Help! I need help with using audacity!

[Jane]

Okay, here is a bit of background. I am an author but I want to branch into narrator territory for several reasons. Firstly, I have a few stories that narrators haven't been interested in and think I would like to do them myself.
Secondly, I really love writing but sometimes feel burned out. I would love to be a narrator so that I can still have a book production involved thing to do when my writing brain hurts.
Here is the thing.
I am a poor starving artist, probably like most the rest of you.
I have $100 to get started with my studio and I need to know what I really can't do without.
I currently have audacity and I have heard that can be used but whenever I try recording with it there is a clicking noise and no idea how to stop that or where to learn more about audacity. I have tried youtube but so far everything I have found is for more advanced and not basic. I need to learn the very basic for dummies version of using audacity. Anyone know any good resources for that?
The other issue I have is that I don't know if the microphones I have at the moment are okay. They are "gaming" microphones. They are on a headset, not freestanding, and I don't know if I need to buy another microphone or not.
My studio will be my bedroom. I will probably be using either my computer or my kindle to read manuscripts.
I want to start by narrating my own work so I can get all the kinks worked out before offering to do work for anyone else.
Besides the questions above, what else do I need to know before embarking on my journey into the world of narration?

[[deleted user]]

I'm sorry, I don't have any advice to offer you. You might want to take a deep breath and think about why PROFESSIONAL narrators are declining to narrate your books.

[Jane]

They aren't declining to narrate all of them. There are just a few that they probably feel (rightly) won't be lucrative enough to do a royalty share on and I am not interested at this point in paying $100 per finished hour.
Look, I am a self publisher. To me, this is just another part of the process that I can do myself when my audience is small. I don't mind that at all. As a matter of fact, I really like having some niche books because I know the people in the really small niches are a heck of a lot more grateful for and interested in the books than when a much broader audience is my aim.
I want to do this. I am excited about doing this. I just want some help learning the technical stuff.

[Jeanie]

There are a couple of older threads that talk very specifically about what audiobook readers are looking for in narrators... everything from vocal quality to accent to word pronunciation to character voices. You should also be aware that few authors successfully narrate their own work. Still, some do and until any of your work is out there, I certainly can't say if you're one of those few authors who also have narrative skill. For other technical advice, someone else around here will have to help with that.

[Jane]

I know you are just trying to be helpful Jeanie. I have had 15 books narrated by other people so I have some background in the process and certainly know what I look for in narrators.
I doubt I would ever try a super complicated narration but I think a non fiction book wouldn't be terribly hard. Possibly also a first person POV. I would not try multi POV except possibly with erotica (as there is less need for "acting"). Maybe I will also take some additional acting classes down the line to help me as well. I took a few in college but that was years ago so I am a bit rusty for sure.

[Hunchback Jack]

Jane, it could be a couple of things: your microphone, your audio card, or insufficient shielding on your cable.

Here's a video on microphones for podcasts. It's a few years old, but has some good information about getting started for not much money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-vEv...

If your audio card is the problem, you might want to use a microphone that plugs into USB. That bypasses your computer's audio card, and audacity should be able to sample from the USB pretty cleanly.

Lastly, shielding. There may be something nearby causing interference, and if your microphone has inadequate shielding, it will result in clicks on the audio. You can try to clean them up after the recording (audacity may have a way to do that), but failing that, you need to get a microphone with better a shielded cable, or find the source of the interference.

I once had a 3G modem cause periodic clicks and "fuzz" on a recording I was making, and in the end, I had to turn the thing off while I did the recording.

I hope this helps.

[Jane]

Thanks a bunch for the link. Will check it out.

[Karen]

Greetings, Jane! I'm a professional narrator, and I have written a couple of blog posts that you may find helpful:

Authors: Want to Create Audiobooks of Your Books?


How To Become An Audiobook Narrator

In addition to the many resources linked in my articles, you can contact John Florian on the VoiceOverXtra site to purchase copies of webinars which will teach you how to use Audacity for recording audiobooks.

Best wishes for your success!


Cordially,
Karen Commins

[Bruce]

I think you may have problems with the noise level in your recording space unless you spend some time controlling noise and deadening the space. Then you can worry about mics and I don't think the gaming mic is going to cut it. If you can spring for it, I am a fan of the Rode NT-1 which is about the lowest noise mic you can buy (you will need a USB/preamp box with phantom power to go with it), and some folks have had good results with USB microphones, but I haven't had good results. Don't forget also about your headphones, too.

You can post a sample (link) here or on soundcloud if you'd like one of us to give a listen and let you know how you stand in terms of the ACX quality specs.

[Jane]

I am def going to be getting a better microphone. I think that will solve many of the issues I am having. Wasn't aware that gaming microphones are known for popping (my bf informed me of this as we were discussing the issue). Once I get a microphone I will reevaluate the sound quality.

[Michael]

Great post Karen, and interesting blog posts!

I'd definitely second some of those other items raised such as the better mic and USB sound boxes. I'm not a narrator, but I have done analog to digital conversions for vinyl (music) and tapes (lot of hard to get audiobooks) using audacity.

Onboard PC and laptop analog to digital conversion is generally pretty lacking, as the circuitry is often prone to digital noise from the various internals of the computer. Having a decent USB external device gives better electrical isolation.

One other thing to consider which might be an easy option for voice is recording via a high quality bluetooth headset. The analog to digital is all handled on the device. Maybe the audio fidelity won't be sufficient though.

[Jim]

There is a lot of information on using Audacity to record audiobooks on the Audacity Forum:

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewfor...