Voiceover direction from anywhere! What's a virtual recording session? (The very basics.)

It has been possible for many years to record a voiceover session remotely. However, the past few years has seen more and more voice artists able to record from a home studio. "But Murray," I hear you say, "I want to be able to talk to the voiceover artist and give them direction, like in the studio! It saves us both time!"

You're right! Direction during a recording session for your commercial, training material, explainer video, etc. can be incredibly useful to provide clarity, and get your message captured exactly how you want. Thanks to the growing familiarity with teleconferencing, it can be super easy as well.

Unless you have a sound engineer on your end doing the recording, you don't need to invest in expensive software. With many teleconferencing platforms available, you can communicate with your voice over artist which one is preferable for you.

If your voice artist is recording in their home studio, it's good practice to give direction, and then mute your microphone while the recording is taking place. This will ensure no noise from the teleconference is captured in the recording. It seems like common sense, but it is an important reminder to keep the audio clean and the session moving ahead!

Since the VO artist will be doing the recording in this scenario, you may want to clarify some details before the session. It's a good idea to communicate in what format you would like your files (WAV, MP3, AIFF), and if you have any preference for how the files are labeled (especially useful when there are many files, and you want to find the clip you want quickly).

It is easier than ever to engage a voice over artist from almost anywhere in the world. And while travelling the globe to record voice overs would be fantastic, it's pretty nice to be able to work with people worldwide and be home in time for dinner!