Last Updated: 2026-10-21
You don’t need a professional studio to make a useful voice recording. If you have a portable recorder or a gaming/streaming setup with a USB microphone and headphones, that should work well. The most important things are to keep the room quiet, stay close to the microphone, and reduce the amount of room echo that gets into the recording.
Turn off anything nearby that makes a constant noise, such as:
Fans
Air conditioning
Speakers
TVs
Music
Desk fans or noisy computers, if possible
Close windows and doors. Try to record at a time when there is not much traffic, construction, vacuuming, etc. happening around you.
Your computer can stay on, of course. The point is simply to make the room as quiet as reasonably possible.
Use the microphone you would normally use for streaming, gaming, Discord, etc.
Place it roughly 15–25 cm / 6–10 inches from your mouth.
Try to have the microphone slightly to the side of your mouth rather than directly in front of it. This helps reduce strong bursts of air from words beginning with sounds like P and B.
If you have a pop filter, use it.
Wear headphones while recording rather than playing anything through speakers.
If you need to listen to another character, a reference recording, or instructions while performing, keep the headphone volume reasonably low so that the microphone does not pick it up.
Normal bedrooms and gaming spaces can sound quite echoey because your voice bounces off the walls, ceiling, desk and monitors.
A simple way to reduce this is to use a large, thick blanket or duvet.
Sit in your normal recording position with the microphone in front of you, then drape the blanket over yourself and the microphone area so that it creates a small tent around you.
You do not need to wrap the microphone tightly or cover it directly. The idea is simply to have soft material around you and the microphone to stop some of your voice from bouncing around the room.
Make sure you can breathe comfortably and that the blanket is not blocking any computer ventilation.
It may look a little silly, but it can make a surprisingly big difference. If you’ve done the above, it may look like this:
Alternatively - If you have a portable recorder
If you have a portable audio recorder, such as a handheld recorder with built-in microphones, you can use that instead of your computer microphone. A wardrobe or closet full of clothes can work very well as a simple recording space. The clothes and other soft materials help absorb some of the sound that would otherwise bounce around the room.
Place the recorder on a small tripod, shelf or other stable surface roughly 15–25 cm / 6–10 inches from your mouth. Make sure you are speaking toward the microphones at the top of the recorder.
Do not hold the recorder in your hand while performing, as small movements and handling noise can easily be picked up by the microphones.
Position yourself so that there are hanging clothes, coats, blankets or other soft materials around you, and especially behind you where possible. You should not bury the recorder between clothes — simply being inside a soft, enclosed space can help reduce room echo.
If the recorder has a headphone output, use headphones to check your recording level and listen to a short test recording before starting.
As with the desktop microphone setup, make sure your loudest lines do not sound distorted. If they do, lower the recorder’s input level or move slightly further away.
Once everything sounds clear, leave the recorder in the same position and try to keep roughly the same distance from it throughout the performance. If you’ve done the above, it may look like this:
Step 5 - Check your microphone level
Before recording everything, record a few normal lines as a test.
Speak at the same volume you expect to use in the actual performance.
Listen back through your headphones.
Your voice should be:
Clear and easy to hear
Not distorted or crackling
Much louder than the background noise
If loud words sound harsh or distorted, turn the microphone level down slightly. If the recording is extremely quiet, move a little closer to the microphone or turn the microphone level up.
Make sure you are recording at 48 kHz / 24-bit.
Once you are in position under the blanket or inside the wardrobe/closet, start recording and stay completely quiet for about 5–10 seconds. Then begin speaking. This short section of room noise can be useful later when the recording is being edited.
Stay roughly the same distance from the microphone throughout the recording. Speak naturally unless you have been given specific performance instructions.
If you make a mistake, don’t worry. Pause for a second, then simply start the line again from the beginning. There is no need to stop the recording after every mistake.
Preferably, we would like you to record each line 2–3 times. You do not have to deliberately make every version completely different. Just perform the line again naturally.
For example:
Line: “I thought you said this place was safe.”
Then record it three times, leaving a short pause between each version.
Before packing everything away, listen to part of the recording with headphones.
Check that:
Your voice is clear
The recording is not distorted
There is no loud fan, traffic or other unexpected noise
The microphone did not disconnect or accidentally switch to another input
The blanket or clothing did not rub against the microphone/recorder during the performance
If everything sounds reasonably clean, you’re done.
Save the recording in WAV format at 48 kHz / 24-bit.
Please do not add noise reduction, echo removal, EQ, compression, reverb or other effects.
Just send the clean, original recording. All necessary audio processing will be done by the recipient.