Looking forward to all the voice actors embarking on working from home finding out why you need a soundproof room.

"Sorry, can we pause a second, the neighbor is moving the lawn / someone's going up the stairs / a plane's flying overhead'

Not all home studios are created equal.

I used to hate having to schedule sessions around when my house was quiet and the fear of God hit like a hammer when a client asked to dial in. Soundproof studio means I can work with a lawn mower 6ft from the mic.

My biggest fear is that clients now opening up to the idea of finally using home studios are going to have bad experiences with actors who have thrown something together due to COVID and be turned off the idea all together.

So, actors. Before you splash out on an expensive mic, treat the space. Focus on sound proofing + treating and even a cheap mic can sound better than an expensive mic in a crap room. Get to grips with Source Connect, iPDTL, Clean Feed. Skype makes for a great phone patch as well.

Those of us who've been working from home studios for years have been through it all. Ping me if you need help and let's make sure clients have a great experience so we can all reap the rewards after this is over (no more £100 train trips for 2 minute audition ).

One last thing... test it all *before* a remote session, don't use a client as a test and waste their time figuring it out. Check inputs, outputs, levels, audio routing, use other actors to dial up and test. Make it seamless for the client.

Ok, one more last thing! Have a proper monitor in your booth. You need scripts, recording software, remote software (Skype, Chrome Windows, Source Connect etc.) Trust me, save your sanity and have a decent screen in the booth.