I hope this is the right group to ask this in. I’m not sure if it is, and if it isn’t, please tell me. I’ve been thinking of doing readings of some of my stuff. Stuff that’s not MLP, and stuff that’s in progress, in other words, stories that I couldn’t submit here.

People I have talked to say my voice is decent, but I’m still very basic. I don’t know if my mic is good enough, what would be better, or how to use audio editing software. I HAVE Audacity to record with, and I can delete screw ups or add in a reverb effect, but that’s as sophisticated as I can get.

So, any advice for a newbie who wants to try reading their own stuff? Not that I wouldn’t mind someone else doing a reading as well, but, as I said...

7853854 More than a mic quality, I see a problem with pronunciation.

After you publish it on Youtube, watch it with auto-subtitles. If AI can't understand what you said, listeners won't either. Everything you say must be reflected in the auto-subtitles.

Do that, and you're already better than 90% of YouTubers.

7853936
Okay, but beyond that.

For example, this is the microphone I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XCKGLTP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Is there a better one out there? How does this stack up? Are there any particular settings for audio recording I should know about? Anything you guys do as far as editing? I basically know nothing beyond what little I’ve figured out myself, so that’s why I ask.

7853957
I know nothing about microphones other than the ones I've used, but if you're not using the built-in mic on your headphones or, worse, cell phone, you are doing just fine. :)

Learning audiobook production is a process, so don't be worried about getting everything right immediately. Take your time and figure out what works for you. Do you have Audacity? It's a simple, easy-to-figure out audio editing program that lots of people use, the kind you don't even necessarily have to grow beyond, it pretty much does everything you need it to. Being able to take out double-takes, misspeaks and random sounds is always a nice way to clean up your recording.

Other than that, my one piece of advice is slow down. Obviously, I dunno what you sound like, but a lot of the time, it can feel like a rush to get through a story all at once. Don't let yourself do that! Taking a slow and steady reading pace will help with things like pronunciation, but more importantly, make it so the listener can follow along with you. This is not a race! :)

And like, that's about all I would say you absolutely need to worry about. If you've got time to polish recordings, there's more you can do, like noise gating, that can be learned in the future. If you're able, be sure to record in a quiet space with the door closed. If you're super able, try soundproofing the space ahead of time. But things like that are cherries on the top. You can still produce a good audiobook without bells and whistles or any extra effort. :) So work at your own pace, and don't sweat the details!

7853961
Thank you

What’s noise gating?

7853957 I don't have answers to your questions, but the mere fact that you're asking them makes you better than most of the readers.

Many other readers don't get discouraged even by a bad mic quality. Believe it or not, this is an above-average reading quality:

If you can make your reading sound better than this with your mic, you're already winning.

7853963
the name for removing low-key background noise from an audio recording

Like, right now, sitting here in my apartment, I can hear my computer's fans (something you'll most likely always have around, as I assume you're going to record digitally) plus someone's AC running in another apartment. With a noise gate, you can tone those ambient sounds or remove them entirely. But that's also not really necessary, you know? Unless you live somewhere that's just really noisy all the time.