So, you’ve decided you’re going to record your audiobook yourself. That’s great! It’s totally doable, and you may have great fun doing it! For listeners to hear a book in the author’s own voice can be a magical thing. Also, seeing your book listed in Audible.com with your name as the author and narrator can be a real joy. I say that as someone who’s done it!
Make sure you take a look at our blog post, Should I Narrate My Own Kid’s book, for great information on what you will need to narrate your own book.
But in this and the next post, where’ going to dive more deeply into what equipment you will need. And that means, 1) A microphone, 2) A computer, and 3) Software, called a Digital Audio Workstation, or DAW.
Let’s stare with the microphone. This isn’t going to be a deep dive into what microphones are good, and which ones aren’t (believe me, that’s a rabbit hole we could spend a lot of time going down) – but we want to give you a good understanding of what you are looking for.
There are two ways that microphones connect to a computer. 1) with a USB cable, or 2) via an XLR cable into an interface, then to your computer’s USB port.
For reasons that we aren’t going to go into here, XLR mics are generally considered superior in sound quality. If you are looking at starting a career as an audiobook narrator or voice over artist, then this is an investment you will want to consider.
However, for the sake of this discussion let’s assume that you simply want to narrate your book. You aren’t looking to invest many hundreds or even thousands into a mic and interface that you are only going to use once.
So you’ll probably want to look for a good USB mic that will plug right into yoru computer.
USB mics have been getting better and better over the past few years – with some of the approaching the sound quality of some XLR mics. So this really can be a great option for you.
Your best bet will be a large diaphragm condenser mic. You can find them from $30, up to many hundreds of dollars. Understand that for the most part, you are going to get what you pay for. A $300 microphone will have a much richer, warmer, more professional sound than a $30 mic made in china.
So, shop around, watch some youtube videos about microphones and spend what you can afford to give yourself the best shot at having a great sounding audiobook.
What else to you need with your mic? Well, a few things:
- A mic stand. This can be desk mounted, or a floor stand. But you need something to hold your mic up.
- A pop filter. This is super important. A pop filter is that round mesh thing that you see between the mic and the person singing in music videos. It helps to prevent “plosives” – which happen when you accidentally blow directly on the mic when making the sound of “P” and “T” and other similar letters.
- A cable. You need to connect your mic to your computer, and a USB cable is what you will use.
If you shop carefully, many good mics come in kits that include all of the above. So, you may want to look for a package that has everything you need!
And of course… if you want to skip all of this and have your audiobook produced professionally for less than the cost of a consumer-grade mic on Amazon, feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to help you bring your children’s book to life!
Brad Grochowski, aka, TheVoiceOfBrad, is a voice over artist that specializes in narrating children’s books. As the founder of KidsBookNaration.com, he has dedicated himself to working with independent authors, publishers and small presses, to bring their print and ebooks into audio format by educating them on the process of audiobook production, as well as offering his services as a professional narrator and producer.