? That's a terrible thing to say. He wouldn't do anything wrong for me. You just don't understand at all.

How.

Dare you!

Why do you say that? 

Oh my god. Why is this happening? (Cries)

(WHISPERS)Stuart?

(SARAH)

Groovy - Okay, so, thank you. I hope you enjoyed, and could hear how absolutely wonderful the sound from this sound booth sounds. And thank you, Tanja - is there anything you're in at the moment, or about to be in, or is about to be released, or that you're working on that you want to tell folks ..to…to make sure they… they do not miss it?

(TANJA)

Sure. So right now, we are recording for season two of Wordtastic….

(SARAH)

Yes, it's a great fun kids show – Wordtastic – Steve Schneider special!

(TANJA)

He is solid. Steve Schneider, Austin beach, Dane Leonardson are the… I guess I was gonna say Dynamic Duo but …but they're an awesome trio that are creating this project, and working …day and night to bring it to your ears.

(SARAH)

Brilliant, and are you any doing any more of your own productions?

(TANJA)

Yes…Lightningbolt Theatre of the mind is the podcast that I do for fun. And we are currently doing a couple of different series, as well as one shot pieces. We're doing some fantasy stuff right now called ‘Bleeding of the Hedges’. It's got Fae, and… werewolves, and other kind of such… fun characters.

(SARAH)

Well, thank you so much for coming on, it's brilliant to talk to you!

(TANJA)

Thank you! It's such a pleasure -  not only working with you, and hearing the stuff you're in, but also just being on the show. Thank you for the opportunity.

(SARAH)

Well, let's hope there’s more.

(TANJA)

Yeah! 

(SARAH)

Thank you very much, Tanja! Bye BYE!

(TANJA)

Thank you Sarah, thank you too, and stay safe.

(SARAH SINGING WITH UKE – SORRY AGAIN – LAST TIME)

There isn't going to be any singing anymore. 

We've finished them all 

That's them, all four

I’ll tell you a little bit about mine now. 

And if it helps you make decisions 

oLLY gee, Oh, wow. 

(SARAH)

Sorry about the er…’singing’ ‘air quotes’. 

So what do I have to record? If you want to know… essentially, I use an SSE 2200 MarkC -It is a beautiful piece of ..condenser mic ..It comes with its own pop shield and cradle and sits nicely in a FET head, which I have to boost my gain for…I dunno, 15 hertz (DB) is it? Er…just into my interface, which is a Scarlett 2i2-  it's the duo one, so if I have a friend round to record, we can do so …at our leisure !

Beyond that, I’m going into an MacBook Pro, and very simply I have some add ons too,  so I have a booth “inverticommas”, made from a trifold screen.. from anywhere you can get them …and a duvet, which is cleaned regularly. Makes it sound gross. Yeah. And also a mic stand …on top of which sits a vocal booth kind-of foam half circle, I also have an iPad stand, I do a lot of work from my iPad, rather than actual scripts, and I mark things up on my iPad, and find that easy to utilise. And also the light from that. Probably not good for my eyes, right. But essentially, I utilise that to …to work from home. I have a little light bulb, which I bought from a …gift shop….which it can just, you know,  run by batteries. So if I need some more light I have it 

I have a laptop stand with my laptop more or less half shoulder height nearly so I can see very clearly what is going into my DAW of choice, which… most of the time is Audacity for quick ease of editing. But I really often much more use Reaper when I'm sitting down to edit to Quirky Voices things. 

I think the wires have gotten to Tiger wires just going from my microphone into my interface. And beyond that I have like a splitter for a USB connector into my laptop, I have plenty of water, and also occasionally move blankets around on the back a wall of my trifold screen… to give me some extra softness to my recording. 

So I hope you found it useful. So to be honest, folks, there is no excuse, right? If you're complaining, ‘I don't know what to do to get going’. There's four people who've given you some semblance of what things could cost and… I put their details on the show notes. If you want to contact them directly. I'm sure they would absolutely love to talk tech stuff with you.

Or …please feel free to reach out to me or quirkyvoices@gmail.com or on Twitter @SarahofGolding, @quirkyvoices, and dooo keep an eye on that @audioauditions whydontcha. 

So it's great to be back. 

I hope you've enjoyed this first JAM PACKED episode of MADIVA podcast. My next episode is very simply with one of the most exciting movers and shakers in the audio fiction world to have hit the scene in the last year or so. 

It's Caroline Minchs!

So, DO NOT MISSSS my chat to Caroline on all things inclusivity, and how, if you're a person who's hard of hearing, or is deaf, I think it's worth tuning in to have a little listen to what Caroline recommends producers and voice actors yearning to work can get stuck into AND HOW!

 Thank you for listening. 

I will see you next time. 

HAPPYYYY VOICE ACTINGGGG

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