Speed and efficiency are crucial when it comes to recording voice overs. Whether you're recording a podcast, eLearning material, or any other type of voice overs, you want to make the most of your time and energy. Many voice actors are juggling full-time positions, families, auditions, marketing, travel, etc., so every minute saved is welcome!
Although recording the actual script may be quick (relatively), editing is what takes up the bulk of the time and can be a dragggg! Some voice actors even opt to hire an editor for that reason. One tool that can help you edit voice over recorderings faster is the PetSafe Clik-R Dog Training Clicker. I have the purple one, but am now having "color issues," and thinking that I should have gotten the aqua one instead. 😂
Its original purpose is to help dog owners train their pets, but at just $3.99 (at the time of this posting), it can be repurposed for quickly marking errors, chapters/sections, etc. with minimal interruption to recording voice overs. Every time I make a mistake while recording, I press the clicker. The two clicks it produces will appear as two visible spikes in the waveform. That way, you can easily locate your mistakes and edit them out later. In my opinion, this is wayyyy better than having to listen back to the ENTIRE recording, which is what I used to do.
Here's how it looks on Audacity:
And here's how it sounds. The first 2 clicks were pressed very quickly, the second 3 clicks at medium speed, and the final 3 clicks at slow speed.
I find the clicker to be an especially useful tool for long lists or individual phrases, which you often see when recording voice over for kids games, children's eLearning, etc. For example, you may get a list of 200 phrases at once (i.e. Dog, Cat, Mouse, Bird, Cow, Pig, etc.), and no one has time to sit through and re-listen to all that. 🥹 I assume all phrases are the best take, EXCEPT for the ones marked with the clicker. Then I can focus my efforts on file splitting and labeling.
A con for me is if you accidentally place the clicker too close to the microphone, it can get WAY too loud and annoying very quickly. I also wish it would make just one distinct click sound, rather than two, or have it just be something more...pleasant sounding. But hey, more the reason for me to try to NOT to make mistakes in the first place. 😂
Overall, the clicker is a simple yet effective tool for anyone who records voice overs. By helping you quickly identify and remove mistakes, you can be more productive and efficient in your recording sessions...leaving you more time for voice over auditions, and all that other fun stuff! For $4, it's a small investment to see if it can help improve your workflow.
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Jenny W. Chan is a professional voice actor and singer from New York City, specializing in recording child voice overs, teen voice overs, and songs.
Contact Jenny at: jennywchan@gmail.com