How to become a voice actor while using accessible apps and iPhone 15

By OmniverseAgent, 3 April, 2024

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi there! Yes I do understand that most editing software for video and audio creation is done using a computer. But I am also physically disabled. My hands are like fists so I cannot use a keyboard or a mouse. Along with being blind so needing apples built-in screen reader. Now that that is out-of-the-way, I have an iPhone 15 Pro. I also have a pair of high end quality Sony Bluetooth headphones. And I want to look into getting a microphone with a pop filter if necessary.

What I am looking for if anyone has experience with voice acting while using an iPhone? What apps do you use that are accessible. How can I record my voice, edit out the background noise and echoes, add sound effects, and either trim down the audio, or put together Multiple audio clips into one.

I would also love any tips or tricks for how to set up a room for recording the best quality on a budget in a house.

Right now I am using GarageBand. I have no clue what I’m doing and I would like to know step-by-step what it’s capable of and what all the buttons mean and all the levels and switches. It is quite confusing as a newbie.

Which microphone would you also recommend, something that is compatible with the iPhone 15 Pro. Something that isn’t $800 but something that isn’t crap quality either.

Any resources, tips and tricks, or even a one on one talk would be amazing. I want to do this as a hobby. So working on animated projects, commercials, audio dramas or anything fun.

Thank you so much for any and all help! I can’t wait to start this new little hobby.

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Comments

By Brian Giles on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 - 18:27

I've got a 15 pro, but haven't looked into mics and stuff like that. I need to pick up a lightning>USB C adapter though so I can use my Ambio headset again.

Have you looked at the VoiceOver section in the GarageBand user guide for iPhone? It has actually gotten pretty helpful in the last couple years. I'm no audio production expert, but I used that page to teach myself a little bit about recording audio on my iPhone. I recorded a couple little things with my old 12 mini and my ambio headset that I'm rather proud of as a first attempt at learning to use GB.

By OldBear on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 - 18:27

I'm way, way, way, way out of the loop now, but back in the day, we used to take miles and miles of that foam egg crate stuff and staple it to the walls. It's a reasonable substitute for the stuff they use to make an acoustically deadened room in real studios, if you've ever handled that stuff. Layers of carpet remnants , like shag style, also work and are probably less of a hazard around fire. I remember a walk-in linen/towel closet, at a dormitory in which I lived, seeming perfect. You really only need a booth for one person speaking, so a closet might actually work, if you deaden the walls and door from sound leaking in or unwanted reverb.
Beyond that, I know nothing, and the young people should advise you on new acoustic products.

By OldBear on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 - 18:27

I'll throw out a couple of other old-school things. Back in the day, if you didn't have a physical pop filter for a mic, you'd take a wire clothes hanger, reshape it into a loop of sorts, and stretch something like nylon hosiery over it. Then mount that between the mouth and the mic. Another thing that works would be a cloth speaker cover, which used to be removable as a whole frame attached to the front of some speaker cabinets. Might be easier to
prop that in front of a mic.
On voices, sibilance from "S" and "SH" sounds were usually dealt with at the equalizer, I think up there in the 3-8 kHz range. And muddy sounds were taken out in the 300 Hz range. I don't think Garage band has anything like a parametric EQ though. I suggest reading up on Fletcher-Munson Curves (old-school term), if you don't know about them.
Here's a generic Wikipedia article on the newer concept, "Equal-loudness contour":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour
Hope that is all I have to say.